The Linc -best defensive line

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

NFL defensive line rankings ahead of Week 10 – PFF
2. Philadelphia Eagles (up 1). Top five in snap counts: DI Jalen Carter, Edge Josh Sweat, Edge Brandon Graham, DI Milton Williams, DI Jordan Davis. Sweat has been effective as a rusher this year with 30 total pressures and an 18.0% pass-rush win rate. Best Player: Jalen Carter. Carter takes the top spot on the Eagles’ defensive line on the back of having three strong performances over the past four games. His strength is rushing the passer, where his 84.7 grade is third-best in the NFL at defensive interior.

In Roob’s Eagles Observations: How can Jalen Hurts throw touchdowns without looking? – NBCSP
10. A month ago, there didn’t seem to be any chance Josh Sweat would be back in 2025. Sweat was mired in a slump that saw him go an astonishing 11 straight games without a sack. Unthinkable for a guy who was a Pro Bowler in 2021 and had 11 sacks in 2022 and 6 ½ sacks the first nine games of last year. But during the last five games, Josh Sweat has five sacks, seven quarterback hits, five tackles for loss and 12 tackles, one of the best stretches of his career, and that changes the equation. Sweat is due to become a free agent at the end of the season, but considering Brandon Graham is likely to retire and big-money free agent Bryce Huff has been a huge disappointment, all of a sudden it seems like a priority to keep Sweat around. If he hits free agency, he’d be one of the top edge rushers out there. Even though he’s in his seventh season, he’s only 27, and there aren’t a lot of other top edge rushers who are in their 20s and unsigned beyond 2024. Khalil Mack is still good, but he’s 33. There’s DeMarcus Lawrence, but he’s 32 and hasn’t hit double figures in sacks since 2018. Azeez Ojulari is solid, and there’s always Haason Reddick, although teams might want to stay away from him for obvious reasons. So Sweat is going to be a valuable commodity in March if he hits the open market. The Eagles need to make sure he doesn’t.

Did Nick Sirianni accidentally reveal that Jalen Hurts is dealing with an ankle injury? [UPDATE] – BGN
UPDATE: New reporting from ESPN’s Tim McManus states Jalen Hurts is indeed dealing with an ankle injury. “According to a league source, Hurts has been dealing with a mild ankle issue for a couple weeks. A separate league source described it as “lower leg soreness” and that his limited practice Wednesday was for load management purposes, with the Eagles playing two games in a span of five days against the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders. The source added that Hurts was held back from dropping and planting during the individual periods but did throw the football later Wednesday during team walkthrough.”

Buy/Sell Cowboys players in matchup against Eagles – Blogging The Boys
SELL: DE/LB Micah Parsons. Philadelphia may make Parsons wish he’d waited a week before returning. You may recall past years when the Eagles put Parsons in a blender using their read-option plays, and that was before Jalen Hurts was running them with Saquon Barkley. There’s also a good chance that the Eagles will just send everything in the opposite direction from wherever Parsons lines up, neutralizing him the same way teams were prior to his injury. Either way, it doesn’t project to be a joyous return for Dallas’ defensive star.

Is Dallas Still Dangerous? – Iggles Blitz
The Cowboys are a mess right now. They have lost three games in a row. They have two wins since Week 1, a 5-point win over the Giants and a win where they needed last second points to pull off a comeback win over the Steelers. Only the Giants and Panthers have a worse point differential in the NFC. Dallas is 25th in offensive DVOA and 29th in defensive DVOA. Not ideal. They are 31st in points allowed and the takeaways that helped them so much the past couple of years have disappeared this season. The Cowboys are 31st in red zone offense. They are dead last in red zone defense. And now Dak Prescott is on injured reserve. CeeDee Lamb is banged up. The OL is up and down. Multiple pass rushers are on IR. Brandin Cooks is on IR and the WRs aren’t exactly having a great year. The long run by a RB is 15 yards. Dallas is 31st in running the ball and 30th in stopping the run. Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln? It is easy to assume the Eagles will wipe the field with the Cowboys. I guess that is what makes me nervous.

