The Linc – Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley gift Christmas presents to the offensive line

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 12/25/24.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley Gave Special Holiday Gifts to Eagles O-Line – SI
In the wake of the team’s success, Hurts and Barkley decided to give a special joint holiday gift to their offensive line for Christmas this year—to whom Hurts may be particularly grateful given the Eagles’ notorious “Tush Push” play. The Eagles duo bought each offensive lineman a personalized golf cart with their last name and number, according to Philly beat reporter Olivia Reiner. The custom, all-black carts look pretty cool.

Eagles-Commanders Film Review: Analyzing the weirdest defensive performance – BGN
This was the weirdest defensive performance I have ever tried to analyze. What defense gives up five passing touchdowns and has five turnovers? It’s unheard of. I’ll do my best to analyze this one, but it was a weird game.

Fran’s film review: The good and the bad from the Eagles’ loss to Commanders – PHLY
The Commanders loaded the box. They ran those run stunts again. The loss of Hurts, theoretically, allowed them to crash harder on Barkley on ‘RPO’ and ‘zone read’ types of plays. But I did not see that as the issue for the Eagles run game. I thought the handful of RPOs that they ran were still effective at holding the backside. I thought, from an assignment standpoint, they mostly handled those slants and stunts well. It was not often that the down safety made the tackle in the run game because he was unblocked. The Eagles did not lose this one from a schematic standpoint on the ground. To me, the execution up front was the problem. Mekhi Becton did not play well in the run game. I don’t think he will grade out particularly well in this matchup based off that performance. The same can be said for the tight end group, as Grant Calcaterra, CJ Uzomah and EJ Jenkins all struggled. Other players up front lost in this game as well, but these were the more consistent culprits after going through the tape on Monday morning, and it showed up in all of the run concepts the Eagles threw at Washington.

Why Tanner McKee thinks he’s improved without a ton of practice reps – NBCSP
Once the season starts, a lot of McKee’s growth falls on himself, but the time he spends in the quarterback room with the two veterans definitely helps. And when Hurts gets reps in practice, McKee puts himself in those spots mentally to go through progressions, footwork and timing. Basically, McKee wants to get as close to getting those reps as he possibly can to see how he’d handle those situations. Despite a lack of actual reps, McKee feels like he has gotten better this season. “Absolutely,” McKee said. “I think just being around the guys, being around the system. I do feel a lot more confident with the system and the NFL as a whole, how to read defenses just from last year to this year, having another year under my belt. So if do get the opportunity, I’m excited to show that.”

Why your NFL team won, lost in Week 16 – PFF
Why the Commanders won: The Commanders turned the ball over five times but still snuck away with a big win over the Eagles. That was down to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels tossing five touchdown passes. Daniels earned a 74.8 PFF overall grade after throwing for 258 yards and rushing for 81 yards. He was at his best after the turnovers, and the Commanders leaned on him to create yards in the passing and rushing game. […] Why the Eagles lost: Kenny Pickett stepped in for Jalen Hurts after the latter suffered a concussion, and Pickett struggled when pressured by the Commanders’ pass rush. He was pressured on 43.3% of his dropbacks, completing just 33.3% of his pass attempts for 26 yards, averaging 2.9 yards per attempt and earning a 60.4 PFF overall grade. He was also sacked three times.

unCovering the Birds: What led to the Nick Sirianni-Zach Ertz altercation? Plus, was the Eagles’ loss to the Commanders cause for concern? – Inquirer
The coach would later call his former player and apologize over a Zoom conference call, sources said. The ex-Eagles tight end played for Sirianni in the coach’s first year in Philadelphia. A Super Bowl champion, Ertz was traded midseason to the Cardinals. Publicly, Ertz and Sirianni were complimentary of each other after their short stint together. The former, upon his first game back at Lincoln Financial Field last month, received a standing ovation from Eagles fans when the team flashed his image on the screen during the coin toss. But Ertz could have extra motivation to beat his former team — and his former coach — if the Eagles are to face Washington in the first round of the playoffs. That is the likely matchup based on current projections.

Why Eagles defense hopes a meeting held after loss to Commanders will help Sunday vs. Cowboys – NJ.com
The Eagles did not look like the No. 1 defense in the league against the Commanders in Sunday’s loss. However, they are hopeful that the conversations addressing their myriad issues in the fourth quarter will lead to a better showing against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. “A couple guys spoke out and said how they felt, how we had to do better, and how a lot of things, like the little knickknack penalties, hurt us,” Dean said. “We had way more penalties than we’re used to, so we have to cut them out. We also have to make sure our heads aren’t held low after the loss and keep our confidence at an all-time high.”

