The Linc – Cowboys writer says Eagles “should love what they’re getting in Kellen Moore”

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 1/30/24.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Why the Eagles should love what they’re getting in former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore – Blogging The Boys
We can talk about how Moore’s offense struggled against better teams or how they didn’t show up in the postseason, but that is also the epitome of the Cowboys offense we just witnessed this past season. Maybe those shortcomings aren’t as Moore-dependent as we thought. But when you look at his four years with the Cowboys, during that span, the Cowboys offense ranked second overall in both points in yards gained. What is amazing about that is that they were without Dak Prescott for a total of 17 games across three different seasons. Even with Andy Dalton, Garrett Gilbert, Ben DiNucci, and Cooper Rush, the Cowboys’ offense has still been the second-best group in the league under Moore’s tenure in Dallas. Hopefully, he won’t be the answer in Philly, but if he is, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise for Cowboys fans who have had a front-row seat to Moore’s body of work in recent years.

‘Fresh ideas’ for a ‘stale’ Eagles offense? 5 thoughts on Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator – PHLY
If you’re looking for reasons for skepticism, it’s this: the Cowboys moved on from Moore last season and their offense improved, and the Chargers did not make the jump they hoped for with Moore last season and the coaching staff was fired. To the latter point, the injuries were clearly a factor. Justin Herbert missed four games and Mike Williams played three games, but the Chargers still went from sleeper Super Bowl pick to top five in the draft. The Cowboys offense was not as effective through the first five games of the season as it was under Moore before catching fire. It’s worth exploring how much of Moore’s concepts they used as the season progressed, but it clearly was not Moore calling the plays. (This is also where the menu vs. play-caller conversation comes into play.) And there seemed to be some fatigue about Moore’s offense by the end, although the results still put them near the top of the league.

5 things you didn’t know about Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore – NBCSP
5. In Moore’s four seasons as offensive coordinator in Dallas, the Cowboys ranked 2nd in the NFL in points per game (27.7), 2nd in yards per game (391), 4th on 3rd down (44.1%), 4th in passing yards per game (264), 7th in rushing yards (126.6) and 3rd in first downs (22.5).

Eagles Film Review: Jalen Hurts is still an excellent quarterback despite taking a step back in 2023 – BGN
It’s easy to forget how fair Hurts has come from a processing standpoint. I can still remember his rookie year and how he really struggled in this area. I think his development is still incredibly impressive and I do not doubt that he can continue to improve. He’s only 25! At times this year, he couldn’t use his mobility due to his injuries, and he still looked like a good quarterback. That’s impressive.

Above the Nest with Raichele #103: What you should know about the Eagles new OC Kellen Moore and DC Vic Fangio – BGN Radio
Raichele Privette breaks down what you should know about the Eagles new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

One Big Question for the 12 NFL Playoff Teams That Didn’t Make the Super Bowl – The Ringer
How much of an upgrade are Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio over Brian Johnson and Sean Desai/Matt Patricia? It isn’t news that the Eagles had a coordinator problem in 2023. Head coach Nick Sirianni demoted Desai and elevated Patricia to defensive play caller in December, and nothing changed. The defense closed out the season ranked 30th in points allowed per drive, and played especially poorly in a wild-card playoff loss to Tampa. The offense, meanwhile, stalled and then bottomed out over the final two months of the season. Sirianni kept his job, but the play callers did not. Enter Moore, the Chargers’ offensive play caller in 2023, and Fangio, Miami’s defensive coordinator. The Eagles certainly have roster questions to address heading into next season, but any real improvement starts with the coaching staff. Both sides of the ball need an injection of identity and innovation in 2024 if they’re going to right the ship in a hurry (and save Sirianni’s job).

How Chiefs Players Honored Their Defensive Coordinator After Shutting Down the Ravens – SI
How Fangio fits in Philadelphia bears watching. The Eagles announced their hiring of Fangio on Saturday night, and thus ended what really was a two-year courtship of the former Broncos coach from Philadelphia. Through 2022, the team did everything but have Fangio measure out an office to line him up as their contingency plan, in the event Jonathan Gannon bolted for a head coaching job. Officially, he served as a “consultant.” All of that came apart simply due to timing. Gannon did land a job with Arizona, but that didn’t crystallize until just before last year’s Super Bowl, which was well after Fangio agreed to take the Dolphins job, at $4.65 million per year. Fangio went to Miami, and the Eagles turned to Sean Desai instead. Since, Desai and Fangio have both effectively been fired. The former was first stripped of play-calling, then dismissed. The latter’s situation was messier. Fangio’s one-voice approach to running the defense wore on other coaches—an example being that he didn’t allow position coaches to present their work to the defense, instead gathering information from them and doing it himself. That sort of approach is decidedly old school, and seeped through to players who, by the end of the season, started to tune Fangio out. So while Fangio may have wanted to go to Philadelphia all along, his departure from Miami wasn’t exactly voluntary. And my sense is whoever’s next (former Chargers coach Brandon Staley meets with the Dolphins on Sunday) will have to employ a more collaborative style, plus mesh better with stars such as Jalen Ramsey.

15 potential Eagles draft targets we’ll be watching at Senior Bowl practices: Defense edition – PhillyVoice
Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA: Latu suffered a serious neck injury while playing at Washington, and his football career was seemingly over. He transferred to UCLA, where he thrived. In 2022, he had 10.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. In 2023, he had 13 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 INTs. When you watch his highlights, it’s easy to see that Latu has an extensive repertoire of pass rush moves, and he can win either on the edge or from the interior on obvious passing downs. He’s going to be a first-round pick.

