/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73867654/2194759499.0.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,800&ssl=1 "The Linc – Jalen Hurts looking “very mobile” and throwing the ball in practice “better than he has in weeks”")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73867654/2194759499.0.jpg "The Linc – Jalen Hurts looking “very mobile” and throwing the ball in practice “better than he has in weeks”")
Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
Eagles’ Jalen Hurts anticipates wearing knee brace vs. Commanders – ESPN
His teammates have been offering positive reports on Hurts this week. Right tackle Lane Johnson said following Thursday’s practice that Hurts “was mobile, he was moving.” Left tackle Jordan Mailata noted that his QB has had “good energy.” “I’m expecting Jalen to be Jalen,” said running back Saquon Barkley. “He’s going to show up for us, he’s going to make plays. He’s a winner. He’s got the ‘it’ factor.”
The offensive talent assembled by general manager Howie Roseman has given Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore a high-powered unit that can punish opponents utilizing force or finesse. The combination of Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley executing power reads and various gap schemes behind the best offensive line in football leaves defenders dazed, confused and demoralized by the league’s second-ranked rushing offense (179.3 yards per game during the regular season). After joining the 2,000-yard club in the regular season, Barkley has continued to run wild in the playoffs, totaling 324 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Philadelphia’s two postseason wins. While questions persist with Hurts and the Eagles’ passing game, the presence of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert expands the strike zone for the fifth-year quarterback. The trio of pass catchers can win against any coverage combination, with each exhibiting the precision and polish as a route runner to create open windows against man or zone. With Moore crafting a call sheet featuring QB-friendly schemes that make it easy for Hurts to play like a point guard from the pocket, Philly can attack in a number of ways. Now, Hurts entered this week with concerns about his left knee following a taxing tackle in the Eagles’ Divisional Round win over the Rams. Philadelphia’s signal-caller was off the injury report on Friday, though he anticipates wearing a knee brace against the Commanders, so we’ll have to see if that affects his performance.
Analyzing the matchups that could define the NFL’s conference championships – PFF
Jalen Hurts on play action vs. Commanders. The Eagles’ biggest worry revolves around Hurts, who could have an entirely separate article devoted to his play under pressure. How well he does on play action against a subpar Washington defense is also worth following. When Hurts and the Eagles beat the Commanders in Week 11, play action was the team’s tried-and-true method. While utilizing the concept on 41.2% of dropbacks, easily a season high, Hurts went 9-of-12 for 113 yards, zero turnover-worthy plays and a 100% adjusted completion percentage. His 84.1 PFF passing grade on play action was substantially higher than on non-play action dropbacks (49.2), which reflects his disparate splits. When opposing offenses run play action this year, the Commanders have been about average. Washington ranks 14th in EPA per play, 26th in success rate, 16th in average yards per play and 17th in team PFF coverage grade. The team’s numbers haven’t been much better against play action in the postseason, although Jared Goff completed only 5-of-8 play-action attempts on a smaller usage rate in the divisional round. When Hurts played only 12 snaps in Landover, Maryland, in Week 16, Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was more hesitant to deploy play action, running it just 20% of the time with Kenny Pickett — who generated a measly 50.6 PFF passing grade on such plays. With Hurts back under center in the trilogy of this series, the Commanders will need to hold up better against fake handoffs if they want to shock the world for a third time.
How the NFL’s Final Four Teams Explain the 2024 Season – The Ringer
It’s really a no-win situation for defenses. Even though Hurts has struggled at times this season, and the team’s passing attack has faltered, Philly’s dominant offensive line and productive run game have been able to provide the QB with clean pockets and protect him from complex coverage calls. That’s been the case for many of the winning quarterbacks across the league in 2024—but the Eagles are pushing it to the extreme, and they’re one win away from the team’s third Super Bowl appearance since 2018.
In Roob’s Observations: Just how freaking good is Quinyon Mitchell? – NBCSP
1. Where are the big pass plays? Since Week 10, Kenny Pickett has completed as many passes of 40 yards or more as Jalen Hurts. Two for Pickett in 39 attempts, two for Hurts in 197 pass attempts. The disappearing big pass play in the Eagles’ offense is definitely a concern going into Sunday. They have been winning without explosives, but it’s just a lot easier to beat really good teams if you’re hitting those big plays in the passing game. In nine games through Week 9, Hurts had nine 40-yard completions, tied with Joe Burrow and Brock Purdy for most in the league. His only 40-yarders since the Jacksonville game are a 44-yarder to A.J. Brown in the first Cowboys game and a 43-yarder to Barkley in the first Washington game. Now, this isn’t entirely Hurts’ fault. Brown dropped what would have been a 45-yarder against the Rams, and Kellen Moore has adopted a low-risk play calling philosophy the second half of the season. And, hey, that’s been working. But as the opponents get tougher – which they are at this point – you need to do more, and that’s where the Eagles are now. Maybe they can beat the Commanders and win a Super Bowl with the same approach. But those big plays just make life a whole lot easier for the offense.
