Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Six games to go with the playoffs on the horizon. How difficult is the remaining schedule for the now 10-1 Detroit Lions? The win streak goes on. When the Detroit Lions defeated the Indianapolis Colts, it almost felt casual. Aside from a few minor scares early on, there was little threat from the Colts. The Lions did what they do best: churn out yardage with their run game and passing attack and smother with their defense. Detroit now sits at 10-1 with their eyes firmly on the playoffs, but with six games remaining, the road is far from over. The Lions still have a combined four games against NFC North opponents, while their other two games are against teams that were legitimate playoff threats a year ago. How will the Lions fare down the stretch? Today’s Question of the Day is: How difficult will the Detroit Lions’ remaining games be? My answers: I think it will be easier than their first six games, but not as easy as their recent AFC South tour. Ranking the games from most difficult to least, I have: vs. Buffalo Bills (Week 15) vs. Green Bay Packers (Week 14) vs. Chicago Bears (Week 13) vs. Minnesota Vikings (Week 18) @ San Francisco 49ers (Week 17) @ Chicago Bears (Week 16) The Bills should without question be the toughest remaining game on the schedule. At 9-2, they have the best record of the remaining opponents and I think they matchup well against the Lions. We got a taste of large, mobile quarterbacks against this Lions defense with Anthony Richardson and I was not overly impressed. Richardson is extremely limited as a passer, but he made mince meat of the Lions defense on the ground. Not only is Josh Allen as good of a runner as Richardson, he is miles ahead as a passer as well. The remaining five games are a mixed bag. Despite the Lions’ recent success against NFC North opponents, it is extremely difficult to sweep the division in a season. I still have Green Bay as the tougher divisional opponent with the Vikings close behind. Green Bay has one of the better offenses in the league, but a mediocre defense. The Vikings are the opposite, with an elite defense let down by a middling offense. Of these two, I think a good offense is more threatening, given how much the Lions have feasted on most defenses this year. If you want to beat the Lions, you need to win a barnburner, and that calls for high scoring. I have the Thanksgiving game against the Bears at Ford Field sandwiched between the Packers and Vikings game for one reason: it’s a short week. While I think the Lions outclass the Bears in every facet, a bad string of injuries could leave Detroit shorthanded at worst or not 100 percent at best. The Bears, meanwhile, could still be in the honeymoon period following the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Their overtime loss to the Vikings in Week 12 was one of their best offensive showings of the year, and they could still be riding that high into the short week. Entering the season, the 49ers were one of the tougher games on paper, but things have not come to fruition for San Francisco. After besting Detroit in last season’s NFC Championship, they will have to fight hard to even make the playoffs. A 5-6 record is competitive for the NFC West (the division-leading Seattle Seahawks are 6-5), but the team has had a rough road marred by injuries. The good news is that the underlying metrics like DVOA and PFF rank the 49ers as one of the better teams in the league (prior to their demolition at the hands of the Packers this week, however). The bad news is that until they can turn those stats into wins, none of it will matter. When the Lions face them in Week 17, their season could already be over. Rounding up the list as the easiest game left is the Chicago Bears on the road. Normally you would favor a home game over a road game, but the Lions should have the leg up in this one. Firstly, the Lions will have a full week of recovery, unlike at Thanksgiving. Chicago, meanwhile, will be coming off a Monday night game. Secondly, the Bears will likely be out of the running by this point in the season, meaning their attention will be turned to 2025. Unless they get a second honeymoon period by firing head coach Matt Eberflus, I doubt that they will put up much of a fight. How would you rank the Lions’ remaining games? Will there be a stumble or two to close out the season, or is there a chance they finish with a remarkable 16-1 record? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 11/25/24. Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links … In Roob’s Observations: The Saquon show continues as Eagles take down Rams – NBCSP1. Let’s have a conversation about Saquon Barkley. I’m out of adjectives to describe what he’s doing. Completely bat-bleep preposterous. