Eagles News: Philadelphia’s pass rush generated the most pressure in 2017

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10 things we learned from the Eagles’ final regular season game against the Cowboys - BGN
To no surprise, the Eagles’ offense has really struggled without Carson Wentz. In the three games since Wentz went down for the season, the Eagles’ offense is averaging 15.7 points per game and 4.26 yards per play. For context, only two teams averaged fewer points per game in 2017. And the team with the lowest yards per play in 2017, the Colts, finished at 4.6. Philadelphia would rank dead last by a significant margin in that stat.

Worried about the Eagles? Here are five reasons why they can still reach the Super Bowl - PhillyVoice
We touched on this earlier, but the Eagles defense is probably the number reason this team can still make it Minneapolis for the Super Bowl. Their dominance at home aside, the Birds have been stellar all season with the exception of the aforementioned road trip, one that included a pair of West Coast games against two pretty good teams in the Rams and Seahawks. In the two games since, however, they've held Dallas and Oakland to a combined 16 points, despite not getting any help at all from the offense and resting several of their starters against the Cowboys, how kept their starters in the entire game. They're going to need to keep that up going forward, because the competition is only going to get tougher – and the offense didn't do much to instill any confidence in their final performance of 2017. But the recent play from Jim Schwartz's defense, especially in a meaningless game on Sunday, is definitely a good sign.

Eagles QB Nick Foles doesn't look as confident as he says he is - Inquirer
A few years back, after Chip Kelly had traded Nick Foles for Sam Bradford, I had a few players and members of team personnel give some insight into why the Eagles had given up on Foles as a starter. His skill set, first and foremost, wasn’t starter-caliber, or at least good enough to consistently win games in the NFL. It had become abundantly clear to Kelly that Foles was more his 2014 version than 2013. But an additional concern, and one brought to my attention, was that Foles would sometimes let his performance or outside criticism outwardly affect his demeanor. He would get down on himself and the rest of the squad felt it. Three years later, I don’t know if Foles handles himself differently. He’s older, endured a professional low with the Rams, has been recast as a backup and has become a father.

A Weak One - Iggles Blitz
What you saw the last two weeks isn’t what you’ll see in the playoffs. I’m not saying the Eagles will come out and play great and look like the #1 seed for sure, but they will be a different team. You will have all the starters on the field. They will be rested. Fresh legs can make a difference in January. The gameplans will be geared toward helping Foles and doing what it takes to win. In recent weeks, Pederson was trying to throw passes and work on the passing game.

Vegas projects Eagles as underdogs in most divisional round matchups - ESPN
Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins gave a quizzical look when asked why the fan base should be confident in this team going into the playoffs. "Why wouldn't they be?" he said. Because of the offensive showing the past two weeks. "We still won 13 games, No. 1 seed, everybody's gotta come through Philly. I don't care if you were starting at quarterback, you should be confident in that," Jenkins said.

Eagles have no time for time off - Morning Call
“Most teams, as you go on, you taper off your practices, you’re not on the field as long, you kind of take some of the reps off,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said after Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys. “But as we’ve gotten rest this week and we’ve got another bye next week, we have an opportunity to actually put the pads on, and we’d like to put the pads on and get back to some of those competitions. “We feel like we’ve had some time to rest and get better. So we’re going to try to use this time to our advantage because we have plenty of things we can improve over the next two weeks.”

Donnie Jones Could Help Pants Opponents In Playoffs - PE.com
Jones finished the regular season with a 40.6 net average which is over a yard more than his career mark of 39.5 yards per punt. The greatest punter in Eagles history - Jones is the all-time team leader in gross and net averages as well as punts inside the 20 - will have a chance to add to his legacy and help this franchise win its first postseason game since 2008 in two weeks.

'He didn't back down': Philadelphia Eagles react to Sidney Jones' debut - PennLive
Jenkins, a team captain, said it was difficult for Jones to make his debut Sunday, because the Eagles had scaled back practices over the past few weeks to rest players before the postseason. He had to get himself prepared in some ways. But Jones dealt with tough circumstance all season, as he tried to grasp a playbook and new techniques before he was medically cleared to practice. “It’s tough to stay engaged when you aren’t on the film, especially for months on end,” Jenkins said. “The biggest thing was just trying to keep him engaged, trying to continue to teach him about the game, offenses, situations. But none of it is probably like the actual, real thing. So it was good to see him out there. I know it was kind of up in the air all week and then to get him his debut, it’s been a long year for him, so like I said, we are just excited.”

Eagles staying focused amid Schwartz reports - NBC Sports Philadelphia
After Sunday's regular-season finale, players were complimentary of Schwartz, but they let it be known: they're going to stay focused on winning, not the possibility of losing a coach. "The biggest thing is, none of that is of my concern," Jenkins said. "We're just trying to get to the next week. I'm not thinking about it unless he's going to be somebody else's coach next week. If he's going to be with us, then all the focus is on here. Everybody in this building is worried about winning a Super Bowl."

Final 2017 DVOA Ratings - Football Outsiders
The Eagles finished fifth overall but seventh in weighted DVOA, which accounts more heavily for recent performance.

The Bengals sent the Bills to the playoffs, plus 6 things we loved from Week 17 in the NFL - SB Nation
If I told you that the NFL season was going to conclude with a 13-2 Eagles team facing an 8-7 Cowboys team, you would have been surprised. You would have been shocked had I told you the Eagles punter was going to take his pants off in the middle of the field. That’s what Donnie Jones did when he accidentally took the field with just over five minutes to go in the first half to try to pin the Cowboys deep in their own territory.

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