The Linc - Haason Reddick is one “bad dude”

Feb 1, 2023 - 2:04 PM

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

How Eagles LB Haason Reddick went from Temple walk-on to NFL game-wrecker - ESPN
The question had zero to do with premier edge rusher Haason Reddick, but Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts couldn’t help turning the focus toward him. In the wake of Philadelphia’s 31-7 throttling of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game Sunday, Hurts was asked about his own situational awareness in key moments and was in the midst of talking about football IQ and fundamentals when he pivoted. “Haason Reddick, he’s been a bad dude all year,” Hurts said. “And that’s what we need going forward.” It’s hard to overstate the impact Reddick made against San Francisco. In the first half alone, he racked up two sacks, three pressures, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The 49ers’ fate was sealed midway through the first quarter when Reddick came flying off the edge and generated a strip sack by swatting at the arm of Brock Purdy, who suffered an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his elbow on the play. It knocked Purdy out of the game and rendered him ineffective when he was forced to return following a Josh Johnson concussion. “You don’t ever want anybody to get dinged or get hurt, and I hope he’s OK,” said coach Nick Sirianni, “but it definitely did change the game.”

10 surprise players who helped the Eagles get to the Super Bowl - PhillyVoice
2) LB Haason Reddick: From 2020 to 2021, Reddick had 23.5 sacks. Only four NFL players — T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, and Aaron Donald — had more during that span. On the first day of 2022 free agency, the Eagles inked Reddick to a three-year deal worth $45 million, which was a nice pay day, but not type of money that other elite edge rushers have fetched. During the regular season, the upgrade from Genard Avery to Haason Reddick at the SAM position was on the level as the upgrade from Jalen Reagor to A.J. Brown at wide receiver. Reddick finished with a career best 16 sacks and added five forced fumbles on his way to Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. But it has been his playoff performances against the Giants and 49ers that have put Reddick in the national spotlight, as he added 3.5 more sacks to his tally in those two games, as well as a game-wrecking sack-fumble of Brock Purdy. If they awarded an NFC Championship Game MVP, it very clearly would have been him.

Roob Stats: Jalen Hurts already making postseason history - NBCSP
10. Finally, Haason Reddick. What a postseason he’s having. Reddick had 1 ½ sacks against the Giants and 2.0 against the 49ers. He’s the first Eagle in history with more than one sack in consecutive postseason games and the first even with just one in back-to-back playoff games since Derrick Burgess against the Falcons and Patriots in 2004. Reddick’s 3 ½ sacks are most ever by an Eagle in a single postseason – Burgess had 3.0 in 2004 – and after just two games he’s only one behind Brandon Graham for the franchise all-time career postseason sack record of 4 ½.

Three reasons why the Eagles are simply better than the Chiefs, and one reason to wonder - Inquirer
3. Haason Reddick’s edge rush and Patrick Mahomes’ ankleReddick has been the MVP of the playoffs thus far. I don’t think there is a close second. Reid is smart enough to figure out a way to compensate for a defender that can’t be blocked, but we’ve also seen Mahomes and his offense struggle against a withering Super Bowl pass rush. Of all the games within the games, this might be the biggest one. If Mahomes can’t move any better than he did against the Bengals in the AFC championship, this would be another huge Eagles advantage. Reid is a brilliant coach, an unparalleled play-caller. He is the biggest reason to wonder. The Eagles are going to do what they do, as all favorites should. The only question is whether Big Red can counter.

This Eagles team could go down as one of NFL’s all-time greats - BGN
TIRED: Winning a Super Bowl. WIRED: Winning a Super Bowl by blowout and cementing yourself as one of the most dominant teams in NFL history. I’m joking of course, as it’s never “tired” to win a Super Bowl, especially when you only have one to your credit. And I don’t really care how the Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57, only that they do. If it requires them to crawl over broken glass to eke out a one-point victory, the euphoria will be just as full and robust as if they win by four touchdowns. So as you read the rest of this story, please understand that I am not expecting the Birds to blow out the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, nor do I think it’s the only acceptable form of victory. Get the trophy. Have the parade. Fly the flag. That’s all that matters. But if we zoom out and greedily allow ourselves to gaze at the bigger picture, we can see the Eagles are on the precipice of something extraordinary. A big victory over Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the rest of an outstanding Chiefs squad in two weeks would cement the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles as one of the NFL’s greatest teams of all-time.

