Bleeding Green Nation

DeSean Jackson’s status for Eagles vs. 49ers is "TBD”

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 15:27:24 GMT

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Dealing with a hamstring issue.

DeSean Jackson only played 28 snaps during the Philadelphia Eagles’ tie against the Cincinnati Bengals before leaving the game with a hamstring injury. It sounds like there’s a chance that he might play zero snaps in Week 4. NFL insider Mike Garafolo has the latest update on the 33-year old wide receiver:

#Eagles WR DeSean Jackson is undergoing tests on his hamstring today, though the belief is it’s a minor strain, sources say. The team was cautious with him yesterday, as they’ve been with him overall. Don’t want to compound issues. His availability for Sun vs #49ers is TBD.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 28, 2020

A minor strain is obviously better than a major one. And John Clark is also reporting that Jackson’s injury is “not considered too serious.” But that there’s some of level of uncertainty about Jackson’s status for this Sunday’s game isn’t ideal.

The Eagles are already very banged up on offense. They’ve had to use a new starting offensive line combination in every game thus far. They’re down to the following healthy receivers and tight ends on the 53-man roster: Greg Ward, John Hightower, Zach Ertz, and Richard Rodgers. That’s it! Jackson, Dallas Goedert, Alshon Jeffery, Jalen Reagor, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside are all dealing with injuries. Just not a great setup for a quarterback that’s already struggling.

Getting back to Jackson, it’s been a strange three games for him. It looked like he was primed to have a big year. He was looking spry as ever in camp and he was obviously the best receiver on the team heading into the season.

But then Jackson only played 54% of the Eagles’ snaps in Week 1. He insisted he wasn’t injured despite the fact he did not look totally healthy. The Eagles increased Jackson’s workload in Week 2 but didn’t take any true deep shots down the field to him; his longest catch went for 25 yards. The Eagles went deep to Jackson on their first offensive play in Week 3 but he was double covered and Wentz’s pass was overthrown anyway. He logged two receptions for just 11 yards before leaving the Bengals game in the second quarter.

If Jackson can’t play against the 49ers, Hightower could be in line for a lot of playing time once again. The 2020 fifth-round rookie led all Eagles receivers in snaps in Week 3 but only had two receptions for 19 yards in addition to drawing some pass interference penalties. The Eagles could look to elevate Deontay Burnett from the practice squad again and/or activate rookie wide receiver Quez Watkins from injured reserve, assuming he’s now healthy.

The Eagles are dealing with a lot of injury issues but the 49ers also have it pretty bad right now. They’re missing a ton of dudes. Despite this, they’re coming off a 36 to 9 win over New York Giants.

And so it probably won’t be easy for the Eagles to avoid dropping to 0-3-1.

Doug Pederson regrets punting for the tie, isn’t ready to consider benching Carson Wentz

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:55:34 GMT

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Updates from the head coach.

When asked to explain his decision to have the Philadelphia Eagles punt with 19 seconds remaining in overtime against the Cincinnati Bengals, Doug Pederson said the following in his postgame presser:

“That’s probably a decision I’ll look back on tomorrow and say we could’ve done something else [...]”

Sure enough, Monday arrived, and Pederson admitted he could’ve done something else. The Eagles’ head coach said the following on SportsRadio 94WIP:

[...] “But looking back on it, I would have probably gone the other way and maybe taken a shot down the field and put the ball up in the air. Looking back on it, with clearer eyes this morning, a lot of things good have happened – DPI (defensive pass interference), illegal contact, could have been an offensive holding, could have been a sack. There’s a lot of things that go into those plays. Looking back on it, that’s probably what I would do.”

The Eagles could’ve attempted a 64-yard field goal with Jake Elliott, who previously made a 61-yard kick in 2017. Or they could’ve tried to throw for a first down on 4th-and-12 from Cincy’s 46-yard line.

Instead, Pederson opted for the tie.

Admitting his mistake now obviously doesn’t solve anything. But I guess it’s better than being stubborn about it.

On a different note, Pederson was asked about potentially benching Carson Wentz and replacing him with Jalen Hurts. He immediately shot that down:

“No. No. You don’t go there. That is a knee-jerk reaction. That is a reaction to things that are sometimes, you know, the aura that is out there. That is not what we believe internally and we are going to continue to get better. Carson is our quarterback. We are going to get it fixed, he is going to get it fixed and you know, we got a long season — we are only a half-game out of first place for goodness sakes. The whole division right now is not playing very good football. So, we are not that far off.”

With Wentz playing as poorly as he is, it’s really not insane to wonder if Hurts could do better. This isn’t to suggest Hurts is the savior and there aren’t many other issues with the offense. But Wentz’s inaccuracy is a major issue. It’s untenable.

.@eagles have to straighten out the QB. There are plays to be made. And it’s not a pass protection issue. DougP comes out of the West Coast System. Short passes; long runs...only if the QB is accurate #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/vW143yZyrd
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 28, 2020

The Eagles can’t be surprised that these questions are being asked. They opened this can of worms by drafting Hurts at No. 53 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Jalen Hurts pick:

- Potentially caused the franchise QB you just extended to panic
- Made you pass up on at the minimum a handful of rookies that are already impressing that would be starting right now for the Eagles
- Caused massive media/fan hysteria to bench franchise QB
— nation of eagles (@NationOfEagles) September 28, 2020

We’ll hear more from Pederson when he speaks with Eagles reporters around noon today.

Eagles vs. Bengals snap counts: Still no production from J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 10:28:03 GMT

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Playing time tracker.

Let’s break down the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their laughable Week 3 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.

OFFENSE

Matt Pryor got the start at right guard with Nate Herbig taking over at left guard.
Jason Peters got hurt late in overtime. John Clark reports he’s not seriously injured and will be fine. Jordan Mailata came in to play left tackle when JP was out.
Zach Ertz led all skill players in playing time. He saw 10 targets for seven receptions and 70 yards. Including a big 30-yard grab on the Eagles’ final drive of regulation to tie the game.
John Hightower played 40% of the Eagles’ snaps in Week 1 before dropping down to 10% in Week 2. With DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside all getting hurt, he led all Eagles receivers in playing time in Week 3. Not an ideal scenario to have your 2020 fifth-round pick in that spot. Hightower saw three targets and caught two balls for 19 yards. He also drew two pass interference penalties.
Greg Ward only saw 18% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps in Week 2. Dallas Goedert’s injury in this game forced the Eagles to use more 11 personnel instead of 12. Ward caught eight of his 11 targets for 72 yards and one touchdown (in part thanks to a blown coverage).
Miles Sanders played 71 snaps but only had 22 total offensive touches: 18 carries and four receptions. The Eagles should’ve given him more rushing attempts. They did try to get him more involved in the passing attack but Carson Wentz overthrew him on multiple plays.
Deontay Burnett had three receptions for 19 yards after being elevated from the practice squad.
Richard Rodgers caught his two targets for 15 yards. He was getting playing time over JJAW as a receiver. You can only laugh.
Jackson left due to a hamstring injury but it’s reportedly “not considered too serious.” Jackson has 10 receptions for 121 yards and zero scores so far this season.
JJAW was just such a bad pick. Maybe he would’ve played more if he didn’t get hurt before the game but injuries also hampered him last year. It’s not a good excuse. JJAW has played 62 snaps this year and he’s been targeted twice for zero receptions. Very cool. Meanwhile, D.K. Metcalf is still very awesome.
Boston Scott’s three carries gained five yards. He was targeted on a screen but Wentz threw way wide of him.
Corey Clement is up to nine carries for 27 rushing yards this year. He has two receptions for two receiving yards. Not giving this team much.
Jalen Hurts had a nice designed run for eight yards and a first down. Then he fumbled on an RPO exchange but fortunately recovered.

