Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 10/08/24.
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
The Browns have to bench Deshaun Watson – SB Nation
It’s coming to the point where the Browns’ offense is actively sinking with Watson at QB. Yes, the offensive line hasn’t played well due to injury, but it’s largely the same group that Stefanski and the Browns had when they made the playoffs. Everything has remained the same—except the QB, in a lot of ways. Watson is trying to be a guy that he hasn’t been in four years, and it’s limiting the offense Stefanski wants to run. Something has to give for a team that still wants to remain competitive, and the only solution that makes sense is benching Watson.
Dread it. Run from it. But it might be time to accept the season is over for the Browns – Dawgs By Nature
That 3.8 yards per play is just a tick ahead of the 1999 expansion team that averaged 3.65 yards per play, and Cleveland’s streak of five consecutive games of scoring less than 20 points to open the season is the team’s longest since 1999. That season the Browns did not break 20 points in a game until Week 8, which is certainly within reach of this year’s squad. Fair or not, and it is mostly fair at this point, much of the blame for the lack of production from the offense falls on the shoulders of Deshaun Watson.
NFL Week 5 Under Review: Maybe Sean McDermott’s Decision Didn’t Doom the Bills – The Ringer
The Browns gambled that the fan backlash would be short-lived and everything they gave up to acquire Watson would be worth it if he played well. But two-plus years later, Watson is a disaster, and the Browns are hopeless. In Week 5, they got blown out by the Commanders, 34-13, dropping to 1-4 on the season. They have had injuries along the offensive line, an uninspired run game, and too many drops by wide receivers. But most notably, Watson has been terrible. Among 32 qualifying quarterbacks, he is last in both EPA per pass play and success rate. If we zoom out to the past five seasons, there have been 153 quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks through the first five weeks. Among that sample, Watson’s 2024 season ranks last in both EPA per pass play and success rate. The Browns thought they were being shrewd and calculated and aggressive when they decided to trade for Watson. But really, they were acting out of desperation. History will look back on this as the worst trade ever made in the NFL, and because of Watson’s contract, the Browns’ options are limited, and they have no easy way out. There’s a good chance we’ll see some firings in the coming months. Excuses will be made. Fingers will be pointed. And the on-field product will continue to be one of the worst in the NFL.
Why your NFL team won, lost in Week 5 – PFF
Why the Browns lost: A quarterback change is probably due in Cleveland, but Watson was still pressured on 47.4% of his dropbacks. Still, he completed only three of his 10 attempts for 21 yards when pressured.
NFL Week 6 odds have the Eagles heavily favored against the Browns – BGN
As you can see, the Browns’ sole win came over a Jags team that’s arguably the worst in the NFL. And Cleveland actually got out-gained in that game. The Browns are scoring just 15.8 points per game. The only two teams that rank below them: the aforementioned Patriots and the Miami Dolphins. A big reason why the offense doesn’t work? Deshaun Watson looks flat out unplayable. He ranks 31st out of 31 qualified quarterbacks in QBR. He’s accounted for just five touchdowns while turning the ball over six times. There have been calls to bench Watson in favor of Jameis Winston, though Kevin Stefanski’s public comments indicate no QB change is coming just yet.
NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Week 6 edition – PhillyVoice
10) Eagles (2-2): It was a bad bye week for the Eagles, who watched as the Commanders, Cowboys, and Giants all won their games. They’ll very likely get A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Lane Johnson back from injury following the bye, and their next four opponents have a combined record of 5-15, so they have a golden opportunity to gain some ground back in October. Of course, they had as easy a stretch to close the season as imaginable last year when they played the Cardinals and the Giants twice, and they nearly went 0-3. So, you know, we’ll see!
Eagles grades by position after a quarter of the 2024 season – NBCSP
COACHING: The lowest grade through a quarter of the season goes to the coaching staff. Some of Nick Sirianni’s in-game decisions have been baffling and the experiment of bringing him back for the 2024 season is off to a rocky start. The whole premise was that Sirianni would manage in-game situations and deal with culture while Vic Fangio would run the defense and Kellen Moore would run the offense. Fangio had a great game plan against the Saints but then struggled against the Bucs. Early in the season, there were glimpses of an exciting, brand-new offense under Moore but things have become more static in recent games. It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments the coaching staff makes after the bye week.
Spadaro: The NFC East is on the rise and 5 other storylines – PE.com
3. Cleveland’s struggles continue. Washington handed the Browns a 34-13 loss on Sunday and it was every bit as one-sided as the score indicated – Daniels didn’t play in the fourth quarter with the Commanders up 34-6. Cleveland converted just 1 of 13 first downs on offense. Quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked seven times – the third time this season that the Browns have allowed at least six quarterback sacks in a game. Cleveland’s defense, a strength through four games, allowed 12 explosive plays – runs of 10-plus yards and passing plays that gained at least 20 yards – in the loss. Injuries have been a huge problem for the Browns all year, so as much as the Eagles’ injury report will bear watching, so will Cleveland’s. The offensive line has been decimated by injuries, the root cause of problems for the Browns.
Vote for Jayden Daniels as NFL Rookie of the Week for his offensive leadership vs the Cleveland Browns – Hogs Haven
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has played five NFL regular season games and he’s been nominated for each one as the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week, winning the award in Weeks 1, 3 and 4 for his play against the Buccaneers, Bengals and Cardinals on the road. This week, he has been nominated for his outstanding play at home against the NFC North Cleveland Browns.
Cowboys beat Steelers day after thoughts: Those are the kind of wins that change seasons – Blogging The Boys
What’s more is that things have obviously been rather bad for Dallas on the injury front. Consider that Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, DaRon Bland and Brandin Cooks were all absent from this game. Toss in Caelen Carson if you’d like. Recall then that Marshawn Kneeland left early and that Tyler Guyton also exited before tension fully rose. Finally, remember how little the front office did to the roster (the one we just acknowledged the several weaknesses to) over the course of the offseason. It was a tough scene to say the least. Yet somehow, some way, the Cowboys won. What’s more is that they won on a night when their quarterback was probably rather upset with the way he played individually for all but the game’s most critical moments. I’ve seen many equate it, in general spirit, to the infamous win against the Buffalo Bills in 2007 when we were far less jaded than we are these days. You don’t need a reminder that the 2007 squad won 13 games and a big reason for that was stacking together the ones that they were not supposed to have. This was a massive deal and a huge piece of evidence that the Cowboys can say enough is enough and go out and get a win. We did not know if they had that in them. Clearly, they do.
Daniel Jones plays better when you’re not there – Big Blue View
Of course that’s a small sample, biased by my own impressions. Let’s think about the 2024 season, though. Jones looked awful at MetLife vs. Minnesota, and he technically played well at MetLife vs. Dallas but couldn’t get the Giants into the end zone and lost as a result. On the other hand, he played well and threw two TD passes in Washington and would have beaten the now unstoppable Jayden Daniels if the Giants had a kicker that week. He played well and threw two TDs passes in a win at Cleveland. He played probably his best game of the season this week and threw two more TDs passes in a win at Seattle. My conclusion? Daniel Jones just doesn’t like playing in front of you season ticket holders.
Jets fire head coach Robert Saleh – Gang Green Nation
Saleh has become the target of heavy criticism after the team’s 2-3 start. The Jets have looked unprepared, undisciplined, and sloppy through most of the first five games. Whether or not this will change much is an open question. The Jets have a number of issues with their roster which have popped up through the first few weeks. With the team looking like this and Saleh’s 20-36 career record, I think it is difficult to argue that this firing is not merited.
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