The Linc

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

What’s going on with Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ passing offense? – The Athletic
CHASE DANIEL: Now, there’s a huge difference, Dianna, between winners and stats. Everyone’s like, “Wins are a QB stat!” Well, this game is going to go to show you that wins are not a quarterback stat. Stat-wise: 13-for-20, 185 yards, two touchdowns, high passer rating, looks great. But if you really dive into it, 37 yards passing with three minutes left to go in the third quarter. Some of it has to do with Green Bay’s defense; they were really good at times. Most of it, I would say, falls on Jalen. Could he have been rusty? He didn’t play in 21 days. Maybe. But I’m seeing some stuff open, and I feel like Jalen has to see receivers open for him to throw it. We started talking about this after the Panthers game. That’s when A.J. Brown, after the Panthers game, stood up and said passing is the issue. No kidding it’s the issue. It’s always been the issue. It’s really the only weakness on the entire team. That’s not saying Jalen Hurts isn’t a good quarterback. But when you look at it, it’s exactly what they did after the 2-2 start. In their first four games of the year, Jalen Hurts was averaging 37 pass attempts a game. Kellen Moore and Nick Sirianni got together and said, “Jalen throwing the football is not the way we’re going to win. Let’s pass the football less.” They averaged 22 pass attempts per game after that. We talked about this a ton. They even said, “Hey, we can’t trust Jalen to throw the ball when the game’s on the line.” My issue with the Philadelphia Eagles — and it’s a real one: If this team gets behind, will they be able to throw their way back into a game? That is what I’m worried about, because if you play the Rams, they’re going to score points. I get your defense is great. Their defense has been carrying them all year. This is in no way, shape or form hate against Jalen Hurts whatsoever. It’s just the facts on what I’m seeing. He’s not going through progressions really well.

NFL Under Review: Can the Eagles Offense Find a New Gear? Plus, a To-Do List for Mike Vrabel and a Wish for Mike Tomlin – The Ringer
I know what you’re saying right now: But isn’t it working? THEY ARE WITHIN TWO GAMES OF GETTING TO THE SUPER BOWL! And you could be right. That’s what makes this team so interesting. They are walking a delicate line by playing this way. Don’t believe me? After recording a recent episode of The Ringer’s Philly Special, I found myself wondering whether we had spent too much time talking about the struggles of the passing game given that the team had won. So I looked up the past 10 years of postseason games to try to put Hurts’s performance in context. Out of a sample of 224 games, Hurts’s wild-card performance ranked tied for 205th in dropback success rate—a metric that measures how often a passing play produces a positive outcome for the offense. There have been only 15 examples in the past 10 seasons of a quarterback having a worse success rate in a playoff game, and guess what? All 15 of those quarterbacks lost! In case you’re not following: That Eagles game Sunday featured the least efficient passing performance by a quarterback whose team won a playoff game in the past 10 years!

Eagles-Rams Game Preview: 6 questions and answers with the Divisional Round enemy – BGN
1 – After allowing the Eagles to produce 37 points and 314 rushing yards in Week 12, the Rams’ defense is allowing just 15 points per game and 100.5 rushing yards per game since then (excluding Week 18 when LA rested starters). What’s gone into the defensive improvement? … Why the spirit of Aaron Donald of course! Somewhat joking there…maybe…I dunno. Anyway, first-year defensive coordinator Chris Shula shared his thoughts on the turnaround and said that improved communication has been the main reason. Early in the season, both Shula and his unit were finding their way and since the bye, everything started to click. Their worst showing by far was the first Eagles game which was more a flat-out domination rather than a lack of communication. The position coaches have similarly figured out where to put their players in the best position to succeed and it’s worked wonders. Regardless of how Sunday goes, there’s so much potential in this unit that they’ll be one of the NFL’s best defenses in no time at all. Shula deserves his flowers and should be a leading head coaching candidate in next year’s hiring cycle if his defense continues growing.

Rams vs. Eagles Q&A: How on earth does LA stop Saquon Barkley? – Turf Show Times
Hollywood is nothing but sequels anymore, so it’s only fitting that NFL fans will be treated to another with the L.A. Rams facing the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round. Philadelphia literally ran LA off their home field in Week 12 during a 37-20 obliteration on Sunday Night Football. I had the pleasure of interviewing Brandon Lee Gowton from Bleeding Green Nation to get his thoughts on how to slow down Saquon Barkley (if it’s even possible), Philly’s lackluster passing offense and more in this week’s Q&A.

