Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
Eagles notebook: Nakobe Dean, the heat-seeking missile – NBCSP
Jordan Davis first realized Nakobe Dean’s skill as a blitzer when they were teammates at Georgia. That skill has followed Dean to the NFL and has been on display this month. “It’s just always been there,” Davis said. “I think with Nakobe he just flies there and he’s literally like a heat-seeking missile and he just blows up the running back. “Nakobe is the type of player that looks for contact. He doesn’t try to avoid it. If he gets the sack or gets the pressure, that’s just the icing on the cake for him. He just loves contact, he loves getting in there.” The Eagles’ defense has gotten a big boost in the last month as Dean returned from the PUP list. Dean has gotten a sack in three straight games and has bowled over a few running backs in the process. In the last three weeks, Dean has run through Josh Jacobs, David Montgomery and Javonte Williams on his way to sacks. He and his teammates have started to celebrate with a “choo-choo” motion after Dean runs over a back.
Eagles-Bears Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the Week 13 enemy – BGN
1) The Bears are 8-3, but they rank 18th in point differential and 22nd in DVOA. To what extent do you think their success thus far is sustainable? … Well, first of all, let’s just stop and say that this season has been wildly entertaining for Chicago Bears fans. And in terms of how the fans are reacting to it, I really don’t think we’ve seen a lot of extreme meatball-like takes one direction or the other. I think the fans just appreciate what’s happening and are enjoying it without pushing this to major expectations. That being said, I honestly don’t think any NFL experts can tell you one way or the other if this is sustainable. The Bears could go 4-2 down the stretch and win the division. They could go 1-5 and miss the playoffs. I don’t think anyone really knows. Sure, the easy answer is, now that their schedule gets tough (at Philly, Green Bay 2x, Cleveland, at San Fran, Detroit), that they are going to fade down the stretch. But at the same time, this team is finding ways to win games, and they are making plays in the fourth quarter when it matters. If the Bears are close with their opponent in the fourth quarter, it feels like they’ll make the plays that they need to do. I know that’s a non-answer, but truly, we just need to see how this goes moving into the teeth of the schedule. Personally, I think the Bears find a way to get to 11-6.
The Chicago Bears sit at 8-3 and everything seems to be pointed in the right direction. The Philadelphia Eagles sit at 8-3 and everything seems to be heading in the wrong direction. Two teams with very different vibes, but also two teams with very different goals at the start of the 2025 season. This is, without question, the Bears toughest test of the year. How will they handle the Eagles? To get the Philly perspective, we sat down with Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to get the latest. Here’s that Q&A.
NFL Week 13 picks, predictions, schedule, odds, fantasy tips – ESPN
Fantasy nugget: Eagles WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for 21 targets in Week 12 and 39.9 fantasy points. Philadelphia’s passing game has been inconsistent all season and ranks near the bottom of the league in pass attempts per game, but the Eagles’ top receivers now get a Bears defense that has allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to wideouts.
The Eagles have a particularly important game against the Bears on Friday. If they are able to take care of business, they will be 9-3, with head-to-head wins over other NFC playoff contenders like the Rams, Bears, Buccaneers, Packers, and Lions. They will hold pretty much any seeding tiebreaker over the other likely NFC divisional winners. If the Eagles’ offensive staff was holding anything back for a key moment in the season (consider me doubtful on that one), now would be the time to unleash it.
Jackson, Barkley Lead Thanksgiving Turkeys for 2025 – FTN Fantasy
But our two turkeys this year go to Saquon Barkley (RB2) and Isiah Pacheco (RB24). There’s an argument to go Barkley-Henry as our set here, with them having the highest ADP of this bunch, but it’s absolutely possible for mid-round picks to flop as well, and I wanted to give them at least some acknowledgement. Barkley, last year’s OPOY, averaged 24.3 PPR points per game last season. He’s hit that total once this year, in the second Giants game. He doesn’t have any other games above 20 points, either. He’s averaging just 1.9 yards per carry in the fourth quarter, coming up smallest when it’s time to finish games. He’s not getting the huge holes he had last year and isn’t breaking away when he does get them. His -19.0% DVOA, fifth worst, is shocking, and his -75 rushing DYAR is third worst in the league. Pick your poison between the Curse of 370 and the Madden Cover curse to explain it but suffice it to say he won’t be hitting 2,200 yards from scrimmage again this season.
Fantasy Football WR Report: Man, zone coverage performance ahead of NFL Week 13 – PFF
The Bears have used man coverage at a top-10 rate but rank in the bottom five in most man-coverage metrics, including first-down-plus-touchdown rate (53.2%, 31st). A.J. Brown ranks sixth among 141 qualifying wide receivers in fantasy points per route run against man coverage and owns an elite 34% target rate. In a prime matchup this week, Brown should be considered a high-end play, especially coming off a big Week 12.
