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Bleeding Green Nation
Jalen Hurts is dealing with an ankle injury
New reporting from ESPN’s Tim McManus states Jalen Hurts is indeed dealing with an ankle injury.
According to a league source, Hurts has been dealing with a mild ankle issue for a couple weeks. A separate league source described it as “lower leg soreness” and that his limited practice Wednesday was for load management purposes, with the Eagles playing two games in a span of five days against the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders. The source added that Hurts was held back from dropping and planting during the individual periods but did throw the football later Wednesday during team walkthrough.
So, this exchange happened during Nick Sirianni’s Friday press conference.
#Eagles pic.twitter.com/rgF0qT396H
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) November 8, 2024
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles opposing player to stop, Week 10 edition
The Cowboys’ best chance at staging an upset.
The Eagles should destroy the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. at AT&T Stadium. Then again, the Eagles, up 22-0 at one point, should have destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars, and just got by. Then again, the Eagles, up 10-0, looked like they were going to destroy the Cleveland Browns, and just got by.
That brings us who is healthy on Dallas and who is definitely playing: Three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons will be playing for the first time since Week 4m when he hasn’t played since Week 4 because of a high ankle sprain when he suffered a high ankle sprain against the New York Giants on the player-friendly turf of MetLife Stadium.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys injury news: DaRon Bland out, Micah Parsons, Tyler Guyton questionable
Here is the Dallas Cowboys injury report for Friday
Micah Parsons (ankle) was designated as questionable on the final injury report. However, the indication is that he will return to the lineup for the first time since his injury against the New York Giants. CeeDee Lamb, who was in good spirits in the locker room, practiced fully Friaday and has no injury designation for this week’s game. According to head coach Mike McCarthy, Tyler Guyton, was “very limited” today and is questionable to play versus the Eagles. Guard Zack Martin (shoulder) had missed the first two days of practice, but was upgraded to full participation today and also does not carry an injury designation and will play Sunday.
Also cited as questionable is Eric Kendricks, who is working through his own shoulder injury. Kendricks managed to get another limited practice Friday, leaning towards optimism that he can suit up versus the Eagles.
DaRon Bland (foot) has been ruled out after three consecutive DNPs this week. Calen Carson and Trevon Diggs should be the starting cornerbacks again this week. Carson (shoulder) practiced fully this week for all three days. Meanwhile, Diggs (calf/ilness), did not practice Friday although he has been listed as questionable. Safety Juanyeh Thomas did not clear concussion protocol and has been ruled out.
Blogging the Boys
Mike McCarthy takes subtle shot at Cowboys’ offseason strategies
Mike McCarthy has never been one to criticize others, let alone his own boss, but the Cowboys head coach made some comments in his press conference on Thursday that raised some eyebrows. When asked about trying to set a standard for the season, McCarthy had this to say:
“I, personally, as a head coach would really… you know, when you’re signing veterans in camp and you’re doing things at the end, I think that’s a pretty big challenge that doesn’t… because it’s happened more this year, it seems, that I haven’t been exposed to as much. I think if you can have everybody here in April, when that draft’s over and you line up and you’ve got that 90 man roster, if you can get to work on continuity and consistency, I think that’s a huge factor in the start of your season.”
It’s not hard to see what McCarthy is referring to here. The Cowboys added veteran defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Jordan Phillips in August, right in the middle of the preseason. Nick Vigil, a key special teamer who’s seen defensive snaps in half of the Cowboys’ games this year, was signed right at the start of August. And Dalvin Cook – who’s played the last two weeks, albeit sparingly – was added to the practice squad once the preseason had wrapped up, which only extended the ramp up period for him.
[A]s McCarthy went on to explain, starting the year off right is key:
“If you can just get started in September, because September, to me, is the best opportunity to win games. I personally think the quality of football is the best, in my coaching career, in September. So to me, from experience, I think there’s more opportunities to win. So if you can at least get out of the gate and get started – and I think having all your people there in April helps you…”
Big Blue View
Giants-Panthers: When New York has the ball
Carolina is surprisingly bad at generating pressure, stopping the offense, and forcing punts. Jadeveon Clowney leads the team with 18 pressures, followed by Charles Harris with 15, and former Giant A’Shawn Robinson with 13. DeShawn Williams has 7. Harris leads the team with three sacks.
According to Pro Football Focus, no team has a worse overall defensive grade and a pass rush grade. The base defense consists of Robinson, Shy Tuttle, and LaBryan Ray up front, with Clowney typically on the line of scrimmage as well to create the four-man TITE front. Jonathan Harris and edge defender Cam Gill are rotational players in the front. Tuttle is the nose tackle, and Nick Thurman spells him; Tuttle is only 300 pounds and his presence isn’t dominating in the middle.
I expect the Giants to uptick their GT and GH counter runs against this front — wash the TITE defender down the line of scrimmage and create extra gaps to the play side with two pullers. New York used GT counter successfully against Washington three times last week. Their DUO runs against this front may not be as successful, for it’s difficult to form multiple double-teams against three interior defensive linemen inside of the tackle’s inside shoulder.
Running counter to the outside and hitting the 7 or 8 hole outside of the play-side tight ends will force the linebackers to scrape and locate. New York could also employ crack toss to force the safeties and defensive backs to fit and fill. If Carolina commits to base personnel, New York can schematically take advantage of that decision; if Carolina switches to nickel, the statistics suggest a high level of discomfort due to their league-worst yards surrendered in sub-packages.