Eagles-Rams preview: Five things to watch when the Eagles have the ball – PhillyVoice
2) Jalen Hurts’ propensity for holding onto the football vs. the Rams’ young, talented pass rushers. The Rams had 9 sacks in the Wild Card Round against the Vikings, which you can watch here. Some of those sacks were well-timed blitz calls, some were Rams pass rushers winning one-on-ones, and some were just because Sam Darnold stinks and he wouldn’t throw the damn ball. The Rams’ starting front four of Byron Young, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Kobie Turner combined for 28.5 sacks, though none of them had double-digit sacks individually. Of course, the Eagles have the best offensive line in the NFL, with two All-Pros (Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata), two additional Pro Bowlers (Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson), and a fifth guy (Mekhi Becton) who is going to make a lot of money in free agency this offseason. This matchup isn’t so much about the Eagles’ ability to block well, it’s more about whether Jalen Hurts can get the ball out quickly. The three slowest quarterbacks to get the ball out in the NFL this season, per NextGen Stats, were Lamar Jackson (3.14 seconds per throw), Hurts (3.13 seconds) , and oh hey (!), Darnold (3.08 seconds). The Rams had a good gameplan for Darnold’s slow decision-making process, which the Eagles will be able to get a good look at on film this week. Some unsolicited advance for Kellen Moore and the gang: Maybe run some slants with A.J. Brown.

Game Review – Playoffs – PHI 22, GB 10 – Iggles Blitz
The offense struggled for a varitety of reasons. Moore didn’t have a strong gameplan. Jalen Hurts was rusty and didn’t play his best game. You also have to give some credit to the Packers defense. They were tough. Hurts was 6-13-39 at halftime. He went 7-8-92 in the second half. That’s not anything special, but he proved to be clutch. The highlight moment was the TD to Goedert. That is a smart audible and good, quick throw. Not an easy play at all. Hurts other TD was quite the opposite. He sat in the pocket for 6.75 seconds and waited for Dotson to come open over the middle. That play took patience. Hurts had a chance to hit AJ with a deep ball on a fake Brotherly Shove. The pass was just a bit long. He was off target a couple of times, which isn’t usually an issue for him. Hurts was 6-36 as a runner. He was aggressive, but not reckless. He avoided big hits. Hurts took a dumb sack. He had a chance to simply throw the ball away, but went down for a short loss. He knows better than that.

‘A bleeping horror show:’ Rams’ nine sacks sure got Eagles’ attention – NBCSP
“It’s like their whole d-line,” Lane Johnson said. “They all have about eight sacks, their pressures are up. I feel like individually they’re really good. They can create pressure, and then they do a great job of running games together. “So if you watch the Minnesota game, it was a bleeping horror show. people getting beat 1-on-1, getting beat (by) games. … You know, bleep, thank God A.D. (Aaron Donald) isn’t still there. “But these guys are really good. I mean, it’s their first year together really, they’re going to bleeping really take off. They’re already taking off. They’re really one of the more talented groups I’ve seen.” The Eagles allowed 45 sacks this year, which is a lot. That was 13th-most in the league for a team that threw the ball less than anybody other team. From a percentage standpoint, only the Bears allowed more sacks per pass play than the Eagles. A lot of that has to do with the nature of Jalen Hurts’ game. Because he runs around so much in the pocket and holds onto the ball so long, he’s going to be a sitting duck sometimes. But he’s only been sacked 11 times in six career playoff games.

NFL Mock Draft: Eagles reinforce the trenches even more in Fran Duffy’s first exercise of 2025 – PHLY
28. Philadelphia Eagles – T Aireontae Ersery – Minnesota. You can never go wrong slotting the Eagles a player on the line of scrimmage, and here I think they land Ersery. A three-year starter at left tackle who dabbled on the right side and even at guard at times throughout his career, the senior offers the position flexibility that the Eagles crave in the trenches. That versatility also gives the organization some optionality in terms of his usage early on. With Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson entrenched at the tackle spots, Ersery can compete at guard for now while biding his time before kicking outside down the road.

Perfect 2024 NFL Draft prospect for all 32 teams: New York Jets land Abdul Carter, Cowboys grab a much-needed receiver in Luther Burden III – PFF
Philadelphia Eagles: Edge Josaiah Stewart, Michigan. In two seasons as an Eagle (2022 and 2023), Haason Reddick tallied 34 sacks and 160 total pressures while earning 24 run stops and giving up just 161 yards on 114 coverage snaps. While the Eagles have tried to use a number of players to replicate the production, the defense currently lacks an edge player with the ability to make that level of all-around impact. Josaiah Stewart had a breakout campaign for the Wolverines in 2024 and has the all-around skillset the Eagles will covet. He displayed a full arsenal of pass-rush moves on his way to a ridiculous 40.2% win rate on true pass sets and the highest pass-rush grade of the 2025 edge class (92.2). He was also outstanding versus the run, grading positively on 18.4% of run reps compared to just 3.6% negatives.

Unscripted: A week preparing for the Philadelphia Eagles Wild Card Playoff win – PE.com
Fans got to see what unfolded on Sunday as Jalen Hurts returned to the lineup and the defense forced three interceptions in a 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers to advance to a showdown with the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. Now, witness what happened from Monday through Saturday to get the Eagles in position to win on the latest Unscripted, presented by Lincoln Financial.