Eagles-Commanders Final Injury Report: Dallas Goedert WILL play, Cam Jurgens questionable – BGN
If Jurgens can’t play or has to leave the game early, the Eagles will move Landon Dickerson to center and bring in Tyler Steen at left guard. We’ll find out if Jurgens is officially active or not for Sunday’s game when Eagles-Commanders inactives are announced at 1:30 PM Eastern on Sunday, 90 minutes prior to 3:00 PM kickoff. Of course, there will probably be more reporting on Jurgens prior to that point. The Eagles’ Saturday practice squad elevations will also be worth monitoring as it relates to the team potentially preparing for him not to play.
The NFC East NFC Title Game | NFC East Mixtape Vol 161 – BGN Radio
The NFC Championship Game is on Sunday afternoon and as fate would have it… it is an NFC East showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders. Given the significance of this it felt only right to launch a special edition of the NFC East Mixtape with RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton… plus to get the Washington perspective on things the guys brought in Jamual Forrest from the Trap or Dive Podcast! Also the crew discusses the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants being nowhere near this game and the former lost in their head coaching search. Note that at the time of this show that the Cowboys had yet to hire a head coach.
X-Factors on defense for the AFC, NFC Championships – SB Nation
Philadelphia Eagles: EDGE Nolan Smith. When the Eagles selected Georgia edge-rusher Nolan Smith with the 31st overall pick in the 2023 draft, it was a bit of a calculated risk. Not just because there were questions about the 6’2, 238-pound Smith’s ability to hold up to the rigors of the NFL at his size, but also because he missed several games in his last season at Georgia with a torn pectoral muscle. However, Smith’s status as basically a coach in the Bulldogs’ second straight National Championship season, and the great scouting combine he had, allayed some of those fears. Smith was a reserve in Philly’s loaded EDGE rotation in his rookie season, totaling two sacks and nine total pressures in 95 pass-rushing snaps. And while he was light with production in the first four games of the 2024 season (no sacks and three total pressures), the light started to come on in Vic Fangio’s first season as the team’s defensive coordinator. From Week 11 through the Divisional playoffs, Smith has led the team in sacks with five, and he ranks third behind Milton Williams and Jalen Carter in total pressures with 26. Not to mention the fact that in two games against Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, Smith was able to take care of business with two sacks and several other impressive pressures.
Home teams are 17-5 in conference championship games since 2014.Three of those five losses have been in overtime. Neither here nor there. Just interesting. The Ravens lost at home to the Chiefs in last year’s AFC title game. The Chiefs lost to the Bengals in 2022 and the Patriots in 2019. The Saints lost to the Rams in 2019. Historically, the higher seed has a huge advantage in this game. Same goes for big favorites. At last check Friday, the Eagles were holding steady at -6. Since 2003, favorites of six or more points are 13-3 straight up. They’ve won seven of their last eight games, the lone being exception that Chiefs loss to the Bengals in 2022 (Kansas City was a seven-point favorite, per Pro-Football-Reference.com). Past results are no guarantee of future success. Still, if you are an Eagles fan, you have to like the odds.
Carter has become the fulcrum of Vic Fangio’s top-ranked defense. The seven-time defensive coordinator desired Carter to be an every-down defender, and a conditioned Carter rarely rotated in the regular season and has only missed five snaps in two playoff games. “When he’s out there, he’s unstoppable,” Barkley said. Carter’s durability has been deeply significant. On his 68th snap in Sunday’s divisional-round win over the Los Angeles Rams, Carter likely saved Philadelphia’s season by driving his 6-foot-3, 314-pound frame into Matthew Stafford for a last-minute sack.“He has a big influence on this team,” Barkley said. Carter has recorded career-highs in tackles for loss (12), quarterback hits (16) and passes defended (6) while logging 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles on an Eagles defense that ranks first in defensive EPA per play (0.09) when including the postseason, according to TruMedia.
Older fans will remember the Eagles passing on Warren Sapp due to some character issues. It feels like history gave the Eagles another shot to get that decision right and they sure did this time around. Carter has embraced the challenges of pro football. He’s in the best shape of his life. He’s playing a ton of snaps and is still making plays at the end of games. Carter is handling his business. There was never a question about his talent, only whether he would live up to his potential.
Since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for four weeks, Goedert has put up strong numbers. In the regular-season finale against the Giants where he played with mostly the second-team offense against the Giants starting defense, he caught four of his six targets for 55 yards. That game jump started a strong playoff performance where he has caught eight passes, tying him with wide receiver DeVonta Smith for the team lead in the postseason, for 103 receiving yards, a team-high, and a touchdown. Goedert said he is trying to make the most of the opportunities that he gets, especially after the catch where he is averaging 8.9 yards after the catch in the playoffs (71 yards on eight catches). “I just always make sure anytime my number’s called, I try to do whatever I can with it,” Goedert said. “When my number is called, I want to make plays. It also takes everybody. Sometimes it might mean doing something to help someone else. Like I always say, I will do anything I can do to help the team win, and once I get the ball in my hands, I just try to be a wrecking ball and get as close to the end zone as I can.”
