Eagles News: Chris Long teams up with Michelle Obama

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Chris Long Teams Up With Michelle Obama To Help Aspiring College Students - CBS Philly
Eagles defensive lineman Chris Long is teaming up with former First Lady Michelle Obama. The Chris Long Foundation and the Philadelphia Eagles have joined forces with Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher/Better Make Room initiatives and Summer Search — a youth development nonprofit — in support of FAFSA applications and college readiness. Long, 32, has donated all of his game checks to go towards education funding. Long’s generosity was recognized by former President Barack Obama as one of the top stories of 2017.

Minnesota travel agent compares Eagles fans to gang members - BGN
Lol

Eagles vs. Vikings: Five matchups to watch, when Minnesota has the ball - PhillyVoice
It’s perhaps also worth noting that when the Vikings throw it, they do not get the ball out quickly. On the season, on average, Keenum got the ball out in 2.78 seconds, according to the NFL’s Next Gen stats. That was the ninth-slowest in the NFL. He held onto the ball longer on average than Carson Wentz, who was not afraid to led routes develop down the field. In other words, the Eagles aren’t facing an offense like the Giants’, where they try to protect their offensive line by getting the ball out in two seconds or less. The Eagles will get pass rush opportunities. The interior of the Eagles’ defensive line must find a way to push the pocket and get in the face of the 6’1 Keenum.

Year of the Goblin - Iggles Blitz
Jalen Mills isn’t and won’t ever be a shutdown corner. He is a tough, competitive corner that will tackle and make some plays. The Eagles defense doesn’t finish 4th in yards and points without him. He’s been very good this year. Sunday will be his biggest challenge of the year. The Vikings have a pair of terrific WRs. This is the kind of stage Mills wants. The NFC Championship on the line and good competition for him.

Eagles’ secret weapon? An analytics-fueled attack - ESPN
The results of the fourth-down bids have been overwhelmingly in favor of the Eagles. According to ESPN Stats & Information, they have scored a touchdown or field goal on 13 of the 18 drives in which they converted a fourth down, totaling 85 points (4.7 points per drive). The times they went for it on fourth down and didn’t convert, the opposing team didn’t score a single point on the subsequent drive. There is plenty of credit to hand out for those numbers, including to the defense for routinely answering the bell, but a big slice goes to the analytics department -- overseen by vice president of football operations and strategy Alec Halaby -- for understanding situational odds and playing them to their favor.

Philadelphia’s unique rushing attack vaults Eagles into the NFC Championship game - PFF
While analyzing the top rushing attacks in the NFL, it’s clear many have their own unique style. The Los Angeles Rams want to run you sideline to sideline. The Pittsburgh Steelers want to punch you in the mouth. The Philadelphia Eagles, on the other hand, want to keep you off balance. Philadelphia operates one of the most diverse rushing attacks in the league, executing an attack that’s willing to throw any concept at you at least once. One they keep coming back to, however, is the ultimate ‘off balance’ run concept: the trap.

From Germany, With Love For The Eagles - PE.com
Michael Danner picked the right time to take holiday and come to the United States from his home in Munich, Germany. An Eagles fan since he saw a group on Facebook that liked the Eagles and encouraged him to check out the team, Danner is making sure to maximize his E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES experience ...

Philly police preparing for potential Super Bowl madness - NBC Sports Philadelphia
Be prepared. That’s the Boy Scout’s motto, but it’s also the motto for the Philadelphia Police Department heading into this weekend’s NFC Championship Game at the Linc between the Eagles and Vikings.

Vikings mindful of shoe selection in Philadelphia - PFT
Zimmer showed clips of players slipping on the field during the Eagles’ victory over the Falcons so that they are aware of the need to make sure they’re wearing the right shoes this weekend. Wide receiver Adam Thielen said the Vikings have an “amazing equipment staff” that will be out there with them before the game making sure that everyone is making the right choice in footwear.

‘That Play Right There Was God’: Diggs, Dings and Dumbfounded Vikings On How They Stunned Saints - Sports Illustrated
I love the Eagles’ game plan in the 15-10 win over Atlanta. To me, this was the best coaching job of the weekend. Philadelphia offensive coordinator Frank Reich and coach Doug Pederson combined to make a very smart and industrious offensive plan work well enough to win—while not crushing the confidence of shaky quarterback Nick Foles. Here’s the way I view Philly now: The Eagles don’t have one offensive weapon who can beat you. But they have five or six who can be dangerous. On Saturday, the Eagles incorporated a lot of interesting stuff with Nelson Agholor. He is the Eagles’ version of Tyreek Hill. On Saturday they motioned Agholor from behind right tackle on a left end sweep. They motioned him from the left side in front of Foles, who flipped him one of those newfangled passes teams have incorporated to try to copycat the Chiefs and Hill. Both plays worked—for 21 and 10 yards, respectively. I like how Reich incorporated and Pederson called plays to make the absence of Carson Wentz less of a crisis.

