Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
Ten unanswered quarterback questions looming over the 2025 NFL playoff race (and beyond) – NFL.com
1) Can Jalen Hurts smooth over the Eagles’ offensive issues in time to save their season? Despite their record, the Eagles offense has been in a season-long funk — a largely absent running game, a failure to consistently involve their top playmakers, general lack of execution — but the listless loss to the Bears on Black Friday, coming on the heels of blowing a 21-point lead to the Cowboys just five days earlier, had the feel of a developing emergency. The offense went three-and-out four times, another drive ended after two plays on an interception, another after four plays on a fumble. Hurts wasn’t great Sunday — he had a fumble on a tush push attempt, and the interception — and he completed just eight of 16 pass attempts at the start of the fourth quarter. It’s probably too late to hope that everything that has hampered the offense will be figured out this season, so it’s going to be up to Hurts to play well enough to make up for all the other ills. If he does, the Eagles will be able to hold off the charging Cowboys. If he doesn’t, the Eagles are going to hear more and more comparisons to their 2023 collapse and crash out of the playoffs.
Teams are suddenly blitzing Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, and it’s working for them – PhillyVoice
Last year, Hurts ranked among the NFL’s best QBs in dicing up extra-man pressures. He ranked top-10 in passer rating, completion percentage over expectation, yards per attempt, pass EPA and EPA per dropback against the blitz in 2024, putting his name in the same company as other elite blitz destroyers Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff and Josh Allen. And through the first five weeks of the season, he was once again unflappable when blitzed. But much like the rest of the offense – and now the run defense with it – Hurts has regressed in the category in which he once thrived, and even teams that typically don’t like to blitz are throwing the house at him, and succeeding. Never was that more evident than the Eagles’ 24-15 loss on Black Friday against the Bears, who played an unusually high amount of man coverage and blitzed him at a 47.1-percent rate, the third-highest blitz rate of any NFL team in Week 13. The Bears this year rank 11th in blitz percentage, at around 30 percent, which is a necessity for coordinator Dennis Allen given Chicago’s lack of elite pass rushers. Allen’s willingness to blitz at a rate 17 percentage points higher than his season average on a night when gusty winds were already impacting the passing game for both teams was as glaring as it was beneficial for Chicago.
Five predictions for the Eagles’ final five regular-season games – PHLY
4) Jalen Hurts has at least two game with double-digit rushing attempts. Simply put, the absence of a quarterback-inclusive run game has been one of the most confounding elements of the Eagles offense this season. The best versions of the Eagles offense the last few years have been built in part around the threat Hurts poses on designed runs, zone reads, or scrambles, but there’s been an obvious effort to pare Hurts’ usage rate down in each of those areas this year. With the stakes rising late in the season and the Eagles offense still missing an identity, my guess is that changes in the coming weeks. We’ve seen hints of Hurts increasing his workload as a runner in the last two games; one of the Eagles’ most productive drives against Chicago was even sparked by a 23-yard run from Hurts on a quarterback draw. And while Hurts has registered double-digit rushing attempts just twice this season — something he did eight times last season — I’ll go out on a limb and predict it’ll happen at least twice in the next five. “As we go forward, he’s going to continue to be a part of the offense with some of these designed runs,” Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said Wednesday. “and we just have to pick and choose when they’re available and when they present themselves. Sometimes they do in moments and he’s done it the last couple weeks. We just have to continue to lean into that.”
Vic Fangio confirms Jalen Carter is dealing with a shoulder injury – BGN
The Eagles are preparing for the Chargers on Monday night, but defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke to reporters on Wednesday, and answered a few more questions about the defense’s issues against the Bears last week. He explained that the run defense wasn’t good enough, why that will be a problem against Los Angeles, and also touched on Jalen Carter dealing with a shoulder injury.
Fantasy Football WR Report: Man, zone coverage performance ahead of NFL Week 14 – PFF
The Eagles have deployed man and zone coverages at average rates and field a top-10 defense in first-down-plus-touchdown rate allowed while in man (35.3%) and zone (31.6%). Keenan Allen ranks just inside the top 10 in fantasy points per route run against zone coverage this season, with a team-leading 25% target rate. He should get plenty of looks this week, making him a solid option to overcome a below-average matchup.
