Imagine wanting to go to Detroit for the NFC Championship game instead of getting the Commanders at home.

I'll never understand it.

4 hours ago, Waiting4Someday said:

LJ must have like 35” arms, definitely going to hold the edge in the run game and beat up some OL. Has the body type of a 5T or a base DE, so a bit of a departure from what Vic is doing with Nolan/Jalyx. I’m still in the fastball camp rather then favoring the DT/DE hybrids as we need a replacement for Sweat/Huff for those 3rd down passing situations. 

The question I ask is whether we are best served by two Nolan Smith types when it comes to run defense.  Smith happens to be the best of both worlds, but most fast balls are not particularly good in run D.  Having Smith and Hunt as fastballs and Stewart and LJ as BG replacements seems like the best of all worlds.

4 hours ago, HazletonEagle said:

I think Jackson is thin and definitely all DE. He has the skillet to be the Graham replacement.

He does weigh 285.  Can that be characterized as thin?

3 hours ago, Mr_Philly said:

You think there is a chance the NFL will push the game back to Monday? 

No way

43 minutes ago, McMVP said:

Agree.  Eagles have far better chance beating Washington @ home vs beating Lions in Detroit

I respectfully disagree.  Washington with Daniels at QB is a serious force to be reckoned with.  Detroit is holding it together amazingly in spite of their injury woes, but I believe the Commies are the more dangerous now.

Reviewed last weeks game. 

First things first.  That was not pass interference on Q.  No holds or bars.  A lot of hand checking and it was so good the stupid ref couldn’t believe it wasn’t DPI. 

Second, I really believe that with Hurts coming back from a concussion, the top two WRs a little beat up and not having practiced much, that they told Hurts to protect himself and protect the ball.  The D probably said, we got this.  Once Burks caused that fumble on the kickoff and they scored. The play was designed to get the lead and hold it.  Every time they needed that second score, the offense delivered.  And the D, aside from two very poor tackling plays, the D beat the 💩 out of the Packers.

Agree with @just relax, the OL had one of its poorer games.

i expect tomorrow that Hurts is now four weeks past getting his bell rung.  Should be pretty well healed at this point and his finger is healed.  Brown is at least three weeks post injury and I suspect it was a grade 1 since he played last week.  I suspect the offense is okay. 

And I suspect the D will be fired up.  Make no mistake, this is a great passing offense they are playing but I believe the D is up to it.  

9 minutes ago, McMVP said:

Perhaps…but would you really prefer to go on the road vs playing a home game?

No, that part I wouldn’t prefer. But it is what it is.

I totally get why people want Commanders to win. I just think it’s interesting how for weeks the narrative was about the impending Lions collapse, how they weren’t even that good etc but now let’s root for a division rival to get the to NFCCG so they can dodge the Lions. 

If we didn’t already have a Lombardi in the bag I would take it the easiest way possible. But since we do, to be the man you gotta beat the man.

22 minutes ago, mattwill said:

The question I ask is whether we are best served by two Nolan Smith types when it comes to run defense.  Smith happens to be the best of both worlds, but most fast balls are not particularly good in run D.  Having Smith and Hunt as fastballs and Stewart and LJ as BG replacements seems like the best of all worlds.

Nolan might be the best of both worlds, as he has always been a plus run defender and he’s coming on as a pass rusher… although Sweaty is still getting more attention via slides and chips. If Nolan becomes the focus, and you stacked the roster with run defenders… you might have created a flawed pass rush group.

I see Nolan/Hunt as Jack of all trades in Vic’s base scheme, but rather than acquiring more run defense I think we are missing a DPR (especially if Sweat moves on). Obviously, there are guys who are both good at stopping the run and getting after the QB -> and that is who we should draft.

1 hour ago, greend said:

Who are we rooting for, beside us of course 

Texans, Commanders, and a great game on Sunday Night.  

21 minutes ago, mattwill said:

The question I ask is whether we are best served by two Nolan Smith types when it comes to run defense.  Smith happens to be the best of both worlds, but most fast balls are not particularly good in run D.  Having Smith and Hunt as fastballs and Stewart and LJ as BG replacements seems like the best of all worlds.

Neither are small though. Isnt Smith 6-3?

1 hour ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

We are rooting for the Was/Det game to last into the third overtime.

 

Only 3?  

12 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

No, that part I wouldn’t prefer. But it is what it is.

I totally get why people want Commanders to win. I just think it’s interesting how for weeks the narrative was about the impending Lions collapse, how they weren’t even that good etc but now let’s root for a division rival to get the to NFCCG so they can dodge the Lions. 

If we didn’t already have a Lombardi in the bag I would take it the easiest way possible. But since we do, to be the man you gotta beat the man.

I hear you, but I wouldn’t really look at it as rooting for the commanders as much as rooting for an NFC championship home game. And either way, beating "the man”, for me, can wait for the Super Bowl… Whether it’s Mahomes, Allen, or Lamar again.

