/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73854880/2194078219.0.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,800&ssl=1 "The Linc – PFF shows love to the Eagles’ “secret superstar”")
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Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
Every NFL team’s secret superstar from the 2024 season – PFF
Philadelphia Eagles: EDGE Nolan Smith. When Brandon Graham suffered a torn triceps in Week 12 and with Bryce Huff missing time, the Eagles easily could have experienced a decline in pass-rusher productivity. Instead, Smith rose to the occasion, accumulating 22 pressures and an 82.3 PFF run-defense grade since Week 13 — both of which are top-22 marks among all defenders. Howie Roseman selected Smith with the intention of molding him into a long-term edge defending piece, and he’s already paid dividends in Year 2.
This has been the book on Smith even before his recent burst of production. For someone as athletically gifted as Smith, his reputation has been based more on effort than tools. Sirianni cites his intangible characteristics, which is noteworthy because somebody with his athletic testing is more often known for tangible characteristics. “You could run 4.2 and not give energy the entirety of your career,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “He gives energy regardless if it’s Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, obviously it’s infectious on Sunday. He’s in these meetings, he’s dialed in. He asks questions. He just wants to help out. I see him up in (edge rusher coach Jeremiah Washburn’s) room on Fridays after a lighter practice, getting more feedback, ‘What can I get better at?’ His intangibles and his want-to-be great is just unbelievable.” “He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve had,” said Lane Johnson, who’s practiced against pestering pass rushers for 12 seasons.
How the inquisitive Nolan Smith grew to become the Eagles’ answer at edge rusher – Inquirer
Zack Baun, the Eagles’ All-Pro inside linebacker, is typically aligned in the middle of the action on the gridiron on Sundays. During the week, Baun sits in the middle of the action in Vic Fangio’s defensive meetings, too. Nolan Smith, the second-year outside linebacker, and Jeremiah Washburn, his position coach, sit on either side of Baun in the auditorium. Baun isn’t just a fly on the wall for their interactions, he practically is the wall. As Fangio speaks, Smith peers around Baun to ask Washburn questions throughout the meeting, over and over again. The energetic edge rusher seeks input from Washburn, especially about his pass-rush decisions. Should I go bull-slip here? Or should I have done something else? The 6-foot-2, 238-pound Smith jots his takeaways down in his notebook, then repeats the process throughout the meeting. Baun finds their exchanges enlightening about Smith’s desire to hone his craft. “He doesn’t seem like a second-year player to me at all,” Baun said. “He’s tough, he’s physical, and he’s willing to learn.”
Eagles’ tenacious player delivering power to defense: ‘One time, he broke my nose’ – NJ.com
“One time, he broke my nose,” Carswell told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “I was playing scout team quarterback. He was going full speed. I dipped and bent back around and there he was. … He was like, ‘Coach, sorry, sorry, sorry.’ I was like, ‘Hey, you’re doing exactly what I told you to do. You were going full speed.’” It would not be the last time Smith, whom the Eagles drafted in the first round of the 2023 draft, caused an injury. During the first quarter of the Eagles’ playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, Smith knocked Packers offensive guard Elgton Jenkins out of the game with a stinger.
Eagles-Rams Film Preview – BGN
Let’s focus on the passing game first. Matthew Stafford has superstar ability. The arm talent and funky arm angles he can throw from are rare. If the Rams’ offensive line keeps him clean, he will be hard to stop. However, Stafford is a statue in the pocket and does not want to get hit. If the Eagles can get pressure early, Stafford will really struggle. The Rams were 0/8 against the Eagles on 3rd down in week 12 because the Eagles did a good job getting after Stafford. Despite what I just said, the Eagles should not blitz Stafford a lot. Stafford is too smart and he can shred the blitz. Brian Flores blitzed him a lot last week, and Stafford made him pay. The best way to get after Stafford is with simulated pressure, such as ‘Whip’, a Vic Fangio favorite! Annoyingly, Nakobe Dean is usually the blitzing linebacker on Whip, which makes his injury even more annoying.
Rams-Eagles bold predictions – Turf Show Times
Only one team scores above 20 points. The Rams defense is not getting enough love after matching a NFL playoff record with their nine sack performance against the Minnesota Vikings in their Wild Card matchup. After stifling multiple offenses on their route to the playoff contention many analysts have claimed that Sunday’s bout is the “true test” to see if the Rams defense has become one of the best in the league… They might be right. The last time LA saw Philly it was in their own house and it was Saquon Barkley chasing Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record to a tune of 255 yards on the ground. A lot has changed since then. The Rams wouldn’t lose another game and their young defense appears to have improved mightily thanks to the re-emergence of Akhello Witherspoon in the back field and a fearsome defensive line that has kept opposing quarterbacks up at night. The Eagles have nothing to prove on defense and have the number one ranked unit in the league. Jalen Carter and Darius Slay headline their vaulted group and just held the Green Bay Packers to 10 points during Wild Card Weekend. Jordan Love was picked off three times and sacked twice.
