Eagles News: Josh Sweat makes list of top 10 NFL edge rushers

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2022 NFL season’s top 10 edge rushers: No. 1 spot goes to Browns’ Myles Garrett over Cowboys’ Micah Parsons - NFL.com
8) Josh Sweat. OVERALL SCORE: 89. Fresh off his first career Pro Bowl selection last season, Sweat has taken his game to a new level yet again in 2022. Sweat has had a knack for the big play, ranking tied for first among all edge players with three turnovers forced by QB pressure this season (and trailing only teammate Javon Hargrave’s four among players at all positions). Sweat’s impact in the run game has been strong as well, posting a run stuff on five percent of his run defense snaps this season (first among edge players, min. 150 such snaps). As longtime franchise cornerstones Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox get deeper into their careers, Sweat has stepped up to help the Eagles’ pass rush remain elite during an 11-1 start.

In Roob’s observations: Hurts’ remarkable progress vs. blitz - NBCSP
3. One of the Eagles’ most improved areas from last year is pass pressure. The Eagles recorded just 29 sacks all last year – matching their fewest since sacks became an official stat in 1982 and second-fewest in the league. They had that beat this year by Week 9. They’re now up to 42 sacks, second-most in the league behind the Cowboys (48). Last time the Eagles had more sacks through 12 weeks was 1991, and you know what kind of defense that was. The Eagles are on pace for 59 sacks, which would be their most since 1989. Over the last six games, they have an NFL-best 25 sacks. What makes the Eagles so dangerous is that so many different guys are generating pressure. Haason Reddick (9.0 sacks) and Javon Hargrave (8.0) lead the way, but Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham each have at least five sacks, and the Eagles have never had five guys with six sacks. This team has improved in a lot of ways, but going from second-worst to second-best in sacks is one of the biggest.

What They’re Saying About The Eagles: 35-10nessee Edition - BGN
In spite of the best efforts of the refs to slow the pace of the game to a crawl the Eagles embarrassed the Titans to the tune of 35-10. This includes two touchdowns from the aforementioned AJ Brown (one of which includes him trucking through his defender), another bomb of a pass to Smitty, a Sanders TD, and a Hurts rushing TD. At no point in the game did it feel like the Titans ever really had a chance, and it felt good to watch. I’m going to keep intro brief because it is the holidays and I am sitting next to a pile of gifts that unfortunately are not going to wrap themselves. I still have a few things to say without context: AJ Brown is a scary man. Hurts is MVP. I have a deep hatred for the color yellow after this game. Go Birds.

Above the Nest with Raichele #68: Nick Sirianni on OBJ to Philly rumors, Giants players to watch on Sunday + Injury Reports - BGN Radio
Raichele Privette runs through the Eagles roster moves from this week, both team’s injury reports and Giants players to watch on Sunday.

Mailbag: Ranking the Eagles’ remaining games from easiest to most difficult - PhillyVoice
Anyway, the Eagles have to lose at least two games the rest of this season to be overtaken either in the NFC East or for the 1 seed. They are in an absolutely fantastic position to earn a first round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, and it would take a major upset to derail that. [...] They are 17-point favorites today against the Texans, and they’ll be heavy favorites next weekend in Jacksonville. They will also be favored in Tennessee and in Washington, but those two games are harder than anything else the Eagles have left on their schedule. Can the Cowboys run the table? Sure, but they’d have to win those four games, plus a game over a team that is better than them in the Eagles. And even if they do all of that, they still might only be the 5 seed.

Game Preview – PHI at NYG - Iggles Blitz
It feels like Gannon ought to use last week’s gameplan this week as well. Load the box, shut down Barkley and force the QB to beat you. Ryan Tannehill couldn’t get that done. I doubt Daniel Jones would either. There is one X-factor and that is Jones ability to run. Tannehill burned the Eagles last week with scrambles. Jones is faster and more elusive than him so Gannon does need to account for that. Pass rushers can’t get too deep. They need to be smart with how they go after Jones. The Giants OL is improved, but still erratic. Jones has been sacked 37 times this year. Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal give them a pair of solid young OTs, but the overall line needs work. The Eagles should be able to get pressure on Jones. This is a game the Eagles should win. But crazy things do happen in division games and especially at the Meadowlands (new or old). Last year Hurts was 14 of 31 with 3 INTs. There were some bad drops, but also some bad decisions and bad throws. Hurts is a much improved player this year so I don’t see anything like that performance.

Jalen Hurts’ biggest Week 14 challenge: dealing with the Giants’ blitz - Jakib Sports
Like every quarterback who’s ever played, Jalen Hurts throws the ball better when he doesn’t have a rabid pass-rusher in his face. The MVP candidate has completed 76.1% of his passes this season when he hasn’t been under duress, but only 43.8% when the heat’s been on him. While he’s fifth in the league in overall completion percentage (68.1), his completion percentage under pressure is the third lowest in the league, better than only the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (40.9) and the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray (40.5). The good news is the Eagles’ outstanding offensive line, along with Hurts’ quick decision-making, has helped keep the under-pressure situations to a minimum. The Eagles quarterback has been under duress on just 31.8% of his dropbacks this season. According to Pro Football Focus, only six other QBs – Jimmy Garoppolo (29.3), Kenny Pickett (30.3), Dak Prescott (30.7), Jared Goff (31.3), Mac Jones (31.5) and Matthew Stafford (31.7) — have been under pressure less often.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense has perfected the illusion of simplicity - TouchdownWire
But what was really interesting? How often they ran the ball out of that lighter package. The Eagles ran the ball 36 times out of 11 personnel against the Packers for 252 yards, 131 yards after contact, and two of their three rushing touchdowns. Hurts ran 15 times out of 11 for 116 yards, which made him the NFL’s most productive runner out of 11, regardless of position. Then, in Week 13 against a Tennessee Titans defense that ranked first in run defense DVOA through Week 12, the Eagles completely flipped the script. But they did so almost entirely out 11 personnel. 34 of Hurts’ 39 passing attempts, 27 of his 29 completions, and all three of his passing touchdowns came out of 11. Hurts won NFC Offensive Player of the Week after each of those games. So, whatever you have to offer on defense, the Eagles have ways to nuke it, and it’s going to look very similar before the snap. This speaks to modern offensive trends, and it’s a huge problem for the defenses that have to deal with it.

