Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

NFL Wild-Card Best Bets: Back the Packers to keep it close with the Eagles – PFF
Additionally, the Packers’ defense creates a difficult matchup for Hurts, who has excelled against man coverage this year and been around the league average against zone looks. In recent weeks, the Packers have become the most zone-heavy team in the NFL — and they have been the best passing defense when doing so. Green Bay’s defense, led by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, quietly enjoyed an excellent end to the regular season, ranking in the top five in EPA allowed per play. They’ve been stout against both the pass and the run, which is important in their matchup with Saquon Barkley and a great Eagles offensive line. I expect the Eagles’ offense to struggle to put together consistent scoring drives against one of the more underrated units in the league. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles’ defense appears to be rated as the best in the league, and for good reason. Although they don’t possess a clear schematic advantage over the Packers’ offense, Philadelphia’s defense is truly elite and deserves to be treated with such respect.

Packers Film Room: Previewing the Eagles’ passing game against Green Bay – Acme Packing Company
Hurts is a decently efficient quarterback despite the low volume passing stats. He’s only thrown 30+ pass attempts in a game four times this season. The one thing that sticks out about Hurts as a quarterback is he’s not going to challenge the defense with throws over the middle of the field, as he rarely throws there unless they are short underneath throws. In the 10-to-20 yard range in week one, he only had three passing attempts that would be considered intermediate over the middle of the field, with one completion and two incompletions (one interception). In fact, in all of his passing charts, you can see he does not throw there often. This is both good and bad for the Packers. It’s good because the Packers defense is susceptible to being gashed over the middle of the field on intermediate crossing routes and dig routes due to playing so much single high coverage. Hurts just isn’t asked to throw timing routes over the middle. But it’s bad because of the talent the Eagles have on the outside to go deep in Brown and Smith. And Brown is listed as not having an injury status for the game despite being limited in practice this week for a knee problem.

NFL Picks Against the Spread: Wild Card Weekend Playoff Games – BGN
GREEN BAY PACKERS at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (-4.5): The Packers are 2-5 against playoff teams this season. Their wins came over Houston and a Los Angeles team missing both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. The Packers mostly kept their losses competitive, so, I could see them managing to cover this spread. But I like the Eagles to find a way to win the game. And it’s quite possible that the NFL’s top-ranked defense shuts down Jordan Love and this Packers offense. Betting against Saquon Barkley also doesn’t feel wise. The Packers having a good run defense hardly guarantees that they’ll be able to stop him. PICK: Eagles -4.5.

PFT’s 2024 offensive player of the year: Saquon Barkley – PFT
John Mara should not read this article. Last year, the Giants decided not to re-sign running back Saquon Barkley, sending him directly into the arms of the Eagles. Some 2,000 rushing yards and one unprecedented backward hurdle later, Barkley is the PFT offensive player of the year. He finished with 2,005 rushing yards, 278 receiving yards, and 15 total touchdowns. But for the tush push, he might have had enough touchdowns to win the NFL’s MVP award. As it stands, Barkley had the finest offensive performance of any player in 2024. But he was closely followed by Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who won the receiving triple crown with 127 catches for 1,708 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns. Chase averaged 100 yards and one touchdown, each and every game.

Ranking the Kansas City Chiefs, contenders, and pretenders in the NFL playoffs – SB Nation
3. Philadelphia Eagles. Talent-wise, the Eagles are superior to everybody in the NFC. Not even two months ago, they destroyed the Rams on their home field. The Eagles beat the Packers, Commanders, Ravens, and Steelers this season. To me, this is the best defense in the postseason. Jalen Carter is unblockable. Josh Sweat consistently wins, and the speed, athleticism, and instincts on the Eagles defense is second to none. The one worry would be inexperience in the secondary and at linebacker. Qunyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are first-year players. Nakobe Dean is basically a rookie. A smart coach, maybe one residing in Los Angeles, will look to isolate those three and test their youth. For a team with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith, you’d think the Eagles would cruise to 35 points a game. With their offensive line, how could they not? Again, talent-wise, it’s difficult to doubt Philly. But Hurts hasn’t played meaningful football in nearly a month, and they go through lulls offensively that make you wonder how checked in the Eagles are. But it’s the playoffs, and there are good to great players all over the field for the Eagles. I see them squeaking by the Packers, blowing out Tampa Bay, and falling flat on their faces at home against the Rams in what will be a disappointing finish to an impressive season.

