The Linc

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On October 6, 2024

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Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

In Roob’s Eagles Observations: How insanely predictable the Eagles have become on third down – NBCSP
1. This is sobering. Take a look at how far Jalen Hurts’ performance has plunged from the start of his career to the present (kneel downs removed from rushing stats):Hurts’ first eight career starts: 89.7 passer rating, 503 rushing yards, 6.6 rushing average, 3-5 record. Hurts’ last eight career starts: 79.4 passer rating, eight touchdown passes, nine interceptions, 314 rushing yards, 4.6 rushing average, 3-5 record. Hurts was actually better in his first eight career starts – four after replacing Carson Wentz at the end of 2020 and the first four weeks of 2021 before Shane Steichen took over play calling – than his last eight. This kind of regression at this point in his career is alarming. I’m still not convinced Hurts can’t snap out of this funk. He’s done some good things this year when he wasn’t turning the ball over, and that 68 percent accuracy is encouraging. But it’s hard to have a lot of success when you do turn the ball over nearly twice a game. Hurts will presumably have all his weapons – and offensive linemen – back after the bye, and only one of the Eagles’ next nine opponents currently has a winning record. If he can’t turn it around during that stretch … we’ll see. 1B. Hurts has three red-zone turnovers this year – two interceptions and one fumble. No other quarterback has more than one. And every other quarterback combined has nine. Hurts has 25 percent of all quarterback red-zone turnovers in the NFL this year.

Bryce Huff has been less than zero – BGN
Yuck. Huff is looking like just another one year double digit sack wonder like Kyler Fackrell (10.5 sacks in 2018, 13.5 in 70 other games), or Romeo Okwara (10 sacks in 2020, 15 in 76 other games), or Josh Uche (11.5 sacks in 2022, 8 in 40 other games). For cap reasons Huff can’t be cut or traded until 2026 so the Eagles are stuck with this. In the short term, Vic Fangio has but one option to try to get production out of Huff, to play him on passing downs. 16 of Huff’s 33 snaps against the Bucs were on 1st down, though against the Bucs every down is a passing down, they passed on two thirds of their plays against the Eagles. Bryce Huff is the 14th highest paid edge rusher by fully guaranteed money. It’s past time to start playing like it.

Washington Commanders Roster Moves: Marcus Mariota activated; Two players elevated from the practice squad – Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders announced two roster moves before tomorrow’s game against the Cleveland Browns. They ruled out two players due to injury, and they’ve elevated two players from the practice squad to provide depth at those positions. DE Clelin Ferrell(knee) and WR Noah Brown(groin) were ruled out yesterday. Washington ruled out DE Efe Obama and LB Jordan Magee today. Both players returned to practice this week from injury lists. Marcus Mariota also returned to practice, but he has been activated. The Commanders had an open roster spot after placing WR Jamison Crowder on IR last week.

Will Brian Robinson play for the Commanders in Week 5? – SB Nation
According to Ben Standig of The Athletic, Robinson will be listed as questionable heading into the weekend. Robinson didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday, but was listed as a limited participant on Friday. Robinson was seen with a helmet on in warmups and said after practice that he felt much better than he did earlier in the week. With that said, things seem to be pointing up for Robinson. On Friday, he posted a thumbs up on Twitter, which seemed to hint that he would be good to go. Additionally, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said on Friday, “Brian is trending in the right way, and we’ll take it all the way to game day, but he’s doing great.”

Cowboys place Brandin Cooks on injured reserve, will miss at least four games – Blogging The Boys
The earliest Cooks can return is on November 10th when the Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles. Making do without him until then will be challenging to say the least. Dallas obviously has one of the best wide receivers in the game in CeeDee Lamb, but they are relatively unproven beyond him. Jalen Tolbert has had moments this season, as has KaVonate Turpin, but Jalen Brooks is someone we are still waiting to see take the next step. Rookie Ryan Flournoy will be asked to do more, it would also behoove the Cowboys to consider adding external talent.

Week 5 NFL picks: Will Bills or Texans hit 4-1? Ravens or Bengals in AFC North bout? First loss for Chiefs?! – NFL.com
Why Tom picked the Steelers: Here’s a statement I probably wouldn’t have made a month ago: I don’t think the Cowboys match up with the Steelers nearly as well as the Colts do. Indianapolis dispatched with Pittsburgh last week by leaning on a strong ground game and a passing attack with multiple receiving threats. The Colts’ defense also stood up well enough against the run while securing a healthy pressure rate (35.7 percent). How much of that formula can Dallas hope to replicate? The ‘Boys rank 32nd in rushing yards. CeeDee Lamb has topped 60 receiving yards in each game so far, but only two other Dallas pass catchers (Jalen Tolbert in Week 2 and Jake Ferguson in Week 3) have managed to hit that benchmark in any contest. Even after taking a positive defensive step against the Giants, the Cowboys rank 27th in rushing yards allowed. And is there any way their 20th-ranked pass defense will perform better without Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence? To have a chance, Dallas will have to get lucky and break off some big plays; Pittsburgh just has to grind. I dare anyone to pick against Mike Tomlin’s squad to do that.

Giants-Seahawks pre-game ‘things I think’: Missing offense, possible adjustments, more – Big Blue View
57.2 percent. That is how much of the Giants’ 2024 offensive production will be missing if running back Devin Singletary joins wide receiver Malik Nabers on the sideline Sunday. There is no way to spin that into something that might be a benefit for the Giants, so I’m not even going to try. The one thing I will say is that we are going to see head coach Brian Daboll have to look beyond the ‘throw it to Nabers’ page of his playbook when the Giants pass the ball. Can Daboll get forgotten tight ends Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger involved in the passing attack? Can Jalin Hyatt make a couple of plays? Darius Slayton? Can quarterback Daniel Jones continue to be as efficient as he has been without his primary target? How in the world are the Giants going to improve on the already-not-good-enough 15.0 points per game they are averaging without their primary play makers? I don’t have the answer. Daboll and Jones, though, need to figure one out. Jones may have to do something he hasn’t really been capable of often enough in the past — lift the play of those around him.