Before the Philadelphia Eagles begin defending their title, they have one more celebration left. The first Super Bowl banner in the history of the franchise will be unveiled in front of a full house of fans who waited for what seems like an eternity at the time. And then to defend the crown. Coach Doug Pederson and his veteran players have spoken before this campaign of the importance of concentrating on the present if the Eagles are to become just the ninth team to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Tonight will have a tough opponent at the start of the NFL season. The Atlanta Falcons were just two yards away from eliminating the Eagles from the playoffs in the divisional round, but Matt Ryan's pass to Julio Jones was incomplete in the corner of the end zone. "It's going to be a great night," Pederson said. "The fans are going to be crazy and excited. It's going to be great to display the flag. There's going to be a great atmosphere. This team, however, understands that this is a new campaign. A new team, a new year.

The Falcons understand that they were really close to advancing to the championship match of the National Conference. Beating the Eagles at home now won't make up for the defeat in January, but the goal now is to close the campaign in Atlanta, where the Super Bowl will be played in February. "They had a great team last year," Ryan said. "I'm sure the atmosphere will be good, obviously with them celebrating what they did last year. Once that's over, it's up to us, our 11 on the field against the 11 of them.

Nick Foles replaced starting quarterback Carson Wentz and guided the Eagles to their first championship since 1960 and was consecrated as the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player. Foles will once again lead the attack as Wentz has yet to be discharged from the doctors after an operation in December to repair ligament injuries in two knee ligaments.