NFL Week 13 picks: Upset and score predictions, matchup breakdowns for every game – NFL.com
Why Tom picked the Eagles: I sort of feel sick about it, because it means trusting them to straighten up and take care of business, which hasn’t exactly been their thing this season. The Bears, meanwhile, are rolling into town as something like the anti-Eagles, overcoming flaws and injury issues with on-point coaching and real chutzpah. In a way, Chicago almost feels like a safer choice, comparatively free of expectations and happy to scrap until the final whistle. The Bears have also played like one of the more solid teams in the NFL since their Week 5 bye, ranking seventh in EPA per play on offense (0.06) and 15th in EPA per play on defense (-0.06) in that span, while the Eagles have looked extremely ordinary since their own break at the beginning of the month, eking out a pair of low-scoring wins before melting into a puddle against the Cowboys. So far, this is reminding me of Bills-Texans last Thursday, when I laid out all the ways Houston could pull off an upset, only to erroneously back the Bills because of One Special Superpower (in that case, Josh Allen). Didn’t I learn my lesson? Well, yes, actually, because my main takeaway from that game was to believe in the stronger defense — and that, for all their mess, is what the Eagles have in this matchup. Vic Fangio’s crew has been near the top of the league all year, ranking sixth in EPA allowed per play (-0.11) and eighth in points allowed per game, providing a pretty stiff spine beneath all the soapy headlines. I’m banking on it being the difference on Black Friday.
Will free Bears-Eagles stream break the record? – PFT
The third Black Friday game on Prime Video features a new twist. It will stream globally without an Amazon Prime subscription. Given that the league stuck the landing when picking the 8-3 Bears at the 8-3 Eagles, the game itself is inherently compelling, and the outcome will be consequential to the NFC playoff picture. Will this reality, coupled with the ability of anyone/everyone to watch it for free, set a new record for streaming? The current mark was set last Christmas, when 24.3 million watched Ravens-Texans on Netflix. (Earlier that day, 24.1 million viewed Chiefs-Steelers.) The Netflix game was not free. And, obviously, free matters.
The Winners and Losers of NFL Thanksgiving Day Football – The Ringer
Winner: Hope in Dallas. The Cowboys are still a longshot to make the playoffs, but after beating a desperate Chiefs team 31-28 on Thursday, they’ve forced us to take them seriously. Dallas’s postseason probability sits at just 30 percent after the win, according to The Athletic’s playoff simulator. But the Cowboys have won three games in a row, including two victories over last season’s Super Bowl participants. And they have a chance to pull into a tie for the NFC’s seventh seed if Cleveland upsets San Francisco on Sunday and Dallas beats Detroit next Thursday night. Just a month ago, this team was sitting at 3-5-1 after a loss to the Jacoby Brissett-led Cardinals. But less than 24 hours after they seemingly hit rock bottom, they turned their season around. The day after the Arizona loss, the Cowboys traded first- and second-round picks to the Jets for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams—a last-ditch effort to fix what had been one of the worst defenses in the NFL. At the time, it felt like an unnecessary move in a lost season, and an attempt for Jerry Jones to save face after pushing Micah Parsons out of Dallas just before the season. But the Cowboys haven’t lost since, the defense is playing good ball, and Williams is a major reason why.
Dallas Cowboys beat last two Super Bowl teams in five-day span – Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys picked up a huge win on Thanksgiving Day against the Kansas City Chiefs and are suddenly the talk of the NFL town. Happy holidays, indeed. What’s amazing is that four days before the Cowboys beat Kansas City they had a 21-0 comeback win against the Philadelphia Eagles. These are the two teams who played in last season’s Super Bowl which means the Cowboys just took out some serious competition in under a week. [BLG Note: Beating the Eagles is the Cowboys’ Super Bowl.]
Commanders vs Broncos Thursday Injury Report: Two wide receivers get full practice – Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders are practicing again on Thanksgiving, and two wide receivers got their first full practice in weeks. Terry McLaurin (quad) hasn’t been a full participant since aggravating his quad injury in Week 8. Noah Brown has been on injured reserve since suffering a groin injury in Week 2, and is still listed with the knee injury from June. McLaurin is expected to return on Sunday night, but Brown could get another week. His 21-practice window was opened on Monday.
NY Giants get QB Jaxson Dart back from injury – Big Blue View
The New York Giants certainly have something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. News broke Thursday evening that star rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has cleared the concussion protocol. Interim head coach Mike Kafka confirmed on Wednesday that if Dart would start against the New England Patriots if he cleared the concussion protocol before Monday Night Football. “If he’s ready to play, like just any player, if they’re ready to play, then we have a plan for him, then we’ll put him in,” Kafka said on Wednesday.
Dontayvion Wicks seals Packers vs. Lions in spectacular fashion – SB Nation
Dontayvion Wicks might have earned himself some extra dessert at his Thanksgiving dinner today. The third-year wide receiver played a pivotal role in the Green Bay Packers beating the Detroit Lions 31-24 in the first game of the day, finishing with six catches for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His best play of the afternoon was a 16-yard grab to ice the game in the late fourth quarter.
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