Eagles News: Brandon Graham makes list of the NFL’s most underrated defenders

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The most underrated defensive players through the first half of the 2020 NFL season - TouchdownWire
Brandon Graham has been the NFL’s “almost” champion among edge defenders for a number of years — he’s never had a double-digit sack season, though he’s registered at least 68 total pressures in each of the last four full seasons, and he’s never made a Pro Bowl. Again, sack numbers don’t tell the whole story, but sack numbers might finally get Graham the praise he deserves in 2020. He already has seven sacks this season, and combined with his 33 total pressures and 18 stops, it can be credibly argued that there are just a handful of players at Graham’s position playing at his level right now. Hopefully, the Pro Bowl nod will come as well.

Fulgham, B.G. and more in the 2020 Eagles Milestone Watch - NBCSP
BRANDON GRAHAM’S MAGICAL SEASON: B.G. is on pace for 14 sacks, which would be the most by an Eagle since Connor Barwin had 14 1/2 in 2014 and the most by a player the Eagles have drafted since Clyde Simmons had 19 in 1992. B.G. IS A WARHORSE: Brandon Graham has played in 151 games in an Eagles uniform, 12th-most in franchise history. If he plays every game the second half of the season, he’ll move all the way up to 8th. Graham is within reach of Trent Cole [155], Jerry Sisemore [156], Guy Morriss [158] and Randy Logan [159]. If he’s here next year, B.G. could also catch Jon Dorenbos [162], Tra Thomas [166], Chuck Bednarik [169] and Brent Celek [175]. That would leave him behind only David Akers [188], Brian Dawkins [183] and Harold Carmichael [180].

Eagles safety Marcus Epps tests positive for COVID-19 [UPDATE] - BGN
The Eagles officially placed Marcus Epps on the reserve/COVID-19 list, thus opening a roster spot.

Midseason Report Card - Offense - BGN Radio
Jimmy Kempski and Brandon Lee Gowton grade each unit of the offense PLUS NFL Picks for the Week 9 slate! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

To Bench Or Not To Bench - Iggles Blitz
Doug Pederson said he won’t bench Wentz. He wants Wentz to work through his problems. Getting back key players around him should take pressure off Wentz and help him to play better. At least that’s the theory. So let’s talk about whether Pederson should bench Wentz. Would that be a good idea? Quarterback is the most important position in football. You have to treat it and the men who play it differently than everything else. This isn’t like benching your left guard or running back or safety. When you bench a QB, that can affect the player for the rest of his career. It can permanently change the relationship between the QB and the coach. This isn’t a decision you make lightly. You only make this move when things are desperate.

The case to: Make Miles Sanders focal point of offense - PE.com
So much is going to be said about quarterback Carson Wentz and his performance in the second half of the season, and rightfully so. His first half was so unusual and so un-Carson like, and the Eagles really want to get him back on track. A way to do it – to improve his completion percentage and to give him higher-percentage throws – is to make Sanders more involved in both the running game and in the passing game. A better performance on first and second down will lead to more third-and-short situations. Having Sanders as a target on wheel routes and in the screen game and on backfield releases against slower linebackers is going to lead to big plays in the passing game. That’s the thought here. The Eagles need an offensive identity. They’ve scuffled along offensively for eight weeks. Now that they have some pieces closing in on playing, they can find out who they are very quickly. It begins by running the offense through Sanders, first in the running game and then in the play-action game and then as a target in the passing game. He has touched the ball all of 74 times in the first half of the 2020 season. That is a number that needs to skyrocket in the next eight games and if the Eagles are able to make that happen, you will see an offense that very much knows what it is – something that is going to be tough to stop down the stretch run of this season.

