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Eagles News: Making Philadelphia’s Super Bowl case

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/10/20.

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Super Bowl LII - Philadelphia Eagles v New England Patriots Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

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

Kapadia: An 8-step blueprint to get the Eagles back to the Super Bowl - The Athletic
Outside the pocket last season, Carson Wentz was one of the league’s best quarterbacks. Inside the pocket, he was below average. This is one of the reasons Pederson brought in Scangarello. He has coached under Kyle Shanahan, whose scheme is based on a creative run game and play-action/bootlegs that are married to that run game. The increased use of play-action/bootlegs will likely be the most significant scheme change with this offense. Getting Wentz on the move more — regardless of how they do it — is a smart idea.

The case for all 32 NFL teams to make Super Bowl LV in the 2020 season, from the Jags to Chiefs - ESPN
7) Injuries slowed down the Eagles as they tried to make a push into and through the playoffs in 2018 and 2019, and with offensive linemen Brandon Brooks and Andre Dillard already done for the season, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery not ready to start the year and first-round pick Jalen Reagor doubtful for Week 1, the bug is biting again in 2020. I know that the Eagles won a Super Bowl without Carson Wentz in 2017, but you have to figure that their best chance of winning involves their starting quarterback staying healthy through the end of the regular season for the first time since 2016. And their best way to keep Wentz healthy involves the rest of the offensive line holding up over the remainder of the campaign. The Eagles have become more of a stars-and-scrubs team since that Super Bowl victory, owing to some contractual choices and Wentz’s own extension. Those stars have to stay healthy and productive. Players such as wideout DeSean Jackson, tight end Zach Ertz, edge rusher Derek Barnett and new trade acquisition Darius Slay can be difference-makers when they’re on the field, but Philly’s path to a Super Bowl requires all of them playing something close to 16 games. Howie Roseman is also one of the most aggressive general managers in the league when it comes to in-season trades; a midyear trade for help on defense, either at linebacker or in the secondary, could come into play.

Some of the Eagles players that talked behind Carson Wentz’s back are now defending him - BGN
Following these events, Santoliquito now has a new PhillyVoice report about how players who once questioned Wentz’s leadership are now defending him. I encourage you to read the entire thing but here are some highlights: “Everybody believes in Carson. They do now,” said one of the sources from PhillyVoice’s 2019 story. “My issue was availability. If you’re going to be a leader, then lead. Be accessible. When he got hurt (three years ago), he shut himself down and shut himself off from the rest of us. He’s made conscious, serious efforts to connect with guys. Some guys continued to shut him out. That’s on them—not Carson.”

Eagles vs. Football Team: Five matchups to watch - PhillyVoice
4) The Eagles’ receivers vs. Football Team’s secondary. Washington’s starting corners are likely to be Ronald Darby (you know him well), Kendall Fuller (who played safety last year for the Chiefs), and Jimmy Moreland (a promising, but poor tackling young slot corner). It’s too bad for the Eagles that Jalen Reagor will miss this matchup, as he could do damage with yards after catch opportunities against Darby and Moreland. Regardless, this is a group of corners the Eagles can have success against. DeSean Jackson and Greg Ward will likely be Carson Wentz’s go-to guys at receiver, but it would also be nice to see production in real games from J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and John Hightower, who both had stellar camps.

NFL Week 1 Preview: Storylines to watch, fantasy football advice and betting projections - PFF
The Eagles’ defensive line is led by the Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox duo that has wrecked opposing offensive lines for years. Graham’s 338 quarterback pressures over the past five seasons rank sixth among all defenders, and Cox follows right behind him in the rankings at seventh with 336 pressures. The addition of Javon Hargrave — who produced a 14.2% pressure rate in 2019, a top-five mark among all interior defenders — and the return of Malik Jackson from injury only bolsters the interior of that defensive line. That group should be able to feast on the left side of Washington’s offensive line. Geron Christian Sr. is projected to start at left tackle, and either Wes Martin or Wes Schweitzer is projected to start at left guard. Translation: it’s not an ideal situation. Making matters worse is the fact that no quarterback took sacks on a higher percentage of their pressured dropbacks in 2019 than Haskins did (33%), so pressure could snowball into big, negative plays for the Football Team in Week 1.

