You know that three-game road trip the Eagles have in the middle of October?
You can blame Bryce Harper, according to NBC Sports' Peter King.
Really.
EAGLES-PHILS1@AngeloCataldi alert!
From The Peter King Podcast dropping in the morning on NFL sked:
The only 3-game road trip this year (not counting Oak and TB having "home" games in London) is Eagles Oct. 13, 20, 27-at Min, at Dal, at Buf.
Why? Bryce Harper and the Phils.— Peter King (@peter_king) April 18, 2019
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Schedule czar Howard Katz told me: "We usually ignore the Phillies when it comes to stadium blocks. But I don't think we can this year."
(Stadium blocks occur when NFL avoids scheduling a home NFL game in a city when league thinks MLB team will be playing same day.)— Peter King (@peter_king) April 18, 2019
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In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia
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How about the Bryce Harper signing influencing the NFL schedule?
It happened.— Peter King (@peter_king) April 18, 2019
This is kind of wild. The NFL schedule makers really looked at the Phillies' roster and decided they might be a team to go deep in the playoffs. It does seem possible, but we might be jumping the gun a little. Although, on our Eagle Eye podcast last night, Reuben Frank did say the Eagles wouldn't be at home in October because the Phils would be in the World Series. (I thought he was joking.)
But here's the Eagles' schedule. After a home game against the New York Jets on Oct. 6, the Eagles are on the road for three straight weeks, when the Phillies could theoretically be in the playoffs:
Week 6 - at MIN on Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.
Week 7 - at DAL on Oct. 20 at 8:20 p.m.
Week 8 - at BUF on Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.
For reference, the 2018 World Series wrapped up with a Game 5 on Oct. 28. The Eagles host the Bears at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3, so maybe we'll have an NFL playoff rematch and Game 7 of the World Series in South Philadelphia later this year. Are we getting ahead of ourselves a bit?
After the Eagles have these three road games, they are home for three straight too. Still, the three-game trip on the road isn't ideal. At least there's not a west coast trip in there somewhere.
In September of this year, the Eagles host games on Sept. 8 (Washington) and Sept. 22 (Detroit). The NFL has the benefit of seeing the MLB regular season schedule before putting out theirs. So on Sept. 8, the Phillies are at the Mets and on Sept. 22, they're in Cleveland. This is the way the NFL always handles these two teams. They make sure the Eagles are away when the Phillies are home.
The last time the Eagles and Phillies played on the same day in South Philly was Oct. 2, 2011. That was also the last year the Phillies were in the playoffs.
On that day, the times were staggered. The Eagles kicked off at 1 p.m. against the 49ers at the Linc and the Phillies' first pitch against the Cardinals in the NLDS was at 8:37 p.m. (The Eagles lost 24-23 and the Phillies lost Game 2, 5-4.)
There were 69,144 people at the Linc that day and 46,575 at Citizens Bank Park that evening. I'd guess a lot of folks pulled the sports complex double-header that day. It won't be possible this year.
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