Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles could kick off the 2025 NFL season on Thursday night, and Amon-Ra St. Brown has some thoughts on it.
With the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl this past week, tradition holds that the NFL Champion will open up the following season at home. In other words, the Eagles are expected to open the season at home, on Thursday night, against one of their scheduled opponents.
The Eagles are set to host eight different teams at home next year: the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, and—you guessed it—the Detroit Lions.
This has led to many people speculating as to what opponent the NFL will choose for the upcoming game. An in-division opponent is always a juicy option. Eagles vs. Rams would be a neat rematch of their tight Divisional Round playoff matchup. But Lions vs. Eagles could be an NFC Championship preview for 2025.
Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown talked about the possibility of facing the Eagles in the kickoff to the NFL season on the latest episode of the St. Brown Brothers podcast, and needless to say, he’d be excited to face off against the defending Super Bowl champs.
“You could really see what would’ve happened in a (hypothetical) NFC Championship game,” Equanimeous St. Brown said.
“Yeah, with a healthy defense,” Amon-Ra replied. “Their team is not going to change much. I mean, it might change a little [...] but I’m saying, you would see our healthy defense, how that shit operates.”
It’s an interesting idea, and one that ESPN’s Adam Schefter talked about on his podcast as well. Schefter had a different outlook of that home opener for the Eagles. He believes the league—knowing they’ll get high ratings for the season opener no matter who the opponent is—may save Lions vs. Eagles for a later, ratings-guaranteed hit.
“The Lions would be compelling, but I also could see the league saving that game for, whatever, its primetime, sweep-ratings weeks where they need to get the big numbers,” Schefter said.
His pick for who he believes may be the pick? The Chicago Bears, believe it or not.
“The Chicago Bears, in my mind, become the matchup to watch for that Thursday night opener,” Schefter said. “I can totally see it now. Ben Johnson’s first game in Philadelphia, the Bears looking to make a comeback. It’s not the marquee matchup that you’re giving away early on when you’re going to get the ratings anyways.”
You can watch the St. Brown brother conversation and Schefter’s thought below:
