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Tag: Matt Patricia

  • A 3-0 Eagles Team Trying To Avoid Repeating 2023.  – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    There’s a concern that the 2025 Eagles might be approaching the same territory as the 2023 Eagles. 

    Uncertainty of CB2 play. Overcoming a lengthy list of departing free agents. And questionable offensive gameplans through three weeks do give some cause for concern.

    The Eagles have managed to start the year off 3-0 against a division opponent, a Super Bowl rematch and a most likely division winner and future playoff rematch. With a dip in their quality of opponent in the coming weeks. The Eagles will be primed to start the first half of their season with a strong lead on the NFC East before their week 9 Bye.

    Defensive Difference 

    In 2023, the Eagles defense ranked 26th with an average of 356.1 yards against per game. Ranking 31st against the pass with 252.7 passing yards against, but finished 10th against the run with only 103.4 yards against per game. Demoting Sean Desai mid season, promoting Matt Patricia (of all people), losing Slay for the end of the year and a spiralling streak they couldn’t get out of completed the recipe for disaster.

    So far through 3 weeks. The Eagles defense ranks 11th against the pass (185.7 yards/game) and 24th against the run (133.3 yards/game). Ranked as the 18th best overall defense. There’s work to be done but the Eagles aren’t in the worst position, yet. 

    Offensive Woes

    The Eagles will need to figure out how to get the run game more involved to keep opponents defenses on the field, and theirs off it.

    Averaging 179.3 rushing yards in 2024, the Eagles offense was able to kill the clock and chunk yardage as Saquon averaged 5.48 yards/carry. Through 3 weeks they average 122 rushing yards per game, while Saquon starts off with only 3.34 yards/carry.

    Will the Eagles be able to find their groove Sunday against the Buccaneers? Or will we have to wait till the following weekend to see the team firing on all cylinders?

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  • Three Eagles Veterans Who Can Continue Making An Impact In 2024 – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Three Eagles Veterans Who Can Continue Making An Impact In 2024 – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    Last week I discussed 3 new Eagles who could make an impact in 2024. From new faces on the defense, and changes to the offense. There isn’t many reasons to doubt what the 2024 Eagles should bring.

    With Training Camp and Preseason starting in the coming weeks. We’ll get a closer look at some of those players still vying to make a final roster spot before the 53 mans are due August 27th. While we might not see much of some of the Eagles veterans during those preseason games. There’s still a bottom line to expect from some players that have been around the organization for most of their careers.

     

    Josh Sweat

    Entering the offseason, it wasn’t clear if the Eagles were going to keep Josh Sweat or Haason Reddick in the future, as both would have been on expiring deals after this season had they not made a move for Bryce Huff.

    Now, there’s more expectation from Sweat with a contract season looming. The Eagles drafted Sweat with the 130th pick in the 2018 Draft. Did they expect him to put up an 11 Sack season in 2022? Or 11th in Pressures last season?

    The Eagles made a statement keeping Josh Sweat for the final year of his deal. With the additions of Bryce Huff and Jalyx Hunt, some pressure might be off of Sweat, but the Eagles should expect to see something similar to his 2022 season if they’re going to continue with Sweat in the picture.

     

    Jake Elliott

    We need to make one thing abundantly clear. The Eagles probably weren’t even close to being 10-1 if not for Jake Elliott’s performances last season.

    Throughout the year, Elliott made 30/32FG’s, and 45/46XP’s.

    Some impactful kicks that saved games include:

    • The Eagles only points in the 2nd half against the Patriots Week 1. With kicks made from 56, 51 and 48 yards.

    • The Commanders Week 4 Overtime game, that frankly didn’t need Overtime. From 54 yards.

    • To give the Eagles a chance in OT to beat the Bills, was this 59 yard FG.

    • Elliott scored 15 of the Eagles 33 points in the Week 16 win against the Giants. Going 4/4 FG including 3XP.

    Makes sense why the Eagles locked up Elliott to a 4-Year extension worth $24M this offseason. Now under contract until 2028.

     

    Darius Slay

    Coming into his 5th season on the Eagles. Slay has seen it all. From the Nate Gerry seasons, to the start and end of the Gannon Era, and then most of whatever Sean Desai and Matt Patricia brought to the table.

    Slay missed 4 games near the end of the Eagles season, including the games against the Seahawks, Cardinals and Giants. Perhaps if the Eagles had their true CB1 to end the year some of the defensive lapses that cost them games could have been prevented.