How do the 2024 Eagles stack up against the 2022 and 2017 Eagles? – PhillyVoice
In my opinion, the 2022 and 2024 Eagles rosters were more talented than the 2017 team, but the 2017 team just had so many intangibles working in its favor. As for 2022 vs. 2024, I’d give the nod to 2022 because Hurts was playing a much higher level, and that team had an elite pass rush.
Weird stat. The Rams haven’t faced many special RBs in the playoffs. Back in 2020 Aaron Jones ran for 99 yards on them, on only 14 carries. The Packers ran for 188 as a team. Sony Michel was 18-94 in the Pats Super Bowl win back in 2018. If the Rams do shut down Saquon, it will be due to great defense and not some weird stat history. This Rams defense has been vulnerable to the run for most of the season so I don’t expect that to change drastically.
Roob’s Random Observations: Who’s the best option to replace Nakobe Dean? – NBCSP
1. Oren Burks looks like an outstanding special teams player trying to play linebacker. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. looks like a linebacker playing linebacker. Burks is tough and physical and gives 100 percent effort. I just see something different when Trotter is playing, and that’s the instincts and athleticism that make him such an intriguing young prospect. And I’m sure Vic Fangio sees the same thing, and that’s why Trotter will have at least some role on defense – and quite possibly a significant one – Sunday when the Eagles face the Rams at the Linc. Nakobe Dean will be missed in so many ways. He’s been playing at a Pro Bowl level, and he’s developed into a key young leader on the NFL’s No. 1 defense, and the Eagles don’t have anybody like him. But one thing you can tell pretty quickly watching Trotter is that he’s physical, he’s around the ball, he moves well, he’s got advanced football instincts – not surprising, considering his lineage – and he’s stronger in coverage than Burks. Why play both of them? Burks is a very savvy 8th-year veteran who’s played a lot of football. But I want to see a generous helping of Trotter as well. I believe despite his youth and inexperience he’s the better option.
“It was that in-depth,” said Riley, now the head coach at the University of Southern California. “You could tell how meticulous he was and how important it was to him to really understand and to be very thorough.”This is who Jalen has always been, Averion informed Riley. It’s who Jalen still is. Sirianni and Moore are now the recipients of such marathon phone calls. Sirianni has said it was the “common ground” of how he and Hurts “both deeply want to win football games” and “both deeply care about the culture of this football team” that’s helped them connect this year. But without trust in an on-field plan, and Jalen’s role within it, no professional relationship is going to be pure. Winning is the only metric that matters. Apart from that, there’s little use in talking about anything else. “The games to him are everything,” Riley said.That’s also where the only confirmation existed. After some rocky spring practices at Oklahoma, Riley says Hurts gave him some constructive pushback, some tough moments in which Hurts seemed to be testing Riley’s assurance in the plan they had together. “If something’s not going well or didn’t go well that day, there was going to be a phone call that night,” Riley said. “He was going to call me or I was going to call him, and we were going to hash it out. He’s never disrespectful. Ever. Like, not even in the least bit. There were times where there was a little bit of like, ‘You really want me to do this? You really think this is gonna work? You really want me to lead this way?’ I don’t think he’s testing how much I believe in it. He knew I believed in it. I think he was like, ‘All right now, we’ve worked together some. You’ve been around me some. Do you really believe this is going to work for me?’”
NFL divisional round best bets: Backing a pair of totals, dipping into five props – ESPN+
Los Angeles Rams UNDER 17.5 team total points (-115). The Rams delivered a strong defensive outing to get past the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round, and Matthew Stafford looked like vintage playoff Stafford. But I’m not sold on the Rams’ offense, which produced only 20 of the Rams’ 27 points against Minnesota. In the Rams’ three previous games where their starters saw regular action, they scored 13, 19 and 12 points, respectively. A huge 44-point outing against the Buffalo Bills in Week 14 is doing a lot to elevate the Rams’ offense in the national eye. Now Los Angeles must face a Philadelphia Eagles defense that has been among the best in football for much of the season, with a defensive coordinator in Vic Fangio who was excellent against the Rams in 2018 when he was the DC for the Chicago Bears and again in Week 12 this season in a 37-20 Eagles win. There is also inclement weather expected in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 75% chance of some wintry mix and temperatures around freezing. That weather should affect the Rams, a warm-weather team that plays its home games in a covered stadium and likes to throw the ball, much more than the Eagles, who rely on their run game to move down the field.
Why Dan picked the Eagles: There is an unquantifiable grit to this Rams team, which was on display yet again in a blowout of the Vikings to close out Wild Card Weekend. That’s part of what makes it hard to pick against them. They are well-coached, have a Super Bowl-winning quarterback leading them and their young defense seems to have found its footing. But no, I don’t smell an upset brewing. Matthew Stafford has won each of his last six starts since, well, losing to the Eagles 37-20 at SoFi Stadium in Week 12. We might be going back to the future on Sunday because, while I do believe Los Angeles’ defense has improved, I don’t think it’s going to be enough to close the gap between the two teams. The Eagles had the league’s No. 1 total defense and pass defense in 2024, and they ranked second in rushing offense. The Rams ranked 26th, 20th and 24th in those categories, respectively.