DEFENSE

Rodney McLeod hasn’t missed a snap this year.
Jalen Mills had a productive day on the box score with five total tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits. But he also had issues in coverage, including committing defensive pass interference in the end zone to set up a Bengals touchdown.
Darius Slay came out of the game and to get his arm looked at before returning.
Cre’Von LeBlanc saw a big boost in playing time after only logging 4% of the Eagles’ snaps in Week 2. Good to see because Strap is a good player. LeBlanc was the primary nickel cornerback with Nickell Robey-Coleman seeing a decrease in playing time after struggling against the Los Angeles Rams.
Brandon Graham shows up to play every single week no matter how bad the team might be around him. Four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, and two sacks in this game.
Kudos to Fletcher Cox for coming alive with three quarterback hits, one sack, and one tackle for loss. Had a good day despite playing through injury.
T.J. Edwards overtook Duke Riley as the second linebacker behind Nathan Gerry. Edwards’ pass coverage limitations were on display at times.
Malik Jackson entered this game leading all 4-3 defensive tackles in pass rush win rate. He had four quarterback hits, 0.5 sack, and 0.5 tackle for loss in this one.
Avonte Maddox was having some issues in coverage again before leaving the game early due to an ankle injury. He was replaced by veteran Trevor Williams.
Josh Sweat officially started over Derek Barnett but they both played the same exact amount of snaps. Sweat had two quarterback hits, one sack, and one tackle for loss. Barnett had two quarterback hits, two sacks, and two tackles for loss.
Javon Hargrave has failed to log a single stat through his first two Eagles games. Reminder that Philly gave him a contract worth $13 million annually this offseason, making him the league’s 13th highest paid 4-3 defensive tackle.
Genard Avery had one tackle and that’s it. With the Eagles looking bad, they potentially gave up a very high 2021 fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns just so Avery can do almost nothing for them.
Marcus Epps had a nice pass breakup in the end zone on one of his eight snaps.
As previously mentioned, Riley’s role really shrunk.
K’Von Wallace has one defensive snap over the last two games.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Davion Taylor has yet to play a defensive snap this season. It’s not like the Eagles need him, though, since they’re so set at linebacker.
Grayland Arnold played 12 special teams snaps in his NFL debut.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Alshon Jeffery, Jalen Reagor, Rudy Ford, Nate Sudfeld, Jason Huntley, Jamon Brown, Casey Toohill.

Jeffery is expected to be back in Week 4 or Week 5.
If Reagor is going to miss more than three weeks, as has been suggested, why wasn’t he placed on injured reserve to open a roster spot?

Hey, the Eagles were the only NFC East team that didn’t lose in Week 3!

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:58:45 GMT

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

hahaha

The NFC East really sucked in 2019 and the Philadelphia Eagles, who were 5-7 before rattling off four straight division wins to end the season, took advantage to clinch a playoff spot.

Might the Eagles be able to do something similar in 2020? Certainly hard to count on it with how bad the Birds look right now. But there’s no doubt that the division still stinks.

I mean, the Eagles’ pathetic tie with the Cincinnati Bengals was somehow the most successful NFC East result in Week 3. Every other team lost!

A look at the updated standings:

1) Washington Football Team: 1-2
2) Dallas Cowboys: 1-2
3) Philadelphia Eagles: 0-2-1
4) New York Giants: 0-3

Ugly.

More context to this ineptitude:

The NFC East teams have a combined score differential of -97 (all teams negative)

The NFC West teams are all positive and combined are +100
— George Chahrouri (@PFF_George) September 28, 2020

Let’s dive in a little deeper to each team.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM

The Football Team currently ranks first in the NFC East due to their division record tiebreaker (1-0) from beating the Eagles in Week 1. They’ve since lost the Arizona Cardinals by 15 points and the Cleveland Browns by 14 points. Dwayne Haskins has a 75.7 passer rating through three games so he’s not exactly proving to be a long-term answer at quarterback. One has to wonder if Alex Smith or Kyle Allen might get a look at some point.

Up next: Hosting the Baltimore Ravens (2-0). So, Washington could easily be 1-3 after Week 4.

DALLAS COWBOYS

If the Atlanta Falcons didn’t inexplicably opt not to recover the Cowboys’ onside kick attempt in Week 2, the Cowboys would be 0-3 right now. Their offense is clearly capable of putting up points; they’re tied for the sixth most points scored. But their defense is also clearly capable of giving up points; Dallas has surrendered the third most points.

Up next: Hosting the Cleveland Browns (2-1). Cleveland’s won two in a row (against bad teams) but this is still a winnable game for the Cowboys.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Carson Wentz is playing like the worst quarterback in the NFL right now. He can’t consistently throw accurate passes to save his life. It’s kind of a gigantic issue.

Up next: At the San Francisco 49ers (2-1). The Niners are banged up but that didn’t stop them from blowing out the Giants. The Eagles could be looking at 0-3-1 ahead of playing the Pittsburgh Steelers and then Baltimore. So, the Birds might still be alive in theory, but they could easily be 0-5-1 in a few weeks.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Daniel Jones has accounted for twice as many turnovers (4) as touchdowns (2) through three games. Not a winning formula. The G-Men own the second worst point differential in the NFL at -41.

Up next: At the Los Angeles Rams (2-1). The Rams are looking good. The Giants are staring 0-4 in the face.

On the bright side, the NFC East being so bad keeps the Eagles’ playoff hopes alive!

On the dark side, the Eagles clearly need to make significant changes and barely winning an awful division for the second year in a row could be a false positive that hinders the team’s long-term outlook.

Nick Foles led the Bears to a comeback win on the same day Carson Wentz failed to beat the ...

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:06:59 GMT

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

BDN now the guy in Chicago.

It’s really only fitting that on the same day that Carson Wentz mightily struggled in a Philadelphia Eagles tie against the Cincinnati Bengals, Nick Foles led the Chicago Bears to a big comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons.

You know, because we all needed more Wentz verus Foles discussion back in our lives. 2020, truly a wonderful year, was really missing that.

Foles taking over for Mitchell Trubisky always felt like an inevitably. Trubisky obviously stinks and Chicago employs a number of Foles allies on their coaching staff in head coach Matt Nagy (Foles’ offensive coordinator in 2016), offensive coordinator Bill Lazor (Foles’ quarterbacks coach in 2013), and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo (Foles’ quarterbacks coach in 2017).

Sure enough, Foles came in with the Bears down by 16 points with 9:58 remaining in the third quarter. He threw a pick on his first drive but bounced back and ultimately led the Bears to 17 unanswered points to win the game. Foles made a great throw to take the lead:

Nick Foles was legitimately bad for most of this game & extremely lucky on several plays, but this last throw is

If he sees 1-on-1 he's putting it up & trusting his guy to go get it. pic.twitter.com/xNvNR6JCeM
— Michael Kist (@MichaelKistNFL) September 28, 2020

He Just Wins™.

Of course, it almost didn’t go so well for BDN. He nearly turned the ball over on a couple plays. Including throwing off his back foot into triple coverage ...

Same drive.. he throws a TD to Anthony Miller the next play... Atlanta just REFUSES to make a play - pic.twitter.com/am97fWmIFq
— Michael Kist (@MichaelKistNFL) September 28, 2020

Hm, Falcons defenders inexplicably failing to pick off Foles? You don’t say.

Foles was incredibly mediocre up until this play.

If Keanu Neal didn’t jump here, the Eagles don’t have a Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/oHmgSBdJil
— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) March 14, 2020

Seriously, though, good for Foles for getting a win — and presumably the starting job moving forward — with his new team. Always nice to see Eagles’ only Super Bowl MVP in franchise history do well.

Just annoying that it’s happening while Wentz is really struggling.

