Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/16/22.

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Vikings’ Jalen Reagor doesn’t deny having thoughts of revenge in return to Philadelphia - Pioneer Press
Two weeks ago, the Philadelphia Eagles essentially gave up on Jalen Reagor. That figures to be on his mind Monday night. The wide receiver, who was traded to the Vikings on Aug. 31 for a conditional 2024 fourth- or fifth-round draft pick and a 2023 seventh-round selection, will return to Lincoln Financial Field for Minnesota’s first road game of the season. He was asked Thursday if he has any thoughts of revenge. “Of course, why not?” he said. “But I’m not going to go into the game pressing. Just going to let the game come to me. Whatever plays I make, make the best of them.’’ [...] So how does Reagor think he will be greeted by fans at Lincoln Financial Field? “Who knows?’’ he said. “It could be good, bad, indifferent. Those things I really don’t worry about because it’s out of my control.” [BLG Note: I don’t think it will be good.]

NFL Week 2 bold predictions: Tua Tagovailoa enjoys perfect outing; revenge for Jalen Reagor! - NFL.com
It didn’t work out for Jalen Reagor in Philadelphia. Now, after being traded to Minnesota last month, the former first-rounder returns to Philly on Monday night to face the Eagles. Reagor’s revenge! The wide receiver scores his first touchdown since Week 7 of last season.

Eagles offense vs. Vikings defense preview by the numbers - BGN
Last week, we saw Jalen Hurts scrambling take advantage of the Lions man heavy defense and we also saw AJ Brown dominate man coverage. Don’t expect that to happen again, at all. The Vikings could not be more different in how they played defense past week, just look at these numbers.

All-32: How Bears Can Attack Packers on Sunday Night - Football Outsiders
They can also stay in more standard quarters coverages and allow both safeties the freedom to drive on crossers depending on the route distribution, like in the play above. 1-Cross, a Cover-1 variation with the robber rolling down away from the strength of the formation to turn inside and look for crossing routes, could be an answer as well. The cornerback handling Jefferson would be able to play high and outside, knowing he will get help if Jefferson takes off over the middle. Cover-2 could also be on the table to make sure the defense has a hard ceiling over Jefferson, but I am not sure Philly’s interior defensive line or linebackers are to be trusted with Cover-2 run fits with the way they played against the Lions. The Eagles didn’t seem to be interested in calling much of that in Week 1 anyway. Jefferson can run any route from any alignment, so none of this is a surefire fix. It’s no secret that crossing routes at various depths are his bread and butter, though. The Eagles have to take those away first, and the coverages above should help them do that.

Eagles mailbag: Will the pitchfork-toting angry mob coming for Jonathan Gannon get their way? - PhillyVoice
With that disclaimer in place, there is precedent for an in-season defensive coordinator firing with this team. In 2012, Andy Reid fired Juan Castillo after the team got out to a 3-3 start. Like Gannon, Castillo was in his second season with the team. The circumstances were a different that year, of course. Andy Reid was on the hot seat himself that season, while Nick Sirianni certainly is not, and Castillo’s firing could be looked at as a move by a head coach feeling the pressure of needing to win immediately. The Eagles aren’t remotely close to firing Gannon, nor should they be, but if the defense underperforms and the team loses games to less talented opponents as a result, it will be interesting to see what kind of patience Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Sirianni have with Gannon. As for Dennard Wilson, he made it known that he believes he is ready to be a defensive coordinator in the NFL, and would jump at the opportunity to be one. He comes across as a smart person, and he has gotten good play from his defensive backs since he has been with the team.

