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Eagles News: PFF says Philadelphia is one of the perfect landing spots for Minkah Fitzpatrick

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/14/19.

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Miami Dolphins v Minnesota Vikings Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

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Perfect landing spots for Minkah Fitzpatrick - PFF
Back in their 2017 Super Bowl season, the Eagles had one of the top-performing slot cornerbacks in the NFL in Patrick Robinson. His 88.6 coverage grade in the slot ranked third among all slot defenders with 200 or more coverage snaps, and he was one of the more unheralded key contributors to that team. Robinson’s departure to New Orleans after the season left a hole in the defense that still hasn’t been convincingly filled. Cre’Von LeBlanc came on strong in the slot towards the end of 2018, but a Lisfranc injury that sent him to IR solidified Avonte Maddox’s starting slot role heading into Week 1 against the Washington Redskins. He had several lapses in the Eagles’ zone and ended the contest with a coverage grade of 42.7, allowing six receptions on his eight targets in the game. Neither of the incompletions can be attributed to Maddox, either, as Case Keenum’s inaccuracy had a bigger impact than Maddox’s coverage did. Fitzpatrick could step in that Eagles defense and immediately upgrade one of the more important positions on a modern NFL defense. What’s more? He could do it on a Super Bowl contender, something that definitely can’t be said about his current home.

Why the Eagles should trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick - BGN
Fitzpatrick remains one of the smartest defensive backs to come out in years, with a great tool-set to win in the Eagles’ zone-heavy Cover 3 scheme — but still, with the physical tools in terms of size, explosiveness, and quickness to match a spectrum of athletes in man coverage. Coming into his sophomore season and (potentially) extricated from the slough of the Dolphins’ rancid defense, the surface has hardly been scratched on Minkah Fitzpatrick’s NFL ability.

Babes On Broad #1: We’re All Philly! - BGN Radio
Welcome Sam Wilson & Jessica Towne to the BGN Family and enjoy their debut episode of Babes On Broad! In this packed show, they break down Week 1 action, preview Eagles-Falcons, give their Recipe and Drink of the Week, let you know what’s going on around Philly and read Mean Tweets! Powered by SB Nation & Bleeding Green Nation!

Mailbag: Should the Eagles trade for Dolphins CB/S Minkah Fitzpatrick? - PhillyVoice
The marriage of team and player really only works if the Eagles feel like Fitzpatrick would embrace a Jenkins-like role. He would be a great fit as a third safety in the Eagles’ defense this season (bye Andrew Sendejo, hello comp pick), and as a long-term starter, replacing either free agent to be Rodney McLeod or aging (and possibly still-unhappy-with-his-contract) Jenkins. If Fitzpatrick is adamant that he wants to focus on one position, that would probably be slot corner in the Eagles’ scheme, which they already have in Avonte Maddox. Otherwise, he’s either playing the Jenkins role (which he doesn’t want) or the McLeod role (which isn’t worth parting with significant draft pick resources to fill).

Why the Eagles will lose to the Falcons, straight from Bleeding Green Nation - The Falcoholic
The Eagles are 3-0 in their last three meetings with the Falcons, yes, but all of those games took place in Philly. The Eagles are only 1-3 in their last four trips to Atlanta. The sole win came when the Falcons were starting Chris Redman in 2009. The Falcons are 60-32 at home since the Matt Ryan era began in 2008, which comes out to the league’s ninth best home winning percentage during that span. Another record related to Ryan’s reign regards (holy alliteration, Batman!) the status of the Eagles as two-point road favorites this week. The Falcons are 11-5 against the spread in 16 games as home underdogs since Ryan took over as Atlanta’s starting quarterback. That 69% (nice) coverage percentage ranks third best in the NFL since 2008. On the flip side, the Eagles are only 4-6 against the spread (tied for 26th best cover percentage) as road favorites since the Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson eras began in 2016.

Eagles-Falcons cheat sheet: Lineup decisions, matchups, predictions and more - The Athletic
In primetime, Wentz reminds the football world just how good he can be. Touchdown passes to Ertz and Agholor and a short touchdown run by Howard give the Eagles points against a Falcons offense that also comes to play. Trailing 28-24 late in the fourth quarter, Wentz leads a long, 17-play touchdown drive capped by a game-winning Goedert touchdown, and the Eagles head home ready to game plan for the fightin’ pencils. — Bo Wulf, Eagles 31, Falcons 28

Julio Jones, Falcons receivers could feast on Eagles secondary - ESPN
“For us, it’s not creating a situation where they’re balanced, and we can get into some real passing situations and pin our ears back,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “Against this team, they make you earn the right to rush the passer. And if you earn it, you can have some fun. But if not, it’s a long day.” The Eagles know Jones is going to get his. He has averaged 10 catches and 135 in his past three games against Philly. But he failed to score in all three of those games thanks to a stingy goal-line defense. That recipe -- stopping the run, disrupting Ryan and tightening up at the goal line -- is what’s required if the Eagles and their fledgling secondary are to come out of Atlanta 2-0.

