Eagles News: Philadelphia named “City of the Year” thanks in part to Super Bowl win

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Philadelphia named ‘City of the Year’ by GQ magazine - 6ABC
Philadelphia has been named “City of the Year” for 2018 by GQ magazine. The magazine cites the Super Bowl champion Eagles, the revitalized restaurant scene and the city’s socially active athletes and politicians as the reasons for it being a model city. The article, titled “Philly (Is) Special,” was authored by Germantown native Zach Baron. Baron explains that as Philadelphians, you become accustomed to losing. A rich history dating back to hard winters at Valley Forge where George Washington’s army hunkered down after first losing downtown. But the author notes, after years of disappointment, suddenly in 2018 things changed. The Eagles defeated the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Gritty emerged from the depths of who knows where and came crashing on the national stage.

Eagles vs. Cowboys Game Preview: Six questions and answers with the enemy - BGN
The Philadelphia Eagles (6-6) and Dallas Cowboys (7-5) are set to play on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. In order to preview this Week 14 matchup, I reached out to our enemies over at Blogging The Boys. The devilish Dave Halprin took the time to answer my questions about the upcoming game. Let’s take a look at his answers.

Eagles-Cowboys Preview Show - BGN Radio
John Stolnis and Brandon Lee Gowton look back at the Eagles-Cowboys Week 10 game before diving into the upcoming Week 14 tilt with thoughts on the matchups and Kamu’s bold comments. PLUS NFL Picks! Powered by SBNation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Eagles vs. Cowboys: Five matchups to watch, when Philly has the ball - PhillyVoice
The Eagles’ screen game is most effective once the offense has gotten into a rhythm. Pederson has been able to get nice gains on screens after the Eagles have already gotten first downs on drives. Why is that? ”If we get a few good runs, and a few play action plays mixed in, we can try to get those guys guessing and not reading as efficiently,” Lane Johnson said. Of course, even if Pederson makes a timely screen call, the Eagles’ linemen and receivers still have to get bodies on Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith, who have emerged as one of the best linebacker duos in the NFL this season. Vander Esch and Smith are outstanding at using their speed to run sideline-to-sideline and make plays, like Vander Esch did on a crucial third down play Week 10.

Good Signs - Iggles Blitz
RBs Can Actually Run – I’m a firm believer that RBs are the key to any offense. You don’t need great RBs, but you need them to be productive. The Eagles had success last year with a combination of Blount-Ajayi-Clement. They used the RBs in different ways each week and got good production from the trio, even if none of them posted great individual stats. Since Ajayi got hurt this year, the RBs have struggled…until recently. Josh Adams ran for 84 yards against the Giants and 85 on Monday night. He’s showing good speed and some big play ability. Clement was useless for much season, but finally has his burst back. He’s delivered big plays each of the past two games. He’s back to being a weapon on screen passes. As for Darren Sproles, anything he can contribute is a positive.

Eagles Film Room: Carson Wentz’s sneaky, stellar performance against Washington offers clues heading into Dallas - The Athletic
Against the Cowboys, Wentz has to remain disciplined and confirm the coverage after every snap. He can’t blindly trust the pre-snap picture that Dallas will give him. He’ll have to think quickly and know where to go with the ball against the Cowboys’ tricky disguises. Wentz played a great game against Washington to set the Eagles up for this opportunity — but his team will need him to be just as locked-in against the Dallas defense on Sunday.

NFL Week 14 upset watch: NFC East hangs in the balance as Eagles visit Cowboys - ESPN In$ider
Two other matchups for the Cowboys’ offense that favor the Eagles: Dak Prescott has actually had a higher QBR against the blitz this year, 60.0, than he has had on other passes, at 48.7. That’s just fine for the Eagles, who rarely blitz; they do so only 17.6 percent of passes, which is 29th in the league. The Cowboys rank 31st on offense in the red zone, and they’re dead last passing the ball in such situations. The Eagles are fourth in red-zone defense, including seventh against the pass.

Silva’s Week 14 Matchups - Rotoworld
Wentz’s Weeks 10-13 target distribution: Zach Ertz 37; Golden Tate 27; Alshon Jeffery 21; Nelson Agholor 18; Jordan Matthews and Corey Clement 9; Dallas Goedert 8; Adams 7. … The Eagles’ top Week 14 matchups do happen to go to their top-two pass catchers. Dallas allows the NFL’s 11th-most yards per game to tight ends (60.4) and had no answers for Ertz (14/145/2) in these teams’ Week 10 date. … Tate has drawn steady target counts of 8 – 8 – 7 in Philly’s last three games, finally breaking out for 7/85/1 receiving in last Monday night’s beatdown of Washington. That earned Tate WR3 treatment against the Cowboys, who are much more vulnerable in interior than perimeter pass coverage as Tate showed in Week 4 when he was still with the Lions, tormenting Dallas for a perfect 8/132/2 receiving line on eight targets. … Jeffery’s Week 14 matchup is toughest against big-bodied Dallas outside CBs Byron Jones and Chidobe Awuzie. Held scoreless and below 50 yards in five straight games, Jeffery has devolved into a touchdown-or-bust WR3 option since Tate’s acquisition. He drew five targets or fewer in four of those five contests. … Agholor’s targets (7 – 2 – 1 – 8) are all over the map since the Tate trade with zero TDs in his last ten games. … Goedert has finished catch-less in three of four games since Dallas’ Week 9 bye.

