The Linc – Lane Johnson “pissed” about Pro Bowl snub

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 12/30/21.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Johnson was ‘pissed’ about being snubbed by Pro Bowl voters – NBCSP
When Pro Bowl rosters were announced last week, Lane Johnson’s name was a notable omission. He wasn’t even named an alternate. Asked about that snub on Wednesday, Johnson didn’t mince his words. “I was pissed. I’ll leave it at that,” Johnson said. “I was really pissed. As far as that, it just motivates me (for) whatever’s left of the season.” Johnson, 31, was a first-round pick, has been named to three Pro Bowl teams before, has been an All-Pro and is a huge part of an offense that has become the best rushing attack in the NFL. He seems to have all the requisite qualifications to be a Pro Bowler … but he didn’t make the list or the alternate list. If you ask Johnson, he’s playing as well now as he ever has.

Eagles All-22 Film Review: Observations from the win over the Giants – BGN
However, Jalen Hurts wasn’t at fault for all plays. I just thought the pass game looked a bit stale and boring early on and the receivers were not really winning and sometimes Hurts had nowhere to go. It was a weird start. I think the Eagles offense is built around the run game and if they are asked to straight up throw on 3rd and medium/long they are still pretty limited as a passing attack with Hurts at quarterback.

From the Bleachers #93 – Let’s Destroy the NFC East – BGN Radio
On the latest episode of From the Bleachers on BGN Radio, Shamus Clancy goes wild over the Birds’ late-season playoff push against their NFC East rivals and pays tribute to the late John Madden.

Ranking potential Eagles playoff opponents, from most to least desirable – PhillyVoice
Brady also happens to be a matchup nightmare for a team like the Eagles, who have done a better job throughout the season disguising coverages, but aren’t likely to fool Brady, who also by the way gets the ball out quickly behind a great offensive line, to dangerous weapons in the passing game. That’s pretty much good enough for me to rank the Bucs as the least desirable first-round opponent. But also, the Bucs had the No. 1 run defense in the NFL in 2020, and the No. 3 run defense so far in 2021. Their main objective defensively every week is to stop the run, so it’s also just not a good matchup for the Birds on that side of the ball, either.

Judging the Defense – Iggles Blitz
Some of the stats listed above look great, but this is nowhere close to being a great defense. I do think they’ve become pretty good, especially against the run. Only 1 of the last 8 opponents has run for 100 yards or more (Saints at 109). Antonio Gibson and Saquon Barkley just combined for 30 carries for 58 yards in the past two games. That is good run defense. Pass defense is still an issue for the Eagles. We saw rookie Zach Wilson shred the defense in the first half of the Jets game a few weeks back. The Jets led 18-14 and had moved the ball really well. The Eagles then took over the game and kept them from scoring anymore, but that was still a concerning first half. Gannon took a ton of heat early in the season, and deservedly so. His unit wasn’t playing well and he wasn’t solving problems. He did start making adjustments, both schematically and personnel wise, and the results have been good since. Give him credit for the adjustments. Give him blame for taking so long to make them.

2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers for Week 17 – Fake Teams
WR28) DeVonta Smith — Smith is such a talented WR but PHI doesn’t throw the ball often. WAS’s defense does surrender the 3rd most PPG to WRs so the opportunity is there for the rookie wideout.

NFL Week 17 Defense Rankings – PFF
12. Philadelphia Eagles (Up 7). One of the best seasons of Darius Slay‘s career has helped propel Philadelphia up the rankings, among other standouts. Slay now carries an 85.9 PFF coverage grade, is allowing a 73.9 passer rating when targeted and has multiple defensive scores to his name. T.J. Edwards has begun to emerge as a quality linebacker to fill a desperate need for the team. He has above-average PFF grades across the board and a 75.2 overall mark, and his stat line in coverage includes an interception and four pass breakups.

NFL playoff clinching scenarios for Week 17 – PFT
NFL playoff clinching scenarios for Week 17. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (8-7) (at Washington (6-9), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, FOX). Philadelphia clinches playoff berth with: 1) PHI win + MIN loss or tie + NO loss or tie … OR … 2) PHI win + MIN loss or tie + SF win or tie … OR … 3) PHI tie + MIN loss + NO loss + ATL loss or tie … OR … 4) PHI tie + MIN loss + NO tie + ATL loss or tie + SF win or tie.

’We’re going to see the very best of them this week’ – PE.com
This one is going to be a whole new ballgame, literally. When the Eagles kick off against Washington on Sunday at FedEx Field, they know they’re going to be facing a WFT that will bear little resemblance to the team that played at Lincoln Financial Field a couple of Tuesdays ago. That Washington team started a quarterback, Garrett Gilbert, who had been with the team for only a handful of days. That Washington team had nearly two dozen players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. This Washington team is more complete from a personnel standpoint. Taylor Heinicke returns to play quarterback, with Kyle Allen as the No. 2. Both were out in the first meeting between the teams. Right guard Brandon Scherff, one of the best in the league, is going to start. The defense will have some key players back. Also, Washington is smarting after a 56-14 loss on Sunday night to Dallas, so Head Coach Ron Rivera will spend the week reminding his players that Washington is a much better football team than that. And they are better than that. Washington won the NFC East last season and nearly defeated eventual Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay in the playoffs. The WFT has had a season rife with injuries and COVID-related illness, with a few bad bounces and some close losses that add to a 6-9 record. But we know what this game is all about because we’ve been here before: In this topsy-turvy NFC East, the records don’t mean a thing.