Jalyx Hunt has proven to be a quick study. Could more playing time be on the way for the rookie? – Inquirer
But Nick Sirianni hinted Wednesday that Hunt’s usage could increase in the near future. Howie Roseman’s inaction at the trade deadline backs up that notion, keeping the edge rushers group of Hunt, Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, Brandon Graham, and Nolan Smith intact. By not adding anyone to the unit, the Eagles general manager left the door open for Hunt to potentially assume a spot in the rotation. “We’ll see Jalyx getting into the mix as well,” Sirianni said. “I think he’s been doing a good job at practice to be able to go. So we feel like we have five guys in that rotation that can get after the passer, that can crush the edge on the run.” Practice has provided the 6-foot-3, 252-pound Hunt with the opportunity to build confidence in his rushes. For Hunt, it all starts with having a plan instead of figuring out his precise move at the top of his rush. He works with Eagles staffers Jeremiah Washburn, Connor Barwin, and Matt Leo to figure out which moves work best against the offensive tackles that the Eagles will face in the upcoming game. Hunt reps those moves throughout the week of practice.

Locker Room Vibe: Saquon Barkley reacts to ‘the leap,’ Mekhi Becton on the power of belief, and Nakobe Dean’s next challenge awaits – PE.com
Saquon Barkley: “I’m kinda over it”. You remember the leap, right? The Lincoln Leap, in reverse that totally ignited the world of football onlookers? The leap that everyone talked about all week? Everyone, that is, except Barkley, who came off his 199-total yards, 2-touchdown game against Jacksonville and prepared for the next challenge. “I’m kinda over it, to be honest with you,” he said. “It was a great play and to be able to finally see and to see the reactions – that was probably my favorite part, seeing the reactions of my teammates and everyone else was pretty cool – but it’s time to move on and get ready for next week. You have to stay in the right mindset and take it week by week because that’s the kind of league this is. Three weeks ago – or however many weeks it was – there were memes and people laughing at me for dropping a pass (against Atlanta) when I was wide open. That’s how it works – you have a 72-hour rule and then you move on.”

Commanders vs Steelers Friday Injury Report: Four players ruled out – Hogs Haven
Brian Robinson Jr will miss his second game for a hamstring injury. Dan Quinn talked about regaining confidence in the leg before being able to go full in practice. He’ll have a short week for Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles to try to go again. Chris Rodriquez was elevated from the practice squad last week, and had the best game of his career. This was his third elevation of the season, and if Washington wants him to be active on Sunday, they’ll have to sign him to the 53-man roster, and make a corresponding move. They can also elevated another practice squad RB(Michael Wiley, Kaz Allen), or go with two RBs vs the Steelers.

Cowboys to put QB Dak Prescott on IR for hamstring injury – ESPN
While the move has not been made official yet, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will be placed on injured reserve, according to executive vice president Stephen Jones. Speaking on 105.3 The Fan on Friday, Jones said, “I think it’s probably no way he can be back in the four-week timeframe, so we’ll put him over there and we’ll have that roster spot to use in terms of the next four weeks and go from there. Obviously a tough, tough situation, losing him for that period time, but we’re going to do what’s in the best interest of Dak and right now I don’t think anyone knows whether it’ll be four weeks, six weeks or the season. We’ll just have to continue to monitor that and see where it takes us.” Multiple sources said Prescott is looking at 6-8 weeks of recovery because of the partial avulsion of his hamstring he suffered in last week’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Survey results: Giants fans don’t like team’s lack of trade deadline movement – Big Blue View
However, the trade deadline for the 2024 season came and went, and the Giants didn’t make any deals. So this week we asked you, the Big Blue View Community, what you thought of the Giants’ lack of movement at the deadline. As it turned out, less than 40% of the community is happy that the Giants didn’t make a move.

NFL Expert Picks: Week 10 – SB Nation
Two games to circle on the Week 10 calendar are the Sunday Night Football match up between the Texans and Lions, two of the hottest young teams in the league. Houston is a shoe-in to win the AFC South at this point, and the Lions appear to be a lock for the NFC North — but this serves as a good litmus test for both teams as they approach the postseason. The other is Steelers vs. Commanders, which begs to be an old-school, smash mouth defensive game punctuated by some big plays. This is another solid test for Washington, who looks to make a case for being regarded as one of the best teams in the NFL this season.