Eagles News: Philadelphia is being picked to win the NFC East

[time2rock]

Eagles News: Philadelphia is being picked to win the NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/1/22.

By Brandon Lee Gowton@BrandonGowton  Sep 1, 2022, 9:18am EDT  

Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Ten Bold(ish) Predictions for the 2022 NFL Season - The Ringer
4. The Philadelphia Eagles win the NFC East. I am usually lower than consensus on the Eagles. Not this year. There are just too many things working in their favor. One, the Eagles have the second-easiest schedule in the NFL, according to projected win totals from the betting markets. Two, they have one of the best rosters in the NFL. Three, their final point differential was skewed by a 25-point loss in Week 18 when the Eagles rested their starters, and they were 2-4 in one-score games. This easily could’ve been a 10- or 11-win team last year. Jalen Hurts was a middle-of-the-pack starter last year, but he’s well-positioned to improve in 2022. The Eagles have one of the best and deepest offensive lines in the NFL. They added A.J. Brown to a pass-catching group that already included DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. If Hurts has a higher ceiling to reach, this should be the year we see it. Last year, the Eagles beat up on bad teams and looked outmanned against good ones. Given their schedule, a similar formula with modest improvement from Hurts should lead to an uptick in victories. I see an 11-win team, which should be good enough to take the division.

NFL Division Winner predictions: The Athletic’s experts make their picks - The Athletic
The NFC East comes down to the Cowboys and Eagles. It’s interesting to see our experts so divided on who wins the division. Our experts seem to think the Eagles had a great offseason and draft in addition to the arrivals of wide receiver A.J. Brown and pass rusher Haason Reddick. The Eagles weren’t very good in one-score games last season, going 2-4. Philadelphia also gets one of the easiest schedules this season. Dallas forced the most turnovers last year in the NFL and had great injury luck, fumble recovery luck and won 63% of their one-score games. It seems our experts think the Cowboys are due for regression this season. The Athletic’s NFL model is more bullish on the Cowboys and gives them a 59.4% chance to win the NFC East while the Eagles only have a 23.3% chance.

Why the 49ers Opted to Keep Jimmy Garoppolo After an Offseason of Trade Talks - SI
From Dan Spencer (@Spence1013): Who are the Eagles playing in the Super Bowl? From Jesus Jimenez (@86Chuy68): With the Eagles trade, do you think they might have seen something in Hurts? Dan and Jesus, I’d love to be the contrarian here against a rising narrative, but I don’t think I can be. The Eagles have real strength along the lines of scrimmage, with an uncommon combination of foundation pieces who’ve been around for a decade (Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox), in-prime guys (Jordan Mailata, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave) and young talents (Jordan Davis, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens). Having that kind of makeup along the lines usually means, at a baseline, you’re going to be in just about every game and, as the 2017 Eagles showed, can mean a title run is possible. So to get to the second question, I do think some of the aggressive moves of the offseason (A.J. Brown is another, in addition to Tuesday’s trade for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson) are GM Howie Roseman signaling that he likes where his quarterback and roster are. It’s also true that Jalen Hurts has improved in areas that are really tough for a quarterback to improve in, like accuracy, anticipation, and pocket presence. Which is a credit to him. But I also know that a big piece of this is philosophical for Roseman and the Eagles. So while maybe they wouldn’t make moves like that if they thought they were going 4–13, I do think a lot of it is just how the Eagles amass, and ultimately choose to use, their assets.

Eagles Film Review: How Chauncey Gardner-Johnson fits in Philly - BGN
CGJ didn’t line up as a split-safety really at all last year, but remember, just because you start as a split-safety doesn’t mean you are going to play cover 2/4. A lot of the time one safety will rotate late into the box either in man coverage in the slot, to cover deep crossing routes or to play as a robber in cover 1. You can imagine CGJ doing this a lot next year and covering tight ends, big slots or a teams 4th WR. This will give the Eagles a lot of versatility as Harris couldn’t do this at a high level. As an Eagles safety (or any safety in most modern defenses) you will have to have a very versatile skillset and almost be a hybrid safety/corner due to the amount of coverage responsibility that you have. The days of the big physical strong safety are going with the defenses that most teams are currently running.

Reacting to the two big Eagles trades - BGN Radio
In the first half of this two part episode (split due to technical difficulties), Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) and Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) talk about what the Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Jalen Reagor trades mean for the Eagles. The guys also get into some roster analysis that will be continued in the next half of this episode.

