The Linc – “We might be watching the best offensive line of this century”

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 2/6/23.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Pre-Super Bowl: Commuting With Nick Sirianni, the O-Line of the Century, and the Tom Brady Recipe – FMIA
1. I think we might be watching the best offensive line of this century on Sunday. The Eagles are that good right now. Just realize this: In the last five weeks, Philadelphia has played three great defensive fronts in the Cowboys, Giants, and 49ers. In those three games, the best pass-rushers—Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Nick Bosa—totaled zero sacks, and in those 12 quarters, the combined front sevens of those three teams have one sack for zero yards. We do not appreciate how great Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo and Lane Johnson are, collectively, and how great a team line coach Jeff Stoutland is.

Super Bowl 57: How the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles match up – PFF
Best Unit: Eagles O-line. The Philadelphia Eagles entered the season ranked No. 1 in PFF’s offensive line rankings, and they stayed at that position every week of the season. They have the best offensive line in football, and it is the foundation of everything they do on offense. The San Francisco 49ers have an elite defense and were one of the league’s highest-graded teams against the run in 2022, but the Eagles were able to open up several huge holes for the run game in the NFC championship game and rack up almost 150 yards on the ground. No starter on the Philadelphia offensive line ranks lower than sixth at their respective position in PFF grade over the entire season — every member is a top-10 player. Right tackle Lane Johnson has surrendered just 11 total pressures — all hurries — across 17 games and over 600 pass-blocking snaps. Chris Jones is the best player on the Kansas City defense and a genuine Defensive Player of the Year candidate. He was a difference-maker against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game despite substantial extra attention, but the Eagles are a completely different proposition. When they faced the New York Giants‘ Dexter Lawrence in the divisional round, they held him without a single pressure for the first time this season.

Senior Bowl: 15 draft prospects to remember on offense – BGN
Andrei Iosivas, Wide Receiver, Princeton: Andrei Iosivas is coming to Mobile from the ranks of the Ivy Leagues, where he starred at Princeton as their top receiver. His 6’3” build and speed to burn made him a difficult match up at the FCS level. He has turned heads this week, and will need to continue to show he can run and get open against NFL level athletes.

Mailbag: Jerry Jones thinks the Eagles will ‘pay for their success later’ – PhillyVoice
I think that his comments are accurate when applied to the Rams. They most definitely pushed in all their chips to acquire star talent at the expense of long-term roster building. The Eagles did no such thing. I think the immediate rebuttal is that the Eagles have two first-round picks, including the No. 10 overall pick. They also own an extra second-round pick and an extra fifth-round pick in 2024, and there are succession plans in place at a bunch of positions where players might either retire or leave in free agency. The Eagles should be a good team for years.

A Week Away – Iggles Blitz
One of the things that makes the Eagles pass rush so special is the depth. You have someone like Williams coming off the bench and offering instant impact. He’s able to get into the backfield and be disruptive. Maybe he will end up starting next year. I was a bit disappointed with Williams start to the season, but he’s been different in the past few weeks. You can see his talent and potential. Would love to see him make a big play in the Super Bowl.

Early look at Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl LVII matchup – The Athletic
The key to everything is likely how effective the Eagles’ pass rush can be at getting to Mahomes quickly. It will face a stern test inside, where Chiefs left guard Joe Thuney and center Creed Humphrey both rank atop ESPN’s pass-block win rate for their respective positions. Right guard Trey Smith is all the way down at No. 4 in the league among guards. That doesn’t mean the likes of Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox and Milton Williams can’t win, but maybe it puts the onus on Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick to make something happen. Reddick is two sacks away from passing Reggie White and setting the Eagles’ single-season mark, including the playoffs. Just as the Eagles have not faced an offense like the Chiefs’ or a quarterback like Mahomes, Kansas City has not faced a pass rush like Philadelphia’s this season. The Eagles led the league with 70 sacks in the regular season and finished best in the NFL with a sack on 12.6 percent of opposing pass attempts. Of the teams in the top 10 in sack rate, Kansas City has only played against No. 7 Seattle (a 24-10 win) and No. 8 Indianapolis (a shocking 20-17 loss). Also working in the favor of the Eagles’ pass rush is just how fresh they figure to be. Not only have they had the benefit of two byes this postseason, but both playoff wins thus far were blowouts that allowed them to take most of the second half off. Reddick, for instance, played fewer snaps in the divisional round and NFC Championship (36 and 29, respectively) than he did in any regular-season game.

Fantasy Football Picks: Eagles vs Chiefs DraftKings NFL DFS Super Bowl Showdown Strategy – DraftKings Nation
Jalen Hurts ($13,800 CP) – The two quarterbacks in play this week will both cost you over $16,000, but there’s really not much of a comparison in terms of choice. Hurts has averaged over 10.0 carries a game this season and scored 15 rushing TDs, which gives us an insane floor to work with. Mahomes on the other hand will be up against the top-rated pass defense in the league and comes into this game having averaged under 7.5 yards per attempt in his last four games of the season. Hurts will also be up against a Chiefs team who allowed the fifth-most rushing yards against this season. Eating the chalk with the Eagles quarterback and favorite for the MVP award is perfectly fine for the big contests this week.

