Eagles News: Carson Wentz is about to face the NFL’s best team at generating pressure

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

NFL Week 5 Preview: Fantasy football advice, betting tips and matchups to watch - PFF
Headline of the Game: Carson Wentz has the lowest passing grade in the league, and the Steelers have pressured quarterbacks at a higher rate than any other team. The Eagles have had a disappointing start to the season at 1-2-1, but they somehow sit atop the NFC East standings. That won’t last long if QB Carson Wentz continues to play as he has through four weeks, as he currently boasts the lowest passing grade in the league at 43.5. While Wentz showed some toughness and made big throws in a comeback win Sunday against the 49ers, the Eagles have little hope unless that passing grade improves. It won’t get any easier this week against a Steelers defensive front that is attacking offenses at a historically good level. Through three games, Pittsburgh has a massive lead in both blitz percentage (52.2%) and pressure percentage (50.0%), with the pressure percentage being the key to victory for the Steelers this week. Wentz has a passer rating of just 28.0 when pressured, and we could see similar results given the war of attrition the Eagles are fighting on both the offensive line and with their skill position players.

6 ways in which the NFC East in the worst division you’ve ever seen - BGN
Dak Prescott has easily had the best season of the four thus far, with a league-leading 1,690 passing yards through the first four games, although a good portion of that yardage was acquired in garbage time last week when Dallas trailed big against Cleveland. Still, you can’t turn up your nose at a 102.6 passer rating that ranks 11th in the NFL. Now, for the other three. It’s ugly. Washington’s Dwayne Haskins has an 80.3 passer rating, which is 5th-worst in the league. New York’s Daniel Jones’ 68.3 is 2nd-worst, while Carson Wentz’ 66.9 remains the worst rating in the league. Right now, three of the five worst QBs are doing their thing in the horrific NFC East.

Quick Jam #14: What the Fudge is Going On - BGN Radio
Michael Kist gives you his mid-week update for the Eagles with transactional news and a quick look at the main obstacle facing the Eagles when they go toe-to-toe with the Steelers on Sunday! Powered by SB Nation & Bleeding Green Nation.

Off Day Debrief #5: Chiefs keep rolling + Texans fire O’Brien + Week 5 Power Rankings - SB Nation NFL Show
Rob “Stats” Guerrera and Brandon Lee Gowton react to the doubleheader on Monday Night Football, react to the Texans firing Bill O’Brien, and give you the Week 5 Power Rankings. Chiefs flex their muscle vs. Patriots (w/ Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride). Are the Packers the second best team in the NFC? The Cowboys are as soft as toilet paper. It’s time to believe in the Bills and more!

NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Week 5 - PhillyVoice
12) The Eagles’ win over the Niners on Sunday Night Football must have given Doug Pederson, Carson Wentz, and Howie Roseman a huge sigh of relief, as this season was looking like it could go really badly. And, well, it still very well could, but they were able to at least temporarily quiet the storm. Not to be Debbie Downer here, but the turnover battle aside, the Eagles still got outplayed on Sunday. The Eagles currently hold sole possession of first place in the NFC East, but let’s be honest... The Cowboys remain the crystal clear favorite to win the division, and by a significant margin. According to TheLines.com, Dallas is -120 to win the division despite not being in first right now. The Eagles are at +130.

Finding Answers - Iggles Blitz
I bring all of this up because I see a lot of the 2005 team in the current season. It is fun to talk about the Eagles being in first place, but I don’t know how you look at the current roster and the upcoming schedule and find 7 or 8 wins. The Eagles needed to beat cupcakes like WAS and CIN to get off to a good start. We’ll have to wait and see how this season plays out, but the real key to me is for the coaches to find answers on some young players. You can’t be a prospect forever. At some point, you have to play…sink or swim.

Fantasy fallout: Any hope for Kenyan Drake? T.Y. Hilton? Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz? - ESPN+
Philly might have both the most disappointing fantasy quarterback and the most disappointing fantasy tight end in the early going, with Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz both off to clunky starts. (Wentz was the most-dropped QB in ESPN leagues last week and is down to 59.9% rostered.) But Eagles reporter Tim McManus sees some reason for optimism. “While we might have to adjust our expectations regarding Wentz and Ertz’s production, both should enjoy an uptick in output as other skill players get healthy,” McManus said. “Ertz is drawing a ton of attention from opposing defenses with Dallas Goedert, DeSean Jackson and Jalen Reagor out. He’s seeing double-teams and is being covered by cornerbacks at times. Once the speed receivers are reintroduced into the equation, he’ll have a little more room to operate.

Eagles’ Travis Fulgham was an international man of mystery ... until now - NJ.com
“Travis, every few years, had to move to a different country,” Celeste told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “Because he was so young, he just thought that was normal and what people do. I see him now as an adult and I see — and not to overanalyze the situation — but I see it helping him in situations that he just went through.” Fulgham spent the first 16 years of his life constantly making new friends and learning about new cultures. He has leaned on those experiences as he has bounced around the NFL.

10 (mostly) positive Eagles stats after four wacky weeks - NBCSP
4. Carson Wentz is only the fifth QB in Eagles history to rush for a touchdown in three straight games. Michael Vick did it twice, Donovan McNabb twice and Randall Cunningham and Adrian Burke once each.

Alex Singleton: ‘It’s one of those things you dream about your whole life’ - PE.com
For a guy like Alex Singleton, it’s a moment that will resonate far beyond his NFL playing days. “It’s one of those things you dream about your whole life,” Singleton said on Tuesday morning. “It was for my family. The feeling of ‘to give it back to them.’ That’s the first thing I thought when I scored. They have supported me every step of the way. It’s been a long journey and my family, my parents, I owe them everything. I call my family after every game on Facetime. If I make a tackle, it’s cool to relive that with them. I’ll get to my phone after a game and I’ll get a text from my mom about a play. “This time, it was different. “I didn’t know Instagram worked the way it does with the way the messages were coming in. I have a lot of friends from high school that I didn’t know I still had their numbers. It was definitely interesting.”

