Eagles News: PFF says Philadelphia has a top 4 defense

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Ranking all 32 NFL defenses after Week 8 - PFF
4th — Total Defense Grade: 84.0. The overwhelming (and maybe only) strength of the Eagles defense is their front-4. It dictates everything they do. They’ve collected 204 total pressures as a unit – 38 more than the next best team in the NFL. The difference between them and the 2nd place Chiefs is the same as the difference between the Chiefs and the 17th place Browns. Philadelphia’s defensive line is in its own stratosphere at the moment. They have issues at other places defensively, most notably Jalen Mills’ 516 yards allowed in coverage already, but with their front four, they’ll continue to be a top-10 defense.

How Golden Tate Works With Nelson Agholor - BGN
The Eagles have a new wide receiver, and that is objectively exciting. Figuring out the value of the trade — a 3rd-rounder for a 30-year old Golden Tate on the final year of his deal — is a trickier matter. We’ll talk about that a bit on here, but you should listen to the latest Kist and Solak Show on BGN Radio for a full rundown. Regardless of how you feel about the value, Golden Tate is a member of the Eagles, and we gotta rip through his film to understand 1) what he brings to an offense, 2) how he should be deployed for Philadelphia, and 3) what the Eagles can do with him and Nelson Agholor, a similar player.

The Kist & Solak Show #36: Tate’s Role, Nelly’s Worth, & Film Review - BGN Radio
Michael Kist and Benjamin Solak discuss a variety of topics on a loaded show! What did the film tell us about Golden Tate and what will his role be in Philadelphia? What does his acquisition mean for Nelson Agholor both short term and long term? PLUS an extensive coaches film review of the Eagles win over the Jaguars!

Jordan Mailata’s journey from rugby to the Eagles surprised everyone. Especially his family. - Inquirer
To his family, all the rest of them, the NFL meant bright lights so far off in the distance they could have been stars in the sky. Jordan Mailata made his case to the whole clan how the NFL really might be the sport for his 6-foot-7, 300-plus-pound self. Nobody else could see it. To his parents, his three brothers and a sister and their various partners, all sitting there in Bankstown, a suburb southwest of Sydney, rugby was the sport. Their family produced rugby players. The kid was the best of them, a breath from the big time, one break from Australia’s top tier, the National Rugby League.

Safety Blitz with Malcolm Jenkins: My favorite Halloween costume as a kid was... - PhillyVoice
“When I was growing up, everybody wanted to have a ‘Scream’ mask from the movie,” recalled Jenkins, with a laugh. “That was probably my favorite Halloween costume as a kid. Now if you want to go way, way back, I always wanted to go out as a ninja. My dad wasn’t a big Halloween guy, so we didn’t do a lot of trick-or-treating on our own when I was real young. My mom dressed me as a ninja and I would go with her, before I was old enough to go out on my own. I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily a Halloween type of person, but I would say I do like a nice costume party. That’s about it. With my oldest, me and wife did some walking around with her in the neighborhood to get candy. We let her dress up, but I don’t decorate my house or anything like that.”

Taking Chances - Iggles Blitz
Being good isn’t good enough in the NFL. You must take chances to get over the top. This is true on and off the field. Most of the chances taken by Wentz, Pederson and Roseman have paid off in the last couple of years. Things won’t stay that way. There will be some failures. It could be that the Golden Tate trade is going to be a waste of resources for the Eagles. We’ll have to wait and see on that. We saw Wentz force some throws late in the Carolina game and that played a part in the Eagles loss. One of these days, Pederson will go for it on fourth down and it will blow up in his face. That’s okay. The Eagles aggression helped them to win a Super Bowl last year.

Why Eagles’ Carson Wentz is poised for a monster second half - ESPN
The scary thing about Wentz is when he identifies an area in his game to improve, the results have been exceptional. After his rookie season, Wentz wanted to get better on third down and in the red zone. The next season, his accuracy shot up nine percent on third down (56 percent to 65 percent), his yards per attempt went from 6.1 to 9.5 and he threw 14 touchdowns to three interceptions, compared to three TDs and five INTs in his first season. The Eagles’ red zone offense, meanwhile, jumped to No. 2 in the NFL, up from 24th. This season, a major point of emphasis was accuracy. And, once again, there have been dramatic results. Wentz is currently tied for fourth in the NFL in completion percentage, at 70.7, after finishing last season tied for 27th (60.2). There has been a jump in overall accuracy numbers across the league thanks mainly to the way the game is being officiated, with five quarterbacks at better than 70 percent. Just one finished north of 70 last season (Drew Brees, 72 percent). Of the top-ranked passers, Wentz has seen the largest increase in accuracy, a touch over 10 percentage points.

Eagle Eye: Golden Tate ‘A Beast After The Catch’ - PE.com
For the first time this season, I walked away from this game thinking that the Eagles’ offensive line dominated up front at the point of attack in ways similar to how it did a year ago. That’s crazy to think. Why? Because not only did they have to mix and match combinations with players stepping in and out of the lineup due to injury, but they were also squaring off against one of the toughest defensive fronts in football. Brandon Brooks probably had his best game of the season. Isaac Seumalo was getting good movement up front. Jason Kelce did a great job on double teams. Halapoulivaati Vaitai worked well on the right and left sides.