2024 Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship HYPE VIDEO – PE.com
You’ll be ready to run through a brick wall with Brian Dawkins narrating the NFC Championship Hype Video. [BLG Note: Easily the best team-issued playoff hype video this season.]
Bobby Wagner on Saquon Barkley: We have to stay disciplined the whole game – PFT
That’s been the priority for the Packers and the Rams the last two weeks as well and doing it is a very different story. On Thursday, Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner explained what he thinks the team needs to do in order to keep Barkley from going off. “You just try to contain him,” Wagner said, via audio from the team. “This is gonna be a game of discipline. The last game [against the Rams], they did a pretty decent job for the most part but he’s waiting for that one person to pop out of the gap. He’s waiting for that one person to be undisciplined. . . . That’s going to be our challenge — to be disciplined the whole time, the whole game. He has the ability and the talent to break a run at any given point, and we need to make sure that don’t happen.”
Daron Payne suffered a thumb dislocation vs the Buccaneers, but was able to play vs the Lions on Sunday. He was listed with a new knee injury this week, and he hasn’t practiced all week. If Payne is inactive, Carl Davis Jr is on the practice squad, and was elevated for three games during the season.
Cowboys hire Brian Schottenheimer to be next head coach – PhillyVoice
As we noted when the Cowboys and McCarthy parted ways a week ago, it was no guarantee the Cowboys’ new head coach would be an upgrade. And really, a downgrade felt like a decent probability, which could further plunge the Cowboys into the free fall they experienced this past season. Schottenheimer, in my opinion, is indeed a downgrade, and a pretty significant one at that. More alarmingly for Cowboys fans, the Cowboys interviewed fewer people for their head coaching job than a summer ice cream parlor might have for a part-time teenager to work the register. Schottenheimer aside, they reportedly only interviewed Eagles OC Kellen Moore, Seahawks AHC Leslie Frazier, and former Jets HC Robert Saleh for the job. They seemed to have simply landed on hiring a warm body already in the building who is likely inexpensive.
4 reasons why Brian Schottenheimer is a good hire for the Cowboys – Blogging The Boys
For all the talk of Jerry trying to find his next Dan Campbell by hiring Witten, he might accidentally find it in Schottenheimer. After all, nobody (well, almost nobody) had Campbell on their radar except for the Lions. But Detroit believed in his valuable experience, having played for Bill Parcells and coached under Sean Payton, and trusted his vision despite everyone telling them it was too unconventional of a hire. Nobody will confuse Schottenheimer for Campbell – they look completely different and might as well speak different languages – but the results could be similar. Schottenheimer could infuse the team with a sense of “us against the world” in the same way Campbell embraced “Detroit vs Everybody.” That deep sense of needing to prove oneself could be just what the Cowboys need right now.
Big Blue View mailbag: Saquon Barkley, tanking, Shane Bowen, more – Big Blue View
There was always potential for Barkley to embarrass the Giants, especially since he signed with Philadelphia. The type of incredible individual season he has had, the fact that the Eagles might win the Super Bowl, and the reality that so much of the internal Barkley decision played out on television in ‘Hard Knocks’ makes it all even harder to swallow. Had the Giants had a good season, they would be able to point to that and say what he’s doing in Philly doesn’t matter because we did what was best for us and we were right. That didn’t happen. I have said before that the Barkley decision was, and still is, understandable and defensible. The Giants needed money for the offensive line, and used the funds to sign three starters. With a rookie fifth-round pick and a modestly paid veteran running back the Giants actually ran the ball better in 2024 than they had with Barkley in 2023. It is also fully within reason to understand why the Giants did not want to give big money to a back with the mileage and injury history Barkley has. History tells us that is not a good idea. The Giants knew he had good football left — director of pro scouting Chris Rossetti was clear about that. They just weren’t sure for how long. It is, though, all of the other things that I think GM Joe Schoen did not attach enough importance to. What he meant to the locker room as a leader and the face of the franchise. What he meant to the entire organization. What he meant to the fan base. Losing so much leadership — Barkley, Leonard Williams, Julian Love, Xavier McKinney and probably others — was problematic.
Bears add Al Harris and Antwaan Randle-El to coaching staff – Windy City Gridiron
According to the Dallas Cowboys website, Al Harris, the Cowboys’ defensive backs and assistant head coach last season, will join the Bears as a defensive passing game coordinator. […] Harris spent time in Kansas City from 2013 to 2018, overlapping with GM Ryan Poles. After spending 2019 in the college ranks with Florida Atlantic, he joined the Cowboys staff in 2020 and has been there since. As a player, he played 15 years in the NFL in stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles (Andy Reid connection), Green Bay Packers (Mike McCarthy connection), Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. He spent eight years with the Packers, probably his best-known NFL stint.
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