Biggest Questions Facing Eagles, Patriots Heading Into Training Camp
Ryan Mayer
Training camp gets underway this week for most of the NFL, which means we're just about a month and a half away from our first football action of the 2018-19 season. After a wild 2017-18 season ended with the Philadelphia Eagles atop the pile as Super Bowl champions, it's time to gear up for the season by checking in with teams across the country. We reached out to four CBS Local TV sports anchors to get their thoughts on their local team's chances heading into a new year of football.
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First up, we headed to Philadelphia, to ask CBS3's Don Bell for his thoughts on the biggest question that the defending champions face as they get set to attempt to continue their reign.
"The health of Carson Wentz," said Bell. "Last year, he was the MVP of the league when he tore his knee in L.A. against the Rams. What is his health? Will he be ready for Opening Night? That is a big question mark facing the Eagles. If he's ready to roll, watch out."
What about the Birds' opponents from Super Bowl LII? Well, WBZ-TV sports anchor Steve Burton told us that the supporting cast on offense around quarterback Tom Brady is the biggest question mark.
"Who is Tom Brady going to throw to in the receiving corps," said Burton. "We all know who the tight end is, in Rob Gronkowski. But, now that Danny Amendola is gone, Julian Edelman is going to miss the first four games of the season, no Brandin Cooks, who is Brady's go-to guy?"
Despite those questions surrounding last season's Super Bowl participants, the expectations for those teams remain the same: make it back to the Super Bowl. But the rest of the league will probably have something to say about that, particularly in Minnesota, where the Vikings are hoping for another shot at the Eagles after last year's conference championship game loss.
"This team is coming off a 13-3 year. They had the number-one rated defense in the NFL, averaging just 15 points per game given up last year, so the ceiling is extremely high for this team." said WCCO-TV sports anchor Mike Rosen. "They've been building towards this and they fell short last year, obviously, but they feel they are Super Bowl-worthy right now."
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Outside of Minnesota, there's a team in the Eagles own division that is looking to knock the champs off their throne, as the Dallas Cowboys look to rebound from a disappointing 2017 campaign.
"Now chasing the Super Bowl champ Eagles in their own division, no one is picking the Cowboys to even win the NFC East much less do anything in the postseason," said CBS 11 sports anchor Bill Jones. "But I wouldn't be surprised if the Cowboys surprised the preseason prognosticators this year. I'm picking a 10-6 season for the Cowboys this year."
For more of the guys' thoughts on their team's outlook at the start of training camp, check out the video above.