NFC East Mixtape Vol.97: The Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl! - BGN Radio
Woohoo! The Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl to play the Kansas City Chiefs! Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) and RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) reflect on the Birds dominant victory against the 49ers and also discuss some of the biggest storylines in the division. The Super Bowl will be the Jalen Hurts- A.J. Brown show. Chances of Dan Quinn becoming Cowboys head coach?

Hurts and Senior Bowl Talk - Iggles Blitz
Plays like that are why teams are scared of Hurts keeping the ball. They know what a playmaker he is. Let’s also point out that Hurts didn’t have any turnovers. The Niners, with the best defense in the league, had forced at least 2 turnovers in a game for the past 5 games. They came up with INTs, FFs and strip sacks. They got the best of a lot of different QBs and teams. Hurts gave them nothing. He will need to play better for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. KC will score points. The good news is that the Chiefs don’t have the best defense in the league. Hurts and the Eagles should be able to move the ball and score points.

2023 offseason needs for all 32 NFL teams - PFF
Philadelphia Eagles: Cornerback depth. Signing James Bradberry for pennies on the dollar was one of the shrewdest moves the Eagles made last offseason. They were able to snare another team’s cap casualty and bring in an impact player for a bargain price. They could tie Bradberry to a much more lucrative contract, but if they value his low cost, cornerback becomes an area of need. Bradberry allowed just 46.8% of the passes thrown into his coverage to be caught this season for a passer rating of 51.4.

Spadaro: Defense returns to its ballhawking mentality - PE.com
With its personnel all present and accounted for, the Eagles’ defense on Sunday did what it had done for much of the regular season before some tough injuries challenged the secondary: They took the football away from the San Francisco 49ers. Three times in all, just like before safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and cornerback Avonte Maddox suffered injuries late in the year. A takeaway machine. Maybe you lost it in all of the euphoria from the NFC Championship Game, but with the defense intact for the first time since the Green Bay Packers played at Lincoln Financial Field on November 27 and Gardner-Johnson suffered a lacerated kidney, the Eagles put out a defense that had every piece in place. Gardner-Johnson was at safety, and he was all over the place with speed and aggressiveness and energy – not to mention five extremely physical tackles that really added some nasty to the defense. Maddox, in his first game back since suffering a toe injury in the Christmas Eve game at Dallas, had three tackles, including one for loss playing the slot cornerback position. “We just had a great game collectively,” Maddox said after the game. “Those guys up front put the pressure on and it goes from there.”

Why Isiah Pacheco Is Kansas City’s Secret Weapon - Football Outsiders
Well … not great, at least not on defense. Kansas City was right in the middle of the pack in run defense DVOA, and bottom-five in both DVOA and yardage allowed on passes to running backs. Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Kenneth Walker, and Samaje Perine each ran for over 100 yards against the Chiefs. Kansas City fell outside the bottom 20 in adjusted line yards, stuff rate, and second-level yards allowed. This is not a defense designed to shut down running backs. The offense, however, might be able to hit the Eagles where they are vulnerable. The Chiefs were ninth in run offense DVOA and third in adjusted line yards—they excelled in reeling off consistent productive runs. Isiah Pacheco quietly made the top 10 running backs in both DYAR and DVOA. This may all be surprising to you because the Chiefs were only 20th in rushing yardage even though they were ahead in the second half more often than not. Pacheco had just one game with 20 carries in his rookie season. But all of that says more about their willingness to run than their ability to do so. The Chiefs do not like to run early—only the Bengals had fewer runs in the first half of games this year—but they may need to alter their game plan to keep the Eagles off-balance, and to keep their quarterback upright. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce will get most of the spotlight over the next two weeks, but Pacheco may be their most important weapon.