Numbers and trends that could impact Monday’s Eagles-Chargers game in Los Angeles – Inquirer
Regardless of who plays, the Chargers did a much better job protecting Herbert last week. He faced a pressure rate of just 26.9%, according to Next Gen, his second-lowest rate of the season. Herbert, who has been dealing with a banged-up offensive line, entered Week 13 facing pressure on 42.7% of his drop backs in 2025, the highest of any quarterback this year with 375 drop backs. He completed 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Raiders have one of the lowest pressure rates (26.9%) in the NFL. The Eagles pressure the quarterback at a 34.3% clip and should be able to find some more success getting after Herbert.
NFL players, coaches with most at stake in playoff push – ESPN
Jordan Davis, DT, Philadelphia Eagles. Do the Eagles value Davis? Sure. He has been a useful defensive tackle since joining the organization, playing a key role on early downs against the run while forming a stiff 1-2 punch with fellow first-rounder Jalen Carter. The Eagles picked up Davis’ fifth-year option after their Super Bowl run in 2024, and Davis quickly responded by winning the team a critical contest in the NFC this season by blocking a last-second field goal attempt by the Rams and returning it for a game-sealing touchdown. And yet, it’s fair to suggest that the Eagles were hoping they would land a more consistently dominant player when they used the 13th pick on him in 2022. It seemed telling that an organization that is routinely more aggressive than just about any other in football when it comes to signing its young players to extensions chose to simply pick up Davis’ fifth-year option as opposed to signing him to a long-term deal. Davis has had more splash plays this season, and he has managed a career-high three sacks, although those were all on snaps in which he chased down a scrambling quarterback. Playing more than 50% of the snaps for the first time as a pro, Davis is clearly a good player. Coming off a game in which the Eagles allowed the Bears to run for a whopping 281 yards, though, a defensive collapse would hurt Davis’ chances of landing a contract more in line with that of a great player this offseason.
2025 Game Review – CHI 24, PHI 15 – Iggles Blitz
Nick Sirianni was at home on a short week. He was going up against a rookie coach and a second year QB. Which team looked better prepared? Which team played better? This was just one game, but it wasn’t a great look for Sirianni.
What Eagles’ Kevin Patullo said about fans who ‘crossed a line’ when they egged his home – NJ.com
“Ultimately, you want to be able to separate the job from your family,” he said. “That line was crossed and it was an unfortunate incident and … us as a family we know we’ve got to stick together. To be honest, there are a lot of great people in the community. I have great neighbors and so many people have reached out to my wife and I and my family … and we just have to move on from it at this point. We’ve had a great experience here in Philadelphia and it’s a very special and unique place to work and I look forward to the games we have and finishing strong this season.”
All-Access: Week in the life of Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship – PE.com
The latest episode of All-Access, presented by Lincoln Financial, takes you inside the week leading up to gameday with Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship. From their podcast taping to their workouts and practices to the sidelines, see what makes these best friends one of the most exciting duos in the NFL.
Justin Herbert says he’s preparing to play Monday night, one week after left hand surgery – PFT
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is hopeful about being on the field Monday night against the Eagles, one week after having surgery on his left hand. Herbert told reporters today that he had a plate and a few screws put into his broken left hand two days ago, according to Omar Ruiz of NFL Network. That gives him one week to recover for the Chargers’ game on Monday night.
Chargers-Eagles By The Numbers: Bolts face underwhelming Philly DEF – Bolts From The Blue
Earlier in the year this matchup against the Eagles looked a whole lot scarier. But on paper entering Week 14, the reigning Super Bowl look closer to a house cat than a lion. Jalen Hurts isn’t throwing the ball nearly as well this year and running back Saquon Barkley is on pace to record nowhere near his 2,000+ rushing yards he had in 2024. The defense, despite featuring man of the same impact players from their championship team, simply isn’t playing up to par as of late. Even with their injuries across the roster, the Chargers really do have a shot this week at improving to 9-4, but the Eagles will be a tough out regardless of what the stats say.
