The Philadelphia Eagles are the best team in the NFL. 

At 8-1, they've entered their bye week and will even have some extra time to rest up before returning to take on the Kansas City Chiefs for some Monday Night Football action. 

Until then, here are three bold predictions for the second half of the 2023 NFL season. 

No. 1: A.J. Brown Breaks His Own Franchise Record

Eagles' wide receiver A.J. Brown has had an incredible first half of the year. After logging six straight games of 125-plus receiving yards, he's on tap to reach 1,995 receiving yards, which would break his franchise record of 1,496 yards that he set last season. 

If he does reach that new benchmark, he could end up in the MVP race. It won't be easy against Tyreek Hill, who leads the league with 1,076 receiving yards. However, it also isn't impossible thanks to the Eagles' remaining schedule. 

It's worth noting that a wide receiver has never won the league's MVP award, but this year could change that as long as Brown continues to ball out 

No. 2: Jalen Carter Wins Defensive Player of the Year

The Eagles' rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter has been playing like a grown man.  

Through eight games, Carter has logged 16 total tackles, five sacks and 29 total pressures. He ranks fifth among all defensive tackles in sacks. The crazy part about all of this is that he's played just 251 total snaps. That's half the snaps that Aaron Donald or nearly any other top defender has played. 

Oddsmakers currently don't have Carter in the running for the prestigious award, but who is to say he doesn't finish the second half of the season playing more snaps and racking up more sacks? Sure, he's been banged up for a chunk of the year but the bye week could get him back to feeling 100 percent. 

If he doesn't get the DPOTY award, Carter should at least win the Defensive Rookie of the Year honor.

No. 3: Eagles Win the NFC

The Eagles are in the driver's seat in the NFC East. They rank first and have a three-game lead. They're en route to the playoffs with a nice cushion under their booty and they should come out on top of their division with few problems. 

They'll face some tough tasks in the second part of their schedule, but the ending should be a cakewalk for them. The Giants are without Daniel Jones for the remainder of the year and the Cardinals can't seem to find a way to win but a single game. 

The Bills, 49ers and Seahawks are also beatable teams. 

Monday night's game against the Chiefs and a re-match against the Cowboys will be tough, but this Eagles team is so hungry to win that it's hard to doubt them up against any team at this point. 

Here's the Eagles remaining schedule for the 2023-24 season:

Week 10 bye
Week 11 at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 12 vs. Buffalo Bills
Week 13 vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 14 at Dallas Cowboys
Week 15 at Seattle Seahawks
Week 16 vs. New York Giants
Week 17 vs. Arizona Cardinals
Week 18 at New York Giants

The Birds can afford to lose two more games and still end up as the No. 1 seed. A 14-3 end to the regular season would put them in the same boat that they were in last year, but they'll need to watch out for those Detroit Lions. 

---

Eagles midseason grades for offense, defense, special teams

Time to check in on all three phases of this Philadelphia Eagles squad.