The Linc – Haason Reddick tied with Micah Parsons for the highest sack score in the NFL

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 10/14/22.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

The 2022 True Sack Rate (TSR): Week 5 Update – Trench Warfare
Eagles edge-rusher Haason Reddick is tied with Cowboys edge-rusher Micah Parsons for the highest sack score in the NFL through five games. Parsons has one more sack than Reddick, but Reddick has two more forced fumbles to make up the difference. Reddick also has played 72 less snaps than Parsons.

Shining Stars – Iggles Blitz
Brandon focuses on OL/DL and writes about them extensively. He really studies the tape and he’s seeing great play from Reddick. This is a huge upgrade from last year. Genard Avery had that role and flashed occasionally, but simply couldn’t play well on a consistent basis. In 35 games with the Eagles, he had 3 sacks, 6 TFLs and no FF or FR. Reddick has played 5 games and has 4.5 sacks, 3 TFLs, 3 FFs and 2 FRs. The Eagles paid big money to Reddick in the offseason and had big expectations for him. He’s been a terrific fit and is living up to the hype. I watched part of the Cowboys-Rams game. The Rams OL was awful. Matt Stafford was under constant pressure. Give Dallas a lot of credit for that, but the Rams have struggled in pass protection all year. They would kill to have an OL like Lane Johnson.

DeMarcus Lawrence gives Jalen Hurts and the Eagles some bulletin board material – BGN
To get out in front of the “What Was He Supposed To Say?” crowd, no one can fault Lawrence for expressing confidence in himself and his team. Especially when the Cowboys’ defense has indeed played well this year. Dallas ranks third in opponent offensive points per game and sixth in defensive DVOA. That said, it’s pretty standard for players and coaches to gas up their upcoming opponent. Heck, Hurts went out of his way to praise the Arizona Cardinals last week after no one really asked him about them during his mid-week press conference. And so for Lawrence to not give an improved Hurts — who has been in the MVP conversation — any credit stands out.

At the Podium: Nick Sirianni on strides he’s seen Jordan Davis make + the approach planning for Cowboys’ playmakers like Trevon Diggs – BGN Radio
Head Coach Nick Sirianni spoke with the Philly media on Wednesday afternoon and is at the podium with a presser that’s locked loaded and ready for you.

10 surprising NFL trends: Offense is down, Geno Smith is starring – ESPN+
9. The Philadelphia Eagles are shutting down wide receivers. Another defense that has played well this year belongs to the Eagles. They are fifth in defensive DVOA right now, including third against the pass. And what stands out from their pass defense is the way they have shut down the opposition’s top receivers. Overall, the Eagles lead the league in DVOA against all passes to wide receivers. They rank first against No. 1 wide receivers, including a game where they held Justin Jefferson to just 48 yards. They also rank second against No. 2 wide receivers. None of those five players have gained more than 52 yards against the Eagles. Washington’s Jahan Dotson caught just two of eight targets for 10 yards. Other defenses have allowed fewer catches or yards to wide receivers, but when it comes to per-target efficiency, nobody can beat the Philadelphia secondary this season.

Fantasy Football: Week 6 key wide receiver questions and tight end analysis – PFF
Key question: How much longer should A.J. Brown be ranked so far ahead of DeVonta Smith? The Eagles have allocated the following volume to their wide receiver room this season: Brown: 41 targets, 174 routes. Smith: 36 targets, 186 routes. Quez Watkins: 7 targets, 122 routes. Zach Pascal: 7 targets, 47 routes. Brown (28-436-1) has been more productive than Smith (28-353-1) to this point while also holding a decent lead in the actual quality of those targets in expected fantasy points (WR17 vs. WR36). This is due to Brown’s superior average target depth (11.5 yards vs. 9.8) and far more fantasy-friendly usage inside the 10-yard line (six targets vs. one). No, Smith shouldn’t be challenging Brown as the top-ranked Eagles wide receiver in fantasy land anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean both should be leaving your starting lineup even ahead of Sunday night’s tough matchup against the Cowboys’ league-best pass rush.

Jason Kelce echoes Nick Sirianni’s message about Cowboys game – PE.com
We’re almost to Sunday night as the time crawls by and the Eagles continue to prepare for Dallas and the Week 6 NFC East battle. How big is this game? How critical is this moment against the most bitter of rivals in prime time? Veteran center Jason Kelce delivered the perfect answer on Thursday, one that said a lot about how this Eagles team has connected and the message that Head Coach Nick Sirianni is giving. “Huge game, rivalry game, but I thought Nick had a great message in here. Obviously, there’s going to be more energy in here. It’s a huge rivalry, it’s a big game for our division, Sunday Night Football, but man, we’re in this position because of what we do,” Kelce said. “It has nothing to do with the team we play. It’s how we prepare, how we practice, how we play for each other. I think that you don’t want to make the opponent the focus. You want to make your teammates and your own self the focus. “We know it’s a big game. We’re excited to play the Cowboys, but more than that we’re excited to continue to grow and play with each other.”

Cowboys-Eagles roundtable and predictions: Hurts vs. Parsons, matchups and more – The Athletic
Machota: The Dallas defense will show up. But I have my doubts about what kind of offensive production we’ll see. Rush has played well at Minnesota and at New York and at Los Angeles, but this environment is a different deal. Rush will have to have the game of his life to pull off this one. Eagles 20, Cowboys 17. Sturm: The greatest hope possible was to get a split when the Cowboys took a two-game road trip to Los Angeles and Philadelphia to play the NFC champions and the last unbeaten team in the NFL. They already have their win. To get them both would be incredible. Dallas has a mentality that it fears nobody — especially with this defense that is a few levels up from what Dallas has had in more than a decade. But, we should probably get real. Philadelphia’s coaches should be able to control this game by keeping the Cowboys offense from getting what it needs — short fields, generous turnovers and a sleeping defense on play-action deep shots. If the Eagles are prepared defensively and don’t give the ball away repeatedly, they have every reason to win this game. Rush is a great story, but there is little chance he can gun sling his way to a big night and win in a shootout. The pressure is on the Eagles to make sure they don’t cost themselves something that will bother them all year. Eagles 28, Dallas 20. [BLG Note: Two Dallas writers are taking the Eagles.]

