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Let's get to the links...
NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Week 15 - JimmyK, Philly.com
5) Eagles (8-5)
The Eagles have sole possession of first place in the NFC East. While they have some work to do before we crown them NFC East champs, it would be the 11th consecutive year that a team has gone from worst to first, if they can hang on. Worst to first teams over the last 10 years can be found here. There's a decent chance that 3 of the 4 divisions in the NFC will have a team that goes from worst to first. They would be the Eagles, Lions, and Saints, who tied with the Panthers and Bucs for last place in the NFC South last year. Conversely, there are 2 teams in the NFC (Redskins and Falcons) who are likely to go from first to worst.
Brains - Tommy Lawlor, Iggles Blitz
Colin Cowherd made a good point on his radio show on Tuesday. He has praised Chip Kelly and the Eagles in recent weeks and talked about how smart a coach Chip is. The point that Cowherd made is that Chip isn’t some genius that re-invented the wheel. He’s making smart decisions here and there. Those add up over time and make him look like a smart coach. Too often we expect a smart coach to do things that are so different that they stand out in a big way. Most of the blocks and pass routes that Chip Kelly uses are the very same ones used by Andy Reid. The offense is different in some ways, but this isn’t as if Kelly has created an attack that is completely new to the NFL. He took some basic concepts and put his spin on them.
Tuesdays with Chipper - Paul Domowitch, Daily News
MOST NFL PLAYERS spent yesterday on their couch or at the mall doing some Christmas shopping or maybe at a school or church or hospital fulfilling a community service obligation. The Eagles? They were working. Tuesday generally is a day of rest around the league. Many players might stop by their training facility at some point to get treatment for an injury or watch film or lift. But just four teams - the Eagles, Dolphins, 49ers and Lions - regularly practice and have meetings on Tuesdays. And the Niners and Lions' practices are just 20-minute walk-throughs.
Didinger: Memories Of Steve Van Buren - Ray Diddy, PE.com
It is fitting that on the day LeSean McCoy passed Steve Van Buren in the Eagles record book, he left footprints in the snow. The lasting image of the great Van Buren is the grainy newsreel footage of the Eagles halfback running through a raging snowstorm in the 1948 NFL championship game. It is likely we’ll have the same memory now of McCoy slashing through Sunday’s blizzard at Lincoln Financial Field. McCoy ran for a remarkable 217 yards in the 34-20 win over Detroit on a day when eight inches of snow fell in South Philadelphia. The whiteout conditions at the start of the game made it almost impossible to see, and that’s how it was when the Eagles met the Chicago Cardinals at Shibe Park in North Philadelphia on December 19, 1948. It was snowing so hard that Van Buren almost didn’t show up.
SI 'jinx' doesn't bother Foles, Eagles - John Murrow, Daily News
"I don't," Foles said when asked if he believes in the cover jinx. "I think a lot of times when something happens you start getting complacent and you start thinking you've arrived. Everyday I come to work and I'll work to get better and work on the stuff that I'm not doing well because like I said, I have a lot of flaws in my game and I've got to make those better everyday."
No, Mike Shanahan, This Is How You Get Fired ... - The Triangle Blog - Grantland
Mike Shanahan is going to get fired. Usually there's some uncertainty when we say something like that. But there's no uncertainty here. We know Mike Shanahan is going to get fired because it's pretty obvious that Mike Shanahan is trying to get fired, and unless life at FedEx Field is actually just a screwball black comedy taking place in the mind of someone living in another dimension for their own amusement (which we haven't totally ruled out), most people who try to get fired usually get what they want. The real question is this: Is he trying hard enough?
NFC East: Week 14 Good, Bad & Ugly - FanSpeak
The Eagles captured sole possession of first place in the NFC East and all the momentum that comes with five straight wins. Nick Foles has been almost perfect during the Eagles win streak, and the defense has been making plays right and left. In the snow bowl against the Lions on Sunday, the Eagles were able to overcome two special team touchdowns by the Lions and storm back to take the lead and never look back. LeSean McCoy loved the snow, rushing for a franchise best 217 yards along with two touchdowns. The Eagles control their own destiny for the last three weeks of the season and if the past five weeks are any indication, the Eagles look to be headed for some January football.
Building the Defense: More on the Defensive Line - ChipWagon
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BLG Note: Great quote from Chip's Wednesday presser.
Chip on why he doesn't take time after win to enjoy it: "I enjoy the process. I'm not a results guy. I enjoyed the game."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) December 11, 2013
