Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
Roob’s Observations after Eagles avenge loss to Giants with unstoppable offense – NBCSP
It’s been an up-and-down first couple months for Kevin Patullo – mainly down – but he was fantastic Sunday. We saw variety in run calls, we saw a nice mix of run and pass, we saw different formations, different lineups, different plays that kept the Giants off balance, something we just haven’t seen this year. First time in 35 years and a 48-20 win over the Patriots at the Vet in 1990 that the Eagles have run for 275 and thrown four TDs in the same game (and only the second time since 1950). That kind of balance is deadly and almost impossible to defend. Play calling is hard and it’s an art that can take a while to master. Patullo hasn’t done it before, but it’s awfully encouraging to see this sort of product on offense after the way the first seven games went. The Eagles piled up 427 yards, which is 140 more than their season average coming into the game. And this was without A.J. Brown and Cam Jurgens. When this offense is at full strength – and if Patullo can continue to grow as a play caller – this group is going to be very tough to stop. This was the first game where I said to myself, “Hey, maybe the Eagles have something with this guy.” Very encouraging performance by the rookie play caller.
Eagles vs. Giants: 19 winners, 2 losers, and 2 IDKs – BGN
Only fair to credit the Eagles offensive coordinator for when the offense plays well if he’s going to get criticized for when it struggles. This was a really impressive performance. The Giants were allowing 376 yards per game and 25.8 offensive points per game. The Eagles put up 427 yards and 38 points. It wasn’t just the bottom line results that were encouraging. It’s also how the Eagles got there. The Eagles weren’t as predictable. They continued to incorporate under-center play action (what a novel concept!). They also continued to utilize six offensive linemen packages.
Spadaro: 9 observations from a Kelly Green win over the Giants – PE.com
Kevin Patullo called a great game for the offense. The offensive game plan, even without Jurgens and Brown, was brilliant. The Eagles attacked New York on the edges in the running game and Hurts was efficient – 15-of-20, 179 yards, 4 touchdowns – throwing the football. The Eagles used motion and varied their looks and played downhill football and stayed ahead of the sticks as they rolled to 427 total net yards, scored touchdowns on all three trips to the red zone, and kept New York’s defense off balance.
Eagles-Giants Postgame With BLG! – The Ringer’s Philly Special
Sheil is joined by Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to discuss the Eagles’ massive revenge week 38-20 win against division-rival New York Giants. What’s the overall sentiment of the team as they head into the bye week (02:04)? Did the Eagles finally find something that can help sustain the run game beyond this matchup against a penetrable Giants defense (10:06)? What happened on the push play that the officials may have ruled Jalen Hurts down prematurely (21:34)? What’s the latest on A.J. Brown, who was sidelined on Sunday due to a hamstring injury? Is there a chance that the star receiver could be traded (41:14)? What stood out on the defensive side of the ball (47:43)? Plus, a quick Sixers minute.
Giants-Eagles ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Only a few positives for New York – Big Blue View
Officiating — Things got so bad in the fourth quarter that the officials were laughing at themselves. Only, the performance by referee Brad Rogers and his crew was anything but funny. I have rarely given officials a ‘WW’ in the 18 years I have been running this site. I do not like venturing into discussing officiating, and try to avoid it. The officials did not decide the game, but this was still an embarrassingly officiated game at the highest level of the sport. The Kayvon Thibodeaux Tush Push play should have been a fumble recovery for the Giants. Instead, the Eagles end up with a touchdown. Darius Slayton lost a touchdown on a horrid offensive pass interference call. Kayvon Thibodeaux was called offside on a clear Jordan Mailata false start. A block in the back on Wan’Dale Robinson with the defender already falling down and moving away from him. Korie Black with hit with defensive pass interference when the wide receiver basically tossed him away. There were many, many more moments of ridiculousness that impacted both teams. Nope, not funny. Not even a little bit.
NFL Winners and Losers: Will the Bears ever figure this out? – SB Nation
Loser: That Giants run defense. Giving up big yards to a back of Saquon Barkley’s caliber isn’t that bad. Getting run over by him and Tank Bigsby is not good. The entire New York defense was bad in their loss to the Eagles, but the way their line got totally manhandled was embarrassing. This was supposed to be a game that solidified that the Giants were headed in the right direction. They didn’t need to win, but it would have been nice to show they can compete. Losing Cam Skattebo was horrible, the game just went further downhill from there. In the end New York gave up 427 yards, and a staggering 276 yards on the ground.
Saquon Barkley (groin) could have returned, if needed – PFT
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley left Sunday’s game late in the third quarter with a groin injury. He did not return. Per the team, he could have returned to the game, if needed. He wasn’t needed; the Eagles won, 38-20.
