Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
This play won’t go on Jihaad Campbell’s highlight reel, but Zack Baun is able to chase down Miles Sanders, and he’s so much faster than Sanders that he tries two punches at the football before deciding, “OK, I guess I should just tackle him now.” “That was our message all week, relentless effort,” Nick Sirianni said. “Zack had our team’s back right there. I mean that’s a seven-point tackle, really at the end of the day, is what it is, because then a couple plays go by and we force the fumble after that.” Obviously, this is a negative play overall for the Eagles, but it also underscores Baun’s hustle and speed. He hit 20.68 MPH on this play, according to NFL’s NextGen Stats. “He does that in practice,” Campbell said of Baun. “Run to the ball. Even if the whistle is blown, and the running back, Saquon, is running all the way down the field, Zack is still chasing him down just to get that conditioning, just to get that muscle memory in his brain. That’s something that I admire of what he does in his game.”
Eagles vs. Cowboys: 14 winners, 7 losers, and 5 IDKs – BGN
There’s one play from this game I can’t stop thinking about. It’s just wild to see a 21-year-old rookie off-ball linebacker making a downfield pass breakup like this. Other observers in the press box were similarly astonished by this play; I wasn’t the only one to initially mistake Jihaad Campbell for a defensive back (especially with him wearing a traditional DB jersey number, No. 30). The rookie first-round pick can clearly play. In addition to making this play in coverage, Campbell was ultimately credited the forced fumble on Miles Sanders for the game’s only takeaway.
Eagles Open Season With Wild Win Over Cowboys! Takeaways with BLG. – The Ringer
The Eagles defeated the division-rival Dallas Cowboys 24-20 in their season opener Thursday night and took an early lead in the division. Sheil is joined by Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to discuss the victory and give their takeaways from the game. What exactly happened with the Jalen Carter–Dak Prescott spitting incident that got Carter ejected before even taking a snap (04:59)? What were the biggest takeaways from the offense, and what was concerning about the offense (09:50)? How concerning is the second cornerback spot production or lack thereof that everyone was panicking about during camp (25:14)? How do the guys feel about the Eagles defense overall going forward (32:42)?
This was my biggest takeaway from Thursday night’s film. As the game wore on, I realized that I kept writing Jordan Davis’ name down in my notes. Over and over again. The former first-round pick made headlines due to his re-shaped body this offseason, a refrain we’d heard before. But it seems that Davis’ hard work in the offseason has paid off. One of the big knocks on Davis was his endurance and ability to play a high volume of snaps. Due to Jalen Carter being tossed out of the game, Davis was forced into a full-time role. Despite that increased snap count, I thought Davis had his best game as a pro. I mentioned how often I found myself writing his name down after plays, and most of them did come in the run game.
Week 1 Thursday Night Football Takeaways: Eagles-Cowboys – PFF
Concerns for Philadelphia’s defense? For multiple reasons, the Eagles’ defense did not look like the dominant unit that easily ranked first in PFF grade last season. Their 68.6 team PFF defense grade would’ve been their seventh-lowest mark last season. Three of those six games came before their bye week, which was the turning point for the elite unit. Things got off to an ominous start when the Eagles’ best defensive lineman, Jalen Carter, was ejected before playing a single snap. The ripple effect of that was that Moro Ojomo and Byron Young played far more snaps than expected. Both struggled to sub-60.0 PFF overall grades. Carter’s absence was a huge factor in Philadelphia’s failure to sack Dak Prescott a single time. Due to the Eagles’ lack of pressure on Prescott and their own individual struggles, there could suddenly be some degree of concern about the Eagles’ cornerback unit, particularly on the outside. Second-year star Quinyon Mitchell officially allowed just 30 yards on the night, but he committed a pass interference penalty that set up Dallas for a touchdown. He also missed a tackle and was the beneficiary of two of CeeDee Lamb’s drops. Adoree’ Jackson and Jakorian Bennett also struggled in their Philadelphia debuts. Jackson was attacked often, allowing 103 yards across seven targets, and committed a pass interference. Bennett also surrendered a catch on all three of his targets while committing a penalty of his own. Mitchell, Jackson and Bennett combined to post a 37.9 PFF coverage grade. The Eagles saw Mitchell perform at a high level last season, so they shouldn’t be too concerned about him. However, if Jackson and Bennett can’t hold up their end of the bargain on the other side, the team could begin to search for external solutions sooner rather than later.
