Eagles News: Two former Pro Bowl defenders are suddenly available

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BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys release linebacker Jaylon Smith - Blogging The Boys
This move definitely comes as a surprise to a lot of Dallas Cowboys fans as it happens mid-season. The team insisted all offseason long that they had no plans to move on from Smith and his $9.2M salary they let become guaranteed for this season over the offseason. Dallas must feel like Keanu Neal presents a lot of value for them and like they are in a position where they can finally move on from Smith. A second-round pick in 2016, he had a great 2018 season but struggled to regain that form since.

Patriots release former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore - Pats Pulpit
Gilmore, 31, signed with the Patriots on the opening day of free agency in 2017, inking a 5-year deal worth $65M. He immediately stepped into the #1 cornerback role over Malcolm Butler, and helped lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance. In his second season, Gilmore and the Patriots returned to the Super Bowl, before he would go on to receive a pair of All-Pro selections and the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019. Gilmore was not on the Patriots active roster at the time of his release. Instead he was on the Physically Unable to Perform list, recovering from a quad injury that he suffered against the Miami Dolphins in Dec. 2020. He was eligible to come off of the list following New England’s Week 6 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. With contract issues dating back to the 2020 offseason, Gilmore and the Patriots had a fairly public stale mate over his pay. After missing a pair of practices during training camp in 2020, the Patriot gave him a pay advance of $4.5M prior to that season. That left Gilmore with a base salary of $7M in 2021, ranking him 24th amongst cornerbacks.

NFL Power Rankings: Week 5 Edition - BGN
23 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 23) - The Eagles are not a well-coached team right now. They lead the league in penalties … by far. They have too many game management issues. Nick Sirianni and his coaching staff shoulder a lot of blame for Philly’s struggles. Sirianni’s willingness to kick red zone field goals against the Chiefs was incredibly alarming. Was he actually interested in doing everything he could to help the Eagles win? His actions didn’t indicate as much. It remains to be seen if his struggles are a product of inexperience or lasting issues that will continue to plague this team. On a separate note, allowing 40+ points in two straight games also isn’t a recipe for success. Jonathan Gannon deserves to be taking some heat as well.

From the Bleachers #81 - Sirianni Might be a One-and-Done Coach - BGN Radio
On the latest episode of From the Bleachers on BGN Radio, Shamus Clancy reacts to the Eagles’ Week 4 loss to Kansas City.

Eagles at Panthers: Five matchups to watch - PhillyVoice
The Eagles got away with their instability at offensive tackle against a Cowboys team missing DeMarcus Lawrence and a Chiefs team missing Frank Clark. Barring any surprises, they’ll have no such breaks heading into this matchup against the Panthers, who have two explosive edge rushers in Brian Burns and Haasan Reddick. In his last eight games going back to last season (yes, I know that’s an arbitrary timeframe), Reddick has 12 sacks and seven forced fumbles. Against the Eagles last season, when he was still with the Cardinals, Reddick had four tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles, a tackle for loss, and a pressure forced Jalen Hurts into a intentional grounding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety. Meanwhile, Burns is a pure speed rusher whose career is off to a fast start since the Panthers took him in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He already has 19.5 sacks in 35 career games. The Eagles’ OTs vs. the Panthers’ DEs should be the matchup the Eagles fear the most in this matchup.

Let’s Talk Defense - Iggles Blitz
One of the issues with Gannon right now is the lack of creativity. He’s playing a very simple defense. I would totally understand that if he had a bunch of young players on the field. That’s not the case. This is a veteran defense. They haven’t played together a lot, but there aren’t a bunch of rookies out there. [...] After Sirianni and Gannon had their discussion on Monday, I’m curious to see how the defense plays this week. I’m guessing there will be some differences. The Panthers are a middle of the pack offense. If you can’t get them off the field, we’ve got major problems. This is not all about coaching. The back seven doesn’t have anyone who is a playmaker. No one. Wilson picked off a pass last week, but the ball was thrown to him. I’m glad he made the catch, but it isn’t as if he jumped a route and made the play happen. Beyond impact plays, the LBs and safeties are making tackles well downfield. People aren’t getting off blocks and to the ball. That has to change or it doesn’t matter what you do.

Another reason Eagles find themselves in a pickle with RPOs - NBCSP
Sometimes the blame can go to the offensive lineman. But more times than not, in general, the blame on these plays goes to the quarterback for holding the ball too long. RPOs are all about timing. The refs have been calling it this year. And now that the Eagles have earned their reputation on those plays, the refs aren’t going to stop. There have been 21 “ineligible downfield pass” penalties called in the NFL so far this year and the Eagles lead the league — by far — with five. No other team has more than two.

