Eagles News: Philadelphia is the new No. 1 NFL team ranked by DVOA

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Eagles Fly to Top of DVOA Mountain - Football Outsiders
The undefeated Philadelphia Eagles finally fly to the top of the DVOA mountain this week, passing the Buffalo Bills to reign as our new No. 1 team. Both Philadelphia and Buffalo dropped in DVOA — the Eagles after a moderate win against a bad Texans team, and the Bills after a close loss to a good Jets team — but the Bills dropped more than the Eagles so they relinquish the top spot which they had held since Week 1. The Eagles are at 32.4%, which isn’t particularly high for the No. 1 team at midseason, but they are not “frauds” boosted by an easy schedule. They are No. 1 despite the adjustments for that No. 29 schedule. Without the opponent adjustments, the Eagles would be over 40%. The Eagles come in about middle of the pack in the history of 8-0 teams, ranking 14th out of 24 teams that started 8-0 since 1981. Scroll down or click here for a list of all of those teams and where the Eagles come in.

Eagles All-22 Film Review: Takeaways from the win over the Texans - BGN
This was another excellent Jalen Hurts game. His improvement as a pocket pass this year has been phenomenal. In particular, his ability to throw the ball under pressure with defenders in his face was highlighted in this game and that’s not something he’s done well previously. Every week it feels like he is ticking off another box and all Eagles fans should be extremely excited about what they are watching. Let’s start with this play because I think Hurts does something really well here that I haven’t seen him do a lot. The Eagles are running a double curl with a flat route from Sanders. If you watch the linebacker closest to Jack Stoll (who catches the ball) he moves toward Sanders in the flat as Hurts opens up his body as if he is going to throw it to the flat and looks at Sanders. This play shows Hurts going through his reads, resetting his feet, and using his body/eyes to manipulate zone defenders. This is the kind of play that gets me excited because we know Hurts can do incredible things but this is the kind of high-level quarterback play we haven’t seen before this season.

NFC East Mixtape Vol.83: A weird week in the division - BGN Radio
Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) and RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) discuss the biggest storylines in the division.

Commanders at Eagles: Five matchups to watch - PhillyVoice
The Commanders have started four different centers, three different right guards, and two different right tackles. They have had a total of seven different offensive line combinations in nine games. The only lineman who has been consistently good for Washington so far this season has been LT Charles Leno. In the Eagles’ first matchup against Washington, Andrew Norwell really struggled against Javon Hargrave, who oh by the way is red hot, with 5 sacks in the last 2 games.

Game Review – PHI 29, HOU 17 - Iggles Blitz
Jonathan Gannon was more passive than I would have preferred. Houston is a running team, but the Eagles still played two high safeties on a regular basis. I get that on third downs, but not early down situations. Load the box. Play bullyball and make them beat you through the air. The Eagles plan worked (limiting points and coming up with takeaways), but it just feels like there are times to be more aggressive and develop a bit of a killer instinct.

Roob’s observations: Do Eagles need to get Smith going again? - NBCSP
1. It’s been surprising to see the disparity that’s developed between A.J. Brown’s production and DeVonta Smith’s. You can’t blame Hurts for throwing to Brown as much as he has, but Smith has really taken a back seat the past several weeks. The last five games, Brown has 23 catches, 418 yards and five touchdowns and Smith has 25 catches but for only 193 yards and one TD and a long gainer of just 22 yards. That’s 38 yards per game since Week 4 after averaging 83 per game the first three weeks. During these last five games, Brown is averaging 10.8 yards per target and Smith just 6.4. When the season began, I expected to see their production about even, with Brown holding a slight edge. But Brown has just been so dang good and there’s no reason to change anything. Just surprising. Smith is really talented, and I expect to see some more huge games from him in the second half of the season. I know one thing. If defenses allocate too many resources to slowing down Brown, Smith will make them pay.

Spadaro: What do the numbers say about the Eagles’ defense? - PE.com
Statistics don’t tell the whole story, but they can provide a very telling snapshot. So how does this snapshot of the Eagles’ defense look nine weeks into this 2022 regular season? 1. The Eagles are 1st (most) in the NFL in takeaways (18) and 1st (lowest) in opposing quarterback rating (68.0). 2. This defense is 2nd (fewest) in the league in passing yards per game (177.6). 3. Philadelphia has allowed the 3rd-fewest total yards per game (299), which by that metric means the Eagles have the third-ranked D in the NFL. 4. The Eagles have allowed the 4th-fewest points per game (16.9 ppg) among the 32 teams. 5. With 26 quarterback sacks, the Eagles rank tied for 5th-most in the league. 6. Opposing teams have converted 37.9 percent of their third downs against the Eagles, ranking Philadelphia 12th in the NFL in that category Impressive, right? When Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon met the media on Tuesday for his weekly press conference, he answered four questions about his run defense/tackling/Jordan Davis’ absence before a new topic, Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke, was broached. Gannon spoke briefly as he opened up the media session with a recap of last week’s win in Houston and then, eventually, moved on to the Commanders and the Monday night NFC East game at Lincoln Financial Field.

