Eagles News: Jay Ajayi says he’s ready to “punish people” in the playoffs

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Will Eagles ride Ajayi? He’s ready to ‘punish people’ - NBC Sports Philadelphia
The highest number of carries Ajayi has had with the Eagles came in Los Angeles, when he carried the ball 15 times against the Rams. But if the Eagles want more out of him in the playoffs, he’s ready to deliver. ”It’s not something I haven’t done before so I’m excited to embrace that role if that’s what ends up happening this postseason,” he said. “Just being ready for it. It’s something I’ve done before. Just getting my mind right for war. Getting ready for these next couple games and just be physical and punish people.” Thanks to the Eagles’ running back rotation and his lessened workload, Ajayi said he feels really good heading into these playoffs. He’s had 55 fewer touches this year than last.

Report: Texans interested in Eagles executive Joe Douglas for general manager job - BGN
The Houston Texans are interested in Philadelphia Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas for their general manager vacancy, according to a report from John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Houston has a vacancy at the position since current Texans executive vice president of football operations and general manager Rick Smith is taking an extended leave of absence as his wife battles cancer.

Eagles sacks-allowed tally: 2017 - PhillyVoice
There was a very clear dropoff in play from Peters and/or Johnson to Halapoulivaati Vaitai, which is to be expected. Still, Vaitai’s five sacks-allowed were generally very ugly, as in, there was no gray area. He simply got smoked by the edge rusher across from him. Going forward, the Eagles should view Vaitai as a swing tackle only, though an effective one, but they should not feel confident that he is a long-term answer as a starter, in my view.

Big Honor for the Big Boys - Iggles Blitz
Carson Wentz gets most of the attention, but the Eagles don’t win 13 games and score eleventy billion points without the Big Sexies doing a good job up front. Today, a couple of them got the recognition they deserved.

Eagles’ best- and worst-case scenarios for divisional round - ESPN
The best possible outcome for the Eagles is to lock talons with the reigning conference champs. That says plenty about the potency of this NFC field. Atlanta appeared to be battling a Super Bowl hangover for much of the year but won six of eight down the stretch to secure the sixth and final playoff spot, beating the likes of the Seattle Seahawks, Saints and Panthers over that span. So they’re coming in pretty hot. That doesn’t necessarily apply to quarterback Matt Ryan. He was just OK statistically over the last quarter of the season (59 percent completion rate, four TDs, four INTs) but finished sixth on the year in passing yards with 4,095. Atlanta experienced a big scoring dip this year, averaging 22 points per game compared to 34 PPG in 2016. Star receiver Julio Jones (ankle/ribs) and running back Devonta Freeman (knee) enter Saturday’s game banged up.

A To-Do List For Offensive Success - PE.com
More offense? Yes, the Eagles need it when the playoffs begin next Saturday and they need it from all 11 players on the field and from the coaching staff calling the plays and making adjustments to the game plan. Here is a to-do list for the Eagles to get the offense where it needs to be to win in the postseason …

Several Philadelphia Eagles say they’ll watch wildcard games but will wait to start studying - PennLive
“The way we work everyday and the way we are wired, we can’t watch a game for only entertainment value,” Allen said. “You know so many of the schemes and the plays, you know the players on both teams. So we’re not going to be doing film study or anything, but you’re always thinking about it.”

Can Eagles win a playoff game without scoring many points? It isn’t easy, but … - Inquirer
But the real bottom line is that Foles and the offense, which totaled just 10 points in the last five quarters he played, probably have to put some significant points on the board to win. In the previous 10 seasons, of the 70 games played in the divisional round and beyond, only four were won by teams that scored fewer than 20 points. Even if you include the wild-card rounds, which are more apt to contain a pretender or two, it has happened only nine times in the 110 postseason games over that span. That’s a fairly consistent mandate to score at least 20 points, and the Eagles know it. In all likelihood, their ability to advance to the conference championship game will depend on the ability of Foles to create and convert scoring opportunities.

Eagles Q&A with Joe Banner: On headhunting firms, interviewing Andy Reid and a Super Bowl prediction - The Athletic
He wore a suit and he was very, very serious, although you could tell there was a dry sense of humor in there. But he was very, very serious. He came in as the very determined, fighting to win Andy Reid that those of us that know him well see as the essence of him. The story’s well known. The most impressive thing from Andy’s interview was he came in with this notebook at least 6 inches thick that he wouldn’t leave with us but he shared with us. It had sections on everything he had done and learned and written down in what he had been doing for 10 years to prepare for the day that he’d become a head coach. He had never thought of himself as anything but a head coach and even preparing and documenting almost a diary. He had notes from like Mike Holmgren’s opening speech to the team the first day of training camp in this book. By far the most impressive thing in the book was he had every single position coach, from quality control through his coordinators and strength and conditioning coaches, he had graded from one to 10 who he thought were the top coaches at every one of these positions in the country.

The more critics doubt Eagles’ chances, the more players believe in themselves - Delaware Online
“It’s just about us in this room, our team,” rookie defensive end Derek Barnett said. “I don’t think we’re too concerned with what we’re hearing from outsiders because what’s going on in here is what matters. That’s what we’re focused on.” “At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what the outside world thinks,” running back Jay Ajayi said. “When you’re on a team, it’s a bubble. We believe what we have in this team. ”Obviously the media comes out with the storylines and everything about what’s going on. We don’t buy into that. We believe in what we have. We understand what’s in front of us and we’re in a great position to go achieve our goals. Other teams are at home right now. We’re ready to go get it done next week.”

All-Pro voting has some clues about MVP - PFT
First, cross Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz off the list. Though he finished with more touchdown passes than Tom Brady, and despite the fact that Wentz’s value was highlighted by his absence from his team’s last three games, Brady got 47 of the All-Pro votes at quarterback. Wentz got two.

SB Nation’s 2018 NFL Playoff Guide - SB Nation
Check out this cool playoff bracket and preview info.

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