Vikings-Eagles: How the Minnesota defense might be able to keep Jalen Hurts in check - The Athletic
On top of that, Hurts threw deep balls at the fourth-highest rate in the NFL in 2021 and tied Jameis Winston for fourth in average depth of target. But he threw short more often than not against the Lions, with about 25 percent of his passes coming from behind the line of scrimmage and his depth of target on non-screen plays ranking fourth lowest in the NFL for Week 1. If the Eagles are layering in a more diverse passing game this year for Hurts, then only his inconsistency as a passer can hold back the offense. In response, the Vikings might not actually send blitzers from the second level but could instead play their base defense more often — three defensive linemen and two outside linebackers on the line of scrimmage. That means that when the Vikings send five pass rushers, they will all come from the line of scrimmage and might do a better job of adapting to scrambles. On nickel downs, when the Eagles might force the Vikings to take a defensive lineman off the field, they could opt for a three-safety set, assuming rookie Lewis Cine is healthy enough to play.

Fantasy Football: OL/DL matchups to target and avoid in Week 2 - PFF
MINNESOTA VIKINGS @ PHILADELPHIA EAGLESThe Vikings’ offensive line earned the second-highest run-blocking grade (81.4) in Week 1 against what was thought to be one of the better defensive lines in Green Bay, allowing Minnesota to earn the sixth-highest rushing grade as a team (76.5). The Vikings leaned into their run game at a top-10 rate (45.2%) this past week. The Eagles earned just a 53.6 run defense grade in Week 1 combined with a league-worst 29.3 tackling grade. TOP PLAYER(S) TO TARGET: RB Dalvin Cook: After being held without a score in Week 1, Cook looks to be in line for a strong week against the Eagles in Week 2. Cook saw the large majority of the Vikings’ rushing attempts in Week 1 (68%) and forced six missed tackles on his way to a top-10 rushing grade (73.2) among running backs who handled at least 10 carries. The Eagles defense missed 15 total tackles in Week 1, which was poor enough for the second-highest total in the league. Cook should continue in his workhorse role with a chance to be a beneficiary of his team’s run game advantage in Week 2.

What happened to Haason Reddick in Eagles’ opener? - NBCSP
Haason Reddick’s goal going into every game is to do something that helps his team win. And in his Eagles debut, that didn’t happen. “At some point, I just feel like I have to make a play that affects the game because that’s what I was brought here to do,” he said at his locker Thursday. “At some point in the game, I want to be a factor. “And while I did have some good plays, I did a lot of good things, I don’t think I really made a game-changing play. And it’s all right. It’s Week 1. I’m not worried about it. We have 16 more weeks, 16 more opportunities, and I know everything that I’m looking to accomplish will come.” It was a difficult season opener for Reddick, who signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Eagles in March. It’s only one game, but other than a two-yard loss on a Jamaal Williams running play in the third quarter, Reddick was quiet in the Eagles’ 38-35 win over the Lions.

Spadaro: Defense will have its hands full with Vikings’ offense - PE.com
Jefferson opened 2022 on Sunday with nine catches, a career-high 184 yards, and a pair of touchdowns in Minnesota’s 23-7 win over Green Bay, starting this campaign just as he’s played in Years 1 and 2. The Eagles are very well aware of the danger he presents. “Amazing dude, man. Great route runner, great after the catch. Strong guy, finish. Playmaker, man. He makes plays,” Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay said. “He’s a different breed. “They do a good job getting him the ball. He’s one of the best players on the team, so they’re going to find a way to get him the ball. I think they do a great job of scheming to get everybody the ball. They got a great running back (Dalvin Cook). They got (wide receiver Adam) Thielen over there being Thielen, still doing what he needs to do to get the job done. They got Kirk throwing the thing, so they do a lot of good things over there. We’ve got to be ready to go.”

ESPN to experiment with Eagles-Vikings ‘Monday Night Football’ broadcast - Inquirer
During portions of both broadcasts, ESPN will activate a double-box view which will allow live look-ins of each game, with SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt offering highlights and game updates for both. There will also be a second scorebug of Vikings-Eagles on ESPN and Titans-Bills on ABC to keep fans in the loop.