Week 18 might be the most ultimately weird game of importance between the Cowboys and Eagles – Blogging The Boys
If the Vikings win on Sunday night then all of this legitimately comes into play. It would be very interesting if they did lose to the Bears before next week’s Cowboys/Eagles game because the Eagles would in fact be given the opportunity to rest but at the cost of effectively handing the number one seed and first-round bye to their top division rival. If the shoe were on the other foot there would be a lot of Cowboys fans who would want to capitalize on the opportunity to rest, but the idea of setting Philadelphia up so wonderfully would be sickening. Let’s hope that the Eagles are put in such a compromising place next week. Go Vikings.

NFL Power Rankings: The Cowboys Are Looking Like a Legit Super Bowl Contender – The Ringer
That showcase comes as a massive relief to Cowboys fans. After returning from a calf injury in Week 9, Prescott struggled to replicate his early-season line: He threw 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in his first six games (while averaging 302 passing yards per game and 8.4 yards per attempt), but had combined to throw just nine touchdowns and six interceptions in his seven starts post-injury (dropping to 255 passing yards per game and 6.5 yards per attempt). On Sunday, though, Prescott looked like a man who’d exorcized his demons (or maybe just felt fully healthy for the first time in months) as he gleefully pushed the ball downfield. That newfound verve could bode very well for a Cowboys squad that’s starting to fire on all cylinders as postseason approaches. Dallas’s defense has quickly emerged as one of the NFL’s best over the past few months, and that group did its thing again on Sunday: Trevon Diggs got another pick, his league-best 11th; DeMarcus Lawrence produced a ridiculously athletic pick-six; and playmaking rookie Micah Parsons notched another sack, his 13th on the year. Combine that unit with an offense that seems to have re-captured its mojo, and the Cowboys are looking more and more like a legit Super Bowl squad.

Wildcard Watch – Week 17 – 2021 – Hogs Haven
The Football Team gets back to “normal” with a full week between games and something approaching a full roster following two consecutive games in which the COVID reserve list cut deep into Washington’s already injury-depleted game day roster. WFT needs its defense, which should benefit from the return of Cole Holcomb and Jamin Davis, to stop the run and force the Eagles offense to rely on the passing game. For its part, Washington’s offense is underpowered without JD McKissic and Logan Thomas, who are both on IR. Dyami Brown and John Bates showed some signs of life for Washington in Sunday night’s beatdown at the hands of the Cowboys, and we could see players like Tyler Larsen and Brandon Scherff back this week. If Washington’s defense can play well and keep the game under control, then it’s just possible that the Football Team can revive the script that worked for them from Weeks 10 through 13. If so, perhaps the undermanned Washington team can stay alive long enough to reach the playoffs and get some help in the form of a player or two returning from IR. The Eagles are 3.5 point favorites in this game, but a victory for the Football Teamat home would keep Washington’s slender playoff hopes alive.

2021 NFL playoffs: One reason to hope for each of the 10 remaining fringe teams – NFL.com
With two division games left, the Washington Football Team will look to match or best its prior two results against the Eagles and Giants with respect to generating pressure. In Week 15, Washington was able to pressure Jalen Hurts on 31 percent of dropbacks; in Week 2, WFT’s defense earned a season-high 47.2 pressure rate on Daniel Jones (unfortunately, they’ll have to do it without Chase Young this time).

Philosoraptor’s Corner: Some tough love for the Giants – Big Blue View
The report that Kevin Abrams is a “strong contender” to be the Giants’ next GM tacitly confirms what we’ve all suspected for a while now, that Dave Gettleman won’t be the Giants’ general manager next year. But it also suggests that the Giants could once again do the comfortable thing and go with who (and what) they know. The Giants, and Giants’ ownership in particular, need to be honest with themselves. They need to realize that if they keep making the same decisions, they’ll get the same results. That means checking their biases at the door to the facilities. The Giants absolutely should hold themselves to high standards. They should believe they are one of the true “Flagship” franchises who bear the standard for what professional football should look like. But they also need the humility to look in the mirror and realize that they aren’t that right now. The Giants are losers, and have been for some time.

Never forget that John Madden was also one of the greatest coaches of all time – SB Nation
Madden’s .759 record is impressive in isolation, but mind-boggling when you see the overall records of those Raiders teams. His absolute worst season resulted in a 9-7 finish, his last year as a coach before leaving the NFL due to ulcers and burnout. Over the course of his 10 seasons as head coach the Raiders won the AFC West seven times, and this was at a time where the AFC West was a brutal division. You had Hank Stram still leading the Chiefs, the Broncos being an ever-dangerous threat, and Dan Fouts emerging to lead the hapless Chargers. The only potential criticism of Madden as a coach is his lone Super Bowl win, but in the context of the newly merged NFL it was ludicrously difficult to win it all. During Madden’s 10 year tenure he faced some of the greatest teams in the history of football in the playoffs. Shula and his juggernaut Dolphins, Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain, Tom Landry’s Cowboys, the Vikings’ Purple People Eaters — teams baked into the legend and ethos of the NFL and venerated to this day.

NFL University #21: Rodgers hints at retiring, Jags coaching search, and playoff implications – The SB Nation NFL Show
Welcome back to another edition of NFL University! Stephen Serda, Kyle Posey, and Justis Mosqueda discuss Aaron Rodger’s comments earlier in the day when he met with the Green Bay media. The Jaguars have started making requests for possible head coach candidates across the league. The Chiefs looked like they were back against the Steelers and we’re not sold there’s a team that can really challenge them in the AFC. After being the last undefeated team in football the Arizona Cardinals are floundering down the stretch, we’re collectively rooting for the Chargers to make the playoffs.

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