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Eagles News: Philadelphia issues an early warning to Vikings fans

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 10/3/18.

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NFC Championship - Minnesota Vikings v Philadelphia Eagles Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

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Toppled viking statue at Boathouse Row pulled from Schuylkill River - 6ABC
A 100-year-old statue of a Viking explorer at Boathouse Row was torn off its pedestal and hauled into the Schuylkill River in act of vandalism, Philadelphia police say. This afternoon, crews were busy covering up what remained of the statue and salvaging what could be moved with a crane. Meantime, underwater footage shows the damaged statue lying on the floor of the Schuylkill River. It’s unclear if it is still intact.

History suggests Eagles not doomed after 2-2 start - BGN
The Eagles averaged 9.8 wins in their last eight seasons starting out at 2-2. They failed to make the playoffs only once and they made it one game away from the Super Bowl in three of those years.

The Kist & Solak Show #19: Eagles-Titans Week 4 Film Review - BGN Radio
Michael Kist and Benjamin Solak are all ya got and all ya need when it comes to breaking down the film of the Eagles loss to the Titans in Week 4.. The Eagles corners are safeties now? Plus thoughts on pass protection, Alshon’s big day, Nelly’s bad day, the offensive scheme in general and what is to be made of the defense and much much more!

NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Week 5 edition - PhillyVoice
For varying reasons, the Eagles are under-performing relative to preseason expectations at the following positions: QB, WR, the OL as a group, LB, CB, S, and K.

More on Jalen Mills & the Defense - Iggles Blitz
Mills is not terrible. He is what we thought he was…an overachiever type who will compete, make tackles and battle all game long. He is not a special talent. He is not a gifted athlete. He is not a shutdown corner. I get the knee-jerk reaction to saying Mills should be benched. Teams have targeted him on some deep balls. Mills has made his share of mistakes. The point I’ll make here is something I’ve said for years. You can argue that Mills should be benched. Jim Schwartz is betting his job on Mills. If he truly thought there was a better option on the roster, he’d make a move. Rasul Douglas has been up and down when he’s played. Mills is quicker, a better tackler and more experienced.

Eagle Eye: This Is What Jim Schwartz Was Talking About - PE.com
I’ll admit, I’m a big fan of Mills and the way he plays. I love his play personality. He does all the right things in this defensive scheme. As Jim Schwartz said on Tuesday, Mills represents a lot of the identity of this defense. A lot of the big plays are being pinned on him from Sunday, and as I showed earlier, they shouldn’t all be. I’m not going to sit here and argue he’s perfect. There are times where he needs to be more disciplined, he can get beaten by double moves at times. But I have news for you. If you’re an aggressive corner in the NFL, you’re going to get double moves thrown at you, and sometimes you’re going to give them up. I’ve seen Xavier Rhodes, Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, and others all give up big plays on double moves. That happens. That’s life in the league.

All-22: How Jim Schwartz’s schemes, coverage busts and leaky zones led to an Eagles defensive meltdown - The Athletic
Overall, this was a bad game for Schwartz and really the entire secondary. Opponents will continue to challenge Mills and Darby downfield, and the coaches need to figure out what their best solution is for replacing McLeod. “I think that you look at the game, I thought we played a really good first half of that game and then second half we weren’t consistent at all,” Schwartz said. “Gave up a touchdown. It’s disappointing. When you get a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter, we should win that game. That’s on the defense. Defense should win that game. If we get a 14-point lead midway through the third, we get a lead in overtime, it’s our responsibility to play that game. We didn’t play consistent enough to win that game and that goes from a 4th-and-1 all the way to 4th-and-15.”

Resetting the NFC East: Has Eagles’ slow start opened up the division? - ESPN
It will be a tighter race than most projected. It’s fair to say the Eagles have been fighting a Super Bowl hangover. It is not easy to completely drain yourself for 19 games and have a full tank by September. The focus, coaching and discipline simply haven’t been at 2017 levels. And the run took a physical toll. Receiver Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) and defensive end Brandon Graham (ankle) both delayed surgery and are just getting back onto the field and rounding into form. Wentz returned from ACL/LCL surgery in Week 3, but he doesn’t yet have the same elusiveness that made him so dangerous when he was making a charge for MVP last season. Meanwhile, fresh injuries have hit the team. Safety Rodney McLeod (leg) is the fourth player to land on injured reserve -- a blow to the secondary that cost the Eagles a win against the Titans -- and it leaves them vulnerable in the back end moving forward.