‘I’m Him’ — Brash, talented Gardner-Johnson fitting right in – NBCSP
The Eagles’ 24-year-old safety has been unapologetically letting his personality loose from the moment he arrived in Philadelphia in late August. “I’m Him,” Gardner-Johnson said to NBC Sports Philadelphia on Wednesday. “What Jalen Ramsey say? I’m Him. Just let if fly. “You just gotta play football. We’re all unique in our own ways. I’m here to do a job, play my role and make sure the ball don’t go over my head.” Gardner-Johnson is loud, brash, energetic and talented. He’s constantly mean-mugging and flexing in the background of locker room speech videos, he brings the juice every day in practice and he listens to NBA Youngboy before games. In his first three NFL seasons with the Saints, he’s been known as much for his trash-talking as his electric play.

4 questions the Cowboys must answer against the Eagles – Blogging The Boys
Do they have an answer for Jalen Hurts? The Philadelphia QB is a dual-threat. He is having a more than respectable year passing, currently ranking seventh in passing yards per game. Dallas would seem to be a good matchup against him with their ferocious pass rush and solid secondary, but the real problem with Hurts is that he is a very mobile quarterback who makes plays with his legs as well as his arm. That has been a real vulnerability for the Cowboys this year, as they let Daniel Jones really hurt them and also let Joe Burrow turn negative plays into positive ones with his mobility. Hurts is a better runner than both of them, and the Eagles are not afraid to use designed run plays to exploit his talent. Dallas has to have a counter. The logical choice one is Micah Parsons with his speed and vision. Dan Quinn and his defensive staff should be more prepared for Hurts since he is a well known threat with his running and escape ability. But Parsons had to fight through a groin issue against the Los Angeles Rams, and they may have to rely on other defenders to step up. Having Jayron Kearse back on the field should help. We know this defense is going to bring pressure. They must add good containment to slow down the Philly offense. However, Hurts has not been lighting up the scoreboard with his arm. He has only thrown four touchdown passes so far and has been picked off twice. That last thing is a positive thing for Dallas. They have closed out two wins with late game interceptions, and it would be nice to do that again.

Ron Rivera ends presser early after question about a report saying he didn’t want Carson Wentz – Hogs Haven
The team did not provide video of Head Coach Ron Rivera’s presser after the game. It was cut short after Rivera was asked about an extensive report from ESPN this morning about Dan Snyder and his influence over every aspect of the organization. One of the claims made was that the Carson Wentz trade was a Dan Snyder move to get the guy at quarterback, and it wasn’t Rivera’s call like he and the team told the media. Rivera gave a long answer that denied the report, saying he’s the fucking guy, and he made the call to bring in Wentz.

2022 NFL season, Week 6: What We Learned from Commanders’ win over Bears on Thursday – NFL.com
Commanders win in spite of Carson Wentz. Like Fields, Wentz has a propensity to attract foreign bodies; they’re now the two most-sacked quarterbacks in the NFL. Again, there’s the Rorschach test of who’s to blame: the line or the QB? But with both of these quarterbacks, they certainly lack the ideal pocket presence you’re looking for. With the run game working fairly well, it made sense to lean on it and sprinkle in a few high-percentage passes when the game tilted Washington’s way. But no one can say with a straight face that this is the offensive formula the team wanted before the season, not with the receivers they have and with the price the Commanders paid to land Wentz, who was 12-of-20 passing for 99 yards in the win. It’s clear that Scott Turner and Ron Rivera — coaches who might be fighting for their livelihoods — have very little trust remaining in high-leverage situations to call for even moderately risky throws. And we didn’t even need to hear Rivera’s early-week comments on Wentz to know that. We just watch the games.

Is it time for the Giants to start thinking the p-word? – Big Blue View
An objective guess at the Giants’ final record, devoid of any “homerism,” would be that the Giants will lose to every remaining opponent higher than they are in the power rankings and defeat every opponent lower than them in the rankings (although they are 2-1 against teams above them in the rankings) […] That would leave the Giants at 11-6. That final season record would have been unimaginable to fans, and professional analysts as well, before the start of the season. But all it would take would be for the Giants to defeat every team ranked lower than them the rest of the way – and those opponents are much lower than them, ranking from No. 24 to No. 30.

Why Dan Snyder is in trouble with the NFL, and why it’s hard for his fellow owners to kick him out – SB Nation
As someone who works in sports media and lives in the Washington D.C. area, the question I get asked all the time is this: Can Snyder be removed? Under the NFL’s Constitution, an owner can be expelled from the league. It would require the vote of 24 of the 32 owners for an owner to be removed. As Commissioner Goodell testified during the summer, he lacks the “authority” to single-handedly expel Snyder from the league.

The best thing you can do to quash a deadly Covid-19 surge this winter – Vox
Another winter, another wave. With the leaves changing color, temperatures dropping, and people spending more time indoors, health officials are warning of a spike not just in Covid-19 cases but other infections as well. “The challenge with holiday seasons every year is it’s also a time where contagious respiratory viruses — like influenza, RSV, and, again this year, Covid — spread much more quickly,” said Ashish Jha, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, during a press conference on Tuesday. Covid-19 cases are already rising in Europe, a trend that has preceded waves of infection in the US in the past. The key question: Just how deadly will Covid-19 be this winter?

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