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Eagles News: Andre Dillard’s “best game as a pro” comes with a caveat

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/30/21.

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Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

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Eagles LT Andre Dillard was pretty good against the Cowboys, with gifs and stuff - PhillyVoice
Dillard’s weakness as a pro, by far, has been his inability to anchor against power. Fortunately for him, the Cowboys somehow didn’t bull rush him almost at all, with the exception of this rush by rookie Chauncey Golston. As you can see, Dillard is pushed back for five steps, and it’s not even a particularly good rush. For a team that so thoroughly out-schemed the Eagles on Monday night otherwise, it was strange to me that the Cowboys didn’t try to run right through Dillard early and often. [...] Monday night was Dillard’s best game as a pro, by far. It came against an ideal opponent that did not test his biggest weakness, however, it was perhaps a confidence-building performance. I do not think any and all concerns with Dillard’s game have been put to bed because he played well Monday night. At some point, if Mailata is going to miss more time, Dillard is going to face some power rushes, and he still has to prove he can stop those.

Weapon X Mailbag: Who deserves the most blame for the last two Eagles losses? - BGN
The issue with the Eagles’ offense right now lies more with play-designs rather than play-calling. Everything feels... just so uncreative (the galaxy brain Philly Special redux aside) and so bland. I’ve been a huge Jalen Hurts proponent and perhaps there’s a bit of yolk on my face for that. He wasn’t an issue in Week 2 for me, but he was objectively a disaster in Dallas. His first interception made it look like he had zero depth perception. Whenever there was a break in coverage, he missed easy throws even in the short game. Hurts looked thoroughly overwhelmed and overmatched, much like Sirianni, and it was as if he was playing a different sport than Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

NFC East Mixtape Vol.24: Who Are Division Favorites? - BGN Radio
Brandon Lee Gowton and RJ Ochoa discuss the Eagles ugly loss 41-21 to the Cowboys in the Monday Night Football game. Are the Washington Football Team frauds? Giants lack juice. The guys make their arguments for who is going to win the NFC East.

Eagles film: Was Jalen Hurts bad, or bad because of Nick Sirianni’s offense? - Inquirer
Hurts drove the Eagles to a touchdown a series later, and Dallas’ lead was trimmed back to 13 points. After the defense held, the offense got the ball back late in the third quarter. But on third-and-11, Hurts’ hesitancy reared its head again. He had Smith out of the slot — and seemingly saw it the entire way — but he was late and behind his receiver as cornerback Trevon Diggs [No. 7] recovered to break up a contested ball. “You got to hit him,” Hurts said of developing chemistry with Smith. “We’ve had little things happen on my end. I got to be better for him.” He has the quarterback accountability thing down, but it pales in comparison to having the on-field genes. Is Hurts lacking in the latter, or can Sirianni teach him that? The jury is still out.

Jay Glazer hints that something is brewing on the Deshaun Watson front - PFT
The Dolphins want Watson. More specifically, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross wants Watson. The sticking point has been the compensation demanded by the Texans. If they’re softening, a deal could be done. As recently suggested, other teams could get involved — especially if they sense that the Texans want less than they’ve demanded and that the Dolphins may be closing in on getting it done. In this regard, the Eagles make sense.

NFL Week 4: Key matchups and storylines for all 16 games - PFF
Matchup to watch: ED Chris Jones vs. RT Lane Johnson. One of the league’s preeminent talents at his position, Johnson has continued to dominate this season. He’s yet to allow a single sack or quarterback hurry — a streak that will be put to the test Sunday afternoon against Chris Jones, who continues to add new skills to his repertoire in his sixth season in the league. The All-Pro has already logged a career-high number of snaps lined up outside of right tackle so far this season, earning an 86.4 pass-rush grade from that position. Despite an overall pressure rate of just 11%, Jones will be a force to be reckoned with Sunday and should give Johnson all he can handle as both teams work to get back on track.

Nick Sirianni: ‘Double down on all that you know to be true’ - PE.com
A 1-2 record. Some concerning injuries. Coming off a loss at Dallas on a short week with the Kansas City Chiefs rolling into town. Yep, Nick Sirianni is facing adversity for the first time as an NFL head coach, and it’s something that he faces square on. No dodging it. This is part of the job and, while it’s not particularly pleasant, it’s something that coaches know is going to happen. “Adversity is part of NFL football,” Sirianni said to me in our weekly one-on-one interview. “The Miami Dolphins, in 1972, they didn’t have any adversity (completing the only perfect season in NFL history). The Patriots until that Super Bowl in 2008, didn’t have any adversity as far as losses go. But adversity is part of NFL football. The best teams go 12-4. No. 1 seeds go 12-4. Teams that get into the playoffs go 10-6, 9-7, stuff like that.”