Five reasons why the Eagles are 3-4-1 at the midway point of the season - Inquirer
The Eagles have 17 turnovers in their first eight games, which is the second-most in the NFL. Only the Cowboys have more (18). Carson Wentz has 16 of those 17 giveaways, including a league-high 12 interceptions. The only non-Wentz giveaway was a Miles Sanders fumble against the Rams in Week 2. Opponents have converted his 16 turnovers into 37 points, including 34 in their four losses to Washington, the Rams, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and the tie with Cincinnati. Ten of Wentz’s 16 turnovers – eight interceptions and two fumbles – came in those five games. Seven of them occurred in Eagles territory, which led to short drives and contributed heavily to a minus-10.6-yard average drive start differential (25.0 to 35.6). Wentz has averaged an interception every 25.4 pass attempts this season. Last year, he averaged one every 86.7 attempts.

2021 NFL Mock Draft: Trevor Lawrence is still the Jets’ pick at No. 1 overall, Justin Fields to the Giants at No. 2 - PFF
19. Philadelphia Eagles – LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame. Another big riser, JOK is your quintessential modern linebacker. Listed at only 215 pounds, he plays like a safety when in space but a linebacker when asked to take on blocks. His versatility to go from slot to box whenever needed is something the Eagles aren’t close to having on their roster.

Golden Tate back with Giants - Big Blue View
Wide receiver Golden Tate was back with the New York Giants on Thursday, one day after he was told to stay home by coach Joe Judge for venting frustrations about his role by twice saying “throw me the ball” during Monday’s game. Judge simply said “yes” when asked if Tate was back to work and it it was business as usual for the Giants as they prepare for Sunday’s game against the Washington Football Team. Judge had been crystal clear on Wednesday in talking about his expectations. “It has to be team first for everyone in this building. Every coach and every player has to be team first. There’s no exceptions for that,” Judge said. “I’m not going to tolerate and put up with any kind of selfish behavior from anybody, coach or player, it’s not going to happen.”

Three thoughts about the struggles of the Cowboys - Blogging The Boys
As for the talent, well, maybe one day we will learn not to buy the hype. Or help create it. A mea culpa is appropriate here, because I was as bad as anyone at looking at the names the team had this season and overestimating the value of the new ones plus expecting a bit too much from some returning veterans. Only the draft class, specifically CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, and Tyler Biadasz, have met and perhaps exceeded expectations. Everyone else has largely fallen short, or been taken out of the equation by injury. The sum of those effects is that Dallas now has a truly bad roster, with no hope of getting better this year. Given how injuries will probably continue, it’s actually just downhill from here.

SB Nation NFL Expert Picks Week 9 - SB Nation
If you want a REALLY safe pick, just go with Pittsburgh. There is absolutely no way the Steelers lose this week against the Cowboys, who are hapless in every single way this season. It would be bad enough just considering the team are without Dak Prescott, but that jumped into the stratosphere with news Andy Dalton had contracted Covid. Now Dallas are using a variety of backups and practice squad quarterbacks to fill in their depth chart and it’s all a giant mess. Putting the ball in Ezekiel Elliot’s hands and saying “go” is a game plan for sure, but definitely won’t be enough to really make an impact in this game.

Raiders reportedly fined $500K, docked a 6th-rounder for COVID-19 protocol violations - Silver And Black Pride
The Las Vegas Raiders were hit with some bad news on Thursday evening, as the NFL came down hard on them for violating the league’s coronavirus protocol — and not for the first time. According to multiple reports, the NFL is fining the Raiders $500,000 and docking them of a sixth-round draft pick, presumably in the 2021 NFL Draft. On top of that, coach Jon Gruden is being fined $150,000. The penalties come for coronavirus protocol breaches pertaining to offensive tackle Trent Brown, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list in October.

The US Covid-19 epidemic hit a deadly new milestone, and help isn’t on the way - Vox
The United States has passed another stunning benchmark in the Covid-19 pandemic: more than 100,000 new cases in a single day. This new record — an increase of 7 percent compared to seven days ago — comes after last Friday’s record-breaking case count of 98,000. And the worst is almost certainly still to come. This is not the peak. We’re in the midst of a climb. Next week, another record may be broken. What’s more, the continued deterioration of the public health situation is happening all over the country. There’s no single hot spot or epicenter. With the exception of a handful of states, the virus is spreading uncontrolled north to south, west to east.

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