Eagles News: Time to see more shots down the field

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

Roob’s observations: One area where Hurts has made astonishing progress - NBCSP
3. I’d like to see the Eagles get back to taking more shots down the field, and there’s no better team to do it against than the Steelers, who’ve allowed more big pass plays than any other team this year. The first three weeks of the season, the Eagles ranked 9th in the NFL with 8.2 intended air yards per pass attempt, and the next three weeks they were last at 5.0 intended air yards per attempt. The Eagles hit on seven pass plays of at least 30 yards in their first three games but just two in the last three games. With this quarterback, this o-line and these receivers, this offense has so much big-play potential, and there are definitely times it makes sense to play it close to the vest, but mixing in a few more big plays would make this offense even tougher to defend.

Eagles-Steelers Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the Week 8 enemy - BGN
The Steelers’ biggest weakness on offense is their inability to run the ball consistently. Najee Harris, who battled a foot injury throughout the preseason and early this season has looked like a shell of himself this season. What is the one thing which you need with a rookie quarterback? A good running game and a solid defense. The Steelers don’t have either at the moment. Shutting down the Steelers’ running game and forcing the ball into Pickett’s hands 40+ times is the key to victory for the Eagles. On the defensive side of the ball, it is a similar story. If you can establish the run, it will allow the offense to have their full allotment of plays at their disposal. And with the Eagles’ weapons...that’s a scary proposition.

Eye on the Enemy #112: Previewing Eagles-Steeler with Dave Schofield - BGN Radio
John Stolnis and Dave Schofield from Behind the Steel Curtain, preview the Eagles-Steelers game. The guys discuss Kenny Pickett and what the Steelers are going to do to stop Jalen Hurts.

Robert Quinn completes the Eagles’ defense in a brilliant trade - TouchdownWire
The main idea with bringing Quinn to the Eagles defense is to keep the rotation fresh if the Eagles want to make a Super Bowl run. The best defensive line is a revolving door. Back in 2017, the Eagles had Vinny Curry with Derek Barnett backing him up, and on the other side, they had Graham with Long. Quinn puts the Eagles in a good position to call more stunts and provide a consistent amount of pressure with throughout an entire game. If he was the only player to generate at least a 14% pressure rate in every full season since 2017, per Next Gen Stats, they got a steal with their new 32-year-old pass rusher.

Eagles mailbag: Let’s start talking about compensatory picks - PhillyVoice
Why is that? Well, they have more scheduled free agents in 2023 than they usually do, including compensatory qualifying players like Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Miles Sanders, James Bradberry, Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard, T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, and Marcus Epps, among others. The Eagles should be able to retain some of those players, but many of them will be on new teams in 2023. The challenge for the Eagles’ front office in the short-term will be deciding on which of those players they can live without, and how they can adequately replace the more difficult losses. That’s a topic for another day. But on the draft pick front, assuming the Eagles lose more players in free agency next offseason than they gain from other teams, they could be in position to collect on several compensatory draft picks in the 2024 draft. The first year of a new quarterback contract typically has a low cap number, so the Eagles should still be able to spend on other positions in 2023 if they extend Hurts. It will be in 2024 and beyond that they will need to fill their roster with cheaper rookie contracts to help offset the big metaphorical Hurts rock in the salary cap jar, so to speak.

Saturday Stuff - Iggles Blitz
The Steelers play a lot of small-ball. They are last in the league in yards per play. That makes scoring points and winning games incredibly challenging. Explosive plays are a key component to success. I wonder if the Steelers will be more aggressive on Sunday or if that is something they’ll work on in the bye week.

What’s it like for Robert Quinn to join an Eagles team with Super Bowl aspirations? Jay Ajayi knows firsthand. - Inquirer
“The Eagles were a one-loss team at the time and what would it have looked like if Jay Ajayi came to that team and all of sudden everything fell apart? It would have been insane.”The Eagles didn’t splinter after Ajayi’s trade deadline arrival. In fact, they grew only stronger. But his integration process wouldn’t have been as seamless had Blount not been accommodating. Five years later, the undefeated Eagles have similarly added a proficient piece to their machinery. While defensive end Robert Quinn arrives without the controversy that accompanied Ajayi, he joins a position group that is accomplished, and a team bound for the postseason.The day after Wednesday’s trade, the 32-year-old said he was still in a state of shock. He had been traded twice before, but never in midseason. Quinn said his initial objectives were to learn the playbook and the names of his new teammates and coaches, and like Ajayi said, help rather than hinder.