    However with a new year brings new opportunity. And if Slay ends up as a Captain again, there’s going to be higher standards for a presences many doubted during the turmoil of the Eagles collapse. And with all the new Cornerbacks looking to make their own roster spot.

    If the 6x Pro-Bowler is able to return to form, the Eagles secondary could become one of the best in the league after this years draft class.

     

     

     

    The Eagles report to Training Camp in 11 days. Where we’ll get another weeks look at the team before their open practice on August 1st.

    What rookies are you going to have your eye on?

     

    Photo Credit: Bill Streicher / USA Today Sports

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  • The Eagles Free Agent Frenzy – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    The Eagles Free Agent Frenzy – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    The Eagles had another grocery list of positions to fill this off-season.

    • Safety (or 2)
    • Linebackers (multiple)
    • Wide Receivers (multiple)
    • Running Back (or 2)
    • OL Depth

    They had already made a few moves to shore up some depth and competition in the roster. See more of the previous moves like Okwara and Kinnard here.

    If you had told me that the Eagles would cross off most of that list within the first week of free agency. I would assume most of the players were cheap acquisitions who might not even make the 53 man roster. But by end of day Thursday, the Eagles have started the off-season impressively.

    Let’s recap the moves they’ve made since Wednesday.

     

    Division Rival Betrayal

    The Eagles began the legal tampering period with some of the best news. And later finalized a 3-year, $37.75M deal with Saquon Barkley.

    This should be the 3rd year in a row Eagles end up with a 1,000+ yard player in the backfield. From Sanders, to Swift and now Barkley, who put up 962 rushing yards in only 14 games with the Giants this past season. While the Giants had started Tyrod Taylor, Daniel Jones and Tommy DeVito for equal amounts of the season. Saquon was in a similar situation to Christian McCaffrey, and should now make as much an impact on the Eagles as McCaffrey has to the 49ers offense.

    With only a $3,950,000 cap hit in 2024. Barely costing the team as they continued to spend their available cap space…

     

     

    Shopping From Both Sides Of MetLife

    There was one more stop the Eagles had to make while they were scooping players from MetLife Stadium.

    Signing Bryce Huff to a 3-year, $51M contract is a big price to pay for a defensive end who only played 42% of the defensive snaps. Compared to Sweat at $13.3M and Reddick at $15M, who both played over 70% of the Eagles defensive snaps. But with Huff putting up 10 Sacks last year for the Jets, this signing feels similar to when they signed Haason Reddick 2 seasons ago.

    So could this be a signing to replace one of the expiring Sweat or Reddick deals? Or utilizing the $30M jump in cap space to re-invest on the defensive line? We won’t know for now, but this Josh Sweat instagram comment might be a hint of what could still be to come.

     

    Addressing The OL

    Every year, there’s plenty of people online who scream into the void “The Eagles should use their Day 1 pick on an offensive lineman”

    I’m here to tell you they probably won’t do that, again.

    The Eagles had plenty of players depart from the Offensive Line. From Kelce’s retirement to no news on Sua Opeta or Jack Driscoll. But they’ve already gone and signed Darian Kinnard, and now Matt Hennessy.

    With 20 starts in Atlanta over the last 3 years, the former Temple Owl will make his way back to Philadelphia. Having played center and left guard in Atlanta. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Hennessy is viewed as a backup piece, but can bring competition for both Cam Jurgens and Tyler Steen during training camp.

    While this is only a 1 year deal, it probably keeps the Eagles from using a high round pick in the draft on the offensive line. If they’re truly building for the future they could use a 2nd or 3rd round pick, like they have in the last two drafts.

     

     

     

    Finally, Some Linebackers!

    There’s one position the Eagles desperately needed to invest in this off-season. And it took awhile for these moves to come through but they’ve made them.

    Adding 2 linebackers in the opening week of free agency is steps ahead of the linebackers the Eagles were acquiring last year.

    Nicholas Morrow was the only free agent move in March for a LB, and Zach Cunningham and Myles Jack weren’t signed until August.

    Devin White, a former Pro-Bowler and All-Pro had 83 tackles last year, including 2.5 Sacks and 2 Interceptions.

    While Zack Baun had 30 tackles, 2 Sacks and 1 Interception.

    Many may not approve of the White deal, but with plenty of time to make final roster decisions and the draft still a month away. White and Baun are better moves than the Eagles have seen at LB in some time. (We all remember Nate Gerry, right?)

     

    A Reunion In Philly

    Maybe this is what was missing from the Eagles secondary in 2023.