Fixing the WR corps might not have been enough for the Eagles - Pro Football Network
In many ways, the Eagles’ MVPs in the post-Super Bowl years haven’t been Wentz, Cox, or Ertz, but former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and Football Team owner Dan Snyder. Despite injury disasters, an ever-tightening cap crunch, some draft whiffs, and a little coaching brain drain, the Eagles have gone 9-3 in the NFC East over the last two seasons (with a 6-1 divisional in December), and 9-7 has been good enough to reach the playoffs for two straight years. With Garrett gone and the Cowboys roster stacked, there’s no way 9-7 will be good enough for the NFC East title, and it’s unlikely to net a Wild Card berth in a crowded field. And despite some additions and the promise of better injury luck, the Eagles appear too young at some positions, too old at others, and too ordinary at a few of the rest to be much more than a 9-7 team right now.

2020 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 1 - Fake Teams
4) Miles Sanders — Despite Wasington’s dominant D-Line, they’ve been generous to opposing RBs. The D-Line reinforces the passing game usage of dual threat bellcows.

2020 DVOA Projections - Football Outsiders
[BLG Note: The Eagles rank 10th in DVOA projections. Reminder that you can get the Football Outsiders Almanac 2020 by clicking here.]

Washington vs Philadelphia Injury Report: Kendall Fuller is limited as he continues to deal with knee injury - Hogs Haven
We got the first injury report of the season today from Head Coach Ron Rivera, and it features a lot of players who have been dinged up recently. Jonathan Allen tweaked his knee 10 days ago at practice, but was a full participant in today’s practice. Rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden has been working off to the side recently, but was a full participant today and is listed with a concussion. Three other players were limited today. Kendall Fuller was the team’s big free agency signing this year and he has been sideline during training camp with a knee injury for the last few weeks. Fourth round rookie LT Saadhiq Charles has also been sideline for a few weeks(calf), but seems like he’s getting very close to a return. Del Rio mentioned that Thomas Davis Sr. was dinged up yesterday, and today he’s been listed with a calf injury.

Five bold predictions for the 2020 Dallas Cowboys - Blogging The Boys
Cowboys reach the NFC Championship game. This kind of goes hand in hand with the previous prediction, as McCarthy will need to show this Cowboys team is significantly better than anything they’ve been in recent history if he’s to win the top coaching honor. And what better way to do that than to take America’s Team to the conference championship game for the first time since the 1995 season? As mentioned, the Cowboys look to have an easy schedule this year, so piling up wins to earn the top seed is a real possibility. A that point, with a first-round bye, Dallas would only need to win one playoff game to reach the ever-elusive NFC Championship game.

The Daniel Jones crystal ball: What to expect from Giants’ quarterback in 2020 - Big Blue View
Ultimately, however, it gets measured in growth. Remember, development is not linear, but what you want to see from Jones in 2020 is a better quarterback than what we saw in 2019. One way to measure that? Look at mistakes he made on a somewhat consistent basis in 2019, and see if they are repeated as often in 2020. To that end, here is a play from each of his 12 starts where I would like to see Jones be better. There are common themes in these, such as processing speed, decision-making and awareness. These are the situations I would like to see reduced, if not outright eliminated, in 2020. Then, I’ll be confident that Jones is indeed “the guy.”

The 6 must-watch games of the NFL season - SB Nation
The NFL season is almost upon us, and without a dedicated preseason it’s going to be one of the more unpredictable seasons in recent memory. Teams around the league went through mammoth changes, the Chiefs look as terrifying as ever, and the NFC feels very much up for grabs. As we approach Week One these are the games we can’t wait to see.

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