Biggest Winners and Losers for Every Major Trade of the 2018 NFL Trade Deadline - B/R
WINNER: Philadelphia is off to a middling 4-4 start, as the team has dealt with inconsistency on both sides of the ball, in part due to injuries. One problem has been the passing game, which ranks 20th in yards per attempt. Tate will bolster the Eagles offense, especially with his ability to create after the catch. Per Pro Football Focus, he has ranked within the top 15 in yards after the catch every year since 2012. (He’s 15th in 2018.)

A Flurry of Trades Made the Deadline Fun, but It Didn’t Create New Super Bowl Contenders - The Ringer
Tuesday’s deadline changed the playoff picture—the AFC South and NFC East are vastly different places than they were Monday—but not the Super Bowl picture. The thing missing from these trades is the ability to make these teams a true Super Bowl contender, which speaks to the talent of the league’s top teams. There is probably nothing Washington can do that will make it as good as the Saints or the Rams. The Eagles might have a ceiling just below Super Bowl contender, especially after Derek Barnett’s season-ending injury. Tate fits the profile of a player they want—the team detailed to me earlier this season that they think there’s a real advantage in bringing a player in short term to see if they are worth a long-term commitment. At worst, Tate will help Carson Wentz and the offense for half a season and position them to make a run in the NFC East. At best he’ll stay for another three years.

The Logic Behind the Biggest Deals at the 2018 NFL Trade Deadline - SI
Philadelphia logic: If you take all the skill positions as a whole, Philly isn’t as deep as it was last year (LeGarrette Blount, Torrey Smith, Brent Celek and Trey Burton are gone; Ajayi, Mack Hollins and Mike Wallace are hurt), and getting Tate is a move to make up some of the difference. Tate’s an Eagle type of offensive player—tough, good after the catch (the league leader in YAC over the last two years) and versatile enough to play all three receiver spots. Also, there’s the feeling that if the Eagles let Tate walk in March, they’ll get back a good portion of what they gave up in a 2020 comp pick.

Detroit Lions trading Golden Tate sends wrong signal to locker room - Detroit Free Press
But Tate is a very good player who was a key part of a Lions team that had won three of its last five games, and his departure as one of Matthew Stafford’s favorite targets leaves a void that will be tough to fill. Beyond the football reasons — you could make the case that Tate is better as an outside receiver, and he was stuck playing in the slot in Detroit — the Lions sent the wrong message to their locker room by trading Tate less than a week after they made a big move to acquire Damon Harrison from the New York Giants.

Glazer’s Post-Trade Deadline Mailbag: On the NFC East’s big moves and a favorite ‘almost trade’ from years ago - The Athletic
I think the greatest “non-trade” story that almost happened was years ago when Tony Gonzalez was literally moments away from being traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Eagles or Packers. He had discussed wanting to leave and went back and forth. Carl Peterson, the Chiefs’ then-President, finally agreed to trade him for a third-round pick. Originally, Tony wanted to go to the Giants but their GM at the time, Jerry Reese, refused to give up a third-round pick for him. After that happened they started calling around and got the Eagles and the Packers. Both agreed to a third-round pick plus a player, then it was up to Tony to decide which team he wanted to go to.

Washington designates running back Byron Marshall to return from injured reserve - PFT
Washington Redskins running back Byron Marshall returned practice on Wednesday as the team designated Marshall as one of their two players eligible to return off injured reserve this season. Marshall was placed on injured reserve at the start of the regular season after injuring his ankle during the preseason in mid-August. While initially reported as a 2-4 week injury, Marshall still landed on IR to begin the year as the team signed Adrian Peterson to bolster their rushing attack.

Saints DE Marcus Davenport Could Miss Up to a Month, per Reports - Canal Street Chronicle
Davenport would leave for the trip home with a walking boot on and has worn one all week. It was originally done as a precautionary step. The Saints did not believe it was of any special concern but it’s reported that Davenport had several test run this morning. It’s now reported the first round pick could miss at least a month. The Saints are expected to make a determination after that. It is a bad time for the injury bug to rear it’s head. The Saints face the undefeated Rams on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully all goes well and he returns sooner rather than later. [BLG Note: The Eagles play the Saints in Week 11.]

Buffalo Bills sign Matt Barkley, re-sign Colton Schmidt - Buffalo Rumblings
Barkley, a former fourth round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, spent most of his career as a clipboard holder. With similar attributes to Nate Peterman, Barkley is known as a decent field processor with a lack of arm strength. In 2016, Barkley was pressed into service for six games as Chicago’s starting quarterback, a 1-5 stretch where he completed 60 percent of his passes, threw 8 touchdowns against 14 interceptions, and threw for 7 net yards per attempt. In 2017, Barkley wasn’t active for any games. Barkley spent the offseason with the Bengals and was expected to win the backup job in Cincinnati before injuring his knee in the preseason. That led to him landing on IR and eventually he was waived from the injury list.

Can these 5 disappointing NFL teams still save their season? - SB Nation
Chance of making the postseason: 75 percent. Wentz is back on his pre-injury, MVP-caliber track after recording a 13:2 TD:INT ratio in his six starts this year. He’s also got a new weapon after the team traded for Golden Tate. The back half of the Eagles’ schedule will give him plenty of opportunities to chop down the NFC East’s other contenders — he’ll see Washington and Dallas twice each and face the hapless Giants once after a Week 9 bye. Wentz hasn’t lost to any of those teams since 2016.

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