The Linc

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

NFL Week 4 Under Review: The Lions Offense Is Cooking – The Ringer
The 2024 Eagles look a lot like the 2023 Eagles. It’s becoming harder and harder to find Eagles fans who still have high hopes for this season. A playoff team? Maybe. But a Super Bowl contender? There aren’t many signs to indicate this team has that kind of ceiling. The Eagles are 2-2 going into their bye, and they’re expecting to get key offensive players such as A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Lane Johnson back from injury. Still, the prevailing feeling in Philadelphia is that this season probably won’t be a whole lot of fun. In many ways, even though the pieces are different, it feels like a continuation of last year. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie opted for an unconventional approach in the offseason. He decided to retain head coach Nick Sirianni but stripped him of his responsibilities and assigned him new coordinators—Kellen Moore on offense and Vic Fangio on defense. Sirianni has been tasked with being a CEO-type head coach—someone who oversees the entire operation, focuses on culture and preparation, and handles game management. Well, the game management has been an issue, and the team that took the field against the Bucs on Sunday did not look ready to play. Tampa jumped out to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back. The slow starts on offense aren’t new. The Eagles are the only NFL team that has failed to score a single point in the first quarter this season. On four opening drives, the Eagles have totaled one first down and 17 yards.

In Roob’s Bonus Observations: Why do the Eagles get blown out so much? – NBCSP
1. One of the most concerning things for me is the number of recent games in which the Eagles were simply non-competitive. It’s one thing to lose on a last-second field goal or a big play in the closing minutes or by a point or two after a tight battle. No loss is a good loss. But it’s these games where the Eagles are simply not ready to play and get clobbered early and are never even in it that are becoming more and more common. They’ve now lost five games by 17 or more points in their last 11 games – 49ers, Cowboys, Giants and Bucs late last year and the Bucs again on Sunday. Those are all games they just haven’t been ready at kickoff. Games where it was more about not being ready mentally than physically. They haven’t scored a 1st-quarter touchdown in their last six games, getting outscored 36-0. They’ve led only four of their last 13 games at halftime (and lost three of them). They’ve now gone 15 straight games without winning a game by two possessions – the first time that’s happened under the same head coach since 1969 and 1970 under Jerry Williams. Every team is going to have a dud here and there, a game they’re just never in it. But five blowouts in an 11-game span? Last time that happened to the Eagles was 1998, a season where they went 3-13 and were the laughing stock of the NFL. Everybody in the organization plays a role in that, but ultimately it’s a reflection of the head coach and his inability to have his team prepared to play football on a consistent basis.

Eagles vs. Buccaneers: 3 winners, 10 losers, 4 IDKs – BGN
Where is the evidence of a well-coached team? The Eagles consistently don’t look ready to play. They’re the only NFL team that hasn’t scored in the first quarter this season. Dating back to last season, they’ve gone six straight games without first quarter points. The Bucs scored 24 points (would’ve been 28 if not for a dropped touchdown) and moved the ball 271 yards while the Eagles had run just nine plays that resulted in NEGATIVE FIVE yards. The extent of Sirianni’s say in “Kellen Moore’s offense” isn’t perfectly clear … but one would think he plays a part in approving the opening game script. And those approaches have clearly stunk.

Identity – Iggles Blitz
Sirianni talks about how he wants a team that focuses on details. He wants a tough, smart, physical team. He preaches fundamentals. The team we have watched for the past month doesn’t match that description. They miss tackles. They don’t know the rules (Isaiah Rodgers). They don’t play smart. Think about Darius Slay giving up the TD at the end of the Atlanta game. They aren’t physical enough. Watch Grant Calcaterra try to block. Or the DBs try to tackle. Does Sirianni see this? He doesn’t acknowledge it to the media, but that’s the way he does things. I do wonder if he’s as frustrated by this team as those of us on the outside are. The problems of 2023 were supposed to go away with coaching and personnel changes. Unfortunately, too many of them still remain. That makes me question if Sirianni’s message is really getting through. Sirianni was famously patient in 2021 and that turned out to be the right approach. That team came together at midseason and went on a hot streak. This team is more talented and is in a different situation, but it should be pointed out that there is still plenty of time for this team to live up to expectations. I wouldn’t bet a lot of money on it right now. I also wouldn’t have bet on the Eagles melting down the way they did last year or them losing a playoff game to Tampa, who was 4-7 at one point.

The Monday Morning Mashup, NFL Week 4: Baltimore Beats Buffalo, Washington Can Win the NFC East, and Minnesota Stays Undefeated – Sumer Sports
After I took a victory lap with Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense halting the Saints last week, the Buccaneers walloped the birds. Baker Mayfield was able to make every pass he wanted to and had the second fastest average time to throw of his career. That low time to throw froze an already struggling pass rush and is another sign that this Eagles secondary is in trouble, particularly in the slot. The Eagles defense tallied up more missed tackles and frustrating plays as they head into a much-needed bye week at 2-2. Without the ability to rush the passer or cover receivers for long enough to create issues, my Fangio victory lap was short-lived, much like the Eagles total time of possession on offense. I am less than excited to watch back the Eagles offensive film from this week. It is a tough evaluation as stars Lane Johnson, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith were all out on Sunday. Still, the Buccaneers generated pressure on almost half of Jalen Hurts dropbacks including a disheartening strip sack and an all too familiar negative feeling for a team trying to avoid the same fate as last season.