And, no, the Eagles aren’t going to be bringing Foles back to Philly. If he’s succeeding with Chicago, they’re going to have no desire to move on from BDN.

The Linc - "It’s officially time to be concerned” about Carson Wentz

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 07:24:47 GMT

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/28/20.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Eagles, Carson Wentz’s stock free-falling following troubling tie with Bengals - ESPN
It’s officially time to be concerned about the Philadelphia Eagles and their leader, quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz made some plays late in regulation to force overtime but had his third shaky outing in as many starts in a 23-23 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Wentz completed 29-of-47 passes for 225 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, as the Eagles move to 0-2-1. Wentz now has six picks on the year — one less than he had all of last season. A microcosm of his struggles came late in the third quarter, as he failed to find a wide-open John Hightower on a rollout to his left, and followed that with a misplaced ball to Zach Ertz that resulted in his second turnover of the game. With that interception, Wentz became the first Eagles QB with multiple interceptions in three straight games since Ron Jaworski in 1985. That was the season the Eagles drafted Randall Cunningham in the second round, signaling the beginning of the end of Jaworski’s time in Philadelphia.

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Bengals game - PhillyVoice
4) The ‘Sailing Away’ Award: Carson Wentz’s accuracy. Even in his outstanding season in 2017, Wentz was never going to be mistaken for Joe Montana on the accuracy front. But Good Lord, his regression in that area has been stunning. I could name a bunch of the bad throws, but I know I’d leave some out, so the exercise of showing how inaccurate he was is probably best saved for another day. But you all saw it. There’s no more blame for wide receivers dropping passes, or poor protection, or anything else. He’s simply just missing his targets. He was so inaccurate today that his best throw of the day was arguably to Zach Ertz, who may or may not have been the intended target, lol. Ertz was running a route directly behind John Hightower, and when the ball sailed over Hightower’s head, it landed in Ertz’s hands, in stride.

Roob’s observations after Eagles punt their way to embarrassing tie with Bengals - NBCSP
3. OK, let’s talk Carson. We saw some signs of life late in the game. He kept fighting, and you give him credit for that. He made some big plays on a fourth quarter drive that forced overtime. He almost got the Eagles into field goal range twice in overtime. But let’s be honest. It never should have gotten to that point, and I’m not going to sit here and celebrate a tie against the freaking Bengals. The bottom line is once again Wentz wasn’t good enough and he hasn’t been good enough all year. The mistakes, the misfires, the fumbles, the interceptions continue, with no end in sight. That’s just who Carson Wentz is right now. A good play here, a bad play there, a worse play here. And with each passing week, it just seems more and more unfixable. Wentz is now the first Eagles quarterback to throw multiple interceptions in three straight games since Ron Jaworski in 1985 and the first to throw six INTs the first three games of a season since Sonny Jurgensen in 1961. If he’s not the worst quarterback in the NFL, he’s close. And it’s not just one thing. It’s his accuracy, his decision making, his pocket presence … everything. Yeah, Wentz did show a few signs of life Sunday, and maybe he can build on them. But the disasters continue to outnumber the signs of life, and at this point I don’t see much reason for hope.

Eagles vs. Bengals: 36 winners, losers, and I dunnos - BGN
LOSERS — Everyone that has been drafted by the Eagles in the last five years that isn’t Josh Sweat. I’m not even kidding. Carson Wentz: another rough performance. Best throw of his season to Zach Ertz put the Eagles in field goal range for the first time, and I liked what I saw from his scrambling. But his interceptions were terrible decisions, he was regularly inaccurate, and he still has little playmaking ability both in terms of deep passing and in scramble drill opportunities. He doesn’t trust his receivers and probably hates the offense.

The Kist & Solak Show #196: Kissing Your Sister in OT - BGN Radio
Michael Kist & Benjamin Solak recap a thrilling(lol) overtime tie between the Eagles and Bengals w/thoughts on Doug’s late game decisons, Wentz’s performance, standouts on the defense & Three Words from the gentle listeners! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Thank You Notes - Iggles Blitz
Thank you to Howie Roseman for assembling such a young, dynamic group of players. Not just anyone could find all this talent.

Doug Pederson punting on the season shouldn’t overshadow the Eagles’ bigger offensive problems - Inquirer
But why has Wentz gone from being considered one of the league’s most promising quarterbacks to being anything but special? Pederson and Wentz were always going to be tied at the hip after the Eagles drafted him in the coach’s first season. The 27-year-old is, ultimately, the coach’s responsibility. But something’s wrong higher up at the factory that prides itself on rolling out quality quarterbacks. It was hubris that led to that draft statement from Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, and it was hubris that kept him from seeing how spending a second-round pick on a quarterback would affect the starter. Wentz is playing like he’s looking over his shoulder at Jalen Hurts, who was again on the field for two plays. But this week the rookie took snaps, while Wentz lined up wide as a receiver. There are likely other reasons for his struggles, but that it’s even a question is of the Eagles’ own doing.

What Doug Pederson’s decision to play for a tie says about the coach, the Eagles - The Athletic
Doug Pederson showed you what he thought of his team. He played for a tie. Once he realized a 64-yard field goal was out of kicker Jake Elliott’s range, Pederson appeared to make a calculation: The Bengals offense had a better chance of converting 12 yards than the Eagles offense. Pederson didn’t say that with his words. He said it with his actions. He might as well title his next book “Fearful.” He essentially looked at symmetrical situations and liked the Bengals’ side better.

NFL Week 3 PFF ReFocused: Cincinnati Bengals 23, Philadelphia Eagles 23 - PFF
Carson Wentz struggled for his third game in a row, completing just over 50% of his passes for 225 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He looked comfortable only when targeting his trusty tight end Zach Ertz or running with the football. He had nine carries go for 65 yards, including a scramble touchdown with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

In 23-23 tie, Eagles trip themselves up with mistakes - PE.com
Wentz threw two more interceptions, one on a tipped pass, and now has six interceptions and only two touchdown passes this season. He completed 29 of 47 passes for 225 yards on Sunday, although Wentz did make some things happen with his legs, running for 65 yards on nine attempts, including the one at the end of regulation that pushed the game into overtime. It didn’t help that he spent most of the game throwing to young receivers like Greg Ward, Deontay Burnett, and rookie John Hightower after Goedert went out in the first quarter and Jackson suffered his hamstring injury later in the first half. The passing game is not in sync. Wentz averaged just 4.1 yards per passing attempt, at least 3 or 4 yards fewer than desired in the NFL. Twenty-one of Wentz’s 47 attempts went to Ward (11 targets) and Ertz (10 targets). Goedert had one catch for 7 yards before his injury and Jackson had two catches for 11 yards on four targets before leaving the game.

Spending on Offense and Defense in the NFL - Over The Cap
Big Spending on Offense And Defense. Three teams in 2020 have really decided to go all out with the construction of their teams. The Eagles and the Texans both have incredibly high priced players on offense and are bit above average on defense. The 49ers have gone a bit in the other direction with higher priced defensive talent while trending slightly above the average for offense. The Eagles and Texans are both off to terrible starts and the 49ers are devastated by injuries. I think for these teams it would be a disaster to miss the playoffs.

NFL execs see Eagles’ Josh McCown as a future head coach, and it could come sooner rather than later - CBS Sports
As shocking as it sounds to talk about a current NFL player as a head-coaching candidate in short order, several current and former execs I’ve talked to who have been around McCown believe that he could be an NFL head coach within five years of retiring from the game, perhaps sooner. He could have a job as a quarterback coach right now if he wanted it, some execs told me, and would be on a fast track to quickly move to a coordinator role and, with success there, be a head coach within a year or two.

