The Linc

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Zack Baun wore Bill Bergey’s medallion during Super Bowl run – PFT
Eagles linebacker Zack Baun, who went from free agent to All-Pro in his first year in Philly, played in the postseason while honoring one of the franchise’s all-time greats. Baun told reporters on Thursday that he wore a medallion belonging to former Eagles linebacker Bill Bergey during the postseason. Bergey, who spent seven seasons in Philadelphia, died on Christmas Day at the age of 79. G.M. Howie Roseman, as Baun explained it, asked Bergey’s family for something that would be worn by a player in his honor. Roseman then came to a linebackers meeting, told the story about the medallion, and offered it to Baun. “Absolutely honored,” Baun said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com. “To be representing his family, his legacy that way. It’s really cool.”

Ranking the 10 greatest moments from the Eagles dominating playoff run – BGN
5. Jalen Carter Calls Game Against Rams. The Rams came really, really close to pulling off a shocking comeback in the divisional round. It was way too close for comfort. After Barkley seemingly iced the game with a long touchdown run (we’ll get to that in a moment), Matthew Stafford led the Rams on a lightning-quick TD drive that made it 28-22 with 2:48 left. After an Eagles 3-and-out, Los Angeles got the ball back and was driving for the go-ahead score, with the ball at the PHI14 and 1:14 left on the clock. With the defense suddenly reeling and facing a 3rd-and-2, Carter made an unbelievable move and beat the center for an unobstructed path to Stafford, burying him for a nine-yard loss. Stafford’s 4th-and-11 pass sailed high and wide and the Eagles were on to the NFC Championship Game. Had Carter not delivered that sack, it might have been the Rams facing the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.

Why your team won, lost: Super Bowl 59 – PFF
Philadelphia Eagles 40, Kansas City Chiefs 22. WHY THE EAGLES WON. A strong Jalen Hurts performance: It wasn’t a Super Bowl performance for the ages, but Jalen Hurts did just about everything he needed to in the win. He completed 17 of 22 pass attempts for 221 yards and two touchdown passes against one interception, adding 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Hurts knew when to pull the trigger and target his guys downfield, accounted for four big-time throws, knew when to dump the ball off and knew when to take off. He was aided by stellar protection on his way to an 86.7 PFF overall grade.

Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Breaking down 8 potential candidates – PHLY
Nate Scheelhaase, Los Angeles Rams offensive assistant/passing game specialist. The Eagles quietly interviewed Scheelhaase for the offensive coordinator job two years ago when he was an Iowa State assistant. A former starting quarterback at Illinois, the 34-year-old Scheelhaase was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Cyclones in 2023 before joining Sean McVay with the Rams last year. Scheelhaase had some offensive coordinator buzz this offseason before electing to stay with the Rams. A chance to call plays in Philadelphia is a different story. He called plays for one year at Iowa State and worked closely with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, who was Sirianni’s college roommate at Mount Union. Iowa State had a strong passing game in Scheelhaase’s one season calling plays and his time with McVay is favorable on his resume. If the Eagles look out of the house, pay attention to this name.

10 unheralded people who had huge roles in Eagles’ championship – NBCSP
Connor Barwin / Matt Leo. Barwin, a one-time Eagles Pro Bowler, and Leo, a one-time Eagles practice squadder, are the key figures in Sirianni’s developmental program, which gives the young backups who don’t get practice reps – practice squad members and deep backups – a chance to get some structured, hands-on work after practice. The young players who have grown into bigger roles have all sworn by the developmental program, which gives them valuable supplemental practice time without the starters and rotational guys in the mix.