11 reasons to still feel optimistic about the Eagles’ 2-2 start - NJ.com
1. Carson Wentz has started to find his groove. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz missed the first two games of the season as he recovered from ACL and LCL surgeries. While his return to the field in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts was solid, his work against the Titans was an even more efficient showing. The growth from Wentz is encouraging and the Eagles should go as far as he takes them this year. While he has already taken a lot of hits, it’s clear the concerns about his surgically-repaired knee should be squashed.

Eagles’ defensive struggles on the road are alarming - NBCSP
Every team plays better at home than on the road. For the Eagles’ defense, the disparity is huge. And alarming. The Eagles are 0-2 on the road this year, allowing 27 and 26 points, but even last year, during the Super Bowl season, the Eagles’ defense wasn’t great on the road. It’s just that the offense often masked those issues. Here’s the bottom line: Since opening day of last year, the Eagles have the best home defense in the NFL. It’s not even close. Since opening day of last year, the Eagles have the 11th-worst road defense in the NFL.

The Minnesota Vikings Have a Play-Action Problem - Optimum Scouting
Be it miscommunications on switch concepts, missing tackles or the inability to find crossers, their linebackers have struggled in this situation so far, with Kendricks notably looking lost. Will they continue to play the pass this poorly throughout the season? Maybe. Will teams try to attack this defense with play-action until they play it with confidence? Absolutely. At 1-2-1, the Vikings are flirting with near-certain elimination with a few more losses. A quick fix will be needed here to salvage their season.

Week 4 DVOA Ratings - Football Outsiders
The Los Angeles Rams are still No. 1 in our DVOA ratings, dominating the league with one of the best offenses we’ve ever measured. Week 4 introduces opponent adjustments into DVOA, so we look at how schedules have impacted team and player performance so far. Learn why Eli Manning had a very different September than Saquon Barkley.

Cowboys’ Dak Prescott needs to get back to the deep ball - PFF
While those numbers were respectably average, this year has been quite a different story. Prescott’s average depth of throw is 6.60 yards, 27th of 34 quarterbacks, and nearly a yard below last year. Among the quarterbacks at or below that threshold last season: Drew Brees, Brett Hundley, Joe Flacco, Jacoby Brissett, C.J. Beathard and Aaron Rodgers.

Surge or Static: Sturgis facing the boot? - Bolts From The Blue
If you are anything like me, you probably also just got done banging your head against your desk, your kitchen counter, a wall, or something along those lines because, well, the Chargers are still missing kicks due to a horrendous kicker situation. For the better part of the last one, two, maybe twenty years, debacles in the third phase of the game have haunted the Charger to no end. In their most recent tilt with the 49ers, Caleb Sturgis pushed the ball wide right on a 54-yard attempt. He also added two missed extra points which puts him at 6-of-9 on the season. He is only doing a hair better with field goals as he sits with seven made out of nine attempts.

Seahawks LB Mychal Kendricks suspended indefinitely by NFL, won’t play vs. Rams - Field Gulls
By now you know that linebacker Mychal Kendricks is about to go to jail after pleading guilty to insider trading. He was cut by the Cleveland Browns when the news broke, and the linebacker-needy Seattle Seahawks picked him up. Kendricks was quite effective through three games, including sacks of Mitchell Trubisky and Dak Prescott, but it doesn’t look like we’re getting a fourth game out of him.

A Brief Look At Vikings/Eagles History - Daily Norseman
Obviously, the Vikings can’t do anything on Sunday that will make up for the thrashing they took in last year’s NFC Championship Game. Even if they win by a score of 38-7 or better, it’s a regular season game and the Eagles already have their shiny new Super Bowl rings.

Dalvin Cook: Hamstring not back to 100 percent yet - PFT
“This thing is still healing up,” Cook said, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I want to be 100 percent as bad as everybody else wants me to 100 percent. But I’m just not there yet. I just got to keep chipping away. But I’m going to be ready when the time comes, though.”

There’s No One Reason for the NFL’s Offensive Explosion - The Ringer
Teams are moving the ball and scoring at rates we’ve never seen before. But it’s not just the rule changes or a few elite teams that are behind the change—a confluence of factors are changing the league as we know it.

NFL Panic Index 2018: The Steelers are falling apart - SB Nation
Plus, the Browns can’t catch a break, the Broncos need a quarterback and the Bucs defense is trapped. There’s plenty to freak out about this week.

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