Philadelphia Eagles continue demonstrations against racial injustice, DeSean Jackson honors Breonna Taylor - PennLive
For the second straight week, members of the Eagles wore black shirts that read “Black Lives Matter” on the front and “Enough is Enough” on the back during pregame warmups. Jackson wore cleats featuring the name of Breonna Taylor and her portrait. Taylor was shot and killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, during what The New York Times called “a botched raid on her apartment” earlier this year. Taylor’s death has been a rallying point for activists during demonstrations over the summer and into the fall.

4 winners and 7 losers from Bengals’ overtime tie with Eagles - Cincy Jungle
Carl Lawson: Jason Peters looked completely washed at left tackle, and Lawson took advantage. He had a sack, a couple of pressures on Carson Wentz in first half. This was a game he needed after looking pedestrian during the first two weeks.

Five winners and five losers from the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Seattle Seahawks - Blogging The Boys
While Trevon Diggs did show some great hustle, the fact remains that he was burnt on that play. He certainly has that in common with his fellow secondary players. Russell Wilson is an amazing quarterback and therefore playing him is obviously a challenge but man, the Cowboys looked absolutely lost in the secondary. Play after play it seemed like there was a wide open Seahawks pass-catcher; consider that Tyler Lockett had three touchdowns at halftime. The unit is banged up and depending heavily on the play of a rookie second-round pick, but excuses have worn thin. This group collapsed throughout a lot of the game and was one of the main reasons why the team lost.

Instant analysis: Things I think after the Giants’ embarrassing loss to San Francisco - Big Blue View
The Giants aren’t looking for Super Bowl titles right now. They aren’t even looking for playoffs. They are looking for signs that things are getting better after going an NFL-worst 12-36 from 2017-2019. Sunday wasn’t progress. In fact, it was a stark reminder of just how far the Giants have to go. Jones isn’t getting better at limiting devastating mistakes. The defense isn’t getting better at getting off the field on third down or creating takeaways. The offensive line isn’t getting better at creating holes for running backs.

Dwayne Haskins Jr. Presser: I was trying to do too much, trying to make plays - Hogs Haven
Dwayne Haskins Jr. Spoke to the media after a turnover-filled loss to the Cleveland Browns. He threw 3 interceptions, and also lost a fumble. Haskins said he was trying to do too much, trying to make a play, or fir it into a tight window which led to the turnovers. He doesn’t feel like he was staring down receivers, even though there was a heavy focus on that from today’s announcers. He said he needs to look elsewhere if his guy is covered, or take the sack if the throw isn’t there.

Early fantasy football waiver wire adds for Week 4 - Fake Teams
WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (27% rostered). Week 3 saw a lot of rookie wide receivers breakout, but no one more than Jefferson. He caught seven of nine targets for 175 yards and a touchdown. Jefferson is a must-add this week as the Vikings are set to face the Texans, Seahawks, and Falcons next, all secondaries who love giving up fantasy points to wide receivers.

Trubisky is Benched and Chicago Bearly Paws Down a Wounded Falcons Team in Another Sloppy Win to Reach 3 and 0 - Windy City Gridiron
Hellooo Nicholas — Mitch Trubisky hasn’t played a good third quarter all season, so I suppose it made sense to put “fancy weiner” Nick Foles in after Biscuit threw his first pick of the game in the third quarter. Fun fact, the Eagles didn’t build a statue of Nick Foles because he won a super bowl for him. They built it to commemorate how well he impersonates a statue when he tries to scramble. Foles started out rough but pulled together a magical finish to a truly perplexing game.

Week 3: Josh Allen’s Pissed Off, Tony Romo’s Proud and Buffalo’s 3-0 - FMIA
Nick Foles, quarterback, Chicago. For a guy who hadn’t played in a football game in 10 months, Foles, subbing for Mitchell Trubisky five minutes into the second half of what looked like a lost-cause game at Atlanta, started predictably: interception, punt, downs. Then Foles put on his 2017 cape. Down 26-10 with eight minutes left, Foles finished three scoring drives with TD passes to Jimmy Graham, Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller—the Bears’ money men in the receiving game—and staked his claim to the starting job with a 30-26 win.

The Falcons’ back-to-back collapses aren’t just bad, they’re historic - SB Nation
Chicago was still down three after a missed two-point conversation following Graham’s touchdown. The Bears started their drive on the Atlanta 44 following a punt. After two unsuccessful plays, Foles found Miller on a 28-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field. It was a great throw from Foles under the pressure of a pass rush, but the only thing anyone will want to talk about is how Atlanta had blown another big fourth quarter lead.

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Howie Roseman continues to fail Eagles with low impact rookies

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 06:40:54 GMT

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Rookie report card.

Let’s get right to our rookie report card from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 3 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Jalen Reagor: N/A

Jalen Reagor’s absence was notable for the Eagles. Reagor only had five receptions through the first two games before injuring his thumb, but teams respected his speed in a big way. With Reagor out, it was evident the Bengals felt comfortable condensing the field.

Jalen Hurts: D

This grade has less to do with Jalen Hurts and more to do with whatever the hell the Eagles were doing with him. In a game where the passing game was abysmal and Carson Wentz looked off, Hurts saw three snaps in the backfield. One direct snap run for eight yards made it seem like Hurts could have some juice in a gadget role. From there? One hand off to Miles Sanders and a botched zone read that led to a fumble. Hurts is clearly a talented player whose athleticism (and maybe passing ability) could have been used more today. It’s early, but it is frustrating to see so little out of a second round pick while positions like receiver and cornerback continue to thin on this roster.

Davion Taylor: F+

Like Hurts’ grade, this has everything to do with the team and little to do with Taylor. The third round linebacker couldn’t see the field despite Nate Gerry and the gang getting embarrassed in the short and intermediate passing game. Taylor was a project pick, obviously, and his lack of immediate impact is glaring.

K’Von Wallace: N/A

Wallace barely saw the field aside from special teams snaps. It will be interesting if he eventually gets used as a big nickel defender with the way the linebackers are struggling.

Jack Driscoll: N/A

Despite more offensive line struggles, Jack Driscoll didn’t see the field for most of the game.

John Hightower: B-

John Hightower had the best two catch, nineteen yard, zero touchdown performance in NFL history. Well, maybe not, but Hightower drew two back-to-back penalties down the field on the Eagles’ critical tying drive late in the fourth quarter. The speedster saw 11 targets and got a lot of snaps with DeSean Jackson injured. Obviously it would be nice to see more big plays on all that opportunity, but it is hard to blame Hightower entirely with the lack of accuracy of a lot of those targets. With the Eagles receiver group even more banged up, Hightower should see the field a lot next week.

Quez Watkins: N/A

Shaun Bradley: N/A

Only played special teams. Didn’t log a stat.

Casey Toohill: N/A

Inactive

Jason Huntley: N/A

Inactive

Carson Wentz admits a tie was an awkward way to end the Bengals game

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 05:27:34 GMT

The Eagles’ QB also talked losing Dallas Goedert and DeSean Jackson.

After a very up and down day from Carson Wentz, the Eagles’ quarterback spoke to the media after the game about losing some key offensive contributors, how it felt to end in a tie, and a bit about his performance against the Bengals.

Here’s what the QB had to say:

On losing Dallas Goedert and DeSean Jackson

Wentz said that it’s tough losing a guy like Dallas Goedert, who is important in protections and the run game, but is also a playmaker with the ball in his hands.

“He’s a big part of our game plan every week, so losing him, we obviously had to make some adjustments on the fly, makes it tough. And then losing D-Jack at halftime made it tough as well. Just trying to get guys going in the right place and try and bring it all together. It’s definitely challenging in the middle of a game, but I thought guys did a good job of filling those spots when they could.”

He also said that he was proud of how the guys rallied to tie things up at the end of regulation — especially having some different guys within the plays they planned to run.

