Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
Hot Names to Watch As Future NFL GMs – SIAlec Halaby, assistant GM, Philadelphia Eagles: It’ll take a gutsy owner willing to depart from football norms to hire Halaby—the Harvard alum’s background, as a Roseman protégé, is almost completely on the analytics side. He’s incredibly smart when it comes to integrating data into football evaluation, allocating resources and managing a roster. Can he lead a room filled with football scouts and find a coaching staff that’ll be all in on his approach? Fair or not, those will be the questions.
Jake Rosenberg, VP of football administration, Eagles: Rosenberg came up on the contract side, and Philly has done magic with its football operations—consistently one of the cap-healthiest teams in the league, even when stocked with big names and big-money quarterbacks. As part of his job, Rosenberg’s had to work with ownership, and with different departments in properly valuing players and helping Roseman to manage the roster. He also has a business background that will appeal to owners.
Jordan Davis’ conditioning is being called into question – BGNWhether Brian Baldinger’s suggestion that Davis is out of shape is true or not, BGN’s Jonny Page wrote an incredible breakdown of the defensive issues against the Cardinals, and he noted that Davis’ performance was certainly not that of a first-round pick.
On the Shane Page #12: Offensive and defensive takeaways from Eagles Week 17 loss to Cardinals – BGN RadioShane Haff and Jonny Page share their offensive and defensive takeaways from the Eagles Week 17 loss to the Cardinals.
Mailbag: The Eagles’ copycat approach in choosing a defensive scheme burned them – PhillyVoiceDonatell and Staley are currently unemployed, Desai is stashed in “Storage Closet B” somewhere in the basement of the NovaCare Complex, and there’s a good chance Barry will be fired when the Packers’ season is over. Offenses around the league have figured out how to beat Fangio’s style of defense and they have punished it all season. Instead of being ahead of the curve as they like to be in other facets of their team-building approach, the Eagles were way behind in copy-catting a defensive scheme that caused them to return to the “middle of the pack,” as Roseman put it.
Game Review – ARZ 35, PHI 31 – Iggles BlitzObviously the hot topic is the three plays on the final scoring drive. The results stunk. I do get the logic in the play-calling. I would have preferred trying to get the ball to AJ on at least one of the plays. He’s one of the best players in the league. Give him a chance to make a play. The defense was awful partly due to coaching and partly due to execution. Everyone had a hand in that mess.
NFL Week 18 Preview: Betting tips and matchups to watch – PFFPhiladelphia Eagles (-5) vs. New York Giants. Matchup to watch: Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson vs. Eagles SCB Avonte Maddox. Maddox returned to the field for the Eagles in Week 17, and the hope is that he can lock down the slot position moving forward. He’ll be challenged in Week 18 against Robinson, who has started to come on for the Giants over the last few weeks. If the Giants want to have any success on offense this week, look for Robinson to get a bunch of opportunities early in this game. Favorite bet: Eagles -5 (-110). It’s hard to trust the Eagles right now after losing at home to the Cardinals. But the Eagles desperately need a win to build positive momentum heading into the playoffs. Plus, they still have an outside shot of winning the NFC East should the Cowboys slip up in Washington. Look for the Eagles to get back on track in the season’s final week.
NFL Week 18 picks, schedule, odds, injuries, fantasy tips – ESPNBold prediction: Giants receiver Darius Slayton will go for 100-plus yards for a second straight week. The Eagles are coming off one of the worst defensive performances of the 2023 season, yielding 35 points and 221 rushing yards to the 4-12 Cardinals. With Philadelphia keying on running back Saquon Barkley, Slayton has a chance to best the three-catch, 90-yard performance against the Eagles in Week 16.
Spadaro: Locker room eyes strong finish at Giants – PE.comRookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter has had an impact season – he is a Pro Bowl alternate – but he knows there is more needed collectively and individually to improve a run defense that has struggled in recent weeks. The answer? Attack, attack, attack.
“We’ve got be more aggressive,” he said. “Get off the ball vertical, impact the running back, and not let him run straight forward. If we can do that, we can stop the run. We have to tackle better, something we’ve been doing our entire lives. We know how to do it. We’ve been doing it and now we’re at the highest level, so it’s a matter of doing what we’ve been doing all of our lives.”
Gaining some Pro Bowl recognition is special for Carter in his first NFL season. He is proud to be an alternate. “I didn’t think that it would happen, but that it happened shows a lot about what people see and what I do on the field and off the field. It’s an awesome accomplishment.”
Week 18 NFL Picks Against the Spread – The RingerThe Giants, meanwhile, currently own the no. 5 pick in the draft. I simply cannot take the Eagles to cover anything over three, given what I’ve seen from their defense. The pick: Giants (+5.5)
Is Eagles star Lane Johnson on a Hall of Fame track? – NBCSPWith Jason Kelce, it’s not even a question anymore. The news Wednesday that Kelce had made his seventh Pro Bowl only hammered home what we already knew. He’ll be a Hall of Famer. He’s done enough. Whether or not he does decide to continue his career beyond 2023, his credentials are ironclad. He’s now got seven Pro Bowls to go with five 1st-team All-Pro honors, a 10-year streak without missing a start, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship.
Every other center in NFL history who’s been an All-Pro five times is already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, from Bulldog Turner of the Bears in the 1940s to Dermontti Dawson of the Steelers in the 1990s.
This year’s All-Pro teams will be announced later this month. But what about Lane Johnson? Will he ever join his close friend and long-time teammate in Canton?
Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts tied with an NFL-record 15 rushing TDs, with one game to go – PFTPrior to this season, no quarterback in NFL history had ever recorded 15 rushing touchdowns in a season. This season, two quarterbacks have done it. Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts both have 15 rushing touchdowns this season, meaning they’ve both broken the NFL record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Prior to this season, the record was 14, set by Cam Newton in 2011.
8 NFL head coaches who could be fired on Black Monday – SB NationNeeds to perform in the playoffs. Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys. It’s the head coach of the Cowboys. Underachieving is seemingly part of the job requirements, as are rumors about being fired. This does really feel like a put up or shut up year for McCarthy and the Cowboys. He’s consistently done enough to show he can win in the NFL — but not when it mattered the most. Jerry Jones is legendarily impatient and another early exit could end McCarthy’s tenure with the Cowboys.
Mike McCarthy’s Dallas future and the impact of the playoffs on that – Blogging The BoysIf the Cowboys are unable to make it past the divisional round, can a case be made for the front office to move on from McCarthy? It is hard to argue with his consistency in the regular season; with his ability to put the Cowboys in a position to contend in January. However, fans in Dallas are growing restless as they have failed to reach the conference championship game since 1996. The only four…