NFL QB bargains: Ranking best to worst, exploring who gets paid next – ESPN
Best bargain: Jalen Hurts. Hurts was in an ideal spot this season playing with great receivers, a good offensive line and an elite defense. But he maximized the opportunity and produced magnificent numbers in 2022. For this exercise, he looks even better. All rookie-deal quarterbacks who perform well are great values, but this is especially true for someone like Hurts, who was selected outside the first round (he was taken at No. 53 overall in 2020). Therefore his effective compensation is even cheaper, making him a better value than players such as Justin Herbert, Daniel Jones and Joe Burrow, who were effective in their own right — though not quite on Hurts’ level, production-wise — but cost more because they were early draft picks.

Davis has the perfect answer to his critics – NBCSP
“One thing I learned at Georgia, they’re going to put the best people on the field because they’re in the business of winning,” Davis said. “So if you’re not getting any playing time, you don’t look at it like, ‘I’m not getting any playing time,’ you look at it like, ‘What can I do better? What can I do to contribute so I can get more playing time? “Just making sure when your number’s called you’re ready and that’s something I take pride in, because everybody will look at it as, ‘Oh, he’s not playing,’ ‘He’s a first-rounder,’ but I look at it like I’m gaining experience and I’m using that experience to sharpen my tools, so when my time does come I’ll be ready, and when we have young D-tackles I’ll be the one to pass down everything I know to them like those guys are now with me.” The toughest thing for most rookies is adjusting to the length of the season. And when your team is in the Super Bowl, the season is almost twice as long as a college season. Counting preseason, we’re now in Week 26.

Spadaro: The Eagles are in Arizona to win it all! – PE.com
They are now quietly housed in the team hotel that has been meticulously arranged to mimic the NovaCare Complex as completely as possible. There are meeting rooms for each position group and larger areas for team gatherings. The dining room is complete and spacious. Every logistical challenge has been met, right down to the Eagles-branded cornhole games and the pop-a-shot area and the table tennis space. Hey, there is even a dedicated channel on the hotel television system that plays various versions of the Eagles’ fight song, including the Philadelphia Orchestra’s live rendition, the cartoon played at Lincoln Financial Field after touchdowns, and the more generic, but every bit as peppy piece, with audio and words only. Very cool and it is a reminder the every single person here is feeling the same thing: “Let’s goooooooooo!”

Steve Spagnuolo and Eric Bieniemy preview Super Bowl matchup with Eagles – Arrowhead Pride
Kansas City will take all the time they can get to prepare for a talented Eagles team that tied the Chiefs for the NFL’s best record in 2022. Leading the way for Philadelphia is an MVP candidate of its own: Jalen Hurts. The third-year quarterback has had a phenomenal year that was highlighted by a record-breaking 15 rushing touchdowns. But Hurts is a well-rounded player who is capable of beating teams in a variety of ways. “Some quarterbacks we play are not going to run the football, so you take that out of your thinking,” Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo noted to reporters on Friday. “[Maybe] the pass rush is a little bit different — maybe the edge run support’s a little bit different. But when the quarterback can do what this quarterback can do, it brings it a lot more different issues. You’ve got to be on point with scheme [and] the players [have] to be on point with responsibility. You can see when that [hasn’t happened] with people that they’ve played. They expose them.”

Ex-Giants in Super Bowl: Kadarius Toney, James Bradberry helped new teams – Big Blue View
CB James Bradberry — The cap-strapped Giants had no alternative but to let Bradberry go last offseason. Unfortunately, he landed in Philadelphia. More unfortunately, he had a career year and was named second-team All-Pro. Bradberry had an interception of Daniel Jones in the Giants’ Divisional Round loss to the Eagles. Bradberry called helping to knock the Giants out of the playoffs “a top three moment in my career.”

Say goodbye to Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard as the Cowboys should follow this blueprint instead – Blogging The Boys
What is fascinating about the above players is that every team acquired a proven veteran back at a low cost and paired them with another low-cost back. In short, Super Bowl winners aren’t spending a lot of money on running backs. Not only do running backs not matter but looking at all this information, running the ball in general doesn’t matter. That’s not to say a team shouldn’t have a rushing attack, they most definitely should. They just shouldn’t look to make it the focal point of their offense. For the Cowboys, this running game identity needs to go. Instead of continuing to invest in running backs, re-direct those resources to find better pass catchers and better pass protectors. And sprinkle in some low-cost pass-catching backs like Jerick McKinnon, Boston Scott, and Kenneth Gainwell. Would it be nice to have Elliott and Pollard on this team? Sure. But is it necessary? No, it’s not. The team would be better served to find a low-cost proven veteran in free agency and throw a dart at a rookie in the draft. That way, they can use their cap space and premium draft capital on more influencing pieces to the puzzle. Running backs don’t matter. The blueprint is there, the Cowboys just need to follow it. [BLG Note: No chance the Cowboys take this approach.]

Micah Parsons, Demario Davis look like ‘Average Joes’ in Pro Bowl dodgeball – SB Nation
It seems the NFC’s defense spent too much time watching the movie “Dodgeball” in preparation for the game. Two of their eliminations were reminiscent of scenes from the movie. First, Dallas Cowboys DE Micah Parsons was eliminated from the competition for stepping over the line, by a lot.

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