The Linc – “[Jalen Hurts] plays his best when he feels like people doubt him”

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Can Jalen Hurts provide a Super Bowl win to quiet the doubters? – ESPN

It has been a different kind of season for Hurts. After a 2-2 start that included way too many turnovers (seven of which were charged to the quarterback), the Eagles’ coaching staff shifted to a more Saquon Barkley-heavy attack. Hurts in turn took on more of a game manager role. He threw for 200-plus yards twice from mid-November on. That approach fueled questions about the state of the passing game and whether Hurts would be able to dial it up when called upon. He answered that decisively against Washington, going 20-of-28 for 246 yards through the air while racking up four total touchdowns. “How about QB1, man? I love when people doubt him,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “We always talk about limiting the outside noise or the white noise, whatever you want to call it. But I know he hears that and I think he plays his best when he feels like people doubt him.”

Jeffrey Lurie dropped some interesting tidbits on Super Bowl opening night – BGN

3 – The Eagles are not losing a home game in 2026 after all. A recent report claimed the Eagles are “likely” to play the Los Angeles Rams in Australia during the 2026 NFL season. If that report is true, the Eagles would be losing a home game since they’re set to host the Rams that year. Lurie, however, said the Eagles will be the visiting team if they’re playing in Australia. Which seems more plausible than the Eagles losing two games at Lincoln Financial Field within three seasons.

Trading Myles Garrett is a simple, sobering decision for the Browns – Dawgs By Nature

Will the Browns trade Myles Garrett? Yes. Yes, they will. Why? Because they know it is in the best interest of the player. Garrett has given Cleveland his all every season. He has played hurt and remained loyal while the roster around him has floundered. He rarely complained, and just showed up each season, performed, and found room on his mantle for one more Pro Bowl trophy. Now, his career is on a clock. There aren’t that many more seasons of playing football for Garrett. Let him go and send him to a winning team. Kiss him on the cheek, and say, “I love you, son. Be careful.” And while a Kleenex may be at the ready, the flip side is what the Browns will receive. The guess is at least two first-round draft picks. Maybe a player added, or a lower-round pick thrown in, or even a bag of footballs. But whatever it is, the bounty will help turn this franchise around.

In Roob’s Eagles Observations: Can Howie Roseman pull off a Myles Garrett trade? – NBCSP

1. I don’t know if Myles Garrett is a realistic target for the Eagles because of the financials, but I do know if there’s any way Howie Roseman can make it work it would be one hell of a move. Like most things, it comes down to money. Would the Browns even consider absorbing north of $35 million in dead money and giving up one of the best players in franchise history? Depends what they’d get back. And the Eagles won’t have the cap space this offseason that they usually have. Or a very good 1st-round pick. And Garrett’s production is still world-class and he’s shown no sign of slowing down, but he is 29. So there’s a lot to weigh. But three things come to mind. After joint Eagles-Browns joint practices in Berea, Ohio, two summers ago, we watched Garrett spend at least 15 minutes on the field talking football with Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata, and they all spoke later about the respect they have for each other. That doesn’t hurt. Second, like Saquon Barkley before he got here, Garrett has just never experienced what it’s like to be on an elite team, and that’s the only thing missing from his career and that’s all he wants at this point. The Browns are 53-78 since they drafted Garrett with the first pick in 2017 with one playoff win. The Eagles have been to three Super Bowls since he was drafted. So you know this is the type of team he wants to come to. And third, the Eagles’ edge position is really in flux. Josh Sweat has had an uneven season and is due to become a free agent. Brandon Graham turns 37 this spring and triceps injury or not his future is unclear. Jalyx Hunt has shown a lot of promise but his ceiling is unknown. And Bryce Huff is Bryce Huff. So it’s really Nolan Smith and a bunch of question marks. Garrett plays the position of greatest need on the roster. So mark this one down in the unlikely but intriguing category. And when Howie is involved, anything’s possible. You know he would love to pull this off.