On his reaction to the call to punt for the tie

“I understood the decision.
Tying is no fun. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a tie, so it’s just kind of an awkward way to end the game. But, frustrating when you have a chance there to kick a field goal — even with our drive offensively, a couple times, we felt like were in field goal range and we had plays and then we had penalties, and things just kept backing us up.
The fight was there. The effort was there from guys. We just got to be smarter, play cleaner. I got to be better as well. It was a frustrating way to end the game, for sure.”

Similarly, Wentz supported Doug Pederson’s decision to tie things up rather than go for two, and noted that both plays were coach’s call.

On his interceptions and performance

Wentz explained that on the first interception, he felt good about it but the ball got tipped at the line — with a smirk, he admitted it was a bad feeling watching the ball flutter through the air. For his second interception, Wentz was being aggressive and trying to get one in to Zach Ertz, but a guy made a good play and that’s something he has to be better with.

He was also asked to talk about some of the ups and downs he had throughout the game — overshooting Miles Sanders, but then a nice pass to Ertz. Wentz noted that you’ll have both in games, but that he has to be better.

“Some of them are communication, just making sure we’re on the same page with everybody, and some are just poor throws and I gotta be better.”

Wentz also said that they’re still meshing and gelling as a team, and building the chemistry they need as a group. They’re not using it as an excuse, but as some of the new and young guys get more experience, they’ll all be better.

Eagles vs. Bengals: 36 winners, losers, and I dunnos

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:45:59 GMT

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t read this unless you want to be very sad

The Eagles and the Bengals TIED.

Winners

Josh Sweat

Josh Sweat delivered on the chance the coaching staff game him early this season, notching his second start in the young season and immediately returning with a third down, drive-ending sack. Sweat was a pressure monster on late downs for the Eagles, regularly arriving with Eagles’ big money players in Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox, and while he still wasn’t perfect against the run, you’ll give up a chunk gain or two for that pass rush production. He should continue to hold the starting job over Derek Barnett, though I will believe that only when I see it.

Losers

Everyone that has been drafted by the Eagles in the last five years that isn’t Josh Sweat

I’m not even kidding.

2016

Carson Wentz: another rough performance. Best throw of his season to Zach Ertz put the Eagles in field goal range for the first time, and I liked what I saw from his scrambling. But his interceptions were terrible decisions, he was regularly inaccurate, and he still has little playmaking ability both in terms of deep passing and in scramble drill opportunities. He doesn’t trust his receivers and probably hates the offense.
Isaac Seumalo: out, injured
Wendell Smallwood: Steelers practice squad
Halapoulivaati Vaitai: playing guard for the Lions, poorly
Blake Countess: I don’t even know, not willing to Google
Jalen Mills: Had some sacks! But there’s an old adage that you blitz the players you think are bad in coverage, and Mills made no impact cover plays against a team that was ripping them up with slot WR Tyler Boyd.
Alex McCalister: out of the league
Joe Walker: got promoted to the active roster today in San Francisco, so that’s nice!

2017

Derek Barnett: Two sacks is a good stat sheet but, as everyone knows, he beat a tight end on the first one — the DB special. He continues to be a solid player drafted at an elite player’s price
Sidney Jones: Did someone pick him up? Someone had to have, right?
Rasul Douglas: Taking snaps for Carolina, big ups Sul, hope he prospers elsewhere
Mack Hollins: Special-teamer for Miami
Donnel Pumphrey: I don’t wanna talk about that
Nate Gerry: Bumfuzzled on yet another red zone touchdown pass. How do the Eagles possibly justify keeping him on the field?
Elijah Qualls: I think he had a sack for the DC Defenders once

2018

Dallas Goedert: Got hurt
Avonte Maddox: Got hurt, not playing great beforehand
Josh Sweat: See top of post
Matt Pryor: Absolute worst play of the game, just unforgivable
Jordan Mailata: What if he starts next week? What happens then?

2019

Andre Dillard: Got hurt, but that might make our perception better of him than if he were playing!
Miles Sanders: Okay he played fine, sorry, I’m doing a bit here.
J.J. Arcega-Whitside: LMAOOOOOOOO
Shareef Miller: Oh my goodness I forgot about this pick
Clayton Thorson: QB Factory pt. 1

2020

Jalen Reagor: Got hurt, still figuring out his role
Jalen Hurts: Imagine if the Bengals had recovered that fumble. What the people would have done.
Davion Taylor: At some point you have to play him just to help him develop, right?
K’Von Wallace: At some point you have to play him just to help him develop, right?
Jack Driscoll: From Week 1 starter to probably behind Mailata on the depth chart. Suboptimal!
John Hightower: He’s also been fine for a fifth-rounder, again, I’m just trying to do a bit here
Shaun Bradley: At some point you have to play him just to help him develop, right?
Quez Watkins: At some point you have to play—oh wait, he’s on IR, sorry.
Prince Tega Wanogho: Practice squad, probably gonna get elevated if he’s healthy enough?
Casey Toohill: At some point you have to play him just to help him develop, right?

I Dunnos

Doug Pederson

I don’t know how Doug Pederson is justifying the decision to not even try to win the game, nor do I know how he’s going to retain the locker room’s faith with that decision. I do know that he’s going to heel turn on it tomorrow and say he wished he would have kicked it.

Sunday Night Football: Packers vs. Saints

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:07:34 GMT

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Watch SNF here.

Sunday’s slate of game ends with the Green Bay Packers (2-0) on the road against the New Orleans Saints (1-1) on Sunday Night Football.

The Packers lead the all-time series between these teams, 16-9, but the Saints have won the past two. They most recently faced off in Oct. 2017 when the Saints got the victory at Lambeau Field.

Both of these quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees— are capable of making this a high-scoring, offensively driven matchup. I really don’t want to root for the Saints, but I’ll always root for Malcolm Jenkins.

Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints

TV Schedule

Game time: 8:20 PM EST

Channel: NBC

Date: Sunday, September 27, 2019

Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome | New Orleans, LA

Online Streaming

FuboTV: https://fave.co/2qoH7KA

Odds

Green Bay Packers: +3.5 (+155)

New Orleans Saints: -3.5 (-175)

Over/under: 54 points

SB Nation Blogs

Packers: www.AcmePackingCompany.com

Saints: www.CanalStreetChronicles.com

This is an open thread — discuss the game in the comments below!

Dallas Goedert reportedly "expected to miss some time” after getting hurt in Eagles vs. ...

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 23:28:09 GMT

Photo by Yong Kim-Pool/Getty Images

Sigh.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Philadelphia Eagles are dealing with another significant injury.

Dallas Goedert is reportedly “expected to miss some time” after suffering an ankle ailment during the Eagles’ Week 3 tie against the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL insider Ian Rapoport adds that Goedert will have an MRI and “his status going forward is now in doubt.”

Goedert led the Eagles in targets, receptions, and receiving yards heading into Week 2. He actually still leads with 131 receiving yards despite getting hurt early in Sunday’s game. It’s certainly not ideal for the Eagles to be losing a promising young talent. Especially when other pass catching options like Jalen Reagor, Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside are also dealing with various injuries.

If Goedert’s injury is going to force him to miss at least three week, the Eagles will likely look to put him on injured reserve. They’ll be left with Zach Ertz and Richard Rodgers on the 53-man roster in that case. The former should continue to see a majority of Carson Wentz’s targets. And unless the Eagles are comfortable with playing Rodgers a lot (which they shouldn’t be), they’ll have to decrease their 12 personnel usage and rely on 11 personnel instead. Note that the Eagles also have Caleb Wilson and Jordan Franks on the practice squad and could look to call one up.

All told, just another bad development during a bad Eagles season.

