Eagles News: Philadelphia has three of the NFL’s top 22 ranked offensive linemen

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Top 25 offensive linemen of the 2018 NFL season - PFF
3) Jason Kelce - The debate for best center in the NFL has been overwhelmingly decided over the last season and a half. It’s Jason Kelce. The PFF All-Pro from a season ago, Kelce can simply make blocks at the center position with his athleticism that others can only dream of. 16) Lane Johnson - Johnson has had some uncharacteristically ugly games by his standards this year (like last week’s 46.0 overall grade against Dallas), but he’s alternated those with dominant outings. In two of his last four games, he hasn’t allowed a single pressure. 22) Brandon Brooks - It’s been difficult for Brooks to get the respect he deserves playing on an offensive line with the likes of Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson. He’s been as reliable as all three, though, in his tenure in Philadelphia. Brooks has had a pass-blocking grade above 85.0 every season in an Eagles uniform.

John DeFilippo fired by Vikings: Could former Eagles QB coach return to Philadelphia? - BGN
I think it’s a little funny to be counting on Flip as the savior for the Eagles’ offense considering Minnesota’s struggles this year but maybe he’d have more success back in Philly. Could be worth a shot!

At the Podium #14.5: Mike Groh & The Hot Seat - BGN Radio
Two press conferences as we begin to wrap up the mess that was the Eagles’ 29-23 overtime loss to the Cowboys. First up is defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz followed by offensive coordinator Mike Groh who has become a villain to the Eagles’ faithful. Is it warranted? Kist & BLG weigh in on the matter. Powered by SBNation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Flipadelphia - Iggles Blitz
The hot topic now is whether the Eagles should bring him back. Yes. Hell yes. Let’s be clear about this. Flip isn’t some genius who is going to come in and save the Eagles. He just got fired because the Vikings offense was struggling in a big way. Flip is a good coach, but he’s not a magician. At the same time, if he can help the Eagles at all, you hire him. Maybe he suggests one key Red Zone or third down play. Maybe he sees something the other coaches don’t. Maybe Flip comes in and connects with Carson Wentz right away and is able to get him to play better.

Wentz vs. Goff: The highs, lows and future of the NFL’s top young QB rivalry - ESPN
Wentz’s accuracy (69.6 completion rate) is up over nine points from last year, but his overall production is down. The offense has regressed, scoring about a touchdown less on average compared to last year. What’s missing most is that Wentz magic -- the big, improbable plays that generated the feeling that all things are possible with No. 11 under center. Understandably, Wentz has not been as high-flying in his first season back from major injury. Pederson noted that his QB did not have a full offseason to work with his guys like he had the year prior. There simply hasn’t been enough time -- both with his teammates and since the injury -- for Wentz to find that gear. This season, with the Rams racing to the playoffs, will go to Goff, but Wentz will be heard from again before long.

Should the Eagles try to bring John DeFilippo back? - The Athletic
Would he single-handedly fix all of their issues? Of course not. But he would bring new ideas to the table and help the staff problem-solve. One of the biggest strengths of last year’s staff was collaboration. It’s why I still believe in Pederson even though he’s had a down year. He seems legitimately willing to listen to new ideas and implement them. Whether it’s the red zone or scheming up explosive plays, DeFilippo could be a valuable resource. And as we saw last year, embracing an “all hands on deck” approach when it comes to developing Wentz is the way to go.

John DeFilippo’s fate shows Eagles’ Mike Groh what happens to OCs when the offense lacks coordination - Daily News
A Philly reunion for DeFilippo seems unlikely, but the Eagles’ season-long offensive struggles could have consequences.

Michael Bennett’s Political Football - The New Yorker
Still, Bennett pushes back against the idea that football is by nature in conflict with his commitment to peace. “It’s just a game,” he told me. He also said that “a lot of players have a lot of anger,” and that they aren’t good at being vulnerable—something made worse, he believes, by the habit of talking about players as a bundle of statistics and salary figures and fantasy-football point totals. “The business of the N.F.L., or any other business—it doesn’t have a soul,” he said. Bennett himself has a temper; he can be snappish with other players and with the press. He once yelled at a reporter who questioned him after a loss, claiming that the reporter didn’t know what it was like to face adversity; he later apologized, privately, when he learned that the reporter had survived cancer. But he is, he says, growing. A few years ago, he reconnected with his birth mother, Caronda. When he recounted the story to Dave Zirin, a columnist for The Nation and the co-author of Bennett’s memoir, he began to sob, Zirin said. “I never stopped thinking about my kids, and I never stopped loving them,” Caronda said recently. “And I wish circumstances had been different. I was young.” Bennett told me, “You gotta know how to love your mother so that you can love your daughters and your wife properly.” He added, “We all have past traumas.”

