Eagles News: Avonte Maddox is balling out

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

The BDN shirt is here - BGN
It looked like the Philadelphia Eagles’ season was over after the team dropped to 6-7 with a Week 14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. But after beating the Rams and the Texans, the Philadelphia Eagles are still alive in the NFL playoff picture heading into Week 17, largely thanks to Nick Foles. The reigning Super Bowl MVP is stepping up in the clutch once again. Our friends over at BreakingT recently made a new shirt design to honor the man that many refer to as “BDN.” You can [CLICK HERE] to get yours:

At the Podium #16: You Win By Loving Each Other - BGN Radio
Three press conferences on the docket for today’s show, including Doug Pederson after the game discussing the Eagles’ thrilling 32-30 victory of the Texans, plus Nick Foles’ post-game presser doing his usual great human being thing, and then Pederson from Monday talk about how he may have already called Bears head coach Matt Nagy to ask him to keep his starters in against the Vikings. Tons of content in this one including injury updates and much more! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Everybody - Iggles Blitz
Nick Foles was great on Sunday. Zach Ertz caught 12 passes and scored a pair of TDs. Lane Johnson shut down J.J. Watt. Chris Long had a pair of sacks and a FF. Big names made big plays. But the Eagles got contributions from a lot of different guys in that game. Tre Sullivan had tackles on three consecutive plays. A couple of those were good stops. Dallas Goedert was 3-30 as a receiver. His biggest contribution was recovering an Ertz fumble. The ball was there among several Texans, but Goedert hustled and got control of it. LaRoy Reynolds had a pair of STs tackles. It felt like he was in on every coverage play.

Eagle Eye: How The Offense Made History - PE.com
These are my three favorite plays from the Eagles on that game-winning drive. The first was the big-time throw from Foles to Jeffery on third down backed up in their own end. This is a Dagger pass concept, with Jeffery running a deep dig. What makes this even more impressive is that Jordan Matthews, who is supposed to clear out the middle of the field with a vertical route, gets jammed up at the line of scrimmage. He can’t clear it out, and in fact is right at the catch point with his defender. That created more of a crowd for Jeffery to work through, and Alshon still came down with the huge catch. Never mind the throw, where Foles had a former No. 1 overall pick in the explosive Jadeveon Clowney cruising down the A gap at him, delivering a huge blow into his chest cavity, a hit big enough to sideline Foles temporarily. Foles stood tall, delivered, and made a huge toss for a first down.

Incredible Darren Sproles keeps outrunning Father Time - NBCSP
The crazy thing is, Sproles was actually one of those people who wondered if he’d be able to return this season. “(It means) a lot,” he said. “Because there was a time where I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to come back. But to have the role I had tonight, man, it felt great.” On Sunday afternoon, Sproles carried the ball nine times for 32 yards, including a huge 16-yarder to set up the game-winning field goal, and had three catches for 76 yards. At 35 years and 186 days old, Darren Sproles became the oldest Eagles player ever to go for over 100 yards from scrimmage in a game. “That guy is an incredible player, incredible teammate, one of the best guys I’ve ever played with,” Jason Kelce said. “I’m always happy whenever he’s out there. For him to continue to do things the way he’s doing them with the injuries he’s had over the last year and a half … awesome. I don’t think I’m more excited for any guy.”

Best fits for NFL’s top 25 free agents - ESPN
Golden Tate, WR. The fit: Redskins With Jamison Crowder set to be a free agent, the Redskins will be searching for slot answers this offseason. Moreover, the team is going to need to invest heavily in playmakers to give this offense some life; Tate is excellent running after the catch and can gobble up 100 or more targets per season.

Week 17 Fantasy football picks: Streaming defense/special teams options - PFF
Philadelphia Eagles (@ Washington): Jake Elliott’s game-winning field goal as time expired last week kept the playoff hopes alive for the defending Super Bowl champions. In the high-scoring affair against the Texans the Eagles defense did manage to put up four sacks and create a turnover. The going should be much easier against an injury-riddled Washington offense in Week 17. The Redskins have been a positive matchup for opposing DST units, especially over the last three weeks. In that time Washington, has given up 10 sacks, five turnovers, and two defensive touchdowns. Washington has also been vulnerable to special teams and allowed a punt return for a score in Week 15 against Jacksonville.

Clutch Encounters: Week 16 - Football Outsiders
The Eagles kept their title defense hopes alive with a dramatic win over Houston in another one of the best games this season. This was an excellent quarterback duel led by Nick Foles passing for a career-high 471 yards. It was his second game with four touchdown passes in Doug Pederson’s offense. The Texans were playing to hold on to the No.2 seed and could really use the bye week to rest some key players. Despite only handing the ball off 11 times for 13 yards, Deshaun Watson led the team in rushing with 49 yards and two scores while passing for 339 yards and two more scores. He led an impressive 13-point comeback in the final 5:21 that the defense was unable to uphold. At one point Watson even avoided multiple sacks to convert a third-and-11 in spectacular fashion.

It’s Nick Foles Season Again, and the Plays That Explain NFL Week 16 - The Ringer
Everything about the Eagles’ 32-30 win felt a little bit too ... familiar, as Philly once again leaned on the pillars that helped it win a Super Bowl last season. Foles filled in for an injured Carson Wentz and gave his team a much-needed dose of magic, making up for a pair of second- and third-quarter turnovers by setting a new franchise record with 471 passing yards and connecting on four touchdowns. While the Texans settled for punts on a handful of their key fourth-and-manageable situations, Philly was aggressive on its opportunities. Darren Sproles scored a 37-yard touchdown in the first quarter on a fourth-and-2, and Ertz found paydirt on a fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter from the 1-yard line. Like last year, the Eagles leaned on their depth to overcome injury losses throughout the game and got a few huge plays from their dominant defensive line. Philly racked up four sacks and nine hits, including Chris Long’s early-fourth-quarter strip sack of Watson (which was recovered by Fletcher Cox) that helped set up an Eagles touchdown.