Chiefs-Eagles Shows Two Ways to Build a Modern NFL Team. Which Will Win Out? - The Ringer
Based on Sunday’s results, and really what we’ve been seeing all season, Philadelphia’s situation seems to be the better of the two. The Eagles don’t ask their quarterback to be perfect, and the team has proven it can dominate good competition even when Hurts isn’t playing his A game. Take Sunday’s contest, where I’m not even sure we saw his B game. Hurts missed throws, he never looked over-comfortable in the pocket despite the Eagles dominance in the trenches, and even some of his big completions required impressive adjustments by the receivers—or missed calls by the refs. Hurts averaged 4.7 yards per dropback with a 37-percent success rate against the Niners, both near season lows, per TruMedia. He was inaccurate on 16.0 percent of his throws, his third-worst mark of the season. And this happened while playing behind an offensive line that allowed pressure on only 25.9 percent of his dropbacks. None of that mattered in the end. The Eagles put up 31 points without breaking a sweat thanks to a defense that overwhelmed a hamstrung Niners offense, and a historically dominant run game that shows up every week.

Super Bowl 2023 expert picks, odds: Early predictions for Chiefs vs. Eagles - The Athletic
Larry Holder: It comes down to Philadelphia being a more well-rounded team than the Chiefs. Yes, Kansas City supplies superstars like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. But the Eagles bring elements that will trouble the Chiefs. Philadelphia’s ground attack has been the team’s calling card throughout the season, especially in the NFC Championship win over the 49ers, which possesses one of the better defenses in the league. I feel like the Eagles can expose the Chiefs there. Add the dynamic nature of Jalen Hurts, and you almost have to pick your poison. And then there’s the potent pass rush by Philadelphia. The Eagles led the league by a mile with 70 sacks and ranked second in pass pressure percentage at 38.2 percent, via TruMedia. In the postseason, that pressure rate jumped to 53.6 percent led by Haason Reddick’s 3 1/2 sacks and 31.6 percent pressure rate.

Super Bowl flight prices: Travel from Philadelphia to Phoenix and best deals available - DraftKings Nation
Looking to get from Philly to Phoenix for Super Bowl 57? We’ve got you covered with the best flights we’ve found for the trip to the desert to see the Philadelphia Eagles play in their fourth Super Bowl. The direct options out of Philadelphia filled up fast during the blowout, and the best right now is a $164 flight that leaves at 8:31 p.m. the night before the game. There’s also flight on Frontier from BWI to PHX directly for just $64, and it would get you into the area about six hours before kickoff. But remember Frontier isn’t exactly known for their terrific customer service, and they will drown you in fees for upgraded seats and even carry-on baggage.

NFC Championship Game blowout averages 47.5 million viewers - PFT
The NFC Championship Game’s television audience was strong, but diminished somewhat by the lopsided score. Fox announced that the Eagles’ 31-7 win over the 49ers drew an average of 47.5 million viewers. That’s a strong number relative to anything else on TV, but not great for a conference championship game. The Rams’ win over the 49ers in last year’s NFC Championship Game, which was tied until late in the fourth quarter, drew 50.4 million viewers. This year’s AFC Championship Game, a back-and-forth contest that was close until the final moment, drew 53.1 million viewers.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler gives 2 positive updates on Chiefs’ injuries - Arrowhead Pride
Though the Kansas City Chiefs came out of Sunday’s AFC Championship with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the ticket to Super Bowl LVII was costly. The Chiefs entered the game with quarterback Patrick Mahomes nursing a high ankle sprain and tight end Travis Kelce dealing with a late-week back injury. The 60 minutes of action only compounded the team’s injury woes — while a championship opportunity against the Philadelphia Eagles was looming. On defense, cornerback L’Jarius Sneed left the game after the game’s fourth play with a concussion — and linebacker Willie Gay Jr. injured his shoulder in the third quarter. The wide receiver room was decimated. Kadarius Toney, Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster were ruled out during the game. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler provided two positive updates for the Chiefs.

Cowboys rumors: NFL insider says things ‘weren’t great’ between Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore at end - Blogging The Boys
Breer says this after being asked if Moore was fired by the Cowboys, an understandable question given that he was still under contract with the team. The verbiage used all along here has been that this was a ‘mutual’ parting of ways, but again, if you are asking someone not to return when they still have time left on their deal, that implies a certain thing. Breer also notes that both McCarthy and Moore are play-callers at their core and that this could have been part of the divide that began to happen. He also says that he doesn’t know if it was finally that in a general sense, or if it was the way that Dak Prescott played. Many Cowboys fans have argued that Dak is a top-tier quarterback in the NFL (define that how you’d like to) and while he certainly played like that for moments this past season, he also played quite poorly in other stretches. He is not above blame or responsibility here, especially if the volatility of his play is partly what led to a disagreement of sorts between his play-caller and head coach.

