The Linc

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

The good vibes are back for the 2024 Eagles – NBCSP
After beating the Commanders on Thursday night, the Eagles gathered in the winning locker room and celebrated together. Nick Sirianni broke down the team, then A.J. Brown presented DeVonta Smith with a birthday cake and the whole team sang — cha-cha-chas included — to the 26-year-old wideout. A bit later, Stevie Wonder played throughout the locker room, a common occurrence during what is now an impressive six-game winning streak since an early bye. The vibes are good again. It’s tough to live and die by vibes or feelings because they’re important but can’t be manufactured. But the best Eagles’ teams of the last decade had that “it factor” — the 2017 and 2022 Super Bowl teams had something special about them. And something special might be brewing again. That’s not to say the 2024 team is going to the Super Bowl. It’s still too early for that. But this team does have that little something special that makes you think it’s very possible.

11 random thoughts on the NFC after NFL Week 11 – BGN
There’s something comforting about watching an entire slate of Sunday NFL games warm in the knowledge that the Eagles took care of business in a huge divisional match-up a few nights before. No stress. No queasiness in the pit of your stomach. An opportunity to watch some of the other teams around the league and see how they compare to the Birds. The Eagles are sitting pretty right now, and when you look around the NFC, it’s obvious they are a cut above everyone else in the conference except for Detroit. After watching much of what went down in Week 11, here are 10 random thoughts on the NFC with seven weeks left in the regular season.

Radio Part 2: Sirianni Island – Go Birds Pod
James Seltzer, Eliot Shorr-Parks and Brandon Lee Gowton discuss Nick Sirianni’s work during the second hour of Saturday’s radio show.

Do NOT overreact to these five NFL developments from Week 11; Saquon Barkley enters MVP race – NFL.com
5) DraftKings odds: +4000. Weeks in top five: 1.

Walt Anderson admits to a couple of Thursday night mistakes – PFT
First, Anderson acknowledged the Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean shouldn’t have been flagged for pass interference after he pulled the jersey of Commanders receiver Noah Brown during the opening drive of the third quarter. Anderson acknowledged that, while the pulling of Brown’s jersey could have been ruled defensive holding before the ball was thrown, it wasn’t a sufficiently significant hindrance to Brown. And thus shouldn’t have been called.

All 52 Jalen Hurts Rushing Touchdowns – PE.com
Whether it’s a designed run, the Brotherly Shove, or off a scramble, Jalen Hurts knows how to find the end zone. Relive all 52 career rushing touchdowns for QB1.

Will Rams workout free agent kickers this week? – Turf Show Times
Josh Karty is ice cold. The Rams rookie kicker can’t buy a bucket lately and his 26-yard miss in Sunday’s win over the New England Patriots — a game closer than it should have been — was his fourth miss in the last seven games. The Rams have to consider other options this week, even if it just means having someone on speed dial, less they risk falling out of the NFC playoff race because of a missed field goal or extra point. The rookie Karty has missed kicks from 43, 35, 57, and 26 in the last seven games, as well as two extra points.

Judging biggest overreactions for NFL Week 11 games – ESPN+
Matthew Stafford is playing really well in his 16th seasonStafford and the Rams flew across the country to play an early-window Sunday game the week after playing on Monday night, and they rolled over a Patriots defense that people keep insisting to me is better than we all think. Stafford was 18-for-27 for 297 yards and four touchdown passes, his second game this season with four TD throws. He was also 7-of-11 for 177 yards and three touchdowns on passes of at least 10 air yards. The Rams have won four of their past five after a 1-4 start and are right in the mix in the four-team NFC West race. Having weathered the portion of the season in which top receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua (and basically the entire offensive line) were out with injuries, Stafford and the Rams look primed for another second-half run and perhaps another surprise postseason appearance.

Daily Slop – 18 Nov 24: Injured, struggling & traveling on a short week, Cowboys may offer a ‘get right’ opportunity for post-TNF Commanders – Hogs Haven
A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders

Cowboys mailbag: Players Dallas could possibly trade in the offseason for draft picks – Blogging The Boys
If it comes down to trading talent for draft picks to rebuild. Which 2 or 3 players do you trade? […] Mike: You have to look at who’s underperforming this season and has some value. Terence Steele is the first guy on that list, the issue is his $16 million average a year salary, that could be a hard sell. Donovan Wilson could be an interesting trade. To get something for him knowing Dallas has depth at the position would be a good move. Deuce Vaughn is a name we’ve heard very little. He may not offer a great amount in trade value but he could help Dallas move up a few picks in later rounds to get a better player. People want to trade Micah Parsons and ok, I get the premise and feelings here. But Parsons is wildly productive at one of the most important positions to fill. He comes back after missing weeks with injury and shows off those skills sacking Jalen Hurts twice and causing a fumble. You cannot give that away.

Daniel Jones era is over — New York Giants are benching the quarterback – Big Blue View
The move to bench Jones was pretty widely expected over the bye week. Not only is Jones coming off of a poor performance against the Carolina Panthers, but he had already been benched for the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The bye week following the trip to Munich is a natural break point to make such a significant change. In a recent survey, 57% of the Big Blue View community responded that they want to see Tommy DeVito retake the reins of the Giants’ offense, and it seems they will get their wish.

Jaguars vs Lions: Winners and losers from Week 11 – Big Cat Country
Trent Baalke. This fanbase wore clown noses to poke fun at how bad Trent Baalke is at being an NFL general manager. It will be the fans who will have the last laugh as by the end of this football season Baalke should be out of a job once more. In his 10 years in the NFL, Baalke has had just six winning seasons and four of those came with Jim Harbaugh. He has just one playoff appearance in his last six years and that playoff run in 2022 was more of a miracle than anything. This guy does not have the stuff to cut in the league and should not be allowed to ruin this team any further.

The Pittsburgh Steelers can keep getting away with it – SB Nation
We all know the formula for every Pittsburgh Steelers game. The offense looks a hair above incompetent for 50 minutes, being reliant on George Pickens’ wild catches or superhuman plays by Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. The defense looks incredible (sans a few blips), but the quarterback play is just barely above average. Kicker Chris Boswell looks like the most impressive offensive player. And yet, they keep winning games. I’m convinced the Steelers put a magical barrier on the end zone, for both sides of the ball. They force opponents into playing their style of football, a rough and tumble rock fight that is more akin to the Battle of Verdun than it is a football game (the Battle of Verdun is known as the longest battle in modern history, for the non-history heads). The Steelers just force teams to play into their hands, and just drown you in it. Against a Baltimore Ravens’ offense that was largely considered one of the best offenses in football, Pittsburgh put them in a sieve, holding them to a -0.13 EPA per play, 40% Success Rate and forced three turnovers (Pittsburgh had a -0.27 EPA per play and 32% Success Rate, but hit all of their field goals and didn’t turn the ball over twice). They do this to everyone, but the fact that they could do this to a version of the Ravens offense and QB Lamar Jackson that we haven’t seen before is incredibly impressive.