3 things the Philadelphia Eagles must do to win Super Bowl LIV – SB Nation

Stunt the Chiefs’ offensive line into submission. Where the Eagles have a clear and obvious advantage in this game is in their defensive line vs. Kansas City’s offensive line, especially on the edges. Kansas City’s tackle issues, which have forced left guard Joe Thuney out to left tackle since Week 15, are legion, and the Eagles can get to the quarterback just about any way they want – whether it’s straight rushes or blitzes… or stunts. It’s those stunts and games that could be especially iffy for Patrick Mahomes. With their 204 stunts this season, the Eagles have forced 59 quarterback hurries, 17 quarterback hits, and 11 sacks. That’s a 42.6% pressure rate. And against 189 stunts this season, Mahomes has been sacked 14 times, hit 29 times, and hurried 37 times. That’s a 42.3% pressure rate, so there’s your matchup right there. Fangio’s “Stunt Fu” could do a lot to determine an Eagles victory.

What a potential Kellen Moore offensive coaching staff could look like for the Saints – Canal Street Chronicles

Doug Nussmeier to the Saints feels like a foregone conclusion. Kellen Moore is as likely to bring Nussmeier with him to New Orleans as he is to bring his own family. Nuss is currently the quarterbacks coach of the reigning NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles, serving under offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Nussmeier was a former New Orleans Saints quarterback, selected by the team in the fourth round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the team, serving as the backup quarterback in some lean years for the franchise. He could be returning to the franchise in some lean years now as well, as hopes will be for Moore’s offense, coordinated by Nussmeier, to pull the Saints from the post-Drew Brees despair.

Inside Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl matchup: What to watch when Philly has the ball – The Athletic

The Eagles have one of the league’s best outside receiver duos. The Chiefs’ corners will have to play a lot of one-on-one on early downs, but if they can force the Eagles into third-and-long situations, they can widen out the safeties and force Hurts to throw into the middle of the field, which he has been uncomfortable doing his entire career. The story with every team facing the Eagles offense all season has been about stopping Barkley. Even bad run defenses have been able to cause some inefficiency by loading the box, but they were gashed with explosive runs. The Chiefs will find creative ways to get negative plays, but they’ll have to stop the home runs. With how much attention Kansas City will put on Barkley, the Eagles pass catchers will have one-on-one opportunities as long as they can avoid too many third-and-long situations. The key for the Eagles passing game is for Goedert to dominate and Smith to win consistently against McDuffie if they are isolated.The Eagles have had a relatively light schedule of defenses in the playoffs. Kansas City’s defense will be by far their toughest challenge in the playoffs.

A less patient organization might have given up on Andy Reid – Arrowhead Pride

Nagy — the Eagles’ offensive quality control coach from 2011-12 — admits that the disappointing start in 2015 reminded him of the end of Reid’s days in Philadelphia. He knows that not every staff gets the opportunity to turn things around. “I think the million-dollar question is which way does it go?” he pondered. “And do you get to this point? It’s one of those things where I was in Philadelphia with Coach Reid towards the end of his career there, the last three years for him. I missed out all those quote unquote ‘good years’ in Philly, and then I caught the back end — and then we get fired. “We come here, and three years later, we’re kind of going through it again. It just speaks to the consistency and the belief that ownership has — the transition of everybody from top down and just people sticking together.” Nagy noted that the reasons for a slump like 2015 are often complex (and ultimately fruitless) to attempt to diagnose. He sees Reid’s patient approach as the best remedy.

What the patterns of Super Bowl 57 can tell us about Super Bowl 59 – PFF

The Chiefs’ motion decimated the Eagles. From start to finish, Andy Reid put together a rather remarkable gameplan against an Eagles defense that entered the game ranked second in expected points added per play and 10th in success rate. The crux of that revolved around motion, as Kansas City utilized either shifts or motion on 77.8% of its offensive snaps. The result was a prolific 45.2% success rate and an average of 0.439 EPA per play. Two of the Chiefs’ pivotal touchdown passes — to Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore — involved return motion, which made waves in the aftermath of the game. But the broader copy of the tape underscores just how essential motion was to Kansas City’s offense in both the pass and run. Consider this play in the fourth quarter, where Toney was sent in motion. Linebacker T.J. Edwards and cornerback Avonte Maddox (neither of whom is still an Eagles starter, for what it’s worth) both followed Toney in the flat, leaving JuJu Smith-Schuster wide open for a chunk play on a hole shot.