What should the ‘walk-away’ number be for quarterbacks? - Big Blue View
The Giants’ problem is a lack of difference-makers. Their two likely returning highest-paid players, Leonard Williams and Adoree’ Jackson, are key contributors but not candidates to be Pro Bowl or All-Pro players based on recent performance. (Williams did make the Pro Bowl once with the Jets.) Andrew Thomas, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, and Evan Neal are either in that playmaker category or have the potential to get there, and Dexter Lawrence, who is not even in the Giants’ top 10 in APY, will be soon. Decisions on Thibodeaux and especially Neal are years away. For the other four, signing second contracts could wipe out all of that $41.8M in cap space depending on how the contracts are structured. Somehow the Giants will need to fit in difference-makers at high-leverage positions such as wide receiver and cornerback. Joe Schoen had better find some gems in the draft and maybe make a headline trade too.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Commanders Roster Heading Into the Offseason - Hogs Haven
2023 free agency will be big for this football team, but with questions surrounding new ownership and the potential timing for someone to step in, will Dan Synder be willing to allow this lame-duck staff to go out and spend freely on the free agent market? Re-signing our own free agents will be a top priority. Daron Payne and Jeremy Reaves are the two I’d like to see this staff bring back. Outside of them, there are some question marks. Taylor Heinicke is on the mind of many, but he may be able to better maximize his value on the open market. Wes Schweitzer is a valuable rotational piece on the offensive line, and at the right price, I’d love to see him return. Cole Holcomb is my biggest head-scratcher. He’s solid, but not spectacular. It may be better to let him test the market and see if we can land a better player at the position.

BREAKING NEWS: Texans hire DeMeco Ryans as Head Coach - Battle Red Blog
The Houston Texans have their guy. According to sources, the Texans are hiring former linebacker and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as the team’s newest head coach. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Ryans and the Texans have agreed to a six-year contract. Texans officials met with Ryans for a second time today after the 49ers lost the NFC Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles.

BREAKING NEWS: Broncos finalizing a trade for head coach Sean Payton - Mile High Report
According to multiple reports, the Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints are finalizing a trade for head coach Sean Payton. The compensation is a 2023 first-round pick(the 29th overall pick) and a 2024 second-round pick going to New Orleans for Sean Payton and a 2024 third-round pick.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announces his retirement - Bucs Nation
It was the announcement many have been expecting from Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. On Wednesday, February 1, he made it official. He is retiring from football. The 45-year-old quarterback announced his retirement via video this Wednesday morning on social media.

Daniel Jeremiah’s top 50: 2023 NFL Draft prospect rankings 1.0 - NFL.com
16) Joey Porter Jr. Porter Jr. has elite size, length and speed for the position. He is at his best in press coverage, where he can use his rare arm length to re-route wideouts. He is fluid when he opens up, but it’s more build-up speed than urgent/sudden quickness. In off coverage, he trusts his eyes and closes the distance with his long stride. He has a great feel for working around pass catchers to poke the ball away. He didn’t record any interceptions this past fall, but according to PFF, he only gave up one play of 15-plus yards. He is a reliable wrap/drag tackler in space. He doesn’t play with the same ferocity as his famous father, but he’s plenty tough enough for the position he plays. Overall, Porter should be a Day 1 starter capable of matching up with the bigger wideouts around the league.

Senior Bowl: Day 1 standouts who can rise in 2023 NFL Draft - SB Nation
Ohio State OT Dawand Jones is MASSIVE. He measured in today at 6’8, 375 pounds with a 89 4/8 inch wingspan, he’s less right tackle and more double wide RV. He performed really well in pass pro 1-on-1’s, shutting down an Isaiah Foskey long arm rep and a DJ Johnson pass rush move with ease. I want to see him tested against true speed guys but he’s off to a roaring start.

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