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, he opens the third quarter of a one-possession game with a 70-yard touchdown run and then follows that with a 72-yarder to put the game away in the fourth quarter. Barkley is the sixth player in NFL history with two 70-yard touchdown runs in the same game. He was astonishing Sunday night. He finished with a franchise-record 255 rushing yards – and 302 scrimmage yards — 9th-most in NFL history. Wilbert Montgomery was incredible when he was healthy. Brian Westbrook was amazing. LeSean McCoy may be a Hall of Famer. But I’ve never seen anything like what Barkley is doing. He isn’t just having one of the best seasons ever by an Eagles running back, he’s having one of the best seasons ever by any running back. He’s now up to a career-high 1,392 rushing yards … with six games to go. His career high was 1,312 two years ago with the Giants. If people aren’t considering him as a serious MVP candidate because he’s not a quarterback, they’re clueless. He’s the best player I’ve ever seen, dangit. [BLG Note: Roob’s been covering the Eagles for a long time. For him to say this is something.] Saquon Barkley runs for Eagles-record 255 yards in win vs. Rams – ESPNSaquon Barkley ran off the SoFi Stadium field Sunday night with two game balls under one arm and the other hand raised toward the sky as Philadelphia Eagles fans showered him with chants of “MVP!” If he keeps playing like this, he might just be the first running back since Adrian Peterson in 2012 to capture the award. Barkley had a career night in the Eagles’ 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams, posting 302 scrimmage yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns, both of which went for 70-plus yards. “He’s a different type of player,” Rams rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse said. “I’ve never seen a running back like that.” 2024 NFL season, Week 12: What We Learned from Sunday’s games – NFL.comSaquon, Eagles run roughshod over Rams. Who knew the fountain of youth was located in Philly? Saquon Barkley perhaps, as the seventh-year pro’s first season with the Eagles has fast become the best in his decorated career, accentuated by one of the finest rushing performances in NFL chronicle on Sunday night. The two-time Pro Bowler ran for an Eagles franchise-record 255 yards on 26 carries, with a pair of 70-plus-yard touchdowns included. All told, he had 302 scrimmage yards, becoming just the 12th NFL player to eclipse 300 scrimmage yards in a game. Barkley had a solid 73 rushing yards in the first half before he almost equaled that output on the second half’s first play from scrimmage, bursting loose for a 70-yard touchdown in which he navigated traffic through the first two levels and blazed past Rams defensive backs, who looked to be in slow motion as he sprinted to six. With the contest decided and less than three minutes remaining, Barkley sped to a 72-yard touchdown to turn his amazing evening into a historic one, as he etched his name in his new team’s record books and among the top 10 single-game rushing showings in NFL history. Barkley now leads the league with 1,392 rushing yards, which is a new career high. Entering Week 12, the Eagles boasted the league’s top rushing attack and they flexed their ground greatness Sunday, racking up 314 rushing yards. With Barkley and the running game chugging along, the Eagles are off to a 9-2 start — which is also the best of Barkley’s career and just the second time he’s ever been on a team with nine victories. Saquon – Iggles BlitzLos Angeles is the city where stars go to shine so it should be no surprise that Saquon Barkley had the best game of his career in LA on Sunday night. He ran for 255 yards and finished with 302 total yards and a pair of TDs. Barkley had two runs of 70 or more yards. Wow. You run out of superlatives when talking about Barkley and how special he is. He’s never played at this level in his pro career. The Eagles have given him a good home and Barkley has rewarded them with a season for the ages. He is on pace to run for more than 2,000 yards…in 16 games. What an absolute stud. NFL Week 12 Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 37, Los Angeles Rams 20 – PFFAnother week, another stellar performance from Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. The seventh-year veteran carried the ball 26 times for a staggering 255 rushing yards — the ninth-highest single-game total in NFL history. Barkley amassed 156 rushing yards after contact, scored two touchdowns, and moved the chains five more times. He forced five missed tackles but was also aided by 3.8 yards before contact per carry, highlighting the Eagles’ dominance