More Staff Updates – Iggles Blitz
The defense was a mess in 2023. The scheme was fine, but they didn’t have the right guys to teach it and keep all 11 players on the same page. We saw breakdowns week after week. There was poor communication. There was confusion. It seems like Nick Sirianni understood that hiring young coaches and hoping they would mesh wasn’t a good strategy. He hired a veteran DC and is now bringing in veteran coaches. They should help bring out the best in the players the Eagles have. And there will be some personnel upgrades as well. It feels like the Eagles have a stronger sense of direction this offseason. Last year was crazy. The offseason didn’t start until mid-February and a lot of good coaches were already gone. Sirianni tried to go with young teachers since he had luck with that on the original staff. It didn’t work.

He’s gone: Eagles to hire Clint Hurtt per report – Field Gulls
Fans of the Seattle Seahawks have joked during the offseason that it would be hard for defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt to land another job after the performance of the Seattle defense under his watch over the last two seasons. However, according to a report from NFL insider Tom Pelissero Monday afternoon, Hurtt has found a new employer for the 2024 season.

Packers Defensive Coordinator Interviews: Tracking all of the confirmed candidates – Acme Packing Company
Dennard Wilson. Age: 41. Current position: Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach (2023-present). Wilson, a former college DB himself who had a brief stint on an NFL practice squad, has seen his profile rise over the past several years as an excellent defensive backs coach for the past nine seasons. After spending a few years as a scout, he got his coaching career going with the Rams, first as a QC coach and then coaching the DBs from 2015-16 before making a switch to the New York Jets. Wilson spent four years with the Jets, adding defensive passing game coordinator duties to his title for his final two years there. After that, he landed with the Eagles for the 2021 season, and he again had the passing game coordinator title added to his resume for 2022. With DC Jonathan Gannon departing Philadelphia to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Wilson took a new job for 2023, this time as the Ravens’ DBs coach. In that role, he helped Baltimore rank first in points allowed, turnovers, and net yards per passing attempt. The Ravens’ safeties were especially impressive this season, as second-year pro Kyle Hamilton earned All-Pro honors and Geno Stone finished second in the NFL in interceptions with seven.

Chargers request interview with Marcus Brady for offensive coordinator vacancy – Bolts From The Blue
On Sunday afternoon, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that the Chargers are requesting an interview with former Colts offensive coordinator Marcus Brady for their offensive coordinator vacancy. Brady spent five seasons with the Colts from 2018-2022 and has most recently been an offensive analyst for the Eagles.

Saints to interview Greg Lewis for offensive coordinator – PFT
Ravens wide receivers coach Greg Lewis is in the mix for the offensive coordinator job with the Saints. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Saints will interview Lewis for the position on Tuesday. The Saints dismissed Pete Carmichael after the end of their season.

Giants’ Brandon Brown won’t get Chargers’ GM job – Big Blue View
It looks like New York Giants’ assistant general manager Brandon Brown is going to be staying with the team. The Los Angeles Chargers, where Brown interviewed twice for the vacant GM job, are reportedly hiring Joe Hortiz from the Baltimore Ravens for that job. Hortiz, director of player personnel with the Ravens, was a finalist for the Giants’ GM job in 2022 when the organization hired Joe Schoen. Hortiz has been part of the Baltimore organization for 26 years. Brown was hired away from the Philadelphia Eagles to be Schoen’s second in command.

All aTwitter: 30 January 2024 – Johnson to Washington, Quinn to Seattle? Schefter: “At a minimum, one of those is not right” – Hogs Haven
News, links to articles, updates and more from DC area writers and national sports journalists and others.

2024 NFL Draft: Eight players who stood out in Monday’s East-West Shrine Bowl practices – NFL.com
3) Darius Muasau, LB, UCLA (5-11 7/8, 236). Muasau was all over the field during the West team’s practice Monday, just as he was at Hawai’i and UCLA. He’s a leader in the middle, calling out plays and moving linemen so he could attack a gap in the run game. His drops into coverage were of good depth, and he quickly smothered running backs over the middle and heading to the flat. Muasau always managed to get a slight bump on his target to show he would take care of business during the game. He drew a flag in a one-on-one rep for being a bit too physical, but NFL teams will live with that aggression.

How Steve Spagnuolo turned the Chiefs defense into one of the NFL’s scariest units – SB Nation
In the week of preparation leading up to the AFC Championship game, most of the attention was on Kansas City’s offensive side of the ball. How would QB Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense fare against the best defense they’ve seen in the Baltimore Ravens? The Chiefs’ defense saw all that attention and matched it with one phrase, one that was worn on the shirts of many Chiefs’ defensive players after the game: In Spags We Trust. In Kansas City’s 17-10 AFC Championship victory over Baltimore, the Chiefs’ defense were the stars of the show. They held the Ravens to a -0.20 EPA per play and a 28% first down rate, and frustrated the Ravens’ offense so much that every time the camera panned to Baltimore’s sideline, someone was throwing a helmet. The Chiefs got the Ravens to play their style of game, and then constricted Baltimore into making mistakes left and right. How they did it was mighty impressive, and it starts with their play on the back end.

Monday Football Monday #169: NFL Conference Championship games recap – The SB Nation NFL Show
RJ Ochoa, JP Acosta and Mark Schofield recap the NFL Conference Championship games from Sunday.

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