Author of Viral Book AJ Brown Read During the Eagles Game Calls Overnight Success ‘A Real Gift’ – People
Author Jim Murphy wasn’t expecting the overnight success of his 2020 self-help book, Inner Excellence, but it became a viral hit thanks to Philadelphia Eagles receiver AJ Brown. The athlete, 27, went viral earlier this week when he was seen paging through Inner Excellence on the sidelines of the Jan. 12 NFL game against the Green Bay Packers. By Jan. 13, the book had skyrocketed to the top of the Amazon bestsellers’ list. “It is amazing and a real gift and an honor,” Murphy said in an interview with the TODAY Show on Jan. 15.

Commanders vs Lions Wednesday Injury Report: Bobby Wagner missed another practice – Hogs Haven
Washington’s linebacker depth will be tested on Sunday with two players missing another practice. Dan Quinn has already said rookie LB Jordan Magee’s re-injured hamstring will keep him out of this week’s game. The bigger concern is future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner missing a second practice with an ankle injury. He has only missed 11 snaps on defense all season, and he is an important piece of the defense. Wagner’s leadership would be hard to replace, but if he does miss Saturday’s game, fellow starter Frankie Luvu, and depth guys like Mykal Walker special teams standout Nick Bellore would need to step up on his absence. Washington doesn’t currently have any LBs available to elevate from the practice squad.

Cowboys coaching search: Jason Witten would not be “the next Dan Campbell” – Blogging The Boys
They’ve also had very different paths so far as coaches. Witten turned down NFL and college coaching opportunities in 2021 to lead a private high school’s football program in Texas. Campbell also went straight into coaching in 2010 but stuck to the NFL, interning and working as the TE coach for the Miami Dolphins. He was their interim head coach in 2015 after Joe Philbin was fired, then moved to the Saints the following year for another TE coach job while also serving as the assistant head coach. That led to his hiring in Detroit in 2021. So not only had Campbell been coaching much longer than Witten before he went to the Lions, but he’d also been doing it in the pros. And when it comes to their playing careers, again, we find that they were on very different levels. That shows how the comparison between them, in terms of their background, is pretty weak.

Deion Sanders Dallas Cowboys head coach rumors are here and they’re spectacular – SB Nation
I’m going to be completely honest: I’m not sure how this will work out, but the content along the way would be OUTSTANDING. Imagine if Sanders gets the job, and decides to trade QB Dak Prescott in order to draft his son and then work his way up to drafting Hunter as well. Just run back everything you did at Colorado, even down to having every member of the Wu Tang Clan on the sideline at every game. At least Cowboys games would be fun…for people not affiliated with the Cowboys. Honestly, Sanders being linked to the job is 1,000 times better than Jason Witten or Jason Garrett, so it’s a positive step.

Deion Sanders is the betting favorite to become Cowboys coach – PFT
The strategically-timed leak that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has spoken to Colorado coach Deion Sanders might have been intended to move the needle. It has also moved the market. DraftKings has Deion as the betting favorite to become the next head coach of the Cowboys. Sanders has odds of +100. Next on the list is former Jets coach Robert Saleh at +150, followed by Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore at +250.

Micah Parsons calls Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys exit ‘devastating’ – ESPN
Star Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons expressed his disappointment with head coach Mike McCarthy’s departure from the franchise, calling the development “devastating” Tuesday. “I’m obviously very sad because of the relationships we had with Coach McCarthy and everything he’s done for our program,” Parsons said on “The Edge” podcast. “Three straight 12-5 seasons, playoff appearances and obviously an unfortunate year due to injuries. … It is devastating. Coach Mike is a great father, great coach. One of the most winningest coaches. He’s always been good to us as a unit, coaches, players. Losing a great coach like Mike hurts.”

New York Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown to interview with Las Vegas Raiders – Big Blue View
This is the first interview request for Brown, 36, in this hiring cycle. Last offseason he interviewed twice for the GM openings with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers. Giants GM Joe Schoen hired Brown away from the Philadelphia Eagles to be his assistant GM in 2022. Prior to joining the Giants, Brown spent five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was director of pro scouting for two seasons with the Eagles, ad director of player personnel for one year.

Sam Darnold landing spots: Nine possible team fits for Pro Bowl quarterback in 2025 NFL season – NFL.com
GIANTS: Yes, both teams in the Big Apple need a quarterback, and neither has clear options as of now, regardless of Drew Lock’s brief moment of excellence near the end of the 2024 season. Darnold could be the quarterback Brian Daboll needs to prove he’s worthy of keeping his job beyond 2025, especially after he was forced to trudge through three seasons with Daniel Jones under center. When equipped with a capable passer, Daboll can make magic with his offense, and Darnold is athletic enough to execute the coach’s system. The veteran passer would need to improve his urgency in the pocket after finishing with the third-longest average time to throw in the NFL in 2024, but he’d join a team with a budding star at receiver in Malik Nabers. It’s not a perfect situation for Darnold, but none of these truly are.