Eagles Locker Room: Loose, Excited, And Confident - PE.com
Just as the cameras converged, the towel was removed from the head and a grinning Shelton Gibson, with hoots and hollers from his approving teammates, turned to meet the reporters. Gibson, undercover, was sensational in breaking the tension. How could you not laugh at such a goofy gotcha moment? It was hilarious. And it was also the perfect example of the mental state of the team. The Eagles are loose. They’re confident. They’re having fun. Two wins in the division will do that for you. A game that means so much on Sunday against an arch-rival team gets the blood boiling. “I think everybody is excited for this,” defensive end Chris Long said. “We know that Dallas is a good team and we know that they beat us here a month ago. This is a big game for both teams. I think that’s what you want at this time of the year. You look forward to these kinds of games.”

Lane Johnson especially looking forward to Eagles’ rematch with Cowboys - Morning Call
“They have a great pass rush,” he said, “and DeMarcus Lawrence, as far as me personally, will probably be my biggest test of the year. He’s good and he brings a lot of energy to that defense. The linebacking corps is young and on the come and they run sideline to sideline and the secondary is good. They have picked it up as far as their intensity. They look like they’re playing really good football. The Cowboys, it’s always special. It never fades. This game, with so much at stake, it’s huge and it’s going to be a fun game to be a part of.”

Eagles-Cowboys scouting report and prediction | Paul Domowitch - Daily News
Ezekiel Elliott is second in the league in rushing with 1,150 yards. Elliott feasted on the Eagles in Week 10. He rushed for 151 yards and had five double-digit-yard runs, including two for 35 and 32 yards. He has averaged 117.5 yards in the Cowboys’ last four games. Elliott has a league-high 22 runs of 15 or more yards. Quarterback Dak Prescott is a threat to run. He has 24 rushing first downs, including seven in the last three games. His five rushing touchdowns are the most by a quarterback. The Eagles have struggled against the run this season. They are 29th in opponent run average, allowing 5.0 yards per carry. They have tackled poorly, and their linebackers have had trouble getting off blocks. Nigel Bradham, who was one of the keys to the Eagles’ success against the run last season, has made few impactful plays. Bradham and Kamu Grugier-Hill both are playing with casts on their hands to protect broken thumbs. MLB Jordan Hicks has missed the last two games with a calf injury. In their last seven games, the Eagles have allowed a league-worst 6.95 yards per carry on first down. EDGE: Cowboys.

Eagles should just go all-in on smack talking Dallas - NBCSP
I know it might be a somewhat unpopular opinion, but that’s tremendous. I love the smack talking. I think the Eagles should smack talk more. I think they should turn complete WWE heel and all talk crap this entire week. Why not? So it might end up on a bulletin board in Dallas? Who cares? Do you really think the Cowboys have a better shot of winning this game today than before yesterday when KGH said that? No way. This is a division game for first place in the NFC East between two teams that are supposed to hate each other. No bulletin board crap is going to change that.

Alex Smith dealing with infection from initial leg surgery - Hogs Haven
People have been very curious about the lack of updates on Alex Smith and his surgery for his broken tibia and fibula on November 18th. The Redskins QB needed immediate surgery for the open fracture to try to prevent infection. The Redskins original timeframe for his recovery was 6-8 months. Jay Glazer reported the spiral fracture would take closer to 8-10 months. Rumors started last night about complications with the surgery and recovery. Burgundy Blog reported that Alex Smith was still in the hospital due to an infection, and more work needed to be done.

What’s Bruin: Caleb Wilson Declares for NFL Draft - Bruins Nation
Wilson is currently projected to be among the top tight ends taken in the draft, with mock drafts currently having him taken between the second and third rounds. All of us at Bruins Nation want to thank Caleb for being a truly great representative of the school both on and off the field, and wish him well as he moves on to this next chapter in his career. [BLG Note: Caleb is the son of Eagles defensive line coach Chris Wilson.]

The past, present, and future of the RPO, as explained by 12 coaches - SB Nation
No evolution has taken up more attention this decade than the run/pass option, a favorite of some college teams for nearly a decade and now Super Bowl champions, too. An RPO in the NFL is different than an RPO in college. But there’s hardly a coach anywhere who hasn’t had his job fundamentally changed by these plays, either because he calls them or has to stop them. The emergence has been so dizzying that its origin can get lost. But understanding how RPOs got to this point is the way to get a clue about where they’re going. So SB Nation talked with coaches across the country who were part of this evolution. How’d we get here, and what’s next?

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