Mailbag: Who were the Eagles’ most improved players in 2024? – PhillyVoice
Question from @adkilbride44: If the Packers beat the Eagles, or do what they did to the Cowboys last year, what happens to Nick Sirianni? … This front office believes that they have assembled a Super Bowl-winning roster and a great supporting coaching staff. If they flame out in an embarrassing way in the Wild Card Round, I can’t imagine Sirianni survives.

Game Preview – Playoffs – GB at PHI – Iggles Blitz
I’ve seen some pundits talking about how the Eagles should be on upset alert. They focus on potential issues with the Eagles. I agree that Green Bay could win, but I think that has more to do with the Packers being a really good team. There is no question that they can win this game. Green Bay was Top 8 or better in points and yards on offense and defense. They finished third overall in the DVOA rankings. They are good along the LOS and they have playmakers on offense and defense. The Eagles need to play well to win this game. The Eagles will try to run the ball. The Packers have done a good job against the run this year. They will be without CB Jaire Alexander and I’m curious to see how both teams approach that. Will GB focus on coverage to help the secondary? Will the Eagles throw aggressively and go after the CBs? Jalen Hurts threw for 278 yards in the season opener when Alexander was on the field. The Eagles might decide that the smart thing is to attack through the air. There is risk in that because AJ Brown has a lingering knee issue and DeVonta Smith has a back problem. Do you want to feed the ball to those guys?

NFL picks for Wild Card Weekend: Eagles over Packers across the board; Commanders or Bucs? – NFL.com
Why Gennaro picked the Eagles: Because I’m still waiting for the Packers to prove they can bang with the big boys. The NFC North was the league’s toughest division in the regular season, and nobody knows that better than Matt LaFleur. Green Bay went 1-5 in divisional games, with the lone win coming courtesy of a last-second blocked field goal in Chicago. Speaking of the lowly Bears, they just snapped a 10-game losing streak with a season-ending win at Green Bay. Yes, I know Jordan Love left that game in the second quarter with a right elbow injury that he might’ve played through had the season been on the line. Is that supposed to make me feel confident heading into this Sunday’s bout in Philadelphia? The quarterback was limited in Wednesday’s practice, telling the assembled media he’s “hopeful” he’ll be able to play. Even if we operate under the assumption that Love will indeed give it a go, this development further emphasizes the feeling that he hasn’t been operating at the peak of his powers all season, going back to when he sprained his MCL in the Week 1 loss to these Eagles.

Betting tips for Sunday’s wild-card games: Odds, analysis, picks and trends – ESPN
Tyler Fulghum’s pick: Eagles -5 (-110). Even though they’re not the betting favorite to do so, the team in the NFC I think most likely to reach the Super Bowl is the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s why I’m going to take them to win and cover in their wild-card round matchup with the Green Bay Packers, a rematch of the first game we saw this season, which was a wild shootout down in Brazil, but that was an Eagles team that had a defense that was not playing close to the level at which they are right now. I thing their offense is the best in the NFL with everyone healthy, and for that reason, I like them to win and cover in the wild-card round against Green Bay.

Howie Roseman brings down the house in surprise appearance at Jason Kelce ESPN taping – Inquirer
In a short back-and-forth with Roseman, Kelce asked about linebacker Zack Baun, who earned his first Pro Bowl bid and first-team All-Pro award this season after signing an affordable one-year deal with the Birds. “I went to him after the All-Pro announcement,” Roseman recalled, “and he asked, ‘Be honest, did you think this could happen?’” “F— no!” Roseman said, getting the biggest laugh of the night. “And remember that when we work [on] your next contract.”