Other injuries from Sunday’s game:

DeSean Jackson left with a hamstring injury and did not return.
Avonte Maddox left with an ankle injury and did not return.
Darius Slay injured his arm but returned.
Jason Peters got hurt late in overtime.
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside somehow got hurt before the game began but still played.

I’m told JJ Arcega Whiteside had some lower body discomfort during pregame. He was able to play through it but the Eagles limited his snaps some

Eagles were down Jalen Reagor, lost DeSean Jackson, and JJ was limited https://t.co/hFXg7Vozdr
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 27, 2020

Doug Pederson explains Eagles’ decision to punt for the tie in overtime against the Bengals

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 22:38:07 GMT

The head coach also explains not going for 2 near the end of the 4th quarter.

Ugh. The Eagles ended their Week 3 game with a very weird (read: dumb) tie after overtime against the Bengals. Head coach Doug Pederson spoke to reporters following the game about his decision to punt for the tie, about his message to the team, and whether their issues are scheme-based or with execution.

Here’s what the head coach had to say:

On not kicking the 64-yard FG in OT

Pederson explained that they were going to go for the win, and they were in Jake Elliott’s range at 59 yards, but then Matt Pryor drew a flag and pushed them back. They decided then to go ahead and punt, rather than risk giving the Bengals the ball back towards mid-field, give them a short field and allow them to kick a field goal and win the game.

“Just made that decision, and hopefully something positive might have come out of the punt.”

The head coach was later asked about how deciding to punt in that situation might affect the players, who have gained confidence with Pederson’s aggressive mindset over the years.

“That’s probably a decision I’ll look back on tomorrow and say we could’ve done something else, but it is what it is. We’ll learn from it — I’ll learn from it — and we’ll get better.”

On not going for 2 points at the end of the 4th quarter

“I did consider it, but I also felt like the way our offense was playing, you know, down the stretch — battled to get ourselves back in position —, Carson in overtime, I felt comfortable there to just kick the extra point and then put it back in our offense’s hands at that time. So, just elected to kick the extra point.”

On his message to the team

“I told them in the locker room after the game that we weren’t a very smart football team today. I think, 11 penalties, came at crucial times and we couldn’t get off the field on defense, and offensively we didn’t execute well enough. We had some injuries, and, you know, that’s going to be part of the game. But, just not a smart football team right now, and that’s on me, and we’ll get that fixed as we get ready for this next week.
I like how our team battled. Hung in there. Came back to tie the game at the end. But, just overall, not very smart today, not very disciplined, when those are some of the things we talk about quite a bit.”

On Carson Wentz

When asked if Wentz’s mechanics were the reason why he was missing so many throws, Pederson simply answered, “No,” and didn’t care to elaborate.

On scheme vs. execution

Pederson talked about how there was an execution problem on Sunday, and they’re turning the ball over without the defense getting take-aways. Winning the turnover margin was something that they focused on during the week, and they didn’t do that. He has to continue to talk to the team about that, and they have to catch a break and give the offense a short yard at some point.

“The penalties today were more costly, like I said, and can’t happen.”

He agreed that looking back they probably could have gone to the run game a little more, but at the time, the Bengals defense did some things with their nickel-edge pressures that deterred them a bit from their ground game. They knew that could be a possibility going into the matchup, with the Bengals often showing different fronts, but they thought they could make some gains with the ball in Carson Wentz’s hand.

On the offense’s lack of chemistry

Pederson noted that it is hard with so many moving pieces due to injury, but they’re not making excuses for anything. They have to continue to work, and practice, and get better. It was tough to find a rhythm against the Bengals, with the Cincinnati defense mixing up some of their looks and fronts.

FINAL SCORE: Eagles tie the Bengals, 23 to 23

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 20:59:37 GMT

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

Tried to tell everyone it was gonna happen.

The Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals tied! Just like I told you they would. Final score: 23 to 23.

God, what a stupid game.

Read on for a recap and some instant postgame thoughts, I guess!

FIRST QUARTER

The Bengals got the ball first and moved to mid-field before a Josh Sweat sack on third down forced Cincy to punt. Sweat got the start at right defensive end over Derek Barnett. Cre’Von LeBlanc was also first up as the Eagles’ nickel cornerback.

Josh Sweat with the double hand swipe on Jonah Williams pic.twitter.com/HRohrPsJr0
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) September 27, 2020

The Eagles started DeSean Jackson and John Hightower on the outside at wide receiver with Greg Ward in the slot. Carson Wentz overthrew Jackson deep on the first play. Miles Sanders had a couple nice runs and then Wentz threw an interception. The ball was tipped but it didn’t look like a good decision anyway ... Wentz’s intended target was well covered on this:

.@Djread98 with the assist to @ljw21!

: #CINvsPHI LIVE on CBS pic.twitter.com/kkUQKX7MTi
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 27, 2020

A look at the dots on Logan Wilson's INT (via NFL Next Gen) pic.twitter.com/7XBVDW7Mnz
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) September 27, 2020

Carson Wentz has now thrown 5 interceptions in 8.5 quarters.

He threw 7 interceptions in all of 2019. #Eagles
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 27, 2020

The Bengals couldn’t take advantage of Wentz’s turnover. The Eagles had to burn a timeout with the Bengals punting on 4th-and-2 because they had too many men on the field.
The Eagles moved into the red zone with Wentz escaping a sack and getting hit late out of bounds for a 15-yard penalty. The Eagles got down to the 3-yard line before Wentz took a six-yard sack to end the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

Jake Elliott drilled his 27-yard field goal attempt. 16 players to only come up with three there. EAGLES 3, BENGALS 0.
Another stalled drive for the Bengals. The defense came to play after struggling last week.
Another stalled drive for the Eagles. This offense did not come to play after struggling last week.
Burrow got knocked out of the game after a real big hit from Malik Jackson. Ouch! Vicious play but not sure how that was a roughing penalty. Brutal hits aren’t automatically illegal. Burrow came back into the game (tough dude!) and got sacked by Barnett on third down to bring up a punt.

Joe Burrow got absolutely drilled pic.twitter.com/YiHYQFatsj
— Vikings Blogger (@firstandskol) September 27, 2020

The Eagles went three-and-out again with Doug Pederson curiously not opting to run the ball.
The Bengals moved into field goal range and Randy Bullock hit a 48-yard field goal attempt to tie things up. What a thrilling game it was to this point. EAGLES 3, BENGALS 3.
The Eagles used 10 plays to get in position for another field goal attempt. Scintillating stuff. EAGLES 6, BENGALS 3.

Eagles drives in the first half against the Bengals:

INT
FG (took 16 plays)
Punt (three-and-out)
Punt (three-and-out)
FG (took 10 plays)
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 27, 2020

The Bengals drove the length of the field and got a goal-to-go at the 1-yard line with Jalen Mills committing a pass interference penalty in the end zone. Burrow tossed a touchdown to Tee Higgins to give Cincy their first lead. EAGLES 6, BENGALS 10.

9️⃣ TO 8️⃣5️⃣

: #CINvsPHI LIVE on CBS pic.twitter.com/LMzMyhVxjY
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 27, 2020

The Bengals kicked the ball out of bounds like idiots to give the Eagles the ball at Philly’s 40-yard line. A Sanders run moved the Eagles into Cincy territory. Wentz fumbled for the 51st time in 59 games. Then he threw a touchdown to a wide open Greg Ward to give the Eagles the lead back. Helped that the Bengals blew their coverage. EAGLES 13, BENGALS 10.

Greg Ward doing Greg Ward things.#CINvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly

: CBS pic.twitter.com/HiBrz1vxGe
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 27, 2020

Carson Wentz becomes just the fifth QB in @Eagles history to record 100+ passing TDs.