Predicting the 2022 NFL MVP: Josh Allen’s slip-up opens the door for Patrick Mahomes - PFF
QB Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles. On the one hand, Allen’s injury could help Hurts’ MVP chances: If Allen can’t continue to play at an MVP level, Hurts only has to beat out Mahomes for the award. And with two more Chiefs losses, possibly combined with mediocre or bad performances from Mahomes, the Eagles QB could be in luck. On the other hand, Allen’s potential fall from the race would hurt Hurts in the sense that it should help Mahomes more. Here is how to think about it: The MVP votes may be split into two groups: Those who would give more weight to Hurts’ team success and those who would give more weight to Mahomes’ and Allen’s individual statistics. As long as Mahomes and Allen are close and split votes between the latter group, Hurts can win the MVP even if the former group is smaller. If Allen falls out of the race due to injury, Hurts is less likely to win the MVP as long as Mahomes stats are better.

Offensive Player Rankings, Week 10: Patrick Mahomes No. 1 at midseason - NFL.com
3) Jalen Hurts. Last week, Hurts played in his hometown of Houston for the first time since high school and he left with a predictable win. The MVP candidate had his fifth game this season with a 100-plus passer rating (one shy of his 2021 total) to help the Eagles reach 8-0 for the first time in franchise history. He did, however, have his third giveaway of the season on a second-quarter fumble, but his ability to bounce back from a turnover shows how Hurts has improved in 2022.

What are the odds Odell Beckham Jr. returns to the Giants? - Big Blue View
With an already heated division rivalry established, most Giants fans would revolt at the idea of Odell Beckham Jr joining the Dallas Cowboys who are the current betting favorite. Both Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy have been open to the media about their admiration for Odell Beckham Jr. With $8.5 million in cap space according to Spotrac, Dallas has the ability to give the type of contract Beckham might be looking for. The New York Giants coming in at third is intriguing from a roster-building standpoint. GM Joe Schoen has been adamant regardless of team success that this is still the first year of a rebuild. Odell Beckham Jr is 30 years old with a history of injuries and recently told Complex Sports that he is looking for a three- to a four-year deal. With these factors at play, as well as the glaring need for a wide receiver, it will be interesting to see how aggressive Schoen gets here.

NFL insider: Cowboys have leaned into Odell Beckham Jr. rumors as opposed to quieting them - Blogging The Boys
It is certainly possible that the Cowboys are just being nice, kind, political, whatever you want to call it, and that they are no more than the standard level of interested in Beckham joining their roster. It is not uncommon for Jerry Jones to stir the pot a bit on something like this, but it feels significant (using that word loosely) that McCarthy tossed some kindling on the flame. Most reports suggest that Beckham will be ready around December which means we are still a bit away from something potentially happening. This hasn’t stopped fans from letting the idea swirl in their minds, and that also goes for Micah Parsons who has done his best to recruit Odell on social media.

Cameron Dicker named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week - Bolts From The Blue
The Chargers have earned two weekly NFL honors so far this season and both have come via the kickers following games where they converted on game-winning field goals. After Dustin Hopkins elevated the Chargers over the Broncos — all through a very painful hamstring injury — he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week and rightfully so. In week nine, Cameron Dicker was just days removed from being out of the NFL with plans to attend a Carrie Underwood concert that night. A surprise call from Brandon Staley changed those plans immediately and the former University of Texas kicker was back on a roster in the blink of an eye. Dicker got the start against Atlanta after backup kicker Taylor Bertolet sustained an injury in practice. And just like that, the rookie was faced with another game-winning opportunity.

Frank Reich: ‘I gave my heart and soul to the job’ - CBS 4 Indy
So, now what? After spending quality time with the kids and grandkids, that is. Reich already has sought the counsel of a few long-time NFL colleagues. “The two people I spoke with advised me to ‘Take two, three weeks, go see the kids and grandkids, just decompress with Linda and relax,’’’ he said. “I’ll take a couple of weeks and decompress and take notes about what I’d do differently. You know, ‘What did I learn? What can I do better.’’’ That’s because Reich, 60, loves the NFL too much for Indy to be his final job. “I think you keep all your options open,’’ he said. “Obviously my desire is to be a head coach. I love the game. I love everything about the game, so you keep all of your options open.’’

Ranking the dumbest things said at the Colts’ Jeff Saturday press conference - SB Nation
Jeff Saturday was introduced as the interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in wake of Frank Reich being fired and ... hoo boy that press conference was something. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it was something. When you have beat writers for the franchise sending tweets like this, you know it was a doozy.

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