Zack Baun ‘surprised’ by the loyalty of his Wisconsin hometown – PE.com
Zack Baun hopes to disappoint his hometown on this Wild Card Sunday. The fans back home in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, are cheering for the team in green. Just not necessarily the team from Philadelphia. “There’s a lot of conflicting fandom. I’m surprised by that. I’m surprised by that,” said Baun, who did not grow up a fan of the Packers or really any NFL team. “I thought they would be rooting for the Eagles because I’m here, but … people are loyal. People are loyal to their team.”

Eagles notebook: Meet the newest Philly Dawg on the roster – NBCSP
The former first-round pick said it was like a reunion this week when he arrived to the NovaCare Complex after the Eagles signed him to their 53-man roster. He’s just the latest University of Georgia defender to wear midnight green. “Walked in and it was all love, all daps and hugs and whatnot, catching up,” Cine said. “It’s a really, really good feeling to see the guys.” In Philadelphia, Cine has reunited with five of his teammates from the Bulldogs’ national championship team in 2021: Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Kelee Ringo. Because of that Georgia-to-Philly pipeline, Cine already knew a lot about the Eagles. “Oh of course. Who doesn’t if you go to Georgia?” Cine said this week. “Let’s be honest. Isn’t the saying Philly Dawgs? Again, we just catch up, we text each other, call each other and keep up with each others’ careers. It’s not like I haven’t heard from them in a good minute.”

Through mentorship and gym work, Eagles punter Braden Mann pumps up Philadelphia teenager – USA Today
On a Tuesday evening in December, Pickett connected with Eagles punter Braden Mann through the KB Foundation – a non-profit organization that empowers youth in the city through mentorship. “I’ve always had a good technique and I’ve always been aggressive. So that’s what made me be able to stay on par, I guess,” Pickett told USA TODAY Sports. “But then I got to high school, I realized it was a different ballgame. Everyone was much bigger and much stronger.” Mann, who studied sports kinesiology at Texas A&M, wants to be a strength and conditioning coach when his playing career is over. When KB Foundation vice president of operations Justin Fishman approached Mann about helping Pickett, “I was like, ‘This is right up my alley,’” Mann told USA TODAY Sports. He showed up to Pickett’s uncle’s house in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, with a packet of exercises Pickett can do around the house without equipment.

The spread is 3 points in the Commanders-Bucs wildcard game; who will win, and will the teams score more or less than 50.5 points? – Hogs Haven
Seventy-two percent of respondents not only think the Eagles will win, but that they will cover the 4.5-point spread as well. Personally, I have a lot more faith in the Packers, but be prepared for a Philly rematch next week if the national survey is correct.

The reason the Cowboys are making a massive mistake retaining Mike McCarthy – Blogging The Boys
In the last four years, the McCarthy led Cowboys finished with a 15-17 record against playoff teams and a point differential of -45. The only two years they finished with a positive point differential in McCarthy’s tenure at head coach was with Kellen Moore as the primary play-caller and offensive coordinator. Since Moore’s departure, the Cowboys offense has struggled to keep pace with contending teams and win games against the top dogs in the NFC and AFC. Which leads to the biggest issue. McCarthy was brought in to get this team over the hump, and despite having the opportunity to do so, he’s failed. While this study was just done on regular-season games, when we take a deeper dive into the playoffs, it paints an even bleaker picture.

Big Blue View mailbag: All about the quarterback … mostly – Big Blue View
I think this will be argued about for the next 4½ months. I think If I had to make a choice today, knowing my own biases and preferences I would take Cam Ward over Shedeur Sanders. I think I am not ready to make a definitive statement saying that is where I am putting my marker down. I think I have a lot of studying to do before the draft comes. I think there are pros and cons to Ward and Sanders, and to every potential quarterback scenario for the Giants.