Reagor Goes Purple - Iggles Blitz
The Saints drafted Book in the fourth round in 2021. He started one game, going 12-20-135 with no TDs and 2 INTs. They have Jameis Winston as their starter this year and Andy Dalton backing him up. Book didn’t play well enough this summer to convince them to go with three QBs. He was cut yesterday and claimed by the Eagles. I liked Book coming out of Notre Dame. I saw him as a backup QB, not necessarily a future starter. He lacks ideal size at 6-0, 206. Solid arm. Good athlete. In college he was a playmaker. When things broke down, he could run around and make something out of nothing. I value that ability in a backup. I watched Book’s preseason games today and came away with mixed feelings. He has a solid arm. Very good mobility. Book ran for 121 yards this summer. It was hard to get a good feel for him because the Saints backup OL was so leaky. Book wasn’t running for the fun of it. As a runner, Book is both elusive and fast. He threw one good deep ball in the games, but the receiver couldn’t make the catch. Book showed pretty good accuracy. He looked like someone that could develop into a good backup QB. He’s not there yet.

Spadaro: Revisiting 12 questions from the start of Training Camp - PE.com
12. How much of a benefit will back-to-back road trips for joint practices mean to the chemistry of this team? No doubt there was positive bonding through a tough two weeks, and as the Eagles dig in for their preparation to play Detroit, they certainly know each other a lot better. But, again, this is an intangible that is likely to pay off throughout the season. Having the time away, a simulation of Training Camps in the past, really brought the team together in a lot of ways we don’t see.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson: Everything felt natural in first Eagles practice - PFT
"I’m a ballplayer,” Gardner-Johnson said, via Josh Tolentino of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It’s just football. I’ve been playing it since I was 6 years old. I’m staying in and putting in overtime. I’m new here. I’ve got 10 days before the season starts. Coaches have been A-1. Players have been A-1. They’ve been helpful. It’s the first day of practice, and I was out there flying with the guys. I got some [first-team] reps, some [second-team] reps. Everything felt natural. It’s like I was out there playing like a kid. Having fun.”

2022 Salary Cap Update - Over The Cap
Seven teams (Eagles, Bucs, Chiefs, Vikings, Saints, Jaguars, and Titans) are going to have less than $6 million in cap space. These are teams that may opt to make a move or two just to give themselves more of a cushion to cover players landing on IR during the season, practice squad elevations, and potential in season extensions. It is often better to do that now than wait until later in the year when you may have to rush to make ends meet. This happened last year with the Giants when a rash of injuries had them restructuring contracts where they could only pick up a handful of dollars because it was so late in the year.

2022 Dallas Cowboys free agency: 5 reasons why they should absolutely sign Jason Peters - Blogging The Boys
Bonus: It would be fun to troll Eagles fans if and when Peters was amazing. Imagine a longtime Philadelphia Eagles cornerstone player helping the Dallas Cowboys serve as the first repeat winners of the NFC East since 2004. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? There is no question that the Eagles have prepared their roster for a run at the Cowboys in 2022. A return serve, one involving someone formerly from cross enemy lines, would be a lot of fun to see.

How Washington can win the NFC East - Hogs Haven
It may be safe to say that most pundits are predicting the Philadelphia Eagles to win the division. Rightfully so, with the success that they have had in their off-season acquisitions, it is seemingly their division to lose. The Dallas Cowboys comes into 2022 as the NFC East champions; however, Dallas suffered several blows to their roster during free agency, most recently with Tyron Smith sustaining a significant hamstring injury. Outside of Carson Wentz, there is little chatter surrounding Washington or their chances to win the NFC East this year. But, as we all know, the NFC East is unstable, and the unexpected can happen in any given year.

[WATCH] Saints fans are going through the 5 stages of grief - Canal Street Chronicles
What else can be said about the Chauncey Gardner Johnson trade to the Philadelphia Eagles that hasn’t already been said? Just take time to let us all go through the 5 stages of grief together.

Bears awarded 6 players from waivers - Windy City Gridiron
CB Josh Blackwell, Eagles.

Amazon and Russell Wilson are pulling the dumbest, most nonsensical NFL prank - SB Nation
Nobody really cares about Thursday Night Football, but Amazon sure does. After spending $1.3B to air games this season, they’re trying to amp up the excitement — and that includes making ludicrous claims like this one.

NFL University #55: Jimmy G, Eagles Moves, & 2022 NFL Awards Predictions - The SB Nation NFL Show
Welcome back to another edition of NFL University! Stephen Serda, Kyle Posey, and Justis Mosqueda discuss the Niners holding on to Jimmy G–and the Eagles going for it all this year. We spend the rest of the show handing out our predictions for the 2022 NFL awards–including MVP, defensive player of the year, offensive players of the year, coach of the year, and rookies of the year.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2022/9/1/23332503/eagles-news-philadelphia-being-picked-win-nfc-east-cowboys-commanders-giants-nfl-odds-division

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I think we have a better roster than the Cowboys but until I see us beat them I can't quite put us above them. They've handled us far too easily the last few years so I need to see Hurts and co go and get the W against them.