NFL Weather Report – RotoGrinders
Everything looks to be trending towards a snow game in PHI. The extent of the snow isn’t set in stone, but I do think we’ll see snow in-game, and likely enough of it to stick around. Winds stay manageable (5-10mph sustained, gusts 15-20mph). It is always worth noting with snow that if the winds stay light it can be a boost to offenses as it slows down the pass rush.
Eagles’ A.J. Brown meets ‘Inner Excellence’ author Jim Murphy – Awful Announcing
Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown met Inner Excellence author Jim Murphy Friday, and the pair chatted like old friends. Many fans and media were surprised when Brown was spotted reading the motivational book on the sideline during the Eagles’ Wild Card win Sunday over the Green Bay Packers.
Microsoft Teams Legend of the Week: Corey Clement – PE.com
The pride of Glassboro, New Jersey, Corey Clement returns home once again as he will be the Honorary Captain for Sunday’s Divisional Round matchup with the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field. Clement recounts his incredible rookie season, one that started with him not being drafted and ended with 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl win over the Patriots. He catches up with Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro in our Microsoft Teams Legend of the Week interview.
The Lions and Commanders are among most elite and aggressive on fourth downs – SB Nation
The NFC Divisional Round gets under way with the top-seeded Detroit Lions taking on the Washington Commanders, who have finally reached this stage of the playoffs for the first time in nearly 20 years. Despite the wide point spread in Detroit’s favor, this game has the highest over/under total of the weekend and for good reason. Detroit’s defense is getting healthier yet is still significantly undermanned, Washington’s defense is improving but still not very good, and both offenses are among the NFL’s highest scorers. One of the most fascinating subplots is the inevitable fourth-down decision-making from both teams. While Detroit’s identity under Dan Campbell is etched in stone, Washington’s is only just forming under a new coach and rookie sensation quarterback.
In the graphic above, you’ll see the polling results from three different groups of respondents. On the left, a majority of Hogs Haven readers (53%) believe that the Commanders will prevail tonight and move onto the NFC Championship game. Of the minority of respondents who are picking the Lions to win, only 11% think the Lions will cover the 9.5-point spread. The middle graphic shows a confident fan base for the top-seeded Lions, where 53% of respondents pick the Lions to cover the spread, and only 9% concede a Commanders victory.
Jerry Jones’ regret over Sean Payton may improve Kellen Moore’s chances – Blogging The Boys
Kellen Moore is one of the current frontrunners to take that job. He was a Cowboys backup QB from 2015-2017, QB coach in 2018, and offensive coordinator from 2019-2022. With Mike McCarthy wanting more offensive control in 2023, Moore moved on to become the Chargers’ coordinator. But after a difficult season and then Jim Harbaugh’s arrival in 2024, Moore was again on the market and spent last year as OC with the Philadelphia Eagles. Many are drawing parallels to Jason Garrett when discussing Moore’s candidacy for the Dallas opening, and that’s logical given some of their similar history as both players and coaches here. But Jerry Jones’ miss on Sean Payton should also be considered in his desire to reunite with Moore.
DraftKings restores Cowboys’ next coach bet, with Kellen Moore the favorite – PFT
The volatility that prompted DraftKings to stop the betting has ended. Wagers are once again being taken for the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The current favorite, at -150, is Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. He interviewed virtually for the position on Friday. Next on the list is Colorado coach Deion Sanders, at +200. Earlier this week, he was the favorite.
Is Russell Wilson the right bridge quarterback for the New York Giants? – Big Blue View
Wilson is certainly an obvious possibility. I agree with a couple of things that Vacchiano said. Not every veteran quarterback with options is going to look at the Giants as a desirable location. The Giants should not give up significant draft capital to acquire a stop-gap like Cousins. In a recent mock draft, Jamie Eisner of The Draft Network has the Giants trading up to No. 1 to draft Cam Ward. I have always maintained that no price is too high if you end up being right about the quarterback. The price Eisner has the Giants paying — picks 3, 34, 65 (basically the first two days of their draft) and a 2026 second-round pick — is, in my view, too steep for a team that has to show improvement in 2025 or face another complete teardown/rebuild. How do you surround the quarterback with talent without draft picks to help you do that? Back to Wilson, though. If the Giants think they are going to be unable to land the quarterback they want at No. 3 they have to have a legitimate veteran starting quarterback on the roster.
Bicknell, 55, oversaw a Patriots tight end group that combined for 113 catches, 1,170 yards and five touchdowns in 2024. The 4-13 campaign gave way to captain Hunter Henry setting career highs while veteran addition Austin Hooper made three visits to the end zone. An alum of Boston College, where he played tight end, Bicknell began his coaching career in 1993 and went on to spend five years in NFL Europe. Since 2007, while also working as an offensive line coach, wide receivers coach and senior offensive assistant, the three-time World Bowl champion has made stops on the staffs of the Chiefs, 49ers, Baylor Bears, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints.
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