Ranking the Best Eagles Road Games to Attend This Season
It’s getting to be that time of year where we have the itch. That football itch. We are ready to get back into the swing of things with the Birds and it cannot come soon enough. While we still have some down time, we as fans need to plan our road trips to Eagles away games. Hopefully these rankings can offer some assistance.
Ranking the best away games to attend were broken down into five different categories:
- Ticket Price
- Travel Efficiency (Distance and Price)
- Opponent
- Entertainment of City
- Tailgate Scene
These individual categories were given a score between 1 and 5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. Each of these scores were added up to give each road game one cumulative, overall score. The following rankings start at 8 and will go down to 1, with #1 being the absolute best road game to hit this season.
Open Travelocity. Open Stub Hub. Here we go.
8) Week 4 @ Green Bay Packers: 9/26 at 8:20pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 1
Travel: 1
Opponent: 4
Entertainment: 1
Tailgate: 3
Overall: 10
Don’t think it would surprise many if the Green Bay Packers had a bounce back year. Plus, a Carson Wentz vs Aaron Rodgers matchup is as good as it gets. But, that’s where the intrigue of this trip stops. It’s on a Thursday so expect to use some serious PTO time if you’re going. On top of that, there aren’t exactly many direct flights from Philadelphia to Green Bay. You probably have to fly into Milwaukee (nearly two hours away) which is bound to increase expenses. Speaking of expenses, this is the second most expensive ticket on the docket. Lambeau Field is a bucket list type item, but this ain’t the time.
7) Week 6 @ Minnesota Vikings: 10/13 at 1:00pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 2
Travel: 2
Opponent: 3
Entertainment: 3
Tailgate: 2
Overall: 12
I’m sure we all wouldn’t mind returning to Minneapolis to visit the site of the Eagles first Super Bowl victory. Plus, we owe Kirk Cousins a huge thank you for choking at the end of last season, allowing us to sneak into the playoffs! Maybe we’ve emasculated them enough and we’ll avoid this trip. Nobody really ever says, “you know what’s lovely in October? Minneapolis”. It’s also the furthest non-Dallas trip of the season. The ticket cost is right in the middle in terms of price, $111 being the cheapest ticket. And of course, the Vikings led by Kirk Cousins will almost certainly be average. Average city. Average ticket price. Average team. Everything about this road trip would be average.
6) Week 17 @ New York Giants: 12/29 at 1:00pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 4
Travel: 4
Opponent: 1
Entertainment: 2
Tailgate: 2
Overall: 13
Hey, nothing wrong with going to this one. Plenty of Eagles fans make the MetLife/Meadowlands trip each year. It’s quick to get to (high Travel score) and it’s a cheaper ticket with $79 being the cheapest available. The score came in so low because obviously the opponent looks to be atrocious on paper. The Giants have been a laughing stock this entire offseason, I’d be shocked if they even made it to 5-11. Another thing to keep in mind with the low score, this is the last game of the year, December 29th. That’s a frigid tailgate. Your options for a 1pm game are: wake up at the crack of dawn to drive from Philly to MetLife and tailgate in the cold OR get an expensive hotel in the NYC area on Saturday and also tailgate in the cold.
5) Week 15 @ Washington Redskins: 12/15 at 1:00pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 4
Travel: 4
Opponent: 1
Entertainment: 2
Tailgate: 3
Overall: 14
Everything just stated about the Giants can be said for the Redskins game as well. It’s a cheap ticket and cheap travel. The opponent projects to be pretty bad and it’ll be a cold tailgate. Still expect many Birds fans at this one.
4) Week 7 @ Dallas Cowboys: 10/20 at 8:20pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 3
Travel: 2
Opponent: 4
Entertainment: 2
Tailgate: 3
Overall: 14
This Week 7 matchup looks to be an early season litmus test for the Eagles. We expect them to be the best team in the division, this is the week to prove it. Therefore, very high score in the opponent category. It’s also a Sunday Night game which is code for “very long tailgate”. One thing to watch: with no west coast trips, this game is actually the furthest away in terms of distance and flight time. Probably good for the team that this is the furthest, just not for this ranking system. If you’re looking to save money, this may not be the game to go to. If you want to see a great rivalry game and turn it into the road trip. This is the game for you.
3) Week 2 @ Atlanta Falcons: 9/15 at 8:20pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 2
Travel: 2
Opponent: 4
Entertainment: 4
Tailgate: 3
Overall: 15
Speaking of early season tests, this is sure to be one too. Early, as in Week 2 and first road game. We always have our close battles with Atlanta recently so the opponent ranking is high. Plus, this game will be on Sunday Night Football, so this will be a long tailgate in warm weather. Oh, and I’m sure some Eagles fans will take in the sights and sounds of Magic City while staying in Atlanta for the weekend.
2) Week 13 @ Miami Dolphins: 12/1 at 1:00pm
SCORE-
Ticket: 1
Travel: 3
Opponent: 3
Entertainment: 5
Tailgate: 3
Overall: 15
Miami is Miami. It’s so much fun there are some people (I won’t name names) who would rather live there than compete for championships in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Again, not naming names but everyone knows Miami is excellent for two things: incredible nightlife and retirement tours. In all seriousness, this is bound to be one of those games where you can’t tell if the home or away team scored based on noise because there will be so many Eagles fans. This game, slated for the first day of December, is on the weekend of Thanksgiving. Escaping the brutal northeast winter for an extended stay in Miami with an Eagles game? It’ll be costly, but sign us up anyway.
1) Week 8 @ Buffalo Bills: 10/27 at 1:00pm
SCORE:
Ticket: 5
Travel: 4
Opponent: 2
Entertainment: 2
Tailgate: 5
Overall: 18
Bills Mafia and Eagles fans are the best combination since Fireball and Apple Cider. Which is fitting, because that will be flowing at the tailgate before the game. This is an absolute match made in heaven. It will be the best non-Linc tailgate of the year. Oh, and it will be your cheapest ticket of the year as well (cheapest ticket of $66). It will also keep expenses down seeing as you don’t need to fly for this one. If this game were later in the year, it may be docked some points in several categories. Luckily, no expected snow storms with this one but it is definitely expected to be one hell of a time.