Will Eagles extend Jalen Hurts between end of regular season and first playoff game? - PFT
Although the contract can’t be signed until after the regular season ends, it can be negotiated in the weeks leading up to it. Or the Eagles could just broach the topic the day after the regular season ends, knowing that they have some time before it’s time to focus on their divisional-round game. The chances of it happening fall squarely on the “not likely” side of 50/50. But someone has to be the first to cash in with a major contract that the player has earned at a time when the injury risk of the looming postseason can be shifted to the team. While, on one hand, negotiations that don’t end in a contract can become a distraction, getting the contract done would remove any chance of the player being concerned that an injury during the playoffs will derail his offseason effort to get the contract he deserves.

Spadaro: 6 storylines to follow vs. Giants - PE.com
1. Will Eagles attack with the running game? We’ve certainly seen in these last two seasons that it doesn’t matter what a defense’s run-game numbers say, the Eagles are still going to run the football. In this matchup, the Giants enter allowing 5.1 yards per carry and 141 yards rushing per game. The Eagles have been outstanding running the football, as we all know, ranking fifth in the NFL with 154 ground yards per game and the Eagles lead the NFL with 23 rushing touchdowns. Is it logical to think the Eagles will tilt toward the ground game, given everything including a weather forecast that includes the dreaded term “wintry mix”? The great thing about this Eagles’ offense is that nobody really knows going in, because the Eagles can adjust quickly to what the defense is giving. One note to consider through all of this: New York has recovered 11 fumbles this season, tied for most in the NFL this season and the Giants have allowed a 35 percent conversion rate on third down, sixth-best in the NFL. Ball security is huge and moving the sticks is very important against a defense that hangs in every week.

2023 NFL draft QB Hot Board: Ranking top 17 quarterbacks, risers - ESPN+
6. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA. Thompson-Robinson played like a completely different player this season, in better control of Chip Kelly’s offense. The biggest difference? He played within the scheme and didn’t try to do too much. DTR often found himself playing hero ball in the past, but he operated one of the most efficient attacks in the country. In 12 starts this season, he totaled 2,883 passing yards, 25 touchdown throws and seven interceptions. The ball comes off the senior signal-caller’s hand with purpose behind it, and Thompson-Robinson was a much more accurate thrower this season — his completion percentage jumped from 62.2% to 69.8% since last year. Thompson-Robinson also showcased his dual-threat ability this season, with 631 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. He adds another dimension to a team’s offense with his ability to scramble and pick up first downs on designed QB runs. Potential team fit: Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles’ diverse run game and play-action concepts heavily involving their tight ends fits with Thompson-Robinson. Jalen Hurts appears to be the answer moving forward, but with Gardner Minshew becoming a free agent after the season, the franchise could look to draft a developmental player here.

Big Blue View mailbag: Quarterback stuff, NYG offense, and a punting question - Big Blue View
However, the Giants got to 7-4-1 doesn’t really matter. Few people gave them a legitimate chance to be a true playoff contender with five games left in the season. They are not a perfect team — far from it. We know that. We knew that at the start of the year — they have a lot of work to do to build the roster. They are playing meaningful December football, and whether they make it to the playoffs or not that’s a step in the right direction. Giants fans should be happy, and excited, about being in the hunt.

NFC East roundup: Could this week be the end for the Giants’ playoff hopes? - Blogging The Boys
What will the Eagles gain from winning this game? I feel the same about this matchup as the Cowboys game against the Texans. This game allows both teams to clean up their problems, but they need to leave healthy. There is no reason starters should be in the game if Philadelphia is up 34-7 entering the fourth quarter. That is the final score prediction as the Eagles keep stacking wins.

The 5 O’Clock Club: So, what are your thoughts about rookie QB Sam Howell? - Hogs Haven
What I mean to say is that the Washington coaches have, for the past several weeks, been “getting Sam Howell ready” to be the backup, just like the SF coaches were doing with Purdy. The only difference is that the Niners’ starter got injured, while the Commanders’ starter didn’t. Nevertheless, there are a lot of Washington fans making a lot of noise about why Washington coaches don’t have Sam Howell ready to play. That noise actually intensified when 5th year QB Baker Mayfield led the Rams to victory on Thursday night, just about 48 hours after arriving at the Rams facility.

Sacramento State and Incarnate Word played college football’s game of the year at 2 am - SB Nation
This game truly had everything and more, and now Incarnate Word and head coach GJ Kinne (who will become Texas State’s HC at the end of the playoff run) head to the Fargodome to play North Dakota State, who thumped Samford earlier in the day.

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