The Linc – ‘Unacceptable’ performance from Quez Watkins

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 12/25/22.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Roob’s obs: Can’t ask anymore from Minshew, what’s up with Slay, more – NBCSP
3. The box score says Gardner Minshew threw two interceptions. Here’s what I think about that: Quez Watkins has to be stronger. He has to be better. He has to be tougher. He’s got to fight for the ball. He’s got to compete for the ball. His job isn’t just to catch the football but to make sure the defender doesn’t, and he was just terrible at that Saturday. Watkins is one of the bigger deep threats in the league, and that’s great. But he played soft Saturday night and was directly responsible for both Minshew interceptions. That kind of performance is unacceptable. If he can’t get it together, get someone else in there. Period.

Eagles vs. Cowboys: The good, the bad, and the ugly – BGN
The Eagles lost a game that they should have won against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday at AT&T Stadium—even without Jalen Hurts. Four Eagles’ turnovers translated into 20 points for the Cowboys, and a 40-34 Eagles’ setback. Despite the four turnovers, the Eagles were still in position to win the game. Gardner Minshew completed 24 of 40 passes for 355 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Eagles fell to 13-2 overall and it’s their first road loss this season. The Eagles have not beaten the Cowboys in Dallas since the 2017 Super Bowl champion team beat Dallas, 37-9, on Nov. 19, 2017.

BGN Instant Reaction Show: Eagles fall to Cowboys, 40-34 – BGN Radio
Shane Haff and Jonny Page share their thoughts and concerns following the Eagles loss to the Cowboys on Christmas Eve. Jalen Hurts is so important to the run game, it’s time to sit Quez Watkins down, DeVonta Smith plays so much bigger than he is.

Eagles Lose A Shootout – Iggles Blitz
The low point of the game came when the Eagles had a couple of sacks and put Dallas in 3rd and 30. Dak dropped back and threw a deep ball to the left side. TY Hilton made the catch after Scott was late getting over. That might be the angriest I’ve been all season. They got 52 yards on the play. You can give up 10 or 20, but not 30 and certainly not 52. That play would eat me alive if I was on the defensive coaching staff. That’s nightmare fuel. The Eagles built 10-point leads in both the 1st and 2nd half. They couldn’t build on either one of them, with turnovers being the big problem. Minshew threw a pair of INTs. There were fumbles by Boston Scott and Miles Sanders as well. Killer plays.

Five takeaways from Eagles’ 40-34 Christmas Eve loss to Cowboys – The Athletic
The most generous reading is that defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon opted for a relatively vanilla coverage plan, knowing the Cowboys and Eagles are set on a path for a rematch in the divisional round if both teams hold serve from here on out. The concerning read is another example of the Eagles defense making things look far too easy for a high-quality opposing quarterback yet again with the higher stakes of the playoffs looming. The Eagles’ -0.95 defensive EPA per drive was their second worst of the season, per TruMedia.

NFL Week 16 takeaways: Lessons, big questions for every game – ESPN
Will quarterback Jalen Hurts play against New Orleans? Hurts’ status for Week 17 against the Saints was uncertain entering Saturday, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, as Hurts recovers from what doctors are calling a sternoclavicular (SC) joint sprain in his throwing shoulder. The Eagles wanted to see how this weekend played out in the NFC playoff race and how Hurts’ shoulder responds to rest and treatment before determining whether the MVP candidate can play. Still needing a win to secure the top seed in the playoffs, there will be plenty of intrigue around Hurts’ availability.

NFL Week 16 Game Recap: Dallas Cowboys 40, Philadelphia Eagles 34 – PFF
Offensive line spotlight: The Eagles offensive line continues to show why we consider it the best in the league. Philadelphia didn’t allow any sacks to Micah Parsons and company while only giving up six pressures on 30 pass-blocking snaps. Right tackle Lane Johnson and center Jason Kelce went the whole game without allowing a single pressure.

