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Pope Francis visit, Phillies schedule means three road games in four weeks for the Eagles

Pope Francis

Pope Francis may be courting a progressive papacy, but that appears to be alright with his flock.  A new Pew Research Center finds that the pope's popularity has increased among Catholics, and remains high among non-Catholics.  In this photo taken March 4, Francis waves to the faithful as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. 
(AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Dozens of outside factors can go into determining the NFL's 2015 schedule, which was released Thursday.  That includes Taylor Swift concerts, the implosion of a Pittsburgh bridge and Major League Baseball schedules. 

And in the case of the Philadelphia Eagles, it was the Pope that impacted the 2015 schedule. 

There were approximately 50 "must-have" conditions dictated to the computers, according to NFL senior vice president of broadcasting Howard Katz. 

Here are two main conditions involving the Eagles that were included in schedule permutation:

- Philadelphia getting the lead Monday Night Football slot, mostly because of the Eagles' tumultuous offseason and the attention of the media and fans on Chip Kelly.  The game is at Atlanta so as not to conflict with the Phillies' schedule. 

- No home games for Philadelphia in Weeks 1 and 4 (Phillies conflicts) and Week 3 (the Pope). 

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput wrote to Roger Goodell (and misspelled the commissioner's first name) last July to request that the Eagles not host a game Sunday, Sept. 27. 

Pope Francis is scheduled to hold a papal mass for approximately 2 million people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway outside the Philadelphia Art Museum. 

King writes: "In October, Katz wrote the archbishop to say the Eagles would be out of town that weekend ... 93 miles up the New Jersey Turnpike to play the Jets on that afternoon, Sept. 27. 

'Yes,' Katz said, finally able to relax Tuesday evening in his scheduling den. " The pope did influence the NFL schedule.  My name may be Katz, but I wasn't taking any chances.'"