Former Bengals, Eagles LB Bill Bergey dies after three-year cancer battle – PFT
Former Eagles linebacker Bill Bergey has died after a three-year battle with cancer, his son, Jake, announced on social media. Bergey was 79. “The best father, friend, grandfather, football player and outright great person in this world. I will truly miss him. Love you, dad,” Jake wrote. Bergey was a second-round pick of the Bengals in 1969 and earned AFL defensive rookie of the year honors and Pro Bowl honors. He spent five seasons in Cincinnati.

Week 16 DVOA: Here Come the Packers – FTN Fantasy
[BLG Note: The Eagles rank 5th in DVOA. The Cowboys are 23rd.]

31 minutes of the best Eagles plays of all time – PE.com
Saquon Barkley’s reverse hurdle made the cut. Certainly, the Philly Special will be featured. What else made our list of the greatest plays? Sit back and relive the memories!

Ex-RB Wendell Smallwood pleads guilty in tax fraud scheme – ESPN
Former Philadelphia Eagles running back Wendell Smallwood Jr. has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges after he was accused of submitting fraudulent tax returns and applications for hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic aid programs. The signed plea agreement was approved Friday by a federal judge in Delaware. Smallwood, of Mullica Hill, New Jersey, faces sentencing in May on the three fraud charges.

NFL Power Rankings Week 17: Washington Commanders move up after big win over the Philadelphia Eagles – Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders got off to a hot start, going 7-2, but a three-game skid led to a lot of questions being asked about how legitimate this team is. They’ve now won their last three in a row, and a healthy Jayden Daniels is once again putting the league on notice. He threw 5 touchdowns against the #1 defense in the NFL on Sunday to lead Washington to a 36-33 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Jalen Hurts was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the 1st quarter, leading to more questions about the “quality of the win”.

Cowboys rumor: NFL insider believes Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy ‘will be safe’ for 2025 – Blogging The Boys
We are about to watch the Cowboys let a third coach’s contract expire in a row. Jason Garrett infamously had his contracts run out both after 2014 and 2019 and after the latter was not asked to return. Now we are at Mike McCarthy’s time. It goes without saying that this season has been volatile for the Cowboys and much of that had to do with the way that the front office approached things in the offseason prior to. McCarthy did himself little favors early on, but over the last six weeks or so it appears that what he is doing is working well, and that it is happening amid a firestorm of injuries is objectively an impressive thing. Whether the recent run had anything to do with it or not, one report thinks that Mike McCarthy is going to be safe. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini noted on the latest episode of Scoop City that she has spoken to people around the league who believe this will be the case. “I have spoken to people around the league who believe that Mike McCarthy will be safe.”

Drew Lock appears set to start for New York Giants in Week 17 – Big Blue View
Drew Lock should be healthy and ready to start Sunday for the New York Giants when the face the Indianapolis Colts in their final home game of the 2024 season, head coach Brian Daboll said on Tuesday. Lock had gone for an MRI on his throwing shoulder after Sunday’s 34-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Lock being ready to go means Tommy DeVito will be the No. 2 quarterback, and Tim Boyle the emergency third quarterback.

NFL Week 16 Under Review: One Question for Each Team in the AFC Playoff Picture – The Ringer
Whether they’ve actually solved some of the issues we’ve seen throughout the season is another question, but the Chiefs’ performance in their win over the Texans in Week 16 suggests they might have. There’s an eye-test factor to watching the Chiefs offense. When things are going well, it looks easy—like they have all of the answers to the test. When things are going poorly, everything looks hard. Facing a Houston defense that ranks first in efficiency, it looked easy. Mahomes was surgical. He used his legs when he needed to, but for the most part, the ball came out on time to open receivers. They got Hollywood Brown back, and suddenly a pass-catching group of Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, and Travis Kelce seems workable. Left tackle has been an issue all season, but sliding Joe Thuney out from guard looks like it has provided a fix. Based on offensive success rate, the Chiefs’ performance against Houston ranked in the 82nd percentile—again, against a really good defense! Here’s a look at how this year’s team compares to last year’s in DVOA. The offense is in the exact same spot, and the defense and special teams are only slightly worse. I’m not saying they’re a juggernaut or that they’re unbeatable, but the Chiefs have found some answers and are in a great spot to get back to the Super Bowl. So to answer my own question, yeah, it looks like they’re doing it again.

How can the Chiefs clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed in Week 17? – SB Nation
The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off arguably their best performance of the season, last Saturday’s 27-19 win over the Houston Texans. While Sunday’s win by the Buffalo Bills over the New England Patriots denied the Chiefs a shot at clinching the top seed in the AFC — and the lone first-round bye in the NFL Playoffs — the Chiefs can give themselves quite the Christmas gift this Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Or the Bills could give them that same gift over the weekend.

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