The Linc - Jalen Hurts stops by Good Morning America

Washington Commanders v Philadelphia Eagles — Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 11/20/24.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Jalen Hurts appears on Good Morning America to talk about his foundation – NBCSP
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts made an appearance on Good Morning America on Tuesday morning to talk about the Jalen Hurts Foundation and his Keep it Cool Initiative. Hurts, 26, has pledged $5,000 for every touchdown he scores this season that will go to his TDs for AC campaign to support his Keep it Cool Initiative, which puts air conditioning into Philadelphia schools. “Competitively, the main thing is to always go out there and win and do what you can to help your team win,” Hurts said on Good Morning America. “But extends an opportunity to not only get the fans engaged but to have purpose behind every touchdown. It was something that I really thought about, the foundation team really thought about. Just trying to continue to foster the change we already began coming into it. It was something so natural.

Eagles-Commanders Film Review: Vic Fangio’s defense is young, aggressive, and talented – BGN
At the start of the year, I remember the Eagles could not stop teams having success when using bunches. In one of these articles, I sarcastically wrote that Fangio should start using the ‘box’ call where you use four defenders to distribute the opposing three receivers. I wrote this sarcastically because I learned about the ‘box’ call from reading articles on Fangio’s defense! It appears the Eagles’ defense was slow at the start because Fangio was taking his time and giving his players time to learn the intricacies of the defense. It looks like a Fangio defense now. Look how good the communication and route distribution is. Zack Baun isn’t bad either, is he? This is perfect coverage from a linebacker. He reads the quarterback’s eyes and makes a fantastic play on the ball. Pay the man. Reed Blankenship also plays this really well, and he’s fantastic being the ‘Trix’ safety (meaning he is away from the passing strength, which has three receivers, so he looks that way rather than the side he is lined up on), and he may have broken this play up anyway.

NFL’s 4 biggest Super Bowl favorites right now, ranked – SB Nation
No. 4: Philadelphia Eagles. When it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles this is a really funny team to work out. It wasn’t long ago that the Eagles were 2-2, entering a bye week with questions of whether Nick Sirianni would make it through the season. Now they’ve won six in a row and are on an absolute tear. Saquon Barkley has been the missing piece to this offense. With four 100+ yard rushing games in his last five the Eagles now have a fully realized offense that can thrive in both phases. Meanwhile it’s led to Jalen Hurts being a much more confident passer in the pocket, and that’s shined through as well. The Eagles are a very dangerous team with a chance to beat anyone in the NFL, though they’re just outside the Top 3 when it comes to how confident we are in them.

NFL offensive coordinators, from Kellen Moore to Kliff Kingsbury – ESPN
What has gone right? The Eagles shifted to more of a ground-based approach after their Week 5 bye and have averaged a touch shy of 30 points per game since. Saquon Barkley entered Week 11 ranked second in rushing yards (991), behind the Ravens’ Derrick Henry. Add in Jalen Hurts’ own rushing skills and his penchant for connecting on the deep ball, and you have a dynamic offense that is among the best in the league. What has gone wrong? There were some growing pains early as Hurts & Co. adapted to Moore’s scheme. Hurts turned the ball over seven times in the first four games (the team went 2-2) but has been more efficient overall in the weeks since. As effective as the deep ball has been, it also leaves Hurts and the Eagles susceptible to negative plays.

NFL playoff probabilities for every team entering Week 12 – NFL.com
Top-seeded Detroit dispatched yet another AFC South team on Sunday, scoring exactly 52 points against a member of that division for the second time in four games. The Lions will have a chance to make it three in five this weekend when they visit Indianapolis. With the way Philly is playing, Dan Campbell’s group can’t afford to let its foot off the pedal. Speaking of the second-seeded Eagles, their impressive performance versus Washington last Thursday gave them a two-game cushion in the NFC East race and (marginally) improved their odds in the conference competition, as well. Like Detroit, Philly has an away date in Week 12 with a desperate bubble team coming off a win.

NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Week 12 edition – PhillyVoice
1) Lions (9-1): Seven teams in NFL history have scored 40 or more points in six games: 2018 Saints (Drew Brees), 2013 Broncos (Peyton Manning), 2011 Saints (Drew Brees), 2011 Packers (Aaron Rodgers, before he became the weirdest guy in the league, or at least before we learned that), 2000 Rams (Kurt Warner), 1961 Rams (George Blanda), 1950 Rams (Norm Van Brocklin). All of those teams were led by quarterbacks who are already in the NFL Hall of Fame, or will be soon enough. After their 50-burger against the Jaguars Week 11, the Lions now have four 40-burgers this season. They have a reasonable enough chance of breaking that record with the way they are playing right now.

Eagles maintain ‘supreme confidence’ in kicker Jake Elliott after one of his worst games – Inquirer
When assessing the three errant kicks, the most Elliott has ever had in a game if you account for both field goals and extra points, Clay said the consistency of the misses actually gives him confidence that they were more of an aberration than a warning sign. Pointing to the right-to-left “draw” spin Elliott had on each kick, Clay said the kicker’s aim might need to be adjusted rather than any of his actual mechanics. “At times, it’s just not your day,” Clay said Tuesday. “We’d probably be a little bit more on edge if the ball was sprayed all over the place, but if you saw the three kicks, they missed in the exact same spot. Right off that left upright. It was a draw and it kind of overdrew on him with a little bit of wind. When the spray chart is all over the place and you don’t really have an answer for that, I think that’s a little bit more worrisome. When the spray chart is right there within a couple inches, you go, ‘All right, I can fix this with my aiming point more than anything else.’”

Why your NFL team won, lost in Week 11 – PFF
Why the Eagles won: After a slow and disjointed offensive performance, the Eagles rushing attack came alive in the fourth quarter, with Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley combining for three rushing touchdowns. Philly’s offensive line started to dominate up front, and Barkley broke big on 23- and 39-yard touchdown rushes on consecutive drives for the Eagles. The former Giant finished with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, earning a 73.5 PFF rushing grade. Why the Commanders lost: The Eagles defense completely shut down the usually efficient Commanders passing game, and held Daniels to an average depth of target of 3.8 yards per attempt while also limiting Terry McLaurin to just one catch for 10 yards. Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell played shutdown football on the outside too, permitting zero catches on one target in 42 coverage snaps and earning a 73.0 coverage grade.

Spadaro: How Nick Sirianni turned the Eagles into road warriors – PE.com
Sirianni is correct that Eagles fans travel well, and that will again be on display on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium in California when the Eagles play a good Rams team coming off a win over New England. The Rams are 5-5 and in the thick of the NFC playoff picture. Eagles fans will no doubt do their best to even out the Los Angeles home-field advantage, as they did last season when Philadelphia played at SoFi and came away with a 23-14 victory on October 8. But it’s more than the fans, of course. The Eagles always talk about how every game is just as important as the one before/after. They live that. They breathe that. They believe that. And so they don’t look in awe at all of an opposing stadium. That obstacle is just in the way of the objective: To win that football game.

Week 11 DVOA: Lions Among Historical Greats – FTN Fantasy
[BLG Note: The Eagles rank 7th in DVOA. The Rams are 19th.]

Does Matthew Stafford deserve more credit for Rams comeback in 2024? – Turf Show Times
Over the past five weeks, Stafford ranks seventh in EPA per play at 0.162, and his success rate of 52.8 percent ranks second behind only Lamar Jackson. Stafford has a “hero throw” percentage of 7.5 percent, which ranks fourth. Those are throws in which a quarterback makes a play that maximizes the result of the pass. He also has the fifth-most big-time throws via PFF over the past five games. There is still reason for skepticism about the Rams making a run over the final seven games of the season. However, after a slow start, Stafford has started to find his rhythm, and both his pass catchers and offensive line are finally healthy. We’ll see what happens over the final stretch, but Stafford deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround since the bye week—once again.

Washington Commanders Stadium News: RFK bill passes Senate committee, keeping hope alive for team’s return to D.C. – Hogs Haven
Washington D.C. and the Washington Commanders got a win in the Senate today. The city has been trying to get the federal government to transfer administrative jurisdiction of the site that used to be the home for the Washington Redskins, RFK Stadium. This bill has already passed in the House of Representatives, but was still going through committees and waiting for the chance to get a vote from the full Senate.