at the line of scrimmage. As an added bonus, Barkley caught all four of his targets for 47 yards and two first downs, averaging an impressive 2.76 yards per route run. 8 edge rushers the Eagles could sign following the Brandon Graham injury – BGNBrandon Graham suffering a season-ending (and potentially career-ending?) triceps injury during the Philadelphia Eagles’ win over the Los Angeles Rams is pretty devastating. He’s legitimately been one of their best defenders this year, so, he’s not going to be easily replaced. But the show must go on. And the Eagles are currently looking pretty light at edge rusher with BG done for the year, Josh Sweat getting banged up against the Rams, and Bryce Huff recently going on injured reserve. The Eagles currently have two

Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images Playing time analysis. The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 12 road win over the Los Angeles Rams are in! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis. OFFENSE Jordan Mailata hasn’t missed a snap since returning from his hamstring injury. Jalen Hurts, Landon Dickerson, Mekhi Becton, and Lane Johnson didn’t have to take the field for the Eagles’ two victory formation snaps. A.J. Brown: seven targets, six catches, 109 yards, 1 TD. Very efficient. The rest of the Eagles’ wide receivers combined in this game: two targets, one catch, four yards. Dallas Goedert saw the second-most targets on the Eagles with five. He had four catches for 19 yards. Interesting to see that Johnny Wilson actually outsnapped Jahan Dotson, albeit by the difference of one snap. They each logged one target. Saquon Barkley logged 30 touches for 302 yards from scrimmage on his 50 total snaps played. This was actually Barkley’s fourth-lowest snap count percentage this season. Grant Calcaterra saw one target on his 40 snaps played. C.J. Uzomah saw a bigger offensive role as TE3 this week than he did last week. We saw more of Ben VanSumeren as the team’s fullback in this game. Britain Covey only logged three offensive snaps in his first game back from injury. Covey did have a good block on Barkley’s touchdown run coming out of halftime. Kenny Pickett, Jack Driscoll, Fred Johnson, and Tyler Steen saw two victory formation snaps. DEFENSE Quinyon Mitchell was the only Eagles defender to play the entire game. Reed Blankenship missed some snaps early in the game after colliding with Darius Slay. Jalen Carter saw another big workload. This was his fourth-highest snap count percentage this season. The box score shows Carter only logged one tackle but he stood out on tape and commanded double teams at a career-high rate, according to Next Gen Stats (via Cris Collinsworth). Nakobe Dean made his impact felt with a team-high eight total tackles, a team-high five solo tackles, one sack, two TFLs, and a fumble recovery. Dean absolutely stream-rolled Kyren Williams in pass protection at one point, further proving to be a force when he’s operating downhill. Nolan Smith led all Eagles edge rushers in playing time with both Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham getting banged up. Smith had two QB hits. In what might end up as his last game as an Eagle (hopefully not), Graham filled up the stat sheet with one sack, two TFLs, and three QB hits. BG forever. Isaiah Rodgers had to play most of the game with Slay getting hurt early on and then ultimately leaving the game due to a concussion. Rodgers might have to start against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13. Jalyx Hunt saw an increased role due to the edge rusher injuries. He logged zero stats outside of one QB hit. Career game for Milton Williams with two sacks (including one forced fumble), two TFLs, and three QB hits. Williams undoubtedly benefited from extra attention shaded to Carter. Still, kudos to Williams for taking advantage. Williams is up to five sacks this season after only logging 6.5 over his first 50 games. Considering he’s set to be a free agent after this season, it’s a good time for him to be heating up. Williams was productive despite playing his second-lowest snap count percentage this season. Jordan Davis also played his second-lowest snap count percentage this season. He did not appear in the box score. Oren Burks got on the field in garbage time. Ditto for Jeremiah Trotter Jr., though Burks played more. It was interesting to see Tristin McCollum and not Sydney Brown on the field when Blankenship got hurt on the Rams’ first drive. Perhaps Fangio doesn’t quite trust Brown yet. SPECIAL TEAMS Kelee Ringo got banged up in this game. DID NOT PLAY INACTIVE: DeVonta Smith, Eli Ricks, Nick Gates, Darian Kinnard, Trevon Keegan, Tanner McKee It’s unclear if DeVonta will be able to return in Week 13.

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images Philadelphia needs to add to their pass rush rotation. Brandon Graham suffering a season-ending (and potentially career-ending?) triceps injury during the Philadelphia Eagles’ win over the Los Angeles Rams is pretty devastating. He’s legitimately been one of their best defenders this year, so, he’s not going to be easily replaced. But the show must go on. And the Eagles are currently looking pretty light at edge rusher with BG done for the year, Josh Sweat getting banged up against the Rams, and Bryce Huff recently going on injured reserve. The Eagles currently have two healthy edge rushers: Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. And so the team is going to need to make a roster move (or multiple) to address this position. Perhaps it’ll be as simple as putting BG on injured reserve and signing Tarron Jackson to the roster. We’ll get more into the Eagles’ internal options later. For now, here are some of the top free agent edge rusher options. It’s obviously not the most intriguing list but one can’t expect to find great options available in late November. 1) Jason Pierre-Paul Wouldn’t it be something if the Eagles replaced Graham’s spot on the roster with JPP?! Once upon a time, there was thought that the Eagles should’ve drafted the latter instead of the former. I’d say the Eagles are ultimately pretty happy with the career that Graham has had for them. JPP turns 36 in January. He’s younger than Graham, who turned 36 in April earlier this year. And he’s reportedly interested in playing this season: Now that #NFL trade deadline has passed, expect teams looking for a veteran pass rusher to explore Jason Pierre-Paul option. Per sources, JPP is in great shape and ready to come in and contribute. Has 94.5 career sacks, played last season for #Dolphins — Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) November 6, 2024 JPP played for Vic Fangio on the Miami Dolphins last year. Of course, he only saw five defensive snaps in two games before getting cut. JPP did have three sacks and and five TFLs for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022. Maybe he’s still got something left in the tank? But maybe not. 2) Melvin Ingram Ingram, 35, also overlapped with Fangio in Miami last year. He played 95 of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps, logging 1.5 sacks and one TFL. Nick Sirianni also has some level of familiarity with Ingram. They overlapped on the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers together from 2013 through 2017. 3) Justin Houston Houston, who turns 36 in January, played seven games for the Carolina Panthers in 2023. He had half of a sack and two TFLs before requesting his release. Houston then signed with Fangio’s Dolphins just days before their playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He played 22 defensive snaps in Miami’s loss, logging one solo tackle and no other stats. 4) Bruce Irvin Irvin, who turned 37 earlier this month, signed the Dolphins on the same day that Houston did earlier this year. He only played 12 defensive snaps and did not log a stat in Miami’s playoff loss. 5) Rasheem Green Since we’ve only suggested older guys to this point, let’s take a look at a younger option. Green, a 2018 third-round pick (No. 79 overall), is only 27 years old. He’s been a solid rotational edge rusher averaging 3.2 sacks per season (19 in 86 total games played). Green spent time in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason before getting cut in mid-August. Not a great sign that he couldn’t make the Jags … though they do have quality edge rusher talent. 6) Genard Avery Long-time BGN readers know I wouldn’t be a big fan of this one! But might be worth noting that Avery — whom the Eagles acquired prior to the 2019 trade deadline — was waived by the Indianapolis Colts this weekend. The Eagles could try to put a claim in on him. Avery, 29, has been limited to just 74 defensive snaps in three years since last playing for the Eagles in 2021. He’s a poor man’s Bryce Huff. 7) Kemoko Turay Turay didn’t quite pan out as a second-round pick (No. 52 overall) with the Colts, producing 12 sacks in 38 games before Indy let him walk in free agency. Turay landed on the San Francisco 49ers, where he only played 42 snaps in 2022. Turay failed to stick with the Atlanta Falcons in 2023. He was placed on injured reserve by the Panthers and later waived from IR in 2024. Turay signed with the UFL last month and their season doesn’t begin until March, so, maybe he’s not expecting to be ready to play this year. His injury status isn’t perfectly clear. But Turay did overlap with Sirianni in Indy from 2018 through 2020, so, we’re mentioning the 29-year-old here. 8) Takk McKinley Not super exciting but McKinley, the No. 26 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, is available to be signed away from the New York Jets’ practice squad. He has half of a sack and one TFL in 130 defensive snaps played for NYJ this season. The Eagles poaching McKinley would guarantee his roster spot and salary for at least three weeks. They might not want to go with that kind of commitment. So, what should the Eagles do? If Fangio is intrigued by a veteran edge rusher, go for it and give him what he wants. That player might not be able to play a ton right away. The Eagles could look to start out someone like that on the practice squad while the aforementioned Tarron Jackson gets the first crack at a job. Again, there aren’t a lot of amazing options.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Philadelphia remains in the hunt for a first-round bye. Time for a look at the updated NFL playoff picture now that all NFC teams are done playing in Week 12. Sunday was a good day for the Philadelphia Eagles in two major respects. 1) The Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams. Winning this game was essential for Philly’s hopes of catching the Detroit Lions for the No. 1 seed. Had the Eagles lost in LA, they probably would’ve needed to win out and have the Lions lose at least three times. Instead, with a win, the Eagles are keeping pressure on Detroit to not slip up. And the Lions’ schedule is more difficult than the Eagles’ slate. Eagles’ remaining schedule Remaining strength of schedule: .463, 10th easiest in the NFL Week 13 — at Baltimore RavensWeek 14 — vs. Carolina PanthersWeek 15 — vs. Pittsburgh SteelersWeek 16 — at Washington CommandersWeek 17 — vs. Dallas CowboysWeek 18 — vs. New York Giants Lions’ remaining schedule Remaining strength of schedule: .591, 6th most difficult in the NFL Week 13 — vs. Chicago BearsWeek 14 — vs. Green Bay PackersWeek 15 — vs. Buffalo BillsWeek 16 — at Chicago BearsWeek 17 — at San Francisco 49ersWeek 18 — vs. Minnesota Vikings The Lions losing to the Packers would be especially nice for the Eagles’ sake. #Eagles NFC 1 seed tiebreaker scenarios! All 15-2 & 14-3 scenarios below. Main takeaways: 1) Only way Eagles win 15-2 tiebreaker is if DET’s loss is specifically to GB.2) Eagles win 14-3 tiebreaker if only loss is to BAL or PIT & DET’s losses include GB *or* are both NFC. pic.twitter.com/3dZLtIsGPl — Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) November 25, 2024 2) The Eagles gained more cushion atop the NFC East. We already outlined how the Eagles got help from the Dallas Cowboys beating the Washington Commanders. As a refresher: The Commanders’ loss is especially damaging to their chances of contending for the NFC East crown since it drops them to 2-2 in division games while the Eagles are 3-0. Even if the Commanders win the rest of their division games (vs. Eagles, at Cowboys), the Birds just have to beat the Cowboys and Giants (both games in Philly) to secure the division record tiebreaker (5-1 over 4-2). The Eagles should have their sights set higher than merely winning the division. But that’s obviously an important step. 1) Philadelphia Eagles: 9-22) Washington Commanders: 7-53) Dallas Cowboys: 4-74) New York Giants: 2-9 Here’s the entire NFC playoff picture leaving Week 12. PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS DIVISION LEADERS 1) Detroit Lions: 10-12) Philadelphia Eagles: 9-23) Seattle Seahawks: 6-54) Atlanta Falcons: 6-5 WILD CARD TEAMS 5) Minnesota Vikings: 9-26) Green Bay Packers: 8-37) Washington Commanders: 7-5 … ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN IN THE HUNT 8) Arizona Cardinals: 6-59) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 5-610) Los Angeles Rams: 5-611) San Francisco 49ers: 5-612) New Orleans Saints: 4-7 (still alive in weak NFC South) DEEPLY UNSERIOUS TEAMS 13) Chicago Bears: 4-714) Dallas Cowboys: 4-715) Carolina Panthers: 3-816) New York Giants: 2-9