Jalen Hurts’ budding chemistry with DeVonta Smith provides Eagles with hope amid another loss - ESPN
It feels odd highlighting the success of two Philadelphia Eagles players following their third straight loss, but the most significant development to come out of Sunday’s 42-30 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) might just be the play of quarterback Jalen Hurts and rookie receiver DeVonta Smith. This season, after all, is more about the big picture for Philadelphia (1-3). It’s about identifying core players for the future, establishing a foundation and figuring out whether Hurts is a QB you can tether your franchise to. The answers won’t be found in one game, but there were some encouraging signs. Hurts went 32-of-48 for 387 yards with a pair of touchdowns, and had three more touchdown passes called back because of penalties. Smith, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2021 draft, was the culprit on one of those — he stepped out of bounds on a route down the left sideline, negating a long TD reception — but finished with seven catches for 122 yards on 10 targets. It was his first game of 100-plus yards in his young career.

NFL Power Rankings, Week 5: For Bills and Cardinals, everything is awesome, but why is ‘Frozen’ in a football story? - The Athletic
25. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3). Previous rank: 24. Week 4 result: Lost to the Chiefs, 42-30. The good news is the offensive game plan looked a lot like the one the Eagles took to Atlanta in Week 1, full of short passes and easy reads for Jalen Hurts. The bad news is the defense surrendered touchdowns on six of the Chiefs’ seven drives and never really mounted a challenge. Sunday’s trip to Charlotte, N.C., looms large if the Eagles are going to crawl back into NFC East contention.

DVOA Week 4: Bills Move to No. 1 with Dominating Defense - Football Outsiders
[BLG Note: The Eagles are 20th in DVOA while the Panthers are 12th.]

2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs for Week 5 - Fake Teams
RB37) Miles Sanders. Favorable matchup; feeling like a lost cause though.

Why is the Panthers offense under Joe Brady so bad in the third quarter? - Cat Scratch Reader
That’s an average of 2.1 points per third quarter, or just over eight points per game at that rate. To get even more granular, Carolina’s offense has scored an anemic seven points over their last six third quarters. That’s not just bad, it’s confounding, especially considering the Panthers still went 4-4 over those eight games.

‘Things I think’ about the Giants: Daniel Jones, Joe Judge, offensive line, more - Big Blue View
And, suddenly everyone is in love with him. Suddenly, it seems everyone wants to anoint him something most have spent more than two years telling us he could never be — A FRANCHISE QUARTERBACK. Like I said, hilarious. Jones is second in the league in passing grade, per Pro Football Focus. His 98.3 passer rating after four games is an 18-point jump from last season’s 80.4. He is doing things leaders do, like bringing him team back for a comeback victory and running over mammoth defensive linemen for two-point conversions. Is he a franchise quarterback? I’m not going to go all ga-ga and proclaim such just yet. I will say I don’t think quarterback is currently a problem for the New York Giants. Mostly, though, I’m just enjoying watching everyone who bashed Jones for two-plus years trip all over themselves trying to get on the “hey, Daniel Jones might be good now” bandwagon.

Urban Meyer has become the Jaguars’ biggest distraction - SB Nation
The Jaguars were bullish on Urban Meyer from the start. Their belief was that the man who led Ohio State to an 83-9 record would be the perfect candidate to come in and mold a young roster into a winning NFL franchise. Now, just four games into the NFL season, Meyer has become the team’s biggest distraction. His latest gaffe came after video went viral this weekend showing Meyer at an Ohio bar, with a young woman dancing on him while his hands appeared to be between her legs. It became a joke of the weekend, and then on Monday the coach apologized for being a distraction.

Off Day Debrief #57- Chargers D stops the Raiders on MNF + Week 5 Power Rankings - The SB Nation NFL Show
Rob “Stats” Guerrera and Brandon Lee Gowton break down the Chargers victory over the Raiders with BD Williams from Silver and Black Pride. Plus, we present the only 100% accurate power rankings in the entire NFL podcast kingdom. What happened to the Raiders offense in the first half? Where does Vegas sit in terms of winning the AFC West? Stats takes the L about Dak Prescott being in trouble this season. Why the Browns might be the league’s most complete team. The hideous mistake that Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay keep making over and over again.

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