Eagles News: Philadelphia has “officially entered the playoff conversation”

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NFL Week 11 takeaways: What we learned, big questions for every game and future team outlooks - ESPN
The Eagles have officially entered the playoff conversation. With their win over New Orleans, they now have a 40% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. It would have dropped to 11% with a loss, showing the significance of this game. Both sides of the ball have hit its stride. Coach Nick Sirianni’s offense rushed for 175-plus yards for the fourth straight game — their longest streak since the 1950 season, according to the Eagles — while the defense caused three turnovers and played winning football for the third time in four games. The Eagles entered Week 11 with the second-easiest closing schedule in the NFL, and with tiebreakers over the Saints, Falcons and Panthers, they are in good position to make a charge at a wild-card spot.

Nick Sirianni admits he got too conservative with his play calling in Eagles vs. Saints game - BGN
Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters following the team’s big win over the Saints on Sunday, and talked about his big takeaway from the game, his message to Miles Sanders following the two fumbles, and why JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s 23-yard catch will be the team’s play of the game. He also admitted that he got too conservative once they had a big lead, letting New Orleans make their way back into the matchup.

BGN Instant Reaction Show: Eagles secure first home victory this season against Saints - BGN Radio
Eytan Shander and Jessica Towne Taylor recap the Eagles Week 11 victory over the Saints, 40-29.

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Saints game - PhillyVoice
Lane Johnson said, “He hit that L1 juke.” Avonte Maddox said, “I was looking for the trainers to get some tape to wrap that kid’s ankles.” Jordan Howard chipped in 63 yards on 10 carries, but left the game early with a knee injury. Miles Sanders had 94 yards on 16 rushes, but had one costly fumble deep in Eagles territory. He was lucky that another fumble didn’t count because the officials ruled that his forward progress had stopped. Still, the Eagles showed that they can dominate in the run game against any defense, not just teams like the Detroit Lions or the Denver Broncos. They have a clear offensive identity, and while basic, it’s also fun.

Good But Sloppy - Iggles Blitz
Sunday’s 40-29 win over the Saints gave the Eagles their first winning streak of the year. They have now won two games in a row and 3 of the past 4. The Eagles who looked so bad a few weeks ago are now legitimately hot. We can debate whether the Eagles are actually good, because these wins aren’t coming against good teams or good QBs, but for now let’s just enjoy the hot streak. Winning in the NFL isn’t easy. Enjoy it when it happens. While the schedule has been soft recently, the Eagles are winning games the right way. They beat Detroit by 38, Denver by 17 and New Orleans by 11. The game was 33-7 at one point, but the Eagles got conservative and sloppy, never a good combination. The Saints tightened things, but never got closer than 11 after halftime. That’s quite a difference for a team like the Eagles that fell behind on a weekly basis for the first couple of months.

Week 11: The Best RB Playing In The NFL Put On An Old-School Show; 10 Things To Love About Wild Sunday - FMIA
Offensive Players of the Week. Jalen Hurts, quarterback, Philadelphia. The Eagles said they were going to give Hurts a legitimate chance to stake his claim to the starting job before the 2022 offseason rolled around, with the Eagles having enough draft capital to trade for a quarterback or to move up to draft one. He’s capitalizing on that promise, and in a very big way recently. His game Sunday depicted his dangerous versatility well. He finished Philadelphia’s first two drives with 1-yard and 3-yard TD runs, got an insurance TD scamper of 24 yards in the fourth quarter, and in between threw for 147 yards without turning it over. Two impressive games in a row for the mobile Hurts.

NFL Week 11 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 40, New Orleans Saints 29 - PFF
Jalen Hurts totaled 216 yards in total, with 147 coming through the air. He didn’t turn the ball over and scored three rushing touchdowns. The threat of the run really put the brakes on the Saints’ pass rush, and Hurts enjoyed ample time in the pocket as a result, taking 3.75 seconds to throw the ball on average.

2021 NFL season, Week 11: What we learned from Sunday’s games - NFL.com
Philadelphia’s ground game continues to thrive. And it’s doing it by committee. Miles Sanders (94 yards), Jalen Hurts (69), Jordan Howard (63) and Boston Scott (16) combined for 242 rushing yards and kept the ball in their possession for an essential 37:01 of play in the win. Sanders looked strong in his return from injured reserve averaging 5.9 yards per carry. However, the Eagles’ charge was buoyed by a stout offensive line and an astounding effort from their quarterback. Even with a well-oiled rushing attack at his disposal, Jalen Hurts (13-of-24, 147 yards) was called upon to make big throws during a key 74-yard, fourth-quarter drive which gridlocked a late Saints comeback after his 24-yard score. Accounting for all three offensive scores, Hurts had three rushing TDs in the game and won back-to-back games for the first time as a starter. It was also the first home win for rookie head coach Nick Sirianni.

Sirianni’s success, guys stepping up, and more in Roob’s obs - NBCSP
3. The problem with being THIS dependent on the running game is that when the running yards aren’t there you need to be able to make plays in the passing game, and once the Eagles built that 33-7 lead they just couldn’t do it. It was a combination of the Saints selling out vs. the run, Sirianni taking his foot off the gas pedal too early, Jalen Hurts missing a couple throws, a couple drops and just the lack of firepower the Eagles have on offense outside the running attack. This formula of running the ball 65 percent of the time has been working, but there will be times it doesn’t work, and the Eagles still have a lot of work to do to get the passing attack where it needs to be in those instances.