Eagles Run Over the Giants – Iggles Blitz
What about Jalen Hurts and the passing attack? There are normally issues when AJ Brown misses a game. Hurts only threw for 179 yards. That’s because the Eagles ran so well they didn’t have to throw. He finished 15-20 with 4 TDs and a rating of 141.5. This has to be the best two-game stretch of his career. There are some things to nitpick, but Hurts played well and helped the Eagles to their best offensive showing of the year. With Brown out, other guys stepped up. Dallas Goedert had a pair of TD receptions. Jahan Dotson hauled in a 40-yard TD catch. He had to jump up and go over the CB to get to that ball. Barkley caught a short TD pass. Rookie Darius Cooper drew a PI call.
NFL Week 8 takeaways: What We Learned from Sunday’s 11 games – NFL.com
Barkley blasts off as Eagles fly away from Giants. On the second play from scrimmage, Saquon Barkley got perfect blocking and zoomed through the Big Blue secondary for a 65-yard touchdown, his first run of 20-plus yards this season. It was a sign of things to come for the Eagles’ run game. Barkley gashed the Giants, picking up 6 and 7 yards with ease. The back averaged 10.7 yards per carry, generating 150 yards on 14 carries with the TD, and added another scoring catch. The blowout marked his first 100-plus-yard rushing game of the season. The negative: He left after another explosive 28-yard run, tweaking his groin, and didn’t return. With the bye next week, the hope is that Saquon won’t miss more than one quarter. Tank Bigsby took the RB2 role and also went over the century mark, powering his way for 104 rushing yards on nine carries. Add in Jalen Hurts peppering passes into the end zone, tossing four TDs, and even without A.J. Brown, this was the most efficient the Eagles offense has looked since their Super Bowl march.
Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Giants game – PhillyVoice
1) The ‘Reborn Bullies’ Award: The Eagles’ trenches. The Eagles got flat-out bullied by this Giants team Week 6. It was one of the worst performances we have seen from the Eagles’ trenches in recent memory, as the Giants’ defensive line dominated the Eagles’ offensive line, and the Giants’ offense ran all over the Eagles’ defense. In Week 8, the big boys on both sides of the line for the Eagles played with pride, and outclassed the Giants. As a team, the Eagles outgained the Giants 276 to 68 on the ground, while also sacking Jaxson Dart five times. The Eagles have hung their hat on line play during their successful stretch from 2017 to the present day, but we haven’t always seen that this season. Sunday was a vintage Eagles performance in the trenches.
Mailata added Sunday, “Nothing’s changed. He’s even hungrier than he was last year. He’s not satisfied and he will not let the standard drop. That’s probably the major reason why we got the run game going, because even though we haven’t been successful, he’s been that voice in the back in all the meetings like, ‘We’re going to get this.’ The most positive voice in there. ‘We’re going to get it going, I just know it.’ And then, second play of the game … “ What has changed for Barkley, especially on Sunday, has been how the Eagles are getting him into space compared to last season. For a second week in a row, the offense mixed in a steady dose of under-center formations and brought reserve swing tackle Fred Johnson onto the field as a sixth offensive lineman to combat the six-man defensive fronts the group has seen so often in response to last year’s rushing success. According to TruMedia, The Eagles ran for 129 yards on 12 rushing attempts with Johnson on the field Sunday and averaged .82 EPA per rush on those plays. “I think the big formations with Fred, big Freddie, that’s a huge help,” Mailata said. “You don’t know if we’re running the ball. We talked about how teams are going to 6-1 [fronts], and what that essentially does is put everyone on a one-on-one block and the margin for error decreases. Now that we have Fred in there, that kind of just lessens [it.]”
Landon Dickerson turned his head toward Saquon Barkley while reclining on a couch in the Eagles’ locker room on Wednesday. He acted dumbfounded when asked whether Barkley looks the same this season as he did during his historical 2024 campaign. “I mean, do you see somebody different?” Dickerson asked. “He looks the same to me. I don’t think somebody killed him and started dressing up as him.’ In Sunday’s 38-20 victory over the New York Giants, Barkley rushed for a season-best 150 yards. It started with a 65-yard rush on the second play of the game — a play that reminded anyone watching of the explosive runs that earned Barkley the offensive player of the year last season. Barkley ran behind Dickerson, giving the left guard a good view of the answer to the question from four days earlier. “I mean, I told you all it was the same Saquon,” Dickerson said after the game. “Nobody wanted to believe me.”
Lessons from NFL Week 8 blowouts: Taylor, Barkley, Kraft star – ESPN
As much as this was about Barkley reestablishing his confidence, this might also have been about convincing the offensive line that it can be the same dominant unit we saw a year ago. Before Sunday, carries by Eagles backs were expected to gain an average of only 3.5 yards per run by NFL Next Gen Stats’ model, the third-worst mark in the league. Only the Texans and Browns were worse. Last season, carries by Eagles running backs were expected to produce 4.2 yards per carry, which was ninth best around the NFL. The Eagles were up at 4.0 expected yards per carry on Sunday, their second-best single-game mark of the season. Amid widespread frustrations and concerns in Philadelphia that the Eagles couldn’t reestablish their identity on offense after the loss to the Giants two weeks ago, Nick Sirianni’s team showed that it is capable of being great in back-to-back games. Last week against the Vikings, Jalen Hurts and the passing game led the way with big plays, averaging more than 14 yards per pass attempt and throwing three touchdown passes. This Sunday, Hurts passed for four more scores, but the running game carried the bulk of the load. This was the second-best performance by EPA per snap on offense the Eagles have had since Sirianni took over, trailing only the win over the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game last season. Suddenly, as the Eagles reach their bye week, they appear to be hitting their stride on offense.