    C.J. Gardner-Johnson didn’t see plenty of playing time in Detroit, With a Week 2 injury that saw C.J. out until week 18. The reacquainted Safety still had 2 Interceptions across his 6 total games in Detroit, 3 in the regular season and 3 in the playoffs.

    Some wanted Justin Simmons to fill the void in the secondary left by Byard, but after some apologies, many are on board with this addition.

     

    The New WR3 In Town

    With Quez Watkins and Olamide Zaccheaus set to be free agents, the Eagles had to bring in multiple new faces for new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

    And they did.

    While DeVante Parker’s separation numbers are the worst in the league. The Former Patriot still had 539 and 394 yards during his 2-year stint with Mac Jones at QB (And Matt Patricia at OC).

    Not bad numbers to fill in a WR3 role that Watkins and Zaccheaus didn’t come close to last year. Sure the offense struggled under Brian Johnson, there’s still bright things to expect with new faces on this team with new coordinators and schemes being put in place this off-season.

    There’s still 1 more open WR spot on the roster that could be addressed in the draft or re-signing Zaccheaus. And with the Eagles only paying $1.2M of Parker’s deal, there’s no guarantee he makes the final roster cut in August either.

     

     

     

     

    The Eagles have already made plenty of moves signing new faces to the team, who are you hoping they’re still able to add before the draft?

     

    Go Birds!

     

     

    Photo Credit: Matt Rourke / AP Photo

     

     

     

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  • More Coaching Hires. Kellen Moore & Clint Hurtt to Philly – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    More Coaching Hires. Kellen Moore & Clint Hurtt to Philly – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    Amidst the flurry of coaching hires and Pro Bowl dodgeball. The Eagles have continued to make moves on their coaching staff.

    Last week, the Eagles had begun their search for new coordinators. They started off by hiring Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator. Fangio was most likely their 1st choice last season, but the Arizona Cardinals tampering incident saw Fangio off to Miami for the year. 

    Moving on from the Patricia & Desai conundrum as quickly as possible might have saved this Eagles off-season.

     

    Another Coach On The Way Out

    It was announced that Quarterback Coach Alex Tanney will be looking for new opportunities. The Eagles would have yet another hole to fill in their coaching staff with OC Brian Johnson also being let go. There’s been no formal severance from Tanney yet, so there’s a potential he could remain with the team still.

     

    Another Coach On The Way Out

    The Eagles might’ve already found their Defensive Coordinator in Vic Fangio. But it looks like the Eagles will flesh out their defensive staffing with coaches Fangio has spent previous time with.

    New Defensive Line Coach Clint Hurtt spent two years with the Chicago Bears as an Outside Linebackers Coach during Fangio’s time as Chicago’s Defensive Coordinator (2015-16). Hurtt was most recently the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator for the last 2 seasons. With a familiar joining Fangio’s team. The Eagles now have to question what they’ll be doing with Tracy Rocker. The current Defensive Line Coach who has been with the team since Sirianni’s arrival.

     

    There’s another coach from the Dolphins staff that the Eagles have already reached out to.

    If the Eagles are able to bring in Fangio and potentially Joe Kasper from Miami. Perhaps GM Howie Roseman might consider making another blockbuster trade for the Safety position?

    In August of 2022, the Eagles acquired C.J. Gardner-Johnson and a 2025 7th round pick from the New Orleans Saints for a 2023 5th, and the worse of their 2024 6th round picks.

    If the Eagles were considering a splash with a trade. Using a couple of their picks, perhaps they could make a move on Miami’s Jevon Holland? With the loss of Sydney Brown in Week 18, it’s unlikely the Eagles will see their own Canadian-born Safety back for the 2024 season. Why not get another one?

    After all. Jevon posted this video of himself kicking rocks the same day that Fangio was moving on from the Dolphins staff. While Holland tried to down play the video. Even Dolphins pages like PhinPhanatic think that Miami should listen in on potential trade offers.

     

     

    Finally, An Offensive Coordinator

    Last week, the rumored names for the Eagles Offensive Coordinator availability were Kellen Moore and Kliff Kingsbury.

    With Moore winning the job and Kingsbury staying in the desert with the  Las Vegas Raiders. It almost seems like the Eagles once again dodged a bullet that the Raiders once again took for them.

    During the 2021 coaching cycle. The Eagles almost hired Josh McDaniels over Nick Sirianni. Since then McDaniels went on to coach the Raiders to an uninspiring 9-16 while Sirianni has gone 34-17 in Philly, with 3 straight playoff appearances.