NFL QB Index, Week 4: Dak Prescott and Derek Carr fly up rankings, while rookies continue to struggle - NFL.com
27) Jalen Hurts. The all-or-nothing Philadelphia offense has produced a lot of nothing in the last two weeks. While this team clearly needs more sustaining, intermediate throws in the passing game, these Eagles don’t make sense unless they run the ball well. They barely tried Monday night.

Jalen Hurts on Miles Sanders: ‘He’s got to get his’ - NBCSP
Jalen Hurts sees it the same way we do. Miles Sanders has to be a bigger part of things. A much bigger part. “He’s a pivotal part of this offense, one of the top running backs in the league,” Hurts said Wednesday. “He’s got to get his.” For Hurts to come out and say Sanders has to get more touches just shows you the absurdity of Sanders’ two-carry, five-touch game against the Cowboys. That’s the fewest touches of his three-year career and one-third of his career average of 15.1. Sanders has seen his touches drop from 19 in the opener to 14 against the 49ers to 5 on Monday night.

2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs for Week 4 - Fake Teams
Miles Sanders - RB19. Underwhelming (as with Philly) so far.

Andy Reid returns to Philadelphia for the first time since 2013 - Arrowhead Pride
Reid allowed himself to briefly reflect on his past on Wednesday, reiterating his love for the city of Philadelphia and the Eagles organization. “I loved my time there. Great organization. I mean, they were tremendous to me and my family,” and then, as reliably as the sun setting in the West, he shifted attention back to football. “We’re there to play this game and to do well. And so when it’s all said and done, that’s where my focus, my time, my mind and everything else is.” Reid concluded Wednesday’s press conference with what may have been his most candid answer all day, when he was asked where to find his favorite Philadelphia cheesesteak. “I’ll tell you, there wasn’t a cheesesteak that I didn’t like there.”

Ten thoughts on the Cowboys vs. Eagles week three matchup - Blogging The Boys
There is no debate, or at least there shouldn’t be, when it comes to who the class of this division is. The Cowboys handled the Eagles Monday night with ease, the Washington Football Team is built around their defense and is surrendering on average 30 points a game, and the New York Giants, are, well, the New York Giants. The only thing that can stop this team from running away with this division is injury or themselves. If they stay focused, the division should just be the first check in the box of this year’s goals.

Joe Judge on 4th downs, practice philosophy, playing in New Orleans, more - Big Blue View
“I’m not afraid to go for it on fourth down, I’m not afraid to go for two, I’m not afraid to run fakes, onside kicks. Trust me, I don’t live in a world of fear, I don’t, but I’ve got to make sure that every decision I make is calculated to put the team in a position for success,” Judge said. What about the analytics that say Judge has recently made a series of incorrect fourth-down decisions? “Analytics is just a tool ... You can look at a stat sheet all you want, I promise you if Excel was going to win football games, Bill Gates would be killing it right now.” [BLG Note: Would the Giants really have a worse record under Bill Gates instead of Judge?]

NFL University #9: KP’s Worst Takes, The Big Ben Problem, & Eagles Issues - The SB Nation NFL Show
Welcome back to another edition of NFL University! Stephen Serda, Kyle Posey, and Justis Mosqueda have plenty to discuss but have to kick things off with Kyle Posey’s worst takes! The Pittsburgh Steelers at 1-2 have a serious Big Ben problem. The Chiefs and Seahawks are also underperforming, and we’re only confident one of them will truly turn it around. Philadelphia needs to figure out their Sirianni situation, and it’s best for everyone if Matt Nagy gives up the Bears’ play-calling duties.

The FCS football team that never kicks is the most entertaining thing in the sport - SB Nation
If you’ve never heard of Presbyterian College before, I’d forgive you. The small private school in South Carolina has less than 2,000 students, and their athletics program doesn’t necessarily compete for national championships regularly. Their football team has been to one bowl game: the 1959 Tangerine Bowl against Middle Tennessee, which they lost. But do a Google search today and you’ll find features and videos from major national outlets covering the team. That’s because in May the Blue Hose hired Kevin Kelley to lead their football team, which had just joined the FCS’ Pioneer League. Kelley most recently was the head coach at Pulaski Academy, a prep school in Little Rock Arkansas. Kelley amassed multiple state championships at Pulaski using an unconventional strategy. His teams never kick.

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