Week 4 DVOA Ratings - Football Outsiders
[BLG Note: The Eagles rank 30th in DVOA. The Steelers are 7th.]

Twitter removes Trump campaign tweet containing NFL footage - PFT
Twitter removed the video, “in response to a report by the copyright owner.” As noted by USA Today, it’s unclear whether the league, one of the teams involved, or ITV made the complaint. Apart from the irony of the Trump campaign using a video clip from a sports league that the president has periodically harangued, there’s this: The player over whose head Trump’s was superimposed doesn’t stand for the national anthem. Also, the 49ers won that specific play, but lost the game to the Eagles. Under the circumstances, that makes the clip probably not the best one to be used by the Trump campaign.

Pittsburgh Steelers get healthy over the bye week, but questions remain - Behind The Steel Curtain
The impromptu bye week wasn’t planned, but it doesn’t mean it was worthless either. The Steelers did get several days of practice in, preparing for the Titans, but also were able to get some of their injured players back to health. The biggest name on the list would be wide receiver Diontae Johnson. Johnson left the Week 3 game vs. the Houston Texans early with a concussion, and was subsequently entered into the league’s protocol. During Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference he said Johnson has been cleared from the protocol is prepared to play in Week 5. The other injuries of note are two players dealing with lower body injuries and are hoping the extra week off gave them a chance to get back on the field this Sunday.

One bright spot is that half of Cowboys remaining games are against the NFC East - Blogging The Boys
Dallas will likely not get the 49ers team that the Eagles did on Sunday night so that game could be rather difficult; however, they should be able to beat teams like the Vikings and Bengals at the very least. If we give them 2-3 of these with 4-5 of their division games then we are talking about a team that should win 7-9 games between now and the end of the season which would give them 8-10 wins. That should theoretically be enough to win the gauntlet that is the NFC East in 2020. Morale is low right now. I get it. But the season is far from over. This week will tell us a lot.

Why the WFT will be at least .500 by the end of Week 11 - Hogs Haven
After a thrilling comeback victory against the Eagles in Week 1, the Washington Football Team proceeded to lose the next three games, to the Cardinals, Browns, and Ravens. Washington could have reasonably beaten the Browns, had they played a slightly less error-laden 4th quarter, but they were handily outplayed by Arizona and Baltimore. Among some segments of the fanbase, panic has already set in. Sure, most predicted this team to fall somewhere between 4-12 and 6-10, but that hasn’t stopped certain fans from a frustrated foreboding that this team may have already blown its opportunity to make the playoffs. Well, I’m here to say I think this team can be well within the playoff hunt - particularly in the atrocious NFC East - after ten games, at the end of Week 11. I’ll map out the journey to mediocrity, or better, below. Keep in mind that the WFT’s opponents over the next 6 games are a collective 6-17-1 at this point in the season.

‘Valentine’s Views:’ Season remains about Daniel Jones, and the final grade isn’t in yet - Big Blue View
That leaves Jones. In truth, the next 12 games for the Giants are all about determining whether or not they go forward with Jones or whether, if their draft spot puts them in position to do so, they dive back into the quarterback pool. Jones has been far too much of a turnover machine in his first 17 NFL games, 16 of which were starts. He has fumbled 21 times and thrown 17 interceptions. That’s staggering. Even more distressing has been the timing of some of Jones’ mistakes. He made critical game-changing errors against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams that short-circuited chances for the Giants to come from behind and win games.

Wide receiver non-PPR rankings for Week 5 fantasy football - DraftKings Nation
Justin Jefferson, Vikings. This LSU rookie has to be in consideration for flex plays in Week 5 after two back-to-back 100+ receiving yard performances. Jefferson has racked up 348 yards to start the season - the fourth-most receiving yards among rookie wideout in his first four games since 1980. This week, the Vikings face the Seahawks who will continue to #LetRussCook and lead the league in passing yards allowed. Seattle has allowed seven wide receivers to surpass 100 receiving yards in their first four games of 2020.

Pa., N.J. report highest COVID-19 case levels since late spring as cases also rise in Philly - Inquirer
Pennsylvania and New Jersey are entering October with coronavirus case levels at the highest they have been since the end of spring, when the region was recovering from the first devastating wave of the pandemic. From Penn State to Rowan University, students have spurred increases since they returned to college towns in August. But data analyzed by The Inquirer indicate that the spread of the virus is also increasing in some counties that aren’t home to universities. Public health experts say community transmission is not a surprise as cold weather nears, but it is a possible sign that residents should renew efforts to prevent spread.

Reckoning with the NFL’s looming Covid surge as a fan - SB Nation
It was difficult to enjoy the NFL this weekend. More difficult than most. Not because the action was bad, in fact, it was one of the wilder weekends in recent memory. My lack of joy stemmed from knowing the league is playing on borrowed time. The Covid pandemic has really hit the NFL, and it’s souring the ability to immerse yourself in the action as a fan because we simply don’t know what will happen next. Every single one of us has dealt with the pain of this pandemic to varying degrees. The loneliness, the fear, the feelings of isolation. These are the symptoms if you’re lucky. For hundreds of thousands of Americans, Covid has meant illness, grief, and even death. We wanted to believe this would all be over six months ago. The hope was that we’d have a vaccine by now, a clear way to move past lockdowns and social distancing — not massive spikes in infections, the president in hospital, and the realization this isn’t getting better any time soon.

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