Spadaro: We have a long, long way to go in the 2024 season – PE.com
1. Slow start for defense … and it continued. Tampa Bay’s game plan was obvious from the very start: The Bucs drove 79 yards on 10 plays to score a first-drive touchdown and quarterback Baker Mayfield led the way with 8 completions in 9 attempts for 62 yards and he got the ball out so fast the Eagles just couldn’t react to the three-step drops and short passing game that Mayfield executed so perfectly. The Eagles couldn’t generate a pass rush, gave up four first downs, and were unable to stop the Bucs on two third downs. Missed tackles hurt the Eagles early and, unfortunately, continued throughout the game. Then Tampa Bay drove 80 yards on 5 plays on its next possession and Mayfield completed all four of his passes for 76 yards and just like that it was 14-0. Mayfield completed 13 of his first 14 passes for 144 yards. After such a terrific outing in New Orleans, the Eagles allowed Tampa Bay to gain 445 total net yards and 29 first downs and possess the football for 36 minutes, 19 seconds.

Vote for Jayden Daniels as NFL Rookie of the Week for his commanding performance vs Arizona Cardinals – Hogs Haven
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has played four NFL regular season games and he’s been nominated for each one as the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week, winning the award in Weeks 1 & 3 for his play against the Buccaneers and Bengals on the road. This week, he has been nominated for his outstanding play in Arizona against the NFC West Cardinals.

Questions raised from the Cowboys’ win over the Giants – Blogging The Boys
Does the defense have a prayer after injuries? If things weren’t bad enough for Dallas defensively, Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence are now going to miss at least a couple of games and Tank will probably be out longer. With defensive end already thin after Sam Williams’ injury and nobody having emerged yet from the bench, how much more are the Cowboys going to struggle to stop anyone? More snaps for Marshawn Kneeland may not be a bad thing, but the real fear is the pass rush. While Kneeland and Chauncey Golston could be sufficient on run defense, neither of them is going to come close to filling the pass-rushing void. Veteran Carl Lawson can hardly be counted on for anything at this point, either. Mike Zimmer is now forced to get trickier with his linebackers and defensive backs to help supplement the losses. But after watching them struggle to do the basics against New Orleans and Baltimore, the idea of relying even more on those players is unsettling. And while Zimmer used to be known for creativity in his calls, so far things have looked old-school and vanilla since his return to Dallas.

Is the Giants offensive line really better than last season? – Big Blue View
The Giants have a better situation on the offesnvie line than in 2023. If they didn’t, it would be a disaster. However, the unit still leaves some to be desired. Singletary hasn’t had much room to operate; he ranks 20th in yards after contact (3.23) and second in the league with 20 missed tackles forced. Only Jordan Mason of the 49ers has more forced missed tackles. Pro Football Focus also gave Singletary the sixth-highest Elusive rating (a stat measuring the success and impact of a runner with the ball independently of the blocking). Singeltary has solid individual statistics but only averages 3.9 yards per carry. The offesnvie line has to do a better job opening up holes, sustaining blocks, and locating the penetrating second-level defenders. The run blocking is better than the 2023 season, but only marginally, and I expect it to improve slightly. The pass blocking is much better, but could still improve.

Scouting Jets defensive back Jalen Mills – Gang Green Nation
Mills still made good contributions for the Patriots last season and likely would have made the Giants’ roster had he not been injured, so the Jets will feel pretty good about him still having something left in the tank if they need to call on him. With his ability to fill in virtually anywhere in the secondary, he would be an ideal emergency elevation from the practice squad in the event of a short-term injury but also could be called up to the main roster if more serious injury issues arise.

NFL mock draft 2025: Colorado stars go 1-2 in our updated first round projection – SB Nation
It’s time for our first 2025 NFL mock draft, and let’s just say it’s a little topsy turvy. The Vikings are WHERE? The 49ers are WHERE? The Bengals are HOW HIGH? Five weeks into the college football season, some early observations on this class are starting to come into focus. This is a defense-heavy class: 19 of the top 32 picks in this early mock draft were on the defensive side of the ball, and it could be even more by the time the second mock rolls around. This defensive class is special, with super fun prospects leading the pack at corner, defensive tackle and EDGE. When we get to my midseason big board, I’m sure most of the top guys will be from that side of the ball. Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Michigan’s Will Johnson are stars at corner, Michigan DT Mason Graham and Kentucky DT Deone Walker and battle to be the first tackle picked, and the deep race at EDGE, there’s so many cool things to go and watch for on the defensive side of the ball.