The ‘Big Uglies’ have to be beautiful to win on Sunday night - PE.com
But the real story for Sunday night (8:20 p.m., NBC) is what happens at the line of scrimmage. This isn’t a revelation, because it’s been a theme for many years with an Eagles team that invests heavily season after season in offensive and defensive linemen. Instead, it’s a reminder that while the linemen in this great game’s history have had some unflattering nicknames through the years (The Hogs, The Big Uglies, to name two), everyone who knows the game understands the importance of winning at the line of scrimmage. And the Eagles have to win there to win on the perimeter. Those who have inquired as to the relative success the defense has had, for example, in the last few meetings against Atlanta’s prolific quarterback Matt Ryan and the superstar Jones, inevitably point back to the way the Eagles’ defensive line has A) Stifled Atlanta’s varied and prolific running game; and B) Put relentless pressure on Ryan.

DeSean Jackson on Julio Jones: ‘Can I get more big plays than he can?’ - NBCSP
There’s not many people who can do what DeSean Jackson does. One of them will be on the same field this weekend. DeSean Jackson has had five 1,000-yard seasons, Julio Jones has had six. DeSean has over 10,000 yards. Julio has a few hundred more. DeSean has had 37 100-yard games. Julio has had 49. Two of the NFL’s most dynamic wide receivers will be on display Sunday night in prime-time when the Eagles face the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. “Obviously, Julio is one of the best in the league, we all know that,” Jackson said. “He’s done some miraculous things. The numbers speak for themselves. Any time you play against another team that has a big-time receiver (you ask), ‘Can I get more big plays than he can? Or can Alshon or Nelly, someone on our side.’”

Your Week 2 Matchup Guide: The Saints Get Their Chance at Revenge - The Ringer
The Falcons are 18-17 since they blew a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI. Their revenge tour the following season ended in Philadelphia in the divisional round of the playoffs when, down 15-10 with less than 90 seconds left in the game and less than 10 yards from the end zone, they tried to get the ball to Julio Jones three times. They couldn’t, and they lost. Atlanta’s next game was the 2018 season opener on Thursday night … in Philadelphia. Once again, the Falcons had the ball with goal to go late with the chance to score a game-winning touchdown. Once again, they failed. If they lose their third straight game to the Eagles on Sunday, they will drop to .500 since that Super Bowl loss, and if it happens it will probably be because they couldn’t get the ball to Julio Jones in the end zone.

Stephen Jones says Cowboys have spoken to Miami Dolphins... could a Minkah Fitzpatrick trade happen? - Blogging The Boys
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan on Friday and was asked about this. You know that Stephen isn’t going to come out and give us any legitimate information on this, but it was interesting that he did in fact say the team has had contact with Miami (he also added that they’re constantly talking to other teams).

Giants-Bills final injury report: Sterling Shepard out Sunday - Big Blue View
Obviously, with two receivers down on Sunday, Golden Tate suspended and Latimer questionable the Giants could be seriously short-handed at that position. Veterans Bennie Fowler and Russell Shepard figure to be relied upon, as does T.J. Jones, who was re-signed as insurance this week. Cody Core, claimed off waivers from the Cincinnati Bengals a week ago, is also on the 53-man roster.

Survey says Redskins fans are shaken but not shattered - Hogs Haven
Still no end to the Trent Williams holdout, and nothing to signal any kind of resolution in sight. The Redskins, after looking like champions for a quarter and a half in Philly, suffered collapses on both sides of the ball in the second half, failing to sustain any offensive drives until garbage time, stranding a tired defense on the field that was short of healthy bodies and unable to slow down the Eagles attack. While most people had predicted a loss to Philly in Week One, given the 20-7 halftime lead, it was a deflating loss when it came.

The original ‘NFL Primetime’ can never be topped - SB Nation
Update, 9/13: NFL Primetime with Chris Berman and Tom Jackson is coming back! It will stream every Sunday night during the 2019 season on ESPN+, starting on Sept. 15. Check out our ode to the show, originally published on July 19, 2019.

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