Philly, We Ready!! - The Players’ Tribune (by Jordan Davis)
If there’s one word I would use to describe this year’s Eagles team, it would be that we’re connected. I think it’s hard for organizations to have that in this league, but we really are going out there to compete with and FOR each other. It’s a job, but at the same time it feels like a real brotherhood. Seeing a guy like Jalen go out there and be the kind of leader he is, that’s inspiring. Or going up against a guy like Jason every day in practice — I swear it’s like he plays even faster than when he started. Then you got a guy like DeVonta, where you blink and he’s 40 yards down the field — that dude is insane in person. And so many guys here are like that. The players on this team are some dawgs, man, I’m telling you. And we’re ready to go out there and show everybody our standard. Coach Siranni always talks to us about the details, and how “paying attention to the little things” will lead us to success. And I think that’s why it’s such a promising year. It’s like, you take the level of TALENT in this group, and the level of DAWG in this group, and you combine that with the level of WORK we’re putting in??? O.K. … now that’s a scary sight.

Four fans injured by railing collapse at FedEx Field file lawsuit - PFT
FedEx Field continues to be a bad facility. It’s also a liability. Literally. Via John Keim of ESPN.com, four people injured when a railing collapsed after the end of a January 2 game against the Eagles have sued the Commanders and others. The plaintiffs seek the jurisdictional minimum of at least $75,000 each for asks for an award “in excess” of $75,000 per person for “loss of income, medical expenses, pain and suffering.”

SB Nation Reacts: Vikings rank as biggest Week 1 surprise - Daily Norseman
We now have 96% of Vikings fans believing that the team is currently moving in the right direction. That’s up from 88% going into the Week 1 matchup against Green Bay, and a win over a division rival was obviously enough to give that a bit of a bump, which is nice. Not only that, but the Vikings found themselves at the top of one of the national poll questions that you get by signing up on our posts each week.

Report: Cowboys QB Dak Prescott could return for matchup against Philadelphia Eagles - Blogging The Boys
It would be fortunate timing for Dak to return to a Cowboys team on the road in Philadelphia. What happens next between the two teams that were favorites in the NFC East will play a huge role in the drama as well. Cowboys (0-1): Bengals, at Giants, Commanders, at Rams ... Eagles (1-0): Vikings, at Commanders, Jaguars, at Cardinals. On paper the Cowboys are facing a tougher four-game stretch than the Eagles by going up against both teams who played in the Super Bowl last year and two divisional matchups sandwiched in between. The Eagles have to play Washington as well and the Vikings look good, but outside of that they get the lowly Jaguars (who Dallas will see later this season) and a Cardinals team that is pretty questionable. Hopefully Dak can return as soon as possible, but the most important thing is that he is ready when he returns, whenever that is.

POLL: Confidence of Giants’ fans continues to soar - Big Blue View
Well, I was wrong. Last week when 92 percent of New York Giants fans who voted in our ‘SB Nation Reacts’ poll said they were confident in the team’s direction, I said I did not think that number could get higher. Then the Giants went out and upset the Tennessee Titans in Week 1, giving them a season-opening victory for the first time since 2016. This week’s ‘Reacts’ poll numbers? An amazing 96 percent of voters in our poll are confident the Giants are moving in the right direction. Twenty-two percent of those who voted said the Giants’ victory over Tennessee was the biggest upset of the week.

Washington fans uplifted by Week 1 result, but fans nationally aren’t yet convinced - Hogs Haven
Unsurprisingly, the confidence level of Hogs Haven readers was buoyed from our pre-game poll, with the post-game result of 80% of fans being the highest of 2022. Previous results were 73% during the preseason and 55% ahead of the Jags game.

Establish the Fun: Ravens’ downfield passing game among things to watch in Week 2 - SB Nation
Coming out of Ohio State Samuel was this type of player, and it’s really cool seeing a team use him in that way. Washington could be onto something with his usage, and it’s really more of a point that I just want to make to all teams: find ways to put your best 11 on the field, regardless.

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