Cowboys vs. Texans stock report: Luke Schoonmaker, Brevyn Spann-Ford showed up – Blogging The Boys
Stock Down: Jerry Jones. After the game/loss/embarrassment there was a quote from CeeDee Lamb where he said that it was obvious that everybody (as in other opponents) want to embarrass the Cowboys. My interpretation on what Lamb said was that this was a result of the regular-season success that Dallas has had over the last few years, that the logic is that other teams view them as a trophy to be had. I suppose that is possible. But my own assessment of that quote, or rather disposition, is that everybody wants to embarrass the Cowboys because that is the thing to do these days. Jerry Jones has created a circus where opposing teams get to come in and be the show and dance around at the home team’s expense. This is not new to anyone around here, but it feels hard to refute right now. Jerry has turned the Cowboys into the silly thing that everyone wants to poke, mock and pose for pictures in front of. Again, this isn’t new information. But it takes a toll. It must be exhausting to be the losers every single time in that sense. Jerry has officially turned the Dallas Cowboys into the Washington Generals and literally everyone gets to be the Harlem Globetrotters when they square off against them. Like with those exhibitions, we know the results of each and every single one of these. Spoiler alert, the Generals never win.

NFL Week 11 Under Review: Could Jerry Jones Decide to Keep Mike McCarthy After This Disaster in Dallas? – The Ringer
I’m not convinced this is it for Mike McCarthy. The Dallas Cowboys lost a football game Monday night. As far as recent, lopsided, embarrassing Cowboys losses go, this one barely registers. Oh sure, a piece of metal fell from the roof before the game, and the Cowboys lost 34-10, and Texans fans took over AT&T Stadium. But hey, the Cowboys were starting Cooper Rush at quarterback and were big underdogs and were kind of competitive for three quarters. That’s got to count for something, right? At 3-7, the Cowboys’ 2024 season is dead. But we knew that already. What we don’t know is their plan for 2025 and beyond. Mike McCarthy is in the final year of his contract. Most people assumed that if this season didn’t go well, Jerry Jones would make a change at head coach. But I’m not so sure about that. For Jones, the priority doesn’t actually seem to be building a Super Bowl contender. Sure, that’d be nice. But really, it’s about Jones enjoying his experience as the owner of the Dallas freakin’ Cowboys. That means employing a coach who understands the setup. Someone who isn’t going to challenge him. Someone who isn’t going to ask for influence on personnel decisions. Someone who is going to be OK with Jones holding media scrums after every game and saying weird things during his weekly radio appearances. Head coach of the Cowboys is not a job for everyone, and it very well might not be a job that attracts the top candidates on the market.

11 potential Daniel Jones replacements for New York Giants – Big Blue View
Shedeur Sanders — Some consider Sanders QB1 in this draft class. Some, like highly-renowned draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic, are unconvinced. […] Cam Ward — With a chance to select the quarterback of his choosing a bye week mock draft, BBV’s Chris Pflum chose Ward. He wrote this of the Miami signal-caller: “Ward has solid size, good pocket presence and short-area quickness, great field vision, and one of the most elastic arms I’ve ever seen. He might not have truly ELITE arm strength, but he can challenge all areas of the field and do so from off-platform and out of structure.”

Jets fire general manager Joe Douglas – Gang Green Nation
Douglas was in the final season of a six year contract he signed in May 2019. After compiling a 30-64 record and no winning seasons, his departure seemed more a question of “when” than “if.” The team’s dismal performance in 2024 surely sealed Douglas’ fate. The Jets can now begin the search for a replacement general manager early. Douglas was hired with much fanfare in 2019 after the dismissal of Mike Maccagnan. He was touted as the NFL’s next great general manager. While there were some good personnel moves such as the 2022 NFL Draft class and the signing of DJ Reed, Douglas never lived up to the hype.

Steelers sign S Eric Rowe to practice squad – Behind The Steel Curtain
The Pittsburgh Steelers recently released their former first round pick, Terrell Edmunds, and are now bringing in another former Steelers safety to get back into the fold. The Steelers are signing Eric Rowe to their practice squad, the team announced.