A Work in Progress – Iggles Blitz
As bad as the Eagles defense looked early, they ended up allowing 307 yards and 20 points, both respectable numbers. Vic Fangio made good adjustments as the game went along and his players started to make some plays. The defense took about a month to really come together last year so be patient, even with the CB situation. Fangio is a great coach. It takes a bit of time to figure things out and then to fix the issues that you find.
Jalen Carter on spitting ejection: It won’t happen again – NBCSP
To Jalen Carter’s credit, he didn’t try to duck reporters after the Eagles’ 24-20 win over the Cowboys on Thursday night. After getting tossed before the first real snap of the game for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Carter had a lot of time to think about what he was going to say. His message: It won’t happen again. It better not. “It was a mistake that happened on my side and it just won’t happen again,” Carter said. “I feel bad for just my teammates and the fans out there. I’m doing it for them. I’m doing it for my family also. But the fans, they showed the most love. You heard them out there today. Just not being able to finish the … start the game even, finish the game … We gonna get it better. It won’t happen again. I can make that promise.”
Dak Prescott spat first before Jalen Carter’s ejection in Eagles-Cowboys – SB Nation
There’s no doubt this was a huge factor in the game itself. Prescott said that the Cowboys’ planning was heavily invested in blocking schemes that would account for Carter and take pressure off Booker as a result. Seeing him kicked from the game was the perfect solution to their biggest problem on offense. It remains to be seen if the NFL will do anything. By the letter of the law Prescott should likely be fined for his spit as well, and Carter assessed a much larger fine for actually spitting on an opponent. Sportsmanlike Conduct is a point of emphasis for the league this season, so immediately they might want to make an example out of Carter. Just wait until these teams meet again in Week 12. There will be more fireworks.
Eagles need to pull plug on ex-Giants standout before he kills their season – NJ.com
With another week of experience in Vic Fangio’s scheme, Jakorian Bennett should take over as the permanent starter. Bennett could raise the ceiling of Philadelphia’s defense and should be an upgrade over Jackson. He gave up three catches for 20 yards against the Cowboys, but he had sticky coverage on each attempt. Over the next month, the Eagles face teams with a strong receiver core: the Rams in Week 3 (Davante Adams/Puka Nacua), Buccaneers in Week 4 (Mike Evans/ Emeka Egbuka) and Vikings in Week 7 (Justin Jefferson/Jordan Addison). Philadelphia’s secondary could be a problem if Bennett is not the solution. The other options (fifth-rounder Mac McWilliams and Kelee Ringo) are unlikely to solve the problem. Eventually, Fangio could move slot CB Cooper DeJean to the outside on a full-time basis, but he has been reluctant so far.
Nick Sirianni Postgame Locker Room Speech: Cowboys – PE.com
Thanks to NovaCare Rehabilitation, go inside the locker room after the win over the Dallas Cowboys for this exclusive look at Head Coach Nick Sirianni’s address to the team.
Former Lions EDGE Za’Darius Smith signing with NFC contender – Pride Of Detroit
After trading for Smith at last year’s deadline, the Lions opted to cut Smith this offseason in a cap-savings move. Detroit cleared $11 million in cap space over the next two years with no dead cap on the books. Both sides had expressed interest in a reunion, but it’s clear money was an issue. Last week, after roster cuts, Lions general manager Brad Holmes had this to say about re-signing Smith. “You guys know me, anything’s a possibility at any point. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But, the one open roster spot, we just have one open roster spot. It’s not for a specific player, it’s for the player that makes the most sense for us, whoever that player may be,” Holmes said. He would later add that there had not been any recent talks with Smith or his agency about a reunion. While with the Lions for eight games last year, Smith produced 12 tackles, 4.0 sacks, and 40 pressures (per PFF).