 

1 hour ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

I remember in 2022 when Dallas was playing SF in the other Divisional game.  Some folks here wanted Dallas to win so that we'd have the opportunity to beat them ourselves on the big stage.

I argued against that notion.  Why invite the possibility of a division rival winning the conference championship in our stadium?  The heartache of losing far would far outweigh any joy of winning.

The same applies here.  If we can't go to the Super Bowl, I'd rather see the Lions get to go for the first time.

I can get behind this thinking... but that's my fall back position.  My initial point of view is always the best option for the Eagles... and that's hosting Washingteam.

42 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

So is hoping for a lesser opponent 

I'm just hoping to host the NFC CG.  Home is better than away... always.

41 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

@e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!

Don’t know if you listen to the Philly Special pod but on the latest one EJ Smith said that Darius Slay told him he remembers the 2013 snow game and how hard it was to cover DeSean Jackson in the snow.
 

Except in reality he wasn’t active and didn’t play in that game. 
 

Yup i heard that. I knew lane and Stafford played in it. went and checked the inactives. It was the first game he missed that year then he missed the next two after it

By checking the inactives i also found out Kellen Moore was inactive for the lions during that snow game.

bigger issue is that cliffie 2 Sox is going to the game and he’s cursed. As a fellow cursed fan i hope he has better luck then i did at the eagles/cardinals nfc title game

I estimate these odds if we beat the Rams (which is a virtual lock):

Eagles win NFCCG at Detroit = 45%

Eagles win NFCCG vs Washington = 90%

Absolute no-brainer to prefer facing Washington at home.  Basically doubles our chance to win the SB.

27 minutes ago, mattwill said:

He does weigh 285.  Can that be characterized as thin?

He doesn't have a fire hydrant build like Graham. And he's not "rocked up".

His arms are not muscular or well defined.  He has a pretty average guy physique despite his height.

Why I compared him to Maxx Crosby. Doesn't have an intimidating physique but dominates anyway. 

13 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

Neither are small though. Isnt Smith 6-3?

Jalyx is fairly typical for edge player at 6’4” 250, Nolan is probably playing below 240lb, but he anchors fine. The concern would be that he couldn’t develop any power in his pass rush arsenal.

One final note on the Eagles hosting the NFC championship game.  If that actually comes to pass, then who here cannot see the majority of the media picking the commanders to beat the Eagles and being all over Jayden Daniels as the second coming.  It would be extremely nauseating to listen to that all week long… But it would be great for the Eagles locker room.

 

35 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

Imagine wanting to go to Detroit for the NFC Championship game instead of getting the Commanders at home.

I'll never understand it.

Definitely would choose Commanders at home but don’t think that game will be very close. 

4 minutes ago, McMVP said:

One final note on the Eagles hosting the NFC championship game.  If that actually comes to pass, then who here cannot see the majority of the media picking the commanders to beat the Eagles and being all over Jayden Daniels as the second coming.  It would be extremely nauseating to listen to that all week long… But it would be great for the Eagles locker room.

 

If Jayden Daniels goes into in DET and wins, he’ll deserve credit. But he’s only one guy on that team and we might have 21 starters that are better than their WAS counterparts (maybe 20 with Nakobe out).

7 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

I estimate these odds if we beat the Rams (which is a virtual lock):

Eagles win NFCCG at Detroit = 45%

Eagles win NFCCG vs Washington = 90%

Absolute no-brainer to prefer facing Washington at home.  Basically doubles our chance to win the SB.

I would add the commanders weakness plays into the Eagles strength on offense. The commanders are 27th in the league against the run. Whereas against the pass, they are ranked 3. DVOA their rush defense is 26th. Pass is 20th. 

43 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

Imagine wanting to go to Detroit for the NFC Championship game instead of getting the Commanders at home.

I'll never understand it.

Obviously the casual football fan wants to see the Eagles vs Lions. Has the making of a classic and easily the best two NFC teams this season. 

But yeah as an Eagles fan you’d love if the Skins could win tonight 

I don't think the reason why someone would prefer the Lions to win tonight (and I think I'm one of them -- we'll see how I feel as the game develops) isn't because Washington at home would be easier for the Eagles than going to Detroit. I think it's that the DOWNSIDE of losing to Washington compared to losing to Detroit is that much more severe. If we lose to the Lions, there would be the sense that well, they were simply the better team, it was their year, etc. But losing to a division rival that's been crap for decades would be crushing.

Also, if we lose to the Rams, I would absolutely not trust them to beat Washington next week. 

15 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

I estimate these odds if we beat the Rams (which is a virtual lock):

Eagles win NFCCG at Detroit = 45%

Eagles win NFCCG vs Washington = 90%

Absolute no-brainer to prefer facing Washington at home.  Basically doubles our chance to win the SB.

Detroit is closer to 40% while Washington is more like 70%. Massive difference still.