Eagles notes from the NFL’s Monday night Super Bowl media event – PhillyVoice

RB Kenny Gainwell is still in the concussion protocol. Gainwell was concussed against the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game. He couldn’t speak with reporters because he is still in the concussion protocol. Gainwell had his moments in 2024, particularly in the Eagles’ fist matchup against the Commanders Week 11 when he rushed 4 times for 43 yards and a TD. The fact that Gainwell was at the event at all means that he has progressed through the protocol to some degree. If he can’t play, rookie Will Shipley would be the RB2 on gameday. (Gainwell is likely to play.)

Ground Control – Iggles Blitz

That’s the bad news. The good news is that this is a different team. The 2022 Eagles were 16th in run defense. The 2024 Eagles finished 10th in run defense. The 2022 team allowed 4.6 yards per carry. The current team allowed 4.3 yards per carry. You have to factor in that the defense struggled against the run early on before Cooper DeJean got on the field and the overall unit was adjusting to the new scheme/coach. The Chiefs finished 22nd in the league in rushing. They were 29th in yards per carry. This isn’t a great run game. Injuries played a big part in that so the overall numbers are a bit misleading. Still, the Chiefs only ran for 50 yards against Houston before going for 135 in the win over Buffalo. KC will not have an easy time running on the Eagles defense.

Vic Fangio reflects on his head-coaching career, and losing his last game to the Chiefs – PFT

Asked about his three-year stint as head coach of the Broncos from 2019 to 2021, Fangio acknowledged that his 19-30 record wasn’t good enough, and he talked about his memories of losing to Kansas City in his final game as a head coach. “I just wish we had won a few more games,” Fangio said. “Even that last game against the Chiefs, we were up one and in the red zone, we’re driving and we’re going to score, and I told everybody we’re going for two and trying to make this a nine-point game. Two plays later, we bust a blocking assignment, fumble and they run it back.” The Broncos had been leading for most of that game but lost it 28-24. Fangio was fired afterward and the Chiefs reached the AFC Championship Game, as they have every year with Patrick Mahomes as their starting quarterback. “They have good players, they’re well coached,” Fangio said of the Chiefs.

Do the Chiefs Really Get All the Calls? A Ringer Investigation – The Ringer

But the logic that these games are rigged for the Chiefs doesn’t exactly track when we look at challenges and plays that are overturned after review. These are plays that require increased scrutiny and objective evidence to get results, like Likely’s foot clearly stepping over the line. That’s not rigging! That’s just the correct call! And if Reid is regularly getting calls overturned, that means the league’s on-field officials are regularly making inaccurate calls that harm the Chiefs, which sort of negates the entire premise that the league’s officials have been given the directive to favor Kansas City. But of course, this isn’t really about logic. This is about reverse engineering a way to invalidate the league’s best team. We’re in year seven of watching Mahomes’s team be better than our favorite teams, and at a certain point, it’s easier to imagine a vast conspiracy than to admit that our teams can’t beat these guys.

Jalen Hurts’ secret identity as the Eagles’ resident pool shark in locker room – PHLY

Jalen Hurts lurked in the players’ lounge in the Eagles‘ locker room at the start of the NFC Championship game practice week. There was still film to watch and body recovery on his schedule, but at this moment, he needed to hustle some teammates at the pool table. “Jalen usually shakes me down,” offensive lineman Darian Kinnard said. “Baits you under the table,” one teammate calls out, “then talks shit.” “Strategic shit talker,” Kinnard added. Hurts is busy. He doesn’t have as much time to hang around as some other players in the locker room. Such is life for a franchise quarterback. But there are times when he and Isaiah Rodgers might lock eyes from across the locker room, and Hurts will say, “Let’s go.” He’s played Kinnard about 40 times since the start of OTAs. Nakobe Dean is also a frequent opponent. “Depends who I see in there,” Hurts said. “Sometimes I get a little triggered and, ‘Come get you some.’”