    Missing out on another coach that ends up going to Vegas might be good for the Eagles. It worked once, hopefully it works again.

    With Moore moving on from the Chargers (understandably after hiring Harbaugh), it was a surprise to see him heading to Philly. Expected to get Head Coaching offers following his last year in Dallas. Moore even refused the interim position in Los Angeles after Brandon Staley was relieved from his position, as Kellen Moore was expected to be hired as a head coach himself during this years cycle.

    If you really wanted to know how lackluster the Eagles 2023 offense was. They ranked 32nd (10.9%) in Pre-snap motion. And when they started using more motion later in the season, it was mostly for show. Kellen Moore’s offense in Los Angeles ranked 8th with 25.9%. Expect big changes in a Philadelphia offense with only 2 active Running Backs, Receivers and Tight Ends.

     

    How are you feeling about the Eagles new coordinator hires?

     

    Go Birds!

     

     

    Photo Credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images



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  • The Coordinator Search Is Half Over, Eagles Hiring Vic Fangio – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    The Coordinator Search Is Half Over, Eagles Hiring Vic Fangio – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    Eagles fans are able to breathe a partial sigh of relief.

     

    It’s been a long week of slowly learning that the Eagles were letting go of coordinators.

    Sean Desai was the first to go. With the wording that Sirianni made the call confirmed that the divisive head coach would keep his job.

    Many wanted to see Sirianni let go after the Eagles catastrophic end to the season. Losing 6 of their last 7 games, including a 23 point blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during wildcard weekend.

    After the news of Desai’s departure. Fear began to settle in that Matt Patricia would remain the defensive coordinator in Philadelphia.

    Only on a one-year contract, Matt Patricia will be moving on from the Eagles. Probably ending up with Bill Belichick, who just lost out on the Atlanta Falcons vacant head coach position.

    With Brian Johnson the last to be let go. Just like that, the Eagles would be replacing both coordinators for the 2nd straight off-season.

    The Interviews Begin

    There’s plenty of coaches available this hiring cycle. While the Eagles missed out on potentially replacing Nick Sirianni with Jim Harbaugh or Mike Vrabel. They’ve already begun on potential coordinators.

    The Eagles began their search by reaching out to and interviewing the following coaches:

    (OC) Chargers OC Kellen Moore

    (DC) Former Giants DC Wink Martindale

    (DC) Falcons DC Ryan Nielsen (Hired by Jaguars)

    (OC) USC Senior Offensive Analyst Kliff Kingsbury

    (DC) Former Commanders HC Ron Rivera

    (DC) Former Jaguars DC Mike Caldwell

     

    While things seemed to favor Ron Rivera as a potential DC who wouldn’t end up getting poached the following season. The Eagles interesting news broke during Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni’s press conference Wednesday afternoon.

    Eagles New Defensive Coordinator, Vic Fangio?

    During Wednesday’s press conference, Adam Schefter reported that Vic Fangio was moving on from the Miami Dolphins and that the expected landing spot would be the Philadelphia Eagles. It would be confirmed on Thursday

    Turns out the Eagles got the defensive coordinator they were after all along. If not for a tampering incident with Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles would have most likely hired Vic Fangio instead of Sean Desai.

    Changing to a 3-4 defensive front could mean a philosphy change for the Eagles. A team that spent the least amount on the linebacker position, at $3.8M. With 4 Free Agent linebackers, the Eagles have a lot of work to do in rebuilding that room.

    Howie Roseman pointed out that Zach Cunningham had a good season despite missing 3 games. Perhaps that’s a hint toward a potential re-signee later in the off-season?

    With plenty of free agents available, including Patrick Queen, Devin White and Azeez Al-Shaair. This could be the off-season for the Eagles to spend at the position they neglect the most, while also building through the draft with players like Jeremiah Trotter Jr. or Junior Colson.

     

    One Coordinator To Go

    So far, the Eagles interviewed candidates for the offensive coordinator position don’t bring much hope for the future of the offense. Kellen Moore was expected to get head coaching interviews following his season in San Diego. Bringing in a coordinator that worked with the Cowboys during Dak Prescott’s worst season is one thing. But Kliff Kingsbury following his disastrous exit in Arizona is another.

     

    There’s been no decision at offensive coordinator yet. What potential candidates do you hope the Eagles reach out to before making a final choice?

     

    Go Birds!

     

     

    Photo Credit: Kirby Lee / USA Today Sports

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