Eagles wake-up call: Could offense turn to tempo to help Nick Foles vs. Vikings? - The Athletic
As we’ve written all week, one of the characteristics of the Vikings’ defense is disguise. They are excellent at showing one look pre-snap and then shifting to something else after the quarterback has the ball in his hands. Tempo can force defenses to go more vanilla, which should work in the Eagles’ favor. It’s one of the things that Doug Pederson pointed to Wednesday when asked how he can get Nick Foles into a rhythm. “The quick, short passing game obviously can help, the running game can help,” Pederson said. “Somewhere in there, if you can take a shot, you take a shot, and whether you hit — like first play of the game — if you hit it or not, that kind of gets your blood flowing a little bit. And sometimes even tempo, hurry-up, no-huddle offense can get your quarterback into that kind of rhythm.”

What’s the key for Nick Foles? ‘Rhythm’ - Inquirer
Nick Foles identified the “key word” when comparing his hot and cold games: Rhythm. “How do you get rhythm is the question,” Foles said. His answer? “I think it’s when you’re just reacting and playing and you’re not thinking,” he said. If it were that easy, he wouldn’t have such a wide variance. I’ve compared Foles to a streaky three-point shooter. When he’s hot, you feed him. When he’s not, it could get ugly. Some of the burden is on the play-calling. Doug Pederson knows the value of rhythm for Foles, and he tries to tailor the play calls to accommodate that early rhythm. “The quick, short passing game obviously can help, the running game can help,” Pederson said. “Somewhere in there, if you can take a shot, you take a shot and whether you hit, like first play of the game, if you hit it or not, that kind of gets your blood flowing a little bit. And sometimes even tempo, hurry-up, no-huddle offense can get your quarterback into that kind of rhythm.”

Who was the NFL’s best assistant coach? - Talk of Fame
Jim Schwartz, DC, Philadelphia. In Schwartz’s second season as coordinator, the Eagles vaulted from 13th in the NFL in defense in 2016 to fourth in 2017 and also finished third with 31 takeaways. A Schwartz defense is built to win up front and the Eagles were suffocating, finishing third against the run and fourth in scoring defense. Philadelphia controlled the line of scrimmage with its tackle tandem of Fletcher Cox and Timmy Jernigan and also brought the heat off the edge with Brandon Graham, Chris Long, Vinny Curry and first-round pick Derek Barnett.

Scramble for the Ball: Championship Quartets - Football Outsiders
Blake Bortles. Nick Foles. Case Keenum. Can it get worse than that? Andrew steps out of the way and lets Bryan throw up a dozen tables to try to come to an answer.

Which Eagles’ player would you steal for the Vikings? - Daily Norseman
As a part of our lead-up to the NFC Championship Game, we’re doing a couple of themed posts with our friends over at Bleeding Green Nation, SB Nation’s home for Philadelphia Eagles football. They’ve already done a similar post to this one over on their site. The Eagles have a lot of talented players on their roster. I mean, obviously. . .you don’t get to be 13-3 with a bunch of schlubs. We know that the Minnesota Vikings have a ton of talented players as well.

It’s a tough day for Cowboys fans to look at the Philadelphia Eagles - Blogging The Boys
The next week of festivities in Philadelphia paraded all across NFL Network, ESPN, and the like will be a long and hard look in the mirror for the Cowboys. While Philly very well could lose, they’ve entered territory the Cowboys have failed to in a long time. Only two NFC teams boast droughts as long as the Cowboys from the title game, Detroit and Washington. Last time Dallas was in the game Marvin Harrison was still in college. John Elway hadn’t won a Super Bowl of any kind. BTB didn’t exist. The Eagles have never won the Super Bowl. That being said, they’ve been more successful franchise than the Cowboys over the last 20 years. Think about that and let it fully sink in.

Fletcher Cox delivered for the Eagles when they needed it most - SB Nation
Cox turned routine plays into great ones, shutting down a potent Falcons’ offense. He gets the nod for retired NFL defensive end Stephen White’s Hoss of the Week award.

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