Nick Foles’ Latest Magic - Rotoworld
Has anyone ever had a wilder NFL career than Nick Foles? In between a 27-touchdown, two-interception campaign and a Super Bowl MVP award, Foles was benched for Case Keenum by Jeff Fisher in a city that no longer has a football team. That’s a long, strange trip. Foles does not do normal. He only knows dramatic, and boy was Sunday dramatic. With the Eagles in a win-or-go-home situation, Foles dueled with Deshaun Watson down to the final whistle. After engineering a game-winning field goal drive, Foles emerged the victor, throwing for four scores and a career-high 471 yards. Foles is a different player than Carson Wentz. He is far more aggressive down the field and more prone to mistakes. It’s a style that creates lows like his awful Week 1 performance against the Falcons and highs like his heroic Super Bowl effort versus the Patriots.

What Do the Eagles Do if Nick Foles Conjures Magic Again? - Sports Illustrated
We’re not advocating the Eagles pivot course. Obviously Wentz, despite ACL and back injuries in consecutive seasons, is the right choice. He has another season on an affordable rookie deal before transitioning into the club option season in 2020. He’s mobile and has a stronger arm, allowing Doug Pederson a wider berth from offensive predictability if the run game isn’t functioning properly.

Playing, watching, hoping: The Eagles are playoff-worthy now, but it took them way too long - Daily News
The Eagles will be powerless to affect what Chicago does against Minnesota, which will determine their playoff fate if they defeat Washington.

Patriots exult in Nick Foles’ performance that helps New England reclaim two seed - Boston Sports Journal
According to players, as they came up the runway toward the locker room, word quickly spread Philly had the ball, and a shot at the upset. As they were celebrating the division championship in the locker room, players were checking their phones for updates from Philadelphia. And after Nick Foles guided the Eagles into field-goal range with less than 10 seconds left, they exulted when Jake Elliott delivered from 35-yards out to lift Philly to a 32-20 win, giving the Patriots the second seed. “Hell yeah, Nick!” screamed one player after the game was complete, setting off a round of cheers in the New England locker room, as well as outside the locker room in the family area.

Are the Redskins’ Players Trying to Tell us Something? - Hogs Haven
Are Redskins players trying to tell us something? Maybe, just maybe, this is worse (if humanly possible) behind closed doors? Is this the players way of saying changes need to happen - either at the personnel level, the coaching level, or all the way at the top? Is this a polite way of making a case for Gruden and company to be removed?

Colt McCoy won’t return after all - PFT
McCoy said last week he was hoping to play in the regular season finale against the Eagles, which would have been 27 days after breaking his fibula against them (Dec. 3). That always seemed optimistic, so perhaps they’re protecting him from himself. McCoy started running some drills last week, but it became a moot point with results of other games. Josh Johnson will draw another start to close out the season.

Taylor Lewan On Josh Norman: “It’s Not Our Fault You’re Not Relevant Anymore” - Deadspin
Taylor Lewan and Josh Norman got into a little spat following the Titans’ 25-16 win over the Redskins on Saturday. The Tennessee lineman reportedly told Norman to “get the fuck out of his stadium,” which was enough to piss off the cornerback and cause him to throw his helmet at Lewan before getting in his face. As Norman was walking towards him, Lewan mimicked the defender’s bow-and-arrow celebration. NBC Sports Washington’s Redskins account captured the moment and set it to a beat reminiscent of Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak—presumably to keep the expletives away from the kids.

Valentine’s Views: How well has Pat Shurmur answered our questions? - Big Blue View
The Manning succession plan remains murky, and everyone has a opinion regarding what the plan should be. We don’t, however, know what the plan is. We are getting more and more of an idea that the Giants don’t seem to think Kyle Lauletta is the answer. If they did truly believe in his future he would be active during games. What we do know is that finding the right successor to Manning, whenever it happens and whenever the inevitable transition takes place, is the most important thing on the Giants’ to-do list. It just doesn’t seem as likely as it once did that the post-Manning era will begin Week 1 of next season.

Raiders place CB Daryl Worley on IR, bring up two from practice squad - Silver And Black Pride
Today the Raiders announced a few transactions, the most notable being that they have placed cornerback Daryl Worley on injured reserve, ending his season. Worley missed practices last week with a shoulder injury, and Rashaan Melvin will take his place in the starting lineup. Since coming back from his early-season suspension, Worley amassed 33 tackles, one interception and seven passes defensed.

Crabbs’ 2019 Mock Draft 4.0 - The Draft Network
18. Philadelphia Eagles: Bryce Hall, CB, Virginia. Philadelphia’s season has been put on life support, thanks in large part to a horrible secondary. The team has seen Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas and a large group of street free agents struggle in stretches this season. They’ll need to get it fixed and the return of Jalen Mills from IR isn’t going to do the trick. Enter the combative Bryce Hall. Hall has wonderful ball skills and anticipation…plus he’s not lacking in the functional strength department, which has been a bit of an issue for 2017 2nd-round pick Sidney Jones.

2019 NFL mock draft: The strangest QB draft in years - SB Nation
18. Philadelphia Eagles: Deandre Baker, CB, Georgia: At this point, the Eagles just need anyone with a pulse at cornerback. Baker is the type of experienced cornerback who can come in and start immediately.

...

Social Media Information:

BGN Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen

BGN Manager: Brandon Lee Gowton: Follow @BrandonGowton

BGN Radio Twitter: Follow @BGN_Radio