The Winners and Losers of the Super Bowl – The Ringer
Super Bowl LIX was a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, but it turned into a replay of Super Bowl LV. The Eagles defense essentially recreated the defensive game plan the Buccaneers sprung on Mahomes back in 2021—rushing only four, playing various forms of two-deep zone coverage, and scrambling the star quarterback’s process—in the team’s 40-22 win. Fangio deserves the flowers he’ll undoubtedly receive after coordinating the NFL’s best defense to a Lombardi Trophy, but his game plan wasn’t overly complicated. There were no exotic blitzes or bespoke coverages designed just for Kansas City’s passing game. He had his deeply talented defense just line up and play, and it responded by completely throttling the Chiefs offense in a way we haven’t seen since the team’s last Super Bowl loss. That loss to the Bucs was Mahomes’s worst career performance at the time. He hit a new personal low against Philadelphia on Sunday, averaging negative-0.69 EPA and 4.4 yards per dropback before the game hit TruMedia’s definition of garbage time. His 32 non-garbage-time dropbacks lost 22 EPA, easily the worst performance of his career. He also threw two brutal interceptions, with the second one coming near his own goal line, setting up the touchdown that blew the game open midway through the second quarter.

Three free agents who make sense for the Eagles, version 1.0 – PhillyVoice
Azeez Ojulari, EDGE, Giants (6’3, 240). Ojulari was a Giants second round pick during the Dave Gettleman era. As we have seen in recent years, Joe Schoen has made weak efforts to retain Gettleman picks, like Saquon Barkley, Xavier McKinney, and Julian Love, who have gone on to be much better players with their new teams than they were when they played for the Giants. Ojulari had a frustrating four years with the Giants. He had a promising rookie season when he had 8 sacks, followed by a 2022 season in which he only played in 7 games, but had 5.5 sacks. He had a disappointing 2023 season, when he only played in 11 games and had just 2.5 sacks, perhaps spurring Schoen to trade for Brian Burns. In 2024, Ojulari was behind Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the depth chart, but had 5 sacks in a 3-game span while Thibodeaux was out of the lineup with an injury. Here are some highlights in one of those three games, against the Steelers.

Connected – Iggles Blitz
Was this the best Eagles defense of all time? I know Gang Green was special, but this group may have been even better. That will be an interesting discussion and topic to think about. Watching this defense dominate in the Super Bowl…it is hard to put that into words. At first you thought they might just be getting off to a good start. Then you get into the second quarter and there is still a goose egg on the board. When the Eagles had more points (24) at halftime than the Chiefs had yards (23), you realized this wasn’t a fluke. This was a dream come true.

Eagles CB Isaiah Rodgers memorializes Super Bowl win with tattoo – ESPN
Isaiah Rodgers will live with his first Super Bowl win for the rest of his life — literally. After the Philadelphia Eagles dispatched the Kansas City Chiefs in a 40-22 win in Super Bowl LIX, the cornerback moved to memorialize the moment with body ink on his calf. Rodgers, 27, revealed his new Super Bowl LIX tattoo on social media Wednesday night.

Mekhi Becton, Milton Williams among the Eagles with much to consider in free agency: ‘I’d love to be back’ – Inquirer
“Obviously, I’d love to be back in Philadelphia,” Williams said. “But right now, I’m just trying to enjoy this moment with my teammates. The rest of that is going to take care of itself. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up where I’m supposed to be. I’ll just put that in God’s hands.” Williams said it is going to be “crazy” to experience free agency and see what kind of contract he could command on the open market. But his next contract isn’t exclusively about the money. “Just being in the right situation,” Williams said. “Valuing what I bring to the table. Obviously, a raise. But I want to win. I like this feeling of winning and being on top of the world. So definitely want to try to get in a situation as close to this as possible.”

Attending Friday’s Super Bowl Championship Parade? Here’s what you need to know -PE.com
The City of Philadelphia and the Super Bowl LIX Champion Philadelphia Eagles will hold a celebration on Friday, February 14 beginning at 11 AM. The parade will begin at Lincoln Financial Field and make its way to the iconic steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

Should Doug Nussmeier be on the next Saints coaching staff in 2025? – Canal Street Chronicles
With the head coaching hire complete, the New Orleans Saints should now look to hire their next defensive and offensive coordinators. Doug Nussmeier, the current quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia, appears to be the front-runner for the OC position. A former quarterback himself, Nussmeier was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round of the 1994 NFL draft. After four seasons in New Orleans, he spent the next few years bouncing around the league before joining the CFL’s BC Lions in 2000 and winning the Grey Cup. Similar to how Moore got into coaching, the Lions would ask him to be their QB coach after retirement.

How the Eagles showed the Chiefs what they need at receiver this offseason – Arrowhead Pride
There were a lot of problems with the offense in the Super Bowl. It started up front with the offensive line, which couldn’t protect against a four-man rush. The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t send a single blitz in this game, trusting their front four to dominate the game, and they did exactly that. The Eagles were able to win from all angles. Both tackles were getting pushed back into the pocket constantly. Mike Caliendo struggled with Milton Williams’s speed. Jalen Carter was able to feast on Trey Smith. The Eagles made it impossible for Patrick Mahomes to feel any comfort in the pocket, which eroded his passing mechanics and footwork. However, while watching the game, I knew it couldn’t be just that. There had to be something within the pass coverage that was also offending to sputter. When watching the broadcast film, it can be challenging to know what a defense is doing from a coverage sense, so I went back and watched the All-22 to see what happened from a coverage sense. After watching the tape, I came away with a clear understanding of what the Kansas City Chiefs need to address this offseason at wide receiver. Before we get into that, let’s explain what the Eagles were doing from a coverage perspective.

The 5 O’Clock Club: Commanders 2025 roster review – tight ends – Hogs Haven
Zach Ertz was signed on a one-year contract in 2024. He has said often and with apparent sincerity that he was happy to be in a place where he was wanted and looking to reorient himself after some unpleasant experiences in the latter part of his Arizona tenure. He has also been outspoken about how much he enjoyed the ‘24 season, speaking glowingly of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, head coach Dan Quinn, rookie QB Jayden Daniels and the rest of his teammates, and the organization in general, led by GM Adam Peters. Ertz has already said that he has no interest in retiring, and it seems clear that he would welcome the opportunity to come back to the Commanders for another year (or longer). The question, I think, is whether the front office and coaching staff want to bring back the 35-yr-old 11-year veteran.

Everything Cowboys want to be was on display in Eagles’ Super Bowl win – Blogging The Boys
Poetic justice. This is not just the name of a song by Super Bowl LIX halftime performer Kendrick Lamar. It is also one way to describe the ending of the 2024 season from the perspective of a Dallas Cowboys fan. The team that reclaimed the NFC East division title over the Cowboys was hardly content with just their fourth straight playoff appearance, taking it all the way to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, and hoisting the Lombardi trophy by toppling the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. The Philadelphia Eagles put a stamp on the season by being the absolute best team when it mattered the most, beating another division rival in the Washington Commanders to get there, and leaving the Cowboys’ “all in” effort that saw them on the couch for the entirety of the postseason at 7-10 as something of a new low for America’s Team.

Early projection isn’t kind to New York Giants – Big Blue View
The work of re-constructing NFL rosters for the 2025 season has not yet begun. That, though, is not stopping media outlets from releasing early power rankings or projecting what teams might or might not accomplish in the upcoming season. Pro Football Network is out with its early 2025 projections, and if you are a New York Giants fan you might want to stop reading. You know that what is coming isn’t kind.

Giants exploring potential sale of a minority stake in franchise – NFL.com
New York Giants ownership is examining a potential sale of minority proprietorship in the franchise, one of the oldest in the NFL. “The Mara and Tisch families have retained Moelis & Company to explore the potential sale of a minority, non-controlling stake in the New York Giants,” the club said in a statement obtained by NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo on Thursday night. “There will be no further comment in regard to the process.” The statement was in response to an initial report by the Sports Business Journal.