Playoffs? With Eagles’ recent surge and soft schedule ahead, it’s a reasonable thought - The Athletic
Playoffs? Miles Sanders mentioned the word, then later acknowledged he wished he hadn’t. But Sanders had no reason to censor himself. His sentiment was legitimate after the way the Eagles have played during the past month. It was an innocent statement from the Eagles’ starting running back, who returned to action after a three-game layoff. He suggested he likes the way the team is playing, they need to take it one game at a time and “the playoffs are coming up, too.” Even though the Eagles are 5-6, their hopes of becoming a playoff team were bolstered by a 40-29 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday — and perhaps even legitimized.

All 3 phases help Eagles overwhelm the Saints for 2nd straight victory - PE.com
The subplot of the game to watch was an Eagles running game that entered the game leading the NFC in rushing, one that averaged 208.7 yards per game in the previous three games, going against a New Orleans defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL in run defense through 10 weeks, allowing only 72.9 yards per game. It was no contest. The Eagles played bully ball led by an offensive line that blew a very good New Orleans front seven off the line of scrimmage. “It’s great playcalling. Coach (Nick) Sirianni has really committed to running the ball and it makes the rest of the game easier,” right guard Jack Driscoll said. “It’s an attitude when you run the ball in the NFL. You’re kind of saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to put down their throat and we’re going to run the ball. You’ve seen in the last few weeks it’s really taking off and you’re seeing what kind of team we’re becoming. We’re all excited about it. “They were the best run defense in the NFL. That gives us confidence going forward. We know we can run the ball on anyone. We just have to bring it. Coach Stout (Jeff Stoutland) is the best offensive line coach in the NFL. He puts us in the position. He works us hard all week to make sure that we know what to expect in the game and we just go out and execute.”

Ravens and Chiefs Restore AFC Order - Football Outsiders
Sean Payton has now settled for short field goals while trailing by multiple scores in the fourth quarter in back-to-back weeks. Yes, he’s stuck coaching a team with no quarterback and no weapons, but his offense keeps playing well enough in fourth quarters to get back into games and into scoring position. Payton’s arch-conservative approach is erasing what little chance of victory the Saints have each week.

Saints Suffer Third Consecutive Loss in 40-29 Defeat vs. Eagles - Canal Street Chronicles
The Eagles would close the deal eventually, taking the ball with just over 6 minutes left in the game and driving for a touchdown run by Jalen Hurts for 40-22 lead. The game marked the first time that the Saints had allowed 30 point this season. New Orleans would add another touchdown in the waning seconds of the game to make the final margin 40-29. New Orleans falls to 5-5, while the Eagles improve to 5-6 on the season, as injuries have decimated what once looked like a playoff team.

Dallas Cowboys at Kansas City Chiefs: 2 winners and 5 losers from a touchdown-less Cowboys loss - Blogging The Boys
Loser: Dak Prescott. We could note over and over that the Cowboys were without their left tackle and top two wide receivers, but at the end of the day the mantle needs to be carried by someone. The franchise quarterback is a good place to look for that spark. Dak Prescott has singlehandedly kept the Cowboys in games before and was on an island of sorts in this contest; however, he was missing throws all over the place. He was running for his life (we’ll get there shortly), but even when he had time to get throws off they were high, behind, late or something else of the sort. Simply put he has to do more.

Washington keeps the season alive with an impressive team victory in Carolina to ruin Cam’s homecoming - Hogs Haven
If I had to pick the ‘player of the game’, I’d probably go with Heinicke. While his final drive this week was a bit less impressive than the one against Tampa Bay, the young quarterback probably played the best and most complete game of his young career, making good decisions on both passes and runs, and, to the best of my recollection, never once throwing a ball that was in danger of being picked off. He played, as he always does, with fire and passion. He is incredibly easy to root for, and when he is winning, he looks like an NFL quarterback. Heinicke has thrown for 435 yards, 4 TDs and no INTs over the past two games, while rushing 9 times for 44 yards, and for the second week in a row has led a 4th quarter drive to win a game.

Big Blue View round table: Second-half expectations for Giants - Big Blue View
If we look at the question purely in terms of won-loss record, I’m looking for 4-4 or 5-3 over the final eight games. I really don’t think anything less is good enough. By the way, if the Giants go 4-4 that will give them a 14-game stretch at 7-7. That would be their longest stretch of decent football since 2016, and despite an awful start the ability to say progress is being made. More than the number of games the Giants win or lose, though, I’m focused on a few questions. Can they play sound, disciplined football? You can argue that the Giants have cost themselves two games with stupid offside penalties. They have shot themselves in the foot over and over on offense with critical penalties. They have been undisciplined on special teams, leading the league in penalties and constantly making it harder on themselves. A sign that Joe Judge’s process is working would be if his team starts playing with the discipline required to be good. Speaking of Judge, I have been consistently critical of his conservative in-game decision-making. I want to see signs that he understands he needs to be more aggressive.

How the NFL playoff picture looks coming out of Week 11 - DraftKings Nation
The NFL is moving through Week 11 and the playoff picture continues to develop. We do get some clarity, but with seven weeks left in the season, we’re getting some more fuzziness as well.

Sunday Late Night Wrap Up #11: Chargers survive Steelers comeback + Everything you need to know in Week 11 - The SB Nation NFL Show
In today’s episode, the Chargers and Steelers combine for 41 points in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, the Vikings get the last laugh against the Packers, and three more teams at .500 or worse beat division leaders.

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