New York can get Evero out of base by spreading them out and using lighter packages — even 10 personnel. I expect Carolina to match the Giants’ 11 personnel package with base, which posses it’s own problems for Carolina since there’s only two cornerbacks to cover three receivers.
Lane Johnson has played in eight games this year and only given up two pressures.
Not two sacks, not two hits. Two PRESSURES. That’s it.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a tackle be this unbeatable before over a sample size this large. He’s on pace to give up less pressures in a…
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) November 7, 2024
So I looked it up, and in the last ten seasons literally no tackle has allowed this few pressures in the first 9 weeks of a season.
Lane Johnson stands alone with two…just ahead of 2020 Lane when he allowed only THREE pressures in the first 9 games.
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) November 8, 2024
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Pro Football Talk
Final play kept Ravens from tying all-time 100-yard rushing streak
Entering Thursday night’s game against the Bengals, the Ravens had 42 straight regular-season games with 100 or more team rushing yards. The all-time record of 43, shared by the Ravens and the Steelers, could have been tied last night.
And it was. Until it wasn’t.
The Ravens had 100 yards. They’d done it. It was over. The only question was whether they’d break the record they share with themselves and the Steelers next week, when they play the Steelers.
But it wasn’t to be. After the Bengals failed to convert a late two-point conversion and attempted an unsuccessful onside kick, the Ravens took a knee. And the minus-one yard result from Lamar Jackson dropped the total to 99.
Washington Post (paywall)
The NFL has lots of bad teams — and lots of coaches on the hot seat
Eight NFL teams changed coaches last season. It could happen again.
A whopping nine teams (more than a quarter of the league!) have two or fewer wins heading into Week 10. Over the past five seasons, an average of just six teams entered Week 10 without three wins. And only once this century have even eight teams failed to reach three wins after 10 weeks. That mark probably won’t be beaten this season — the Giants and Panthers meet Sunday, and one of them probably will get a third win — but it could be equaled.
Who do you think is going to pay for so many teams being hopeless and helpless this early in the season — and for the empty seats? Coaches. So despite a quarter of the NFL’s teams just hiring new coaches in the offseason, buckle up. Because there is a strong sense among executives and coaches around the league that the owners will duplicate that turnover next offseason, if not exceed it.
Las Vegas Raiders
Pierce just brought in a bunch of out-of-work guys to fill out his offensive staff for the rest of the season, and the magic he conjured this time a year ago is long gone. “That’s a wrap in Vegas.”
New York Giants
It would be shocking if there is not a reboot here despite any past or pending proclamations from ownership.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Some rival executives believe Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson would get a blank check here, though questions remain as to whether he wants a top job after last year’s flirtations that preceded his return to Detroit.
Dallas Cowboys
Believe Jerry Jones when he tells you how comfortable he is with Mike McCarthy and how much he likes working with him. It’s true. But above all else, Jones is a businessman, and the business of the Cowboys is in peril as they get repeatedly blown out at home, going back to their ugly playoff exit against the Green Bay Packers last season. “He knows he has to throw his fans a bone.”
Chicago Bears
Locker room morale in Chicago is beyond poor, and players are essentially calling out this staff.
Carolina Panthers
[N]obody else wanted to talk to Canales a year ago, and Tepper didn’t want him in the first place.
Philadelphia Eagles
If I could bet on Belichick’s next team, I would put my money on the Eagles.
Cleveland Browns
Stefanski lasting five years with Jimmy Haslam is like 50 years in Pittsburgh — and he’s in Year 5. A firing is far from a sure thing, but some sort of shake-up is coming after all that spending for naught.
Discussion topics
Front Office Sports
The NFL Is Becoming the League With No Borders
After the final international game of the 2024 season, the richest, most powerful league in the world has plans—and the opportunity—to go more global.
The final international game of the 2024 NFL season will take place Sunday in Germany, when the Giants and Panthers face off at Allianz Arena in Munich. For the third straight year, the league will complete a record-tying five matchups outside the U.S., following three games in London last month and the debut Brazil game in Week 1.
But that record is set to be broken, as the NFL’s international ambitions—and list of host cities—continue to grow. NFL owners have approved playing up to eight regular-season games in foreign countries beginning next year, and there’s a push to double that number in the not-too-distant future, which would create a nearly season-long presence abroad.
Two things are certain: The NFL will play its first game in Spain in 2025, and it will eventually return to Mexico City once renovations at Estadio Azteca (where the league has played previously) are complete ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
As the league continues to plant its flag abroad, more teams could explore taking up part-time residence in a foreign country, like the Jaguars, who have played two London games in each of the past two seasons.
The two-time defending champion Chiefs, who played the NFL’s first game in Frankfurt last season, could be the most likely to follow suit. Kansas City spent roughly $3 million on international marketing activities, and wants to return to Germany as soon as possible.
Last month, a source familiar with the league’s expansion strategy confirmed to FOS that a separate package of international games is a definite possibility. The league could create a weekly 9:30 a.m. ET game broadcast window for at least a portion of the season, if not the majority of it—which could fetch more than $1 billion from a global streamer, sources told FOS.
From there, the next natural question revolves around the league’s biggest game. Last month, Goodell said it “wouldn’t surprise” him if the league held a future Super Bowl in London.
John Kosner, a former ESPN and NBA executive, told FOS an international Super Bowl “could become a potential carrot for bidders.”