Get Ready for the 2026 Quarterback Carousel – The Ringer
If making a big splash is what matters most for the Jets, they could trade several early-round draft picks for a player like Trevor Lawrence. He has all the physical tools a franchise quarterback needs, has the name recognition necessary to draw eyeballs and ticket sales to New York, and could be a good fit in New York’s offense, assuming that coordinator Tanner Engstrand wants to replicate the success he helped cultivate in Detroit with Ben Johnson. If we’re being realistic, though, trading for Tanner McKee would be the smartest choice here by a country mile. McKee’s play style resembles that of Lions quarterback Jared Goff, he’d be an inexpensive addition to the team, and it wouldn’t hurt the Jets if it became clear that he’d be better off as a backup. By acquiring a player like McKee, New York could still go out and draft a young quarterback who fits in the Goff mold and potentially give him time to learn the offense before taking over as a full-time starter.
Buffalo Bills claim CB Darius Slay Jr. off waivers in Week 14 – Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills have added veteran cornerback Darius Slay to their 53-man active roster, per a report by ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter. The soon-to-be 35-year-old Slay has played for three teams in 13 NFL seasons. Slay was more recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom he had signed a one-year, $10 million contract this past offseason. […] Per a report by Ian Rapoport, The Eagles had also placed a claim for Slay, hoping to reunite with the cornerback. That is, until the Bills entered the picture with a claim that was higher in the priority order. In the end, it all came down to a strength of schedule (SOS) tiebreaker.
NFC East update: Cowboys catching up as Eagles slump – Blogging The Boys
This is a huge week for both teams. The Cowboys have probably the toughest game left on their schedule, traveling to Detroit on Thursday night. It’s not a short week as both teams are coming off their traditional Thanksgiving games. But with both Dallas and Detroit fighting for wild card spots, the Lions currently eighth in the NFC just ahead of us, it is no cliché to call this an early playoff game. If Dallas can clear this hurdle, all eyes turn westward to Monday night’s meeting between the Eagles and Chargers in Los Angeles. Philly will have had a few extra days of rest, having last played on Black Friday, but the Chargers are in their own division race with the Broncos and are at least trying to stay afloat as an AFC wild card team. The Eagles’ offense may have a hard time getting right against the NFL’s third-ranked defense.
The Anatomy of a Rebuild: How Dan Quinn Can Engineer a Defensive Overhaul in Washington – Hogs Haven
The irony of a lost season is that the final month may provide the clearest snapshot of the future. The Commanders won’t salvage their record, but they may salvage their defensive identity. The last two weeks showed a group finally playing within its means — no longer overextending, no longer drowning in mismatches down after down, no longer miscast in one-on-one scenarios they couldn’t win. It’s been far from dominant, but it was competent. And competence can be the seed of transformation. Injuries have decimated the group, and that’s understandable and absolutely a major factor, but Quinn now has the chance to reshape the defense with intentionality: acquiring players who fit his system, not just players talented enough to survive in it. With the right blend of emerging youth (Magee, Sainristil, Amos), foundational veterans (Payne/Armstrong), and potential additions (Downs or Reese, Paye, Mafe), Washington can build a defense with contour, identity, and modern viability. A lost year can still be a turning point. The Commanders just have to treat the evidence on-field as a blueprint, not a postmortem.
Which current head coach would do you want the NY Giants to hire? – Big Blue View
C) Mike Tomlin — This was an unthinkable option when the Giants fired Brian Daboll. However all of the Steelers’ moves to prop open a championship window that should have closed years ago have backfired to the sound of “Fire Tomlin” echoing across Heinz Field. Tomlin has never had a losing season and always seems to have his team playing up to the limits of its potential… Even when that ceiling is limited by age or talent. Tomlin is only 53 years old, yet has been one of the league’s most respected coaches for all of his 19 years on the job in Pittsburgh.
NFL playoff picture: Colts on the way out; can Bears win NFC North? – SB Nation
Welcome to December football. Things are suddenly very serious for NFL teams, especially those that are in the hunt for a playoff spot, and that is exciting. We wait all through the spring and summer for moments like these and this month is going to be filled with them. As Santa and his elves work through the eleventh hour to ready everything for delivery, life in the NFL rolls on. Playoff spots are hanging in the balance and we here at The Skinny Post, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, have thoughts on everybody fighting to get into the proverbial dance. Let’s go.
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