👋 Good morning!

The Friday links. Spread the word, spread the word:

Today’s newsletter is presented to you from our friends at Righteous Felon Craft Jerky. Go get you one of those Street Taco Pork Sticks that I have been munching on.

I have some pretty tough trivia, since I am sure you have not watched much of the Las Vegas Raiders this year. But hey, we live for impossible trivia here: How many of the five former Eagles on the Raiders 53-man roster (and if you are really sick, two on the practice squad) can you name? Answer in the Eagles section.

OK, let’s get you to the weekend. As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

Love some Swooper heading into the weekend.

And listening to the show, I came away with two questions.

(1) Would this be a worse loss than the Cardinals game in 2023? Fran said yes, and the more I think about it, I agree with him.

The Eagles are currently 11.5-point favorites. And for the people who ask, “How can this team be favored by double-digits over anyone right now?” we will get to that in a second. I looked back on that New Year’s Eve debacle, and the Birds were favored by 12 points. So, objectively right around the same.

But when you look at the four teams involved in these two games, it would probably be worse, right?

The 2023 Cards at least had some degree of organizational alignment. They screwed up royally by winning that Eagles game and missing out on the chance to draft a franchise quarterback, but Johnny Ganz felt like he was still coaching the boys hard. Kyler Murray and James Conner were established vets who both had good games. That Eagles defense made everyone look good, but they felt a competent-ish awful team.

In addition to being bad, the 2025 Raiders also feel dysfunctional. Chip Kelly has already been fired, and Pete Carroll very much looks like a one-and-done coach there. Maybe that makes them more dangerous, but I dunno. These Raiders pair a below-average defense with what very well might be the worst offense in the league. And oh yeah, their backup quarterback is starting this game.

Despite the opponent, EJ said that he still does not feel good about this game. And it would be hard to tell him that he’s wrong. The Eagles gotta prove it, and there has not been much Provin’ It the past three weeks. My hope is that this is a different team than the 2023 Eagles. The bar is the floor, but the 2023 Eagles would either lose this game or win a coin-flip. Please, do not be the 2023 Eagles.

There is a lot of wiggle room between “Super Bowl Contender” and “The 2023 Eagles.” For one week at least, let’s find that sweet spot. If you do, this is