As fans prepare to watch a Philadelphia Eagles Week 9 game against the Houston Texans, it's hard not to look back on the week preceding and appreciate just how unusual the path the team took to get to Thursday Night Football.

After a week away from the gridiron to rest, relax, and watch the Philadelphia Phillies fight their way to the World Series for the first time in over a decade, the Philadelphia Eagles returned to the field in Week 8 to deliver an absolute beatdown on their cross-state rivals in the 2022 running of the Battle of Pennsylvania. On paper, the game had everything, a near-perfect game by Jalen Hurts that saw the quarterback only run the ball twice, six sacks on New Jersey native Kenny Pickett, and a massive game by CJ Gardner-Johnson, who picked off a pass and notched a sack in his concerted effort to pick up a new contract before Christmas.

While fans were able to kick back and celebrate another Eagles win before the sun went down, as the contest was basically over by the half, for Nick Sirianni and company, the real work began shortly after the game's completion, as they needed to turn things over quickly to prepare for a Thursday Night Football showdown with the Houston Texans.

Suddenly double-booked opposite the Phillies-Astros following a Monday Night rainout, the City of Brotherly Love could be met with a double-fisted victory the likes of which city lamp posts could never be properly prepared for, especially if the Eagles go to 8-0 against a Texans team that is ill-equipped to stop pretty much anyone, let alone the hottest team in the NFL. With that in mind, why not look at the stats, looks at the trends, and make a few Philadelphia Eagles Week 9 predictions? It certainly can't hurt, right?

*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*

3. A.J. Brown doesn't go for 100 yards

Unfortunately, not every bold prediction can be a good one, and after setting a new career-high in receiving yards against Pittsburgh, one would assume that Lovie Smith and the Texans will do everything in their power to shut down “1K Always Open,” even if it means giving light boxes to the Eagles' rushing attack and a steady stream of single-coverage to DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

If that happens, Brown's Week 9 might look a bit more like his weeks 2-6 and less like Week 1 and Week 8, where he passed into triple digits on double-digit targets, which is still very good and a positive step towards the ever-elusive goal of becoming a 1,000-yard NFL wide receiver, but won't generate the same level of excitement from fans in Philadelphia and beyond.

2. Miles Sanders runs wild on Houston's defense

Miles Sanders is having a deceptively good 2022 NFL season. Though he may not be getting all of the headlines for his performances and only has one 100-yard game on his resume thanks to a ground-focused rainout against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sanders is averaging 80.4 yards per game on the season, which ranks sixth league-wide, and is just 304 yards away from his 2020 career-high season with 10 games left to play.

With a new, streamlined set of offensive responsibilities that rarely includes catching the ball and a clear “number 2 status” in the rushing pecking order behind his quarterback in the eyes of opposing game planners, Sanders has been quietly working through his best professional season to date, and will surely get paid accordingly by the Eagles or otherwise when the season comes to an end.

Fortunately, in Week 9, Sanders will be afforded an opportunity to run the ball against the worst rushing defense in the NFL, as the Texans currently rank 32nd out of 32 teams in terms of rushing yards allowed, with a brutal 186 yards per game allowed on the ground on average.

Considering the Birds are coming off of a short week, expect Sanders to shoulder the brunt of the Birds' offensive responsibilities on the ground and maybe even pass into triple-digits for the second time this season.

1. Jalen Hurts adds to the Philadelphia Eagles' consecutive wins record

Heading into Week 8, Jalen Hurts is tied for the most consecutive regular season wins by a quarterback in Eagles history.

Though the Birds had technically only won six games this season up to that point, making them the lone undefeated team in the NFL, Hurts' regular season win streak technically dated back all the way to Week 15 of the 2021 season, when the Eagles beat the then-Washington Football Team to secure their first of three wins heading into the playoffs.

By beating the Steelers, Hurts officially brought his consecutive record to 10-0 as a starter, securing the record in the process, but just because the OklaBama quarterback's name is in the books doesn't mean he can't pad out his total a bit more and make it harder for some future Philadelphia signal-caller to pry the honor away from him.

Fortunately, Hurts will be facing off against a Texans team that is 1-5-1 on the season and has allowed the 15th-most yards through the air and the most yards on the ground of any team in the NFL.

Hurts has proven that he can win games with his arm, win games with his legs, and most importantly of all, win games by keeping the ball in his teammates' hands instead of his opponents, as his five turnovers – four lost – clearly proves. With Hurts headed back to his hometown for the first time in his professional career – for a game at least – this has the potential to be an all-out inauguration for the MVP favorite.