Eagles News: ESPN says Philadelphia has best odds of making the playoffs in the NFC East

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Eagles playoff favorites in NFC East - ESPN
Entering Week 3, the Eagles have the best odds of making the playoffs in the division, followed by the Cowboys and Redskins, according to ESPN's FPI. All three teams are 1-1. The 0-2 Giants, meanwhile, don't have much of a chance at the moment.

Three Eagles numbers that matter for the New York Giants game - BGN
It goes without saying that this is a matchup on paper that the Eagles figure to dominate. Philadelphia’s pass rush has been ferocious through two games. The Birds are one of only three teams in the league to generate both eight-plus sacks AND eight-plus quarterback hits. An underrated aspect of the Eagles’ pass rushing prowess so far is how they’ve faced two good offensive lines. The Washington Redskins had the third best pass protection unit in 2016, per Football Outsiders. The Chiefs ranked 14th in 2016. It’s not like the Eagles have beaten up on a bunch of bums. But that’s exactly what they’ll have the chance to do this Sunday.

Wulf's Den: Sacking Eli Manning - The Athletic
Everyone knows that Eli Manning has thrown more interceptions against the Eagles than against any other team during his 14-year career. Across 26 games, Manning has generously gifted 29 passes into the waiting arms of Eagles defenders. Compared to the two other division opponents, Manning has thrown 26 interceptions against the Dallas Cowboys and 23 against Washington. Only four of those 29 interceptions by the Eagles are accounted for by players currently on the Eagles roster, though. Malcolm Jenkins leads the way with two, while Mychal Kendricks and Jordan Hicks each have one. But the focus this week seems to be on the matchup between the fierce Eagles defensive line and the putrid Giants offensive line. You may not know that Manning has also been sacked more times by the Eagles than by any other opponent, though the margin is slimmer — 53 sacks for the Eagles compared to 52 for the Cowboys.

Mailbag: Are the Eagles likely to get a third-round pick for Eric Rowe? - PhillyVoice
Nobody is firing Staley at this point in the season. However, I do think it's a fair question to ask. Staley has been the Eagles' running back coach since 2013. LeSean McCoy had 2,926 rushing yards for the Eagles in 2013 and 2014, combined. Of course, he was aided by Chip Kelly's offense, which was clicking his first year as a head coach in the NFL. Not to mention, McCoy was already (and still is) a great talent. Since McCoy was traded during the 2015 offseason, here's a quick list of all the Eagles running backs who have received carries for the Eagles: DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Kenjon Barner, Wendell Smallwood, Byron Marshall, Terrell Watson, and LeGarrette Blount. Take Sproles (again, an already great player) out of that mix, and you have a lot of running backs who underachieved (or are currently underachieving) in their time in Philly.

Decision to hand Isaac Seumalo starting job blew up in Eagles' face - Daily News
NFL starting jobs usually are won in training camp and the preseason. But Isaac Seumalo was named the Eagles’ season-opening starting left guard in July, before the first drop of summer sweat was spilled at the NovaCare Complex. Given the fact that the Eagles had two veteran guards on their roster – Stefen Wisniewski and Chance Warmack – with a combined 131 NFL starts, it was curious that the Eagles were willing to just hand the job to Seumalo, a second-year player who showed some promise in four rookie starts at three different positions, but not enough to be handed a season-opening starting job on a silver platter.

Giants a pushover? Brandon Graham warns Eagles not so fast - CSN Philly
"We're trying to not focus on how they struggled because they're not going to struggle against us unless we make them," Graham said. "Unless we go out there and do what we do. And that's what we try to preach each week. Because you get excited sometimes when you see other teams doing what they do, but it doesn't ever work out the same way you know when you play a certain team. You think you're supposed to beat them because this team beat them and you beat that team? But it don't matter. On any given Sunday, and that's the truth."

Report: Bradford To Get Second Opinion On Knee, Has ‘Pronounced Pain’ - Daily Norseman
Yeah, this seems to be a bit of an escalation from initial reports of a one week injury with an MRI that showed no structural damage. Look, I’m no medical expert, but whenever a second opinion is warranted, especially from the surgeon who did your surgeries, it feels like a foreboding sign. With any luck, this will just be a minor issue that will be resolved with rest and rehab, but it feels like this is careening towards something more serious than that. Mike Zimmer has officially declared Sam Bradford out for Sunday’s game.

Rams QB Goff continues strong start to 2017 - PFF
2016 first overall pick Jared Goff continued his strong start to the 2017 season Thursday night against the 49ers, earning an 80.0 overall grade, raising his season grade to 74.3 (up from 45.6 his rookie year).

‘We’re like a machine’: Cris Collinsworth defends PFF grades against players’ gripes - Washington Post
“I mean, I’ve said it all along: How can they grade an offensive lineman when they don’t know what the play is?” Kelly asked. He went through the standard complaint: An outside analyst can’t know what play was called, or who had what assignment, and thus the grading process is unreliable. I think there’s a lot of players and coaches that feel the same way,” Kelly said. “You can do whatever you want with it. It’s like me going into a bank and grading a teller because they gave me a lollipop. I gave them a 94.3.” After the season, though, Kelly did what the company has invited its critics to do: He studied its process. He met some of its analysts — who watch every player on every snap — and watched them make evaluations. And then, according to Collinsworth, he bought a share of the company.

The NFL is being devoured by its own economic model - SB Nation
This is a very boring, simple explanation as to why the NFL’s ratings are declining. It is not an opportunity for you to shoehorn in your feelings about Colin Kaepernick protesting the game. No one really cares about your feelings about Colin Kaepernick’s protest, because if you are the kind of person who gets really offended by Colin Kaepernick’s protest, then your feelings in 2017 are the most boring and predictable thing about you, and telling on you in a deeply unflattering light. The simpler and also boring systemic problem with the NFL that might actually explain something is its success, and how that success made the ownership class in the NFL fat, lazy, and locked into a business model they have no real reason or incentive to change, even with falling TV ratings.

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