Ranking all 32 starting NFL quarterbacks by pressured passing grade through Week 7 - PFF
1. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers. 72.5 Passing Grade Under Pressure. Pickett’s 81.8% adjusted completion percentage on 26 pressured pass attempts ranks first among all passers. He’s also made only one turnover-worthy play on such throws, forming a turnover-worthy play rate that trails only Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert among starters. [...] 9. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles. 58.2 Passing Grade Under Pressure. Hurts has a bottom-10 average time to throw against pressure (3.69) and has completed 18 of his 46 such passes. His big-time throws trump his turnover-worthy plays, two to one.

Steelers sign kicker Nick Sciba, make several other roster moves prior to Week 8 - Behind The Steel Curtain
Of course, the obvious addition to the roster was the signing of placekicker Nick Sciba. Sciba spent the preseason with the Steelers, and will be called in for duty likely for just Week 8. Sciba was signed to the team’s practice squad, and elevated for the game vs. the Eagles, but he wasn’t the only player promoted to the 53-man roster for the game. Joining Sciba was defensive tackle Carlos Davis to help fill the void left by Larry Ogunjobi missing the game due to a knee injury.

Breaking down the NFL weather forecast for Week 8, what it means for fantasy football, betting - DraftKings Nation
Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles. The battle of Pennsylvania should be smooth sailing as it comes to weather. No wind, temperatures in the low 60s, and clear skies.

Jason Peters has been a Cowboy since early September and hasn’t started a single game - Blogging The Boys
Peters is not only the bigger player, but given his pedigree, is a better player even at this stage of his career as compared to McGovern. Eventually, well hopefully, the Cowboys see it this way and put Peters in as the starting left guard. This will solidify a known weakness on the roster, and most importantly, it will give franchise quarterback Dak Prescott a better chance of staying healthy the rest of the season. The organization brought Jason Peters in for a reason right? And it wasn’t just for him to sit on the bench. It’s time to put him in the starting lineup and see exactly what he has left in the tank. Hopefully this becomes a reality in the near future.

Brandin Cooks rumors: New York Giants a potential trade suitor? - Big Blue View
With the 2022 NFL trade deadline closing in, the New York Giants have been connected to yet another potentially available wide receiver. NFL insider Jordan Schultz is reporting that the Giants are one of several teams that have contacted the Houston Texans about the potential availability of Cooks, a talented 29-year-old wide receiver who has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in six of his eight NFL seasons. Schultz names the Giants, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers as team interested in at least finding out the Texans’ price tag for Cooks. The Texans are 1-4-1 and building for the future. The Giants, of course, are a surprising 6-1, just traded the always-injured and unproductive Kadarius Toney to the Kansas City Chiefs, and without a single receiver who has amassed 200 receiving yards this season could use an upgrade.

Washington Commanders vs. Indianapolis Colts Preview: 3 Matchups to Watch - Hogs Haven
Matchup #3: Dan Snyder vs. Jim Irsay. This matchup really doesn’t have much bearing on the outcome of this game, but it is certainly a storyline heading into the contest. We mentioned earlier how Irsay and Snyder have went back-and-forth here, but now with their teams going head to head and Dan Snyder having gone to “every game”, I don’t believe we’ll see many pre-game photos of both owners together. Dan Snyder likely feels some pressure from owners and fans calling for him to sell the team, if frequent reports of Snyder having “dirt on the owners” doesn’t tell you that. With Irsay seeming to be on the frontlines of the Snyder removal publicly, it makes sense why this matchup could potentially pour salt into the wound here for whichever team loses. We don’t know what will happen to Dan Snyder as the owner of the Washington Commanders, and we also don’t know who will win this game, but I bet whoever will laugh last will laugh best among these two owners, and hopefully, we can get a shot of those two going at it in the press box somewhere.

Establish the Fun: Bengals cut out the middleman, Grover Stewart quietly dominates for Colts - SB Nation
Folks, we’re almost at the halfway point of the NFL season. I know, crazy right? I’ve been rocking with Establish the Fun for about seven weeks at this point, so I wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who’s read and followed. This is my first weekly column, like EVER, and being able to share a few of the thoughts I have on the NFL as a whole with everyone is really cool. I’m really lucky to have this opportunity, and hopefully everyone will continue to follow along (if not, that’s also fine, I understand). We’re getting spooky this week for Establish the Fun, with a few teams and players getting real scary before the pivotal part of the season kicks in. Teams are starting to find the perfect groove of concepts and plays that put their players in the best situation to succeed, and it’ll be interesting to see how these team trends develop as the season continues on. Let’s start with an offense that might be hitting their stride at the perfect time in the Queen City.

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