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Eagles News: Carson Wentz is tied for the NFL lead in quarterback hits taken

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/19/17.

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NFL: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

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Giants drop to 0-2 with Eagles ready to destroy NY’s offensive line next - BGN
The G-Men are set to play the Eagles (on short rest) in Philadelphia this Sunday, September 24. The Eagles’ defensive line has looked REALLY good through two games; Philly’s pass rush is up to eight sacks combined in the first two weeks. It’s the Birds’ highest total through two games since 2011, when the Eagles notched an NFL-high 50 sacks on the season. The Eagles will have a chance to drop the Giants to 0-3 this Sunday. The Birds are 3-0 in their last three home games against New York at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles are 14-4 in their last 18 games against the Giants regardless of location.

Running The Football More Isn't The Solution - BGNRadio.com
John Barchard, James Seltzer and Vince Quinn break down the loss to the Chiefs. If there is an answer at RB we would sure like to hear it but there isn't any great options to fix the running game. We break everything down from the loss on Ep. 261.

Carson Wentz is going to have to throw it too much again this year - PhillyVoice
A lot of Wentz's high pass attempt numbers his rookie season were due to the Eagles getting behind early in games and having to throw to catch up. In 2017, the Eagles have no such excuse, as they have had two close games. Instead, Wentz is being asked to do more than a second-year quarterback should because the Eagles' run game has been non-existent.

Monday Morning Notebook - Iggles Blitz
Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox have combined for 4.5 sacks so far. You want your stars to play…like stars. Those guys have been outstanding so far. And this isn’t just about the pass rush. The Eagles have clogged the running lanes this year. Kareem Hunt got free for the one long run yesterday, but struggled other than that. The Skins had no room at all. They ran all over the Rams on Sunday, making the opener that much more impressive. Good start for the guys in the trenches.

Upon further review: Eagles position-by-position breakdown - The Athletic
Carson Wentz went 25-for-46 for 333 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He did a great job on back-shoulder throws against the Chiefs, who played a lot of man coverage. Wentz's best drive came in the third quarter when he went 5-for-5 for 70 yards and completed passes to four different receivers. He made plays with his legs also, rushing four times for 55 yards. Through two games, Wentz has attempted 15 downfield throws (20 yards or more), more than any quarterback in the NFL, per PFF. But he's only completed four. The downfield accuracy has not been there. And Wentz's fumbles are concerning. He put the ball on the ground twice (both while in the pocket), but the Eagles recovered both fumbles. Overall, Wentz continues to do a lot of positive things, but he needs to clean up some of the mistakes — which is to be expected for a second-year quarterback.

Eagle Eye: A Sign Of Carson Wentz's Development And Diagnosing The Run Game - PE.com
As Pederson said on Monday, "it takes a village" to have a successful run game. The Eagles just couldn’t get things going consistently against a strong Kansas City front for a variety of reasons. The Eagles finished the day with 13 runs to 56 dropbacks. Keep in mind, however, that they ended the day with 17 straight passes when they were in comeback mode, down by at least a touchdown. When the game was within a field goal, the ratio was 13 runs to 39 dropbacks. That number is still 25 percent and not where it needs to be, but again, take that as additional context in terms of how this game played out. Why was the run game not a staple against the Chiefs? They had other aspects of the offense working pretty well. Conventional wisdom says that a team can NOT have an effective play-action pass game without a productive run game, right? That was not the case for the Eagles' offense on Sunday against Kansas City.

Chicken or the Egg? Eagles running back issues have more to do with personnel - Inquirer
Which begs the question: Are the Eagles’ run game issues – their backs are averaging just 3.2 yards a carry – a symptom of Pederson’s play calling or of the poor evaluations made by the front office? There isn’t a big enough sample after two games to claim anything other than a combination of factors. But the Eagles added three running backs this offseason and the veteran (Blount) had zero carries in his second game, the drafted rookie (Pumphrey) won’t contribute this year, and the undrafted rookie (Clement) is currently on the bottom of the depth chart.

Eagles can't afford to abandon LeGarrette Blount yet - ESPN
The reality is Blount had a sluggish summer and didn't show much burst in the opener at the Washington Redskins (14 carries, 46 yards). Pederson decided to give Smallwood and Sproles the bulk of the opportunities this time around. While that's his prerogative, the Eagles aren't in a position where they can simply move away from Blount. They signed him to a one-year, $1.25 million deal in May with the thought that he could be the lead guy in a running-back-by-committee approach. They weren't necessarily expecting a repeat of 2016, when he set career highs in carries (299), yards (1,161) and touchdowns (his 18 scored led the league), but the hope was he would help provide some much-needed balance to an Eagles attack that asked quarterback Carson Wentz to drop back a franchise-high 607 times as a rookie.

Doug Pederson's play-calling not to blame for Eagles' loss … this time - CSN Philly
Anybody who reads the Eagles postgame grades with any regularity knows complaints about Doug Pederson’s pass-happy play-calling are a staple. Yet, strangely enough, when the clock reached zero in a 27-20 loss in Kansas City, I felt more or less fine with the game Pederson had just called. Officially, the Eagles ran the ball just 13 times against the Chiefs in Week 2, while Carson Wentz dropped back to pass a whopping 56 times. How could anybody be alright with that? Because, quite simply, play-calling balance was not the reason the Eagles lost Sunday. It probably wasn’t Nos. 2 or 3 on the list, either.

Panthers TE Greg Olsen undergoes successful foot surgery, no timetable on return - Cat Scratch Reader
It’s likely we’re looking at 6-8 weeks before Olsen’s ready to play again, which means it’s likely the team will put him on IR and bring him back after eight weeks, provided his recovery goes well. A post-bye week return is likely.

[BLG Note: Sounds like Olsen will miss the Eagles-Panthers game on October 12.]

The Sky Is Falling! Giants Fans React to 0-2 Start - Big Blue View
How do fans feel about their 0-2 New York Giants after Monday’s 24-10 loss to the Detroit Lions? Well, not good. That’s for sure.

Sam Bradford’s Injury Believed To Be A Bone Bruise - Daily Norseman
In his press conference this afternoon, Zimmer once again said that Bradford’s situation was “day to day,” but he also said that the team doesn’t intend to sign another quarterback. Depending on who you ask and/or how much time that person has spent on WebMD over the past 24 hours or so, the timeline for Bradford’s return varies quite a bit. There’s been some speculation that he could be back this Sunday when the Vikings take on the Buccaneers, or that he could be out for a while yet.

The Chiefs are good enough to give Andy Reid the Super Bowl he deserves - SB Nation
There are seven NFL teams sitting at 2-0, and none of them has looked as good as the Kansas City Chiefs. This is weird. Not that the Chiefs being good is weird. The Chiefs have had a winning record each season and missed the playoffs just once in four years under Andy Reid. But for the Chiefs to look utterly dominant is something else. Under Reid, the Chiefs have become the sort of high-floor, low-ceiling team that you wouldn’t really expect to see in the Super Bowl. They’ve gone down swinging (read: painfully, excruciatingly) in all three of their playoff losses under Reid and have yet to get past the Divisional round. They could be counted on to be pretty good in all phases — to rush better than most teams, to be frustrating to score on, and to not cough up the ball — but fall short when games are tight and matter most.

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