Why the turf — a big problem in the last Eagles Super Bowl — won’t be an issue this time – Inquirer

NFL Director of Live Event Operations Steve Farago said Monday that he’s confident players will be satisfied with the Super Bowl playing surface. “The players should expect a clean playing surface,” Farago said. “It’s been reviewed by our head groundskeeper. He feels comfortable and will continue to keep a close eye on it … We want to make sure it’s the utmost safe and best playing surface for our players. They’ve been working on it for weeks to make sure it’s at its highest-quality playability for our players.” The last time the Super Bowl was played on artificial turf was in 2022, when the Super Bowl was played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Super Bowl LIX will be the 25th Super Bowl played on artificial turf, with most of those games coming indoors.

Spadaro: Jeffrey Lurie’s vision comes to fruition as Eagles are featured on global stage – PE.com

Amid the chaos and celebration that is Opening Night for Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome on Monday night, with thousands of members of the media from around the world searching for their best viral moment, Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie patiently and proudly answered questions for the better part of an hour on every range of topic. What he circled back to more than once, as his Eagles make their fourth Super Bowl appearance since 2004, their third since 2017, and their second in three seasons, was the philosophy he’s had since buying the Eagles in 1994. “I can only be as good as the people around me,” he said. “We want to be the best in every area of an organization and I have an obsession and a love affair with it. It’s always about rethinking things every week, every month, and being humble enough to know that you can even be better. That’s where we’re at now. We have a great roster, a real chance to win a World Championship again, and yet, there are all sorts of areas where we think we can improve.”

Super Bowl week: Stealing from the Eagles – Silver And Black Pride

The Philadelphia Eagles have a reputation for building one of the best rosters in the NFL. The Eagles have perfectly married the concept of building through the draft and supplement that process through free agency. The result, of course, is that Philadelphia is playing in the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons. That roster could get somewhat weaker as the Eagles have some intriguing pending free agents. Here are some to watch for the Las Vegas Raiders as fans prepare for the Silver and Black beef up in free agent as they are projected to have more than $92 million in free agency.

Josh Harris says the Commanders name means something in this building, and it’s here to stay – Hogs Haven

The Washington Commanders’ managing partner Josh Harris spoke to the media today for an end of season presser. He’s proud of the team, and the leadership that has helped install a winning culture. Harris was asked about a possible rebranding from the Washington Commanders and he said the name means something in the building after the season the team just had. He later said the name was here to stay, but the team will be working to honor the past. This has been reported to be more use of the team’s old logo on alumni merchandise, and returning the uniforms to something closer to the past.

If Jets trade WR Garrett Wilson this spring, the Cowboys should pursue him – Blogging The Boys

Cooks cost Dallas just a fifth- and sixth-round pick, so the deal ended up being a sure win for the Cowboys. With the current state of the Cowboys’ offense, they’d need to be willing to part with more premium draft capital to find a receiver capable of being the x-factor to turn their unit around. Thankfully, there’s a player who seems to be very available that would fit that role perfectly. That guy is Jets’ wide receiver, Garrett Wilson. Wilson came into the league after being drafted with the 10th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and immediately produced in a big way. Wilson has put up some great numbers in his three years with the Jets despite dealing with mostly poor quarterback play.

Jameis Winston, Saquon Barkley solve New York Giants’ quarterback puzzle – Big Blue View

In a playful exchange during Super Bowl opening night, Jameis Winston and Philadelphia Eagles’ star running back Saquon Barkley solved the Giants’ need for a veteran bridge quarterback for the upcoming season. Winston, a veteran free agent quarterback looking for a new employer, popped into Barkley’s Super Bowl media availability on Monday night with a question for the former Giant. Here is how the exchange went.

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