5 things we learned from the Chiefs’ loss to the Chargers in Brazil – Arrowhead Pride
The Chiefs are suddenly thin at wide receiver. With Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Jalen Royals on the field, the Chiefs’ receiving corps looked potent and ready to make some noise. But with all three out of the mix, the Kansas City offense suddenly looked a whole lot less explosive. It wasn’t until late in the first half that we began to see some chunk plays from the team’s offense, but even these were few and far between. For much of the game, the Chiefs’ passing attack looked like it was pulling teeth to move down the field. Luckily, we have a firm date for Rice’s return — and hopefully, Worthy and Royals will be back as well. Because here’s the unfortunate truth: Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton are fine role players. But if they are the team’s starting wideouts, there’s a problem.
Chiefs-Chargers in Brazil: What We Learned from Los Angeles’ 27-21 win – NFL.com
Chiefs’ defense wilts in season debut. When they won their last Super Bowl in the 2023 season, the Chiefs hung their hat on Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. The 2025 unit couldn’t hold a candle to that group, at least not after one game. Offseason losses in the secondary became a glaring weakness on Friday night as Herbert diced up Kansas City’s defense for 394 yards, 318 coming through the air. Spagnuolo realized in the second half that his last resort — sending many blitzes — was his only chance of earning stops, and when the Chargers needed to ice the game, they knew exactly how to dial up plays with full anticipation of the blitz. This is not the style of Chiefs teams of the past, and if they want to continue their dominance of both the AFC West and the conference at large, they’ll need to improve significantly on the defensive side going forward.
Commanders vs Giants Friday Injury Report: Everybody’s good to go for Sunday – Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders held their last, full practice today as they continue to prepare to host the New York Giants on Sunday. Dan Quinn spoke to reporters before practice and said everybody should be go to go for Week 1. WR Noah Brown(knee) and CB Jonathan Jones(hamstring) were the only players that didn’t practice today, but he said those were vet rest days. Both players were limited during the first two practices, but should be on the field Sunday. Brown suffered a knee injury at mandatory mini-camp in June, and has had a restricted offseason. Dorance Armstrong was also limited all week with a knee injury, but he got a full practice in today and should get the start Sunday.
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll confirmed to the assembled media that starting left tackle Andrew Thomas would practice on Friday. At the same time, he announced that star wide receiver Malik Nabers wouldn’t practice due to back tightness. Daboll said that Thomas would participate in at least some team drills, and the medical staff would assess his status after practice. Thomas has had a lengthy recovery from surgery to repair the lisfranc injury that ended his 2024 season. The team has maintained that they have a plan for getting him back into playing shape and it’s clear that they don’t want to rush his recovery. Thomas is viewed by many as the lynchpin to the Giants’ season. There have been a number of analysts who believe that the team now has the talent to be a threat in the NFC — if the offensive line holds up. The Giants have done a considerable amount of work to shore up their depth on the offensive line, but there’s still a big drop-off from a healthy Thomas to any reserve player.
It is frustrating to acknowledge how good the Philadelphia Eagles are, but nobody else is them. You can make an argument that, despite what lurks around the Thanksgiving time, that the hardest game of the season is now over for the Cowboys. No environment will be like what they were in on Thursday night in the City of Brotherly Love. Moral victories are hard to take in so let’s not call it that. But as the dust settles on this, last year’s Week 1 win on the road against the Cleveland Browns comes to mind. This is purely my personal opinion, but I cannot recall a season that carried such obvious poor results around the corner as 2024. Everything about that year was broken. Let’s not re-hash it. But that win at Cleveland provided a brief band-aid on the wound that tore open immediately after and never got any dressing again. This game at Philadelphia feels like the opposite of that. It seems like we examined the wound, acknowledge that it is real and needs time to fully heal, but most important we identified signs of healing taking place. The darkest part of the night is behind us, for lack of a better term. Here’s to a sunrise being around the corner.
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