Week 8 NFL Takeaways: How People Are Looking at the Colts the Wrong Way – SI
Maybe it’s just me, but I think the fact that DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown combined for 300 yards and Jalen Hurts had a perfect passer rating last week against the Vikings, and this week the Eagles turned around and rushed for 276 yards against the Giants, should be terrifying to opponents. That’s the type of team—one that has the most answers—that dominates in the playoffs.
The Winners and Losers of the NFL Week 8 – The Ringer
You’ll notice the Eagles had Hurts lined up under center on that play. First-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has been doing more of that in recent weeks, and it’s helped set up Hurts for success in the passing game. Philadelphia has mostly operated out of shotgun throughout the Nick Sirianni era, so this could be a new wrinkle that gives the offense a much-needed boost down the stretch of the season. The Eagles defense also enjoyed a bounce-back performance on Sunday. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio dared Dart to go through his progressions in the pocket. The rookie looked uncomfortable doing that and dropped his eyes from downfield to look for exit lanes on a number of dropbacks. Fangio’s coverages and pressures had Dart seemingly doing TikTok dances in the pocket on his way to taking five sacks. It’s too early to say definitively that Philadelphia’s pass rush and running game are back, but in Sunday’s game, both performed in a way that we haven’t seen since the Super Bowl run last season. Unfortunately, thanks to the refereeing crew that was off its game all afternoon, that may be overshadowed by yet another round of tush push discourse. If the refs’ inability to properly officiate the play isn’t enough to get it banned next offseason, the prospect of never having to debate the play again should be enough to secure the votes.
Eagles turned their ‘maniac’ loose to demolish Giants: ‘He is a hungry dog’ – NJ.com
“I’m not surprised,” Mailata said about Bigsby’s performance. “I was just waiting for him to have a breakout game and it just happened to be today. That boy is hungry. Talk about hungry dogs. We always talk about hungry dogs run faster. Tank is a hungry dog.”
No, the Eagles aren’t better without A.J. Brown, but for one game they were – Inquirer
He is well-liked in the locker room, by the coaching staff, and the front office. But every player is expendable. The Eagles are unlikely to trade Brown ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline. There’s an astronomical dead money hit, and Howie Roseman would need blockbuster compensation to even consider. The Eagles general manager also isn’t known for trading players in their prime that are crucial to winning titles. Brown may not be pleased with whomever — most likely, Hurts — but it makes little sense for him to want to be moved. At least now. Hurts, to his credit, went out of his way to praise the receiver several times during his Wednesday news conference. But it would behoove the quarterback to make Brown happy on the field and off. His success raises all ships. “I think the best is yet to come,” Hurts said when asked about Sunday’s run offense explosion.
He sounds like he knows something. Getting Brown more involved would help.
NFL Playoff Picture: Odds to Win Super Bowl LX – FTN Fantasy
The NFL playoff picture odds report plays out the season 25,000 times. A random draw assigns each team a win or loss for each game. The probability that a team will be given a win is based on an equation which considers the DAVE ratings of the two teams as well as home-field advantage. (DVOA ratings are explained here.) [BLG Note: The Eagles have a 78.3% chance of winning the NFC East and an 11.1% chance of winning the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture.]
Cowboys at Broncos recap: Dallas dominated from start to finish in 44-24 loss – Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys had no business sharing a field with the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Both teams played like this was the case. Despite the fact that Dallas intercepted Denver on the first possession of the game… things were all Broncos from just about the jump. This game was exactly like most this season for the Cowboys in that the defense did very little to help the overall cause. Unfortunately, the offense had an off day as well which led to the collective dysfunction. This game felt like a litmus test for the Cowboys what with the Broncos looking like one of the better teams in the NFL through Week 7. Denver certainly played that way, but instead of rising to the occasion to match our out-duel them the Cowboys raised even more questions about themselves and ideas that they are on the other end of the league’s conversations around contenders. The Cowboys are now 3-4-1 and have failed their latest opportunity to get north of .500. Consider that they have not been in the black in that way since October 6th of last year.
The goal of All aTwitter is to give readers a detailed or quirky look, through the unique lens of Twitter, at the Commanders, the NFL, and sports in general, along with a smattering of other things.
…
Social Media Information:
BGN Facebook Page: Click here to like our page
BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen
BGN BlueSky: Follow @bleedgreennation.bsky.social
BGN Instagram: Follow @BleedingGreenInsta
BGN Manager: Follow Brandon Lee Gowton on Twitter | BlueSky | Threads
BGN Radio Twitter: Follow @BGN_Radio
See More:
