The Philadelphia Eagles Offense Looks Boring and Broken. There Are No Easy Fixes. – The Ringer
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
Hurts made some bad processing mistakes against the Seahawks, but he can still be a good enough processor to make a traditional dropback passing game work, especially with receivers like Brown and Smith and pass protection of the quality that his offensive line affords. Instead of taking the offense out of his hands as he struggles, you have to live through the growing pains. Put more on the field and on film. Hide tendencies not just with sneaky trick plays, but with actual new ideas. Steal from other offenses (they’ve already done this a little bit!). The Eagles need to ask their $50 million quarterback to do the things that, well, $50 million quarterbacks can and should do. This would be a change from just running a collection of offensive plays—“Oh, this is the stuff that Steichen ran!”—to running an actual system, an offense designed and executed with intention. If the Eagles decide, philosophically, to be a QB run team with spread RPOs, that’s fine; commit to that. Get Hurts healthy and sell out for the running game. If they decide, philosophically, to play a matchup passing game that funnels targets to Brown and Smith, that’s fine; commit to that. Start putting those guys in motion, give them easy targets, and let them dominate. But become something.
The worst thing Philadelphia could do in the final stretch of the season and into January is continue doing what it has always done just because it worked in the past. It’s an offense that belongs to a coordinator who is gone, and running it isn’t working. It’s time to innovate, evolve, and improve. Or continue to be one of the league’s most disappointing offenses.
Eagles-Seahawks Film Review: Offensive issues are the same as they have been all season – BGN
The Eagles’ offense has more than enough talent to turn it around and become a great offense again. The talent is there. But the issues are the same as they have been all season and unless they fix something quickly, this offense feels like it is destined to let us down once again.
On the Shane Page #10: Offensive and defensive takeaways from Eagles Week 15 loss to the Seahawks – BGN Radio
Shane Haff and Jonny Page share their offensive and defensive takeaways from the Eagles Week 15 loss to the Seahawks. The Eagles’ once swaggy offense has become milquetoast beta ball – PhillyVoice
Beyond the “Let’s hope the other team does bad” aspect of the play call, it was also a low percentage call. The Eagles had the ball with 13 seconds left at their own 45 with two timeouts. Somehow they felt that one chance at a pass interference call plus a medium-range field goal gave them a better chance to win than two shots at getting 15-20 yards and a 50+ yarder from their star kicker who consistently drills pressure kicks. (Yes, it was a rainy game, but there was virtually no wind.) The Eagles have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL, a quarterback who nearly won the MVP a season ago, and star receivers, and they are choosing to play milquetoast beta ball. Fantasy Football WR Report: Man, zone coverage performance ahead of NFL Week 16 – PFF
The Giants have been an average man coverage defense in yards allowed per coverage snap (6.16) and explosive play rate allowed (15.6%). A.J. Brown has dominated man coverage, ranking fifth in fantasy points per route run (0.80), while DeVonta Smith has struggled, ranking tied for 46th in that regard (0.36).
Projecting final standings, playoffs for the 2023 NFL season – ESPN
Eagles hold on in the NFC East: The Cowboys needed the Eagles to falter. They never did. After an upset loss to the Seahawks on “Monday Night Football” in Week 15, Philadelphia got its act together — at least enough to beat its cupcake schedule down the stretch. Philly beat the Giants twice and the Cardinals to finish 13-4, hold on to the NFC East and keep the Cowboys in a wild-card spot.
Spadaro: Nick Sirianni’s message – ‘We just gotta get back on track’ – PE.com
Yes, Head Coach Nick Sirianni said on Wednesday as he addressed the media in a virtual press conference, his players are being held accountable now as they are at every time in every point in every season. Yes, he has full confidence in his players and his coaching staff as the Eagles prepare for a Christmas afternoon tussle against NFC East rival New York at Lincoln Financial Field. And no, there aren’t any reasons he sees that the Eagles can’t get back on track and right things for the remainder of this 2023 season, including the playoffs. “Same methods I use when we’re winning. The exact same,” Sirianni said when asked about keeping the players accountable. “When you change who you are or your change your core values based off of wins and losses, that’s when you’re going to lose the team and so it’s the exact same accountability regardless of the outcome. “That’s the only way you’re going to end up getting better. We’re in a little bit of a skid right now that I’m very confident we’re going to be able to get out of because of the people that we have in this building.” Sirianni emphasized what he truly believes: The team’s daily habits are its core values and they live and breathe those core values throughout the seasons.
Giants-Eagles: When the Eagles have the ball – Big Blue View
Jalen Hurts’ rushing production outside of those short-yard situations is also more lackluster. He ranks second to Lamar Jackson with 106 rush attempts on plays with more than one yard to go (among 28 quarterbacks with at least 25 such runs). On those runs, he ranks 18th in yards per carry (4.58), 19th in EPA, and 17th in success rate. Furthermore, while D’Andre Swift has decent counting stats, his underlying metrics are unimpressive. He ranks ninth out of 41 qualified running backs (min. 100 carries) with 4.6 yards per carry. Still, he has four touchdowns and three fumbles and ranks 38th in yards after contact per attempt (2.43), 23rd in rushes of 10+ yards (16), 13th with 26.9% of his rushing yards coming on breakaways (15+ yards), 26th in PFF elusiveness rating (46.7), and 30th in yards per route run (30th). In other words, Swift can break one occasionally, but he’ll take only what his offensive line gives him — more so than other backs. The Giants need to find a way to get their hands on him.
Cowboys injury report: Tyron Smith (back) and Zack Martin (thigh) DNP – Blogging The Boys
Keeping with their routine of resting veterans to open the week, Dallas gave several players a light load Wednesday that were either limited or sat out altogether. Such players include Brandin Cooks, Stephon Gilmore, DeMarcus Lawrence and Jourdan Lewis. Rico Dowdle was limited by an ankle injury. Furthermore, Tyron Smith did not practice with a back injury, the severity of which is unknown. Zack Martin, who left last week’s game with a thigh injury, did not partake in team activities Wednesday. Also not practicing were Jonathan Hankins and Malik Hooker with ankle injuries. Meanwhile, Tony Pollard was a full participant despite having a thumb injury designation. Film Session: Why Ron Rivera benched Sam Howell for Jacoby Brissett – Hogs Haven
Sam Howell’s stock has taken a hit as a result of his past few games, and his latest performance against the Los Angeles Rams led to him being benched and replaced by backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Howell’s benching was not random, nor was it a case of Rivera protecting his quarterback, as we know Rivera’s word is as good as – well, it isn’t good. Rivera did not pull Howell to protect him from the Rams’ pass rush, despite him doubling down in Monday’s press conference.
5 NFL head coaches on the hot seat who should save their Christmas money – SB Nation
Ron Rivera, Washington Commanders. It just feels like the Commanders need a new mind at the top of their situation. Rivera has been in Washington since 202, and all he has to show for it…