Sikkema’s Mock Draft 4.0 - The Draft Network
16. Philadelphia Eagles. Jeffery Simmons, iDL, Mississippi State. Philly needs help on defensive in a few spots. Cornerback and interior defensive line are the two that I see as the most glaring, and with Murphy and Williams off the board, I think they’d rather dip into this stout interior defensive line class rather than reach for a cornerback. Jeffery Simmons is big, strong and fast at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds. His talent box says he could go higher than this, but if he doesn’t, putting him next to Fletcher Cox would be a devastating pair for opposing offensive lines.

NFL’s “clear recovery” instant replay rule needs to change - PFT
Unfortunately for the Eagles, there was no common sense, and the Cowboys kept the ball. That turned out to be incredibly costly: The Eagles likely would have come away with at least a field goal after the fumble, and they ended up losing the game in overtime. No one can say for sure what would have happened the rest of the game, but it’s entirely possible that the difference between the Eagles and Cowboys making the playoffs will turn out to be the officials incorrectly ruling who had the ball after the opening kickoff.

Week 14 DVOA Ratings - Football Outsiders
One other team that I want to address for this week is the Dallas Cowboys. They’re being hyped as the hottest team in the NFL thanks to a five-game winning streak that has all but clinched them the NFC East title. So you may be curious why the Cowboys are 17th in both total and weighted DVOA. The problem is that the Cowboys’ winning streak really includes just one very impressive win: last week’s defensive shutdown of the New Orleans Saints. All five of the Dallas wins have come by just one score, but at least the Saints win was over a really good opponent. The other four opponents Dallas has played over this winning streak all rank 20th or lower in total DVOA. So, the Cowboys start the wining streak ranked 24th in DVOA at -11.3% after Week 9’s loss to Tennessee. For the first two wins, the Cowboys actually ended up with negative single-game ratings. The rating for this week’s game against the Eagles was close to zero. The rating for Week 13 againts the Saints is way up at 72.3%, but that one game is not enough to lift the Cowboys past 17th for the season so far.

Coaches We Wish Owners Would Consider for NFL Jobs - Sports Illustrated
1. Mike Leach, head coach, Washington State University. Here’s a guy who once created a fake play sheet and had it subtly dropped near the opposing team’s coaching staff. He gives totally insane dating advice. He talks about pretty much anything and would design an offense meant to throw 60 times a game in the NFL. On a serious note, Leach’s coaching tree is damn impressive, and includes a few names that NFL teams may be looking at this offseason anyway (Lincoln Riley was at Texas Tech from 2003–09). So many of his ideas have been adapted and embraced at the NFL level, though the thought of him actually taking over an NFL team is laughed off instantly.

There are no hot ‘it’ NFL head coach candidates in the assistant ranks, especially after the firing of John DeFilippo - CBS Sports
There were many in the media who have been trying to champion John DeFilippo as the top head coaching candidate for years – despite him having been with seven teams to this point already without ever being seen as the guy there; and after Minnesota fired him Tuesday with its season in the balance, I’d dare say he is not going to be an NFL head coach in 2019.

Chaos Theory: The Most Absurd NFL Playoff Scenarios Still Possible - The Ringer
Aaron Rodgers dragging Green Bay to the playoffs? Baker Mayfield on wild-card weekend? Mark Sanchez starting a playoff game? It’s all still on the table.

Report: Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo fired - Daily Norseman
Still though, firing DeFilippo won’t cure what ails the Vikings offense. Yes, he had become a stale play caller, and a fresh set of eyes could improve the offense. However, there are still issues that will need to be addressed in the off-season, another offensive line rebuild being chief among them.

Now-fired OC John DeFilippo is the scapegoat for the Vikings’ unwatchable offense - SB Nation
DeFilippo’s product as an offensive coordinator never matched his hype. Over the past two years, DeFilippo’s name has been a constant presence on lists touting the next wave of NFL head coaching prospects. After building Carson Wentz from an FCS standout to an MVP favorite in fewer than two years as the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback coach, the former FCS QB he was supposed to be the man to turn Cousins into the next great Vikings quarterback. Minneapolis, after all, was the franchise that developed Teddy Bridgewater into a Pro Bowler, played backdrop to the most efficient season of Sam Bradford’s career, and turned Case Keenum into a $16 million per year starter in the past three seasons alone. But Cousins never found that extra gear. In fact, the longer he spent with DeFilippo, the worse he got.

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