He is the fastest player in team history to reach that milestone, doing so in 59 starts.#FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/PMSexHaxPs
— John Gonoude (@john_gonoude) September 27, 2020

THIRD QUARTER

The Eagles got Jalen Hurts in at quarterback (!) with Wentz lined up out wide and Hurts ran for eight yards to pick up a first down. The Eagles’ drive stalled with Ward tackled for a loss on a sweep and then for no gain a screen. Elliott made his 54-yard field goal attempt to put the Birds up six. EAGLES 16, BENGALS 10.
Burrow looked good leading the Bengals down the field on a 10-play, 76-yard touchdown drive capped off by another Higgins score. The Bengals went right after Trevor Williams, who had to come in for an injured Avonte Maddox. Nathan Gerry was also lost in coverage yet again, drink. EAGLES 16, BENGALS 17.

Trevor Williams comes in for Avonte Maddox, gets beat for TD

Eagles losing 17 to 16
pic.twitter.com/qL661ANXzK
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 27, 2020

Oh Nate Gerry.... pic.twitter.com/45LCzGyHIb
— Bleeding Green Nation (@BleedingGreen) September 27, 2020

Wentz had John Hightower wide open beyond the sticks on a rollout ... and opted to throw at Ward’s feet along the sideline for an incompletion. He followed that play up with his SIXTH interception of the season. Just brutal, man. What happened to this guy?

FOURTH QUARTER

Marcus Epps (!) did a nice job of breaking up a fade route to make the Bengals settle for a 31-yard field goal. EAGLES 16, BENGALS 20.
Wentz accidentally (?) completed a target to Hightower to Ertz. Hurts came in for another quarterback snap and fumbled the RPO exchange but the Eagles recovered. Wentz had Sanders open streaking down the sideline on 3rd-and-10 but overthrew him. The Eagles had to punt.

Carson Wentz just slammed his helmet on the sideline after another overthrow, missing Miles Sanders for a TD pic.twitter.com/YzIXCL3KCd
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 27, 2020

Burrow made an incredible play for a Bengals first down ...

IS JOE BURROW FOR REAL? pic.twitter.com/UP4dG7HVVw
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 27, 2020

... but the Eagles challenged and it was called back for illegal touching. The Bengals were at 3rd-and-15 and Jim Schwartz had his actually usually effective sticks defense on the field ... but to no avail! Cincy gained 42 yards on a quick Burrow pass to Gio Bernard. Cincy got knocked back to 3rd-and-goal from the 15-yard line and had to settle for a 25-yard field goal. EAGLES 16, BENGALS 23.

The Eagles took over with 3:05 left in the game. They moved into Cincy territory with two pass interference penalties drawn by Hightower. Positive impact by a young guy! The Eagles reached 3rd-and-3 from the 12-yard line with 0:56 left. Wentz completed to Ward to bring up 1st-and-goal from the 7-yard line. Wentz took off running and got into end zone to tie the game. Credit to Wentz for finding a way to get the Eagles to overtime. EAGLES 23, BENGALS 23.

The effort on this TD >#CINvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly

: CBS pic.twitter.com/0Tchcea4ZK
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 27, 2020

The Bengals took a knee to run out the clock and get the game to OT.

OVERTIME

The Bengals won the coin toss and elected to receive. They couldn’t do much on offense thanks to good coverage from Darius Slay. Punt.
The Eagles took over at their own 11-yard line. They got to 3rd-and-8 and Wentz threw the ball at Sanders’ feet. Just another bad throw. Punt.
The Bengals took over at their own 41-yard line. They lost 11 yards and went three-and-out.
The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line. Wentz made a great, accurate throw (!) down the field to Ertz to move the Eagles into Bengals territory. Great catch from Ertz as well. Holding penalty on Lane Johnson knocked the Eagles back to their own 48-yard line. On 3rd-and-19, Wentz made another bad overthrow out of bounds while targeting Sanders. Punt.

CARSON WENTZ OVERTIME DIME

pic.twitter.com/fITwmN1Yh2
— PFF (@PFF) September 27, 2020

The Bengals took over at their own 9-yard line with 2:56 left in the game. Nickell Robey-Coleman got beat over the top by Higgins but still managed to break up the pass to bring up 3rd-and-16. Huge play. Fletcher Cox sacked Burrow to force a punt. The Eagles called their second and final timeout of overtime.
The Eagles took over at their own 45-yard line with 1:41 remaining in the game. They moved to the Bengals’ 41-yard line. Wentz’s third down throw was knocked down and Elliott came in to attempt a long field goal. But then Matt Pryor got called for a false start! And the Eagles brought in the punt team! And took a delay of game penalty to push them back even further! What the fuck?!?!
The Bengals ran a play and the clock expired. Lololololol.

FINAL SCORE: 23 to 23, tie game

RAPID REACTION

What an unsatisfying result! What does a tie really even do for this Eagles team? A win would’ve kept the season on life support. A loss would’ve cemented their status as a truly awful team. A tie ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
The Eagles are still definitely bad, though.
Another week where I find myself asking what happened to Big Balls Doug. Playing for the tie?! Seriously?!
Wentz is still looking pretty not good! On the positive side, he did some nice things with his legs today and came up big at the end of regulation. But, man, it feels like his struggles are making him not far off from being bench-worthy.
Jason Peters, who made the Eagles give him a raise to play left tackle, did not play well at left tackle. Can they get a refund?
There’s obviously a lot of blame to go around for the Eagles stinking. But do not forget to include Howie Roseman:

I know Lurie’s at the game, but I wonder if he’s really watching. If he is, he can’t miss the pervasive rot throughout this roster. They’re old, bad and expensive. Howie is responsible for all three.
— Derek / IgglesBlog (@igglesblog) September 27, 2020

INJURIES

Dallas Goedert got banged up after making a first quarter catch. Ankle injury. Didn’t return.
DeSean Jackson was getting looked at on the trainer’s table late during the second quarter. Hamstring injury. Didn’t return.
Avonte Maddox got hurt while tackling Tyler Boyd late in the third quarter. He limped off the field with a trainer straight to the locker room as opposed to getting looked at on the sideline. Maddox hurt his ankle.
Darius Slay got hurt in the second half but was able to return after getting looked at in the locker room.
Jason Peters got hurt late in overtime. Jordan Mailata came in to play left tackle.

Eagles vs. Bengals overtime game thread

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 20:11:33 GMT

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Free football

The Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals are tied after four quarters: 23 to 23.

Discuss overtime in the comments below!

Eagles vs. Bengals fourth quarter open thread

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 19:26:19 GMT

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

After the third quarter, the Eagles trail by a score of 17 to 16.

This is your fourth quarter thread for the 2020 Week 3 Philadelphia Eagles vs. Cincinnati Bengals game. Join the discussion in the comments below!

Here is some basic information to help guide you through the game:

How to watch the game - TV schedule and online streaming information;
Follow me on Twitter: @BrandonGowton;
Follow along with Bengals fans at Cincy Jungle;
Live game stats;
Eagles full regular season schedule;
Current Eagles depth chart;
Current Eagles roster

LIVE BLOG UPDATES

...

Note: This is an open thread. Discuss the fourth quarter here and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.

And just a few reminders about the new commenting sections:

If you change the ‘Sort By’ option to “Oldest,” you can read all the comments in chronological order, and the comment box moves to the bottom. If you leave it as “Newest”, the latest comments will appear at the top
If you’re using a computer, you can move down the comments using C, and move back up using shift-C by clicking once inside the comments area. This can also be used to ‘load more’ comments
Under the ‘My Profile’ tab, you can keep track of replies to your comments, and also sign up for email notifications of replies
If you want to auto-show all images/GIFs/Tweets, you can opt into this under My Profile - Preferences

Eagles vs. Bengals third quarter open thread

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 18:39:32 GMT

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

After the second quarter, the Eagles lead the Bengals by a score of 13 to 10.