2022 NFL season, Week 16: What We Learned from Saturday’s games – NFL.com
Next Gen Stat of the game: In what was essentially the play of the game, T.Y. Hilton had a 22.5 percent completion probability on his 52-yard reception on third-and-30 in the fourth quarter. The completion added 19.3 percent to Dallas’ win probability.

‘You can’t win a game with four turnovers. That’s the story’ – PE.com
The only time the Eagles have struggled offensively this season is when they’ve turned the football over, and on Saturday at AT&T Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia turned it over four times and lost a thriller to the Cowboys, 40-34. The Eagles still need only one win in the final two games of the regular season to clinch the NFC East title and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference postseason and both remaining regular-season games, against New Orleans and the New York Giants, will be played at Lincoln Financial Field. Two times on Saturday, the Eagles had 10-point leads – early after defensive end Josh Sweat picked off a Dak Prescott pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown and then after quarterback Gardner Minshew converted a fourth-and-3 play with a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith made it 27-17 late in the third quarter – but giveaways and not enough defensive stops added up to Dallas taking over the game in the fourth quarter. “You can’t win a game with four turnovers,” running back Miles Sanders said in the locker room, a message repeated over and over throughout the team. “That’s the story. We turned the ball over four times. That’s not going to work if you want to win games.”

10 thoughts on the Cowboys 40-34 win over the Eagles – Blogging The Boys
9. Dak’s clock management was all backward. The Cowboys just came off a game where their inability to run out the clock ultimately ended up costing them. That is why it was puzzling to see Prescott make some odd decisions late in the game while trying to manage the clock. First, he ran out of bounds after rushing for 16 yards, stopping the clock right before the two-minute warning. This gave the Eagles a free clock stoppage. On the very next play, Prescott took a nine-yard sack in an attempt to keep the clock running, but the two-minute warning stopped the clock. The Cowboys had to settle for a field goal and as a result, the Eagles still had one timeout and 1:41 to try to win the game. It’s moot now, but this isn’t how a veteran quarterback should be managing the clock.

Jerry Jones: It’s too late to realistically think Odell Beckham can help us this season – PFT
“Well, I think the big thing is me or whoever has let enough time go as we get toward the end of the season that it’s not realistic to think about having him in any meaningful way for the playoffs,” Jones said. “That’s not dismissing [signing Beckham in] the future, but it is dismissing, for the most part, the reality of him getting in here and helping us in the playoffs. That was a big part of the equation.”

Giants-Vikings ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Plenty of good, and bad, vs. Vikings – Big Blue View
Daniel Jones — I wrote a considerable amount about Jones in my post-game ‘Valentine’s Views’ column. Jones did everything he could possibly do Saturday — 30 of 42, 344 yards, a touchdown, leading a game-tying drive, throwing a two-point conversion pass. He threw one costly, slightly off target interception — which was more a good play by Minnesota’s Patrick Peterson than a bad play by Jones. Jones will never be Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen or Justin Herbert. I just don’t know how you could have asked him to do more on Saturday than he did.

Chase Young plays more snaps than his coaches planned in his 2022 debut – Hogs Haven
Young played 30 snaps on Sunday, or 58% of the defensive plays against San Francisco. Before the game, Rivera expected Young to be on a snap count, playing half the amount he ultimately ended up playing. However, Young felt good, and his presence on the defensive line was a much-welcomed boost to the unit.

‘A Philly Special Christmas’ review: The Eagles’ offensive line can SING, man – SB Nation
Good Lord, this album absolutely rocks. Opening up with a banger rendition of “White Christmas,” you can tell that this album was constructed pretty carefully, knowing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. Kelce has a very gravelly voice, kind of like how you imagine your uncle singing Christmas songs, as does Lane Johnson. Jordan Mailata can sing his ASS off, though. From his entry on “White Christmas” to “Merry Christmas Baby”, Mailata takes over as the star of every song. Like he’s actually REALLY good at this. One of the funnier tracks on the album is the rendition of Silent Night. Instead of singing the song, on the second verse the choir sings “Eagles” to the tune of Silent Night. It made me chuckle and was a very nice nod to the Eagles fanbase.

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