This is your third quarter thread for the 2020 Week 3 Philadelphia Eagles vs. Cincinnati Bengals game. Join the discussion in the comments below!

Here is some basic information to help guide you through the game:

How to watch the game - TV schedule and online streaming information;
Follow me on Twitter: @BrandonGowton;
Follow along with Bengals fans at Cincy Jungle;
Live game stats;
Eagles full regular season schedule;
Current Eagles depth chart;
Current Eagles roster

LIVE BLOG UPDATES

...

Note: This is an open thread. Discuss the third quarter here and stay tuned for new threads after each quarter!

And just a few reminders about the new commenting sections:

If you change the ‘Sort By’ option to “Oldest,” you can read all the comments in chronological order, and the comment box moves to the bottom. If you leave it as “Newest”, the latest comments will appear at the top
If you’re using a computer, you can move down the comments using C, and move back up using shift-C by clicking once inside the comments area. This can also be used to ‘load more’ comments
Under the ‘My Profile’ tab, you can keep track of replies to your comments, and also sign up for email notifications of replies
If you want to auto-show all images/GIFs/Tweets, you can opt into this under My Profile - Preferences

Eagles vs. Bengals second quarter open thread

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 17:33:43 GMT

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

After the first quarter, the Eagles and Bengals are tied at 0 to 0.

This is your second quarter thread for the 2020 Week 3 Philadelphia Eagles vs. Cincinnati Bengals game. Join the discussion in the comments below!

Here is some basic information to help guide you through the game:

How to watch the game - TV schedule and online streaming information;
Follow me on Twitter: @BrandonGowton;
Follow along with Bengals fans at Cincy Jungle;
Live game stats;
Eagles full regular season schedule;
Current Eagles depth chart;
Current Eagles roster

LIVE BLOG UPDATES

...

Note: This is an open thread. Discuss the second quarter here and stay tuned for new threads after each quarter!

And just a few reminders about the new commenting sections:

If you change the ‘Sort By’ option to “Oldest,” you can read all the comments in chronological order, and the comment box moves to the bottom. If you leave it as “Newest”, the latest comments will appear at the top
If you’re using a computer, you can move down the comments using C, and move back up using shift-C by clicking once inside the comments area. This can also be used to ‘load more’ comments
Under the ‘My Profile’ tab, you can keep track of replies to your comments, and also sign up for email notifications of replies
If you want to auto-show all images/GIFs/Tweets, you can opt into this under My Profile - Preferences

Eagles vs. Bengals first quarter open thread

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 16:00:00 GMT

Here we go.

Can the Philadelphia Eagles avoid dropping to 0-3 for the first time since the 1999 NFL season?

That’s the question today as the Eagles host the also-winless Cincinnati Bengals at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles have multiple matchups working in their favor but that’s not going to mean much if they fail to execute like they have over the first two weeks. It goes without saying that Carson Wentz needs to be a lot less worse.

Let’s see if they can get it done.

Here is some basic information to help guide you through the game:

How to watch the game - TV schedule and online streaming information;
Follow me on Twitter: @BrandonGowton;
Follow along with Bengals fans at Cincy Jungle;
Live game stats;
Eagles full regular season schedule;
Current Eagles depth chart;
Current Eagles roster

LIVE BLOG UPDATES

...

Note: This is an open thread. Discuss the first quarter here and stay tuned for new threads after each quarter!

And just a few reminders about the new commenting sections:

If you change the ‘Sort By’ option to “Oldest,” you can read all the comments in chronological order, and the comment box moves to the bottom. If you leave it as “Newest”, the latest comments will appear at the top
If you’re using a computer, you can move down the comments using C, and move back up using shift-C by clicking once inside the comments area. This can also be used to ‘load more’ comments
Under the ‘My Profile’ tab, you can keep track of replies to your comments, and also sign up for email notifications of replies
If you want to auto-show all images/GIFs/Tweets, you can opt into this under My Profile - Preferences

Eagles vs. Bengals inactives: Fletcher Cox is ACTIVE, Jalen Hurts is the No. 2 QB again

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 15:38:17 GMT

Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

Who’s in and who’s out.

The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced the inactives list for their 2020 NFL Week 3 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The following seven Eagles players have been ruled INACTIVE: Alshon Jeffery, Jalen Reagor, Rudy Ford, Nate Sudfeld, Jason Huntley, Jamon Brown, and Casey Toohill.

The big news is that Fletcher Cox is ACTIVE despite being ruled questionable on the final injury report. To be determined how much he’ll play and how effective he’ll be after being in a lot of pain after getting hurt last week.

Jeffery, Reagor, and Ford were all ruled out on the final injury report. The Eagles are down to five healthy wide receivers: DeSean Jackson, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward, John Hightower, and Deontay Burnett. But there might be something wrong with JJAW?

There may be an issue with
JJ Arcega Whiteside

He was in conversation with Eagles personnel and Howie Roseman and left the field
during warmups#Eagles pic.twitter.com/IxWWVH2b5z
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 27, 2020

Jalen Hurts is the No. 2 quarterback again with Sudfeld a healthy scratch.

Huntley was active for Week 1 but hasn’t been since.

The Eagles might not trust Brown to play yet since he only joined the team 12 days ago. The Eagles are expected to start Nate Herbig at left guard and Matt Pryor at right guard. Jack Driscoll and Sua Opeta are backup interior options.

Toohill is a healthy scratch after being up last week. This means Genard Avery is back as the fourth defensive end. Gotta justify that bad trade!

Deontay Burnett and undrafted rookie free agent Grayland Arnold are active for the first time this season after being elevated from the practice squad.

Philadelphia Eagles Inactive List

WR Alshon Jeffery - Injury.

WR Jalen Reagor - Injury.

S Rudy Ford - Injury.

QB Nate Sudfeld - Third quarterback.

RB Jason Huntley - Fourth running back.

OG Jamon Brown - Reserve guard.

DE Casey Toohill- Fifth defensive end.

Cincinnati Bengals Inactive List

Bengals defensive tackle Mike Daniels is active after being listed questionable on Cincy’s final injury report. Speedy wide receiver John Ross is a surprise healthy scratch.

WR John Ross

HB Trayveon Williams

DT Geno Atkins

DT Andrew Brown

LB Markus Bailey

K Austin Seibert

Report: Fletcher Cox "expected to give it a go” in Eagles vs. Bengals game

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 13:26:17 GMT

Photo by Drew Hallowell/Philadelphia Eagles/Getty Images

Good news?

Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is “expected to give to give it a go” in Philadelphia’s Week 3 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to a report from NFL insider Mike Garafolo.

Cox is dealing with an oblique injury that caused him to miss practice on Wednesday and Thursday before being limited on Friday. The Eagles officially ruled the 29-year-old defender as “questionable” on their final injury report.

That the Eagles didn’t elevate T.Y. McGill from the practice squad also points to Cox playing. Otherwise Philly would be down to just three defensive tackles: Malik Jackson, Javon Hargrave, and Hassan Ridgeway.

But one must wonder how effective Cox will be. He has zero sacks and zero quarterback hits through two games this season. And the word is that he was in a lot of pain after getting hurt in Week 2.

It’d be great to see Cox and the rest of the Eagles’ pass rush come alive against a Bengals offensive line that’s allowed the third most pressures in the league.

In other injury news, Garafolo reports Bengals defensive tackle Mike Daniels is also expected to give it a go. Daniels missed the entire week of practice but Cincy head coach Zac Taylor expressed optimism about his playing chances. The Bengals could use him because they’ve been hit hard by interior defensive line injuries; Geno Atkins is already out for Sunday’s game.

The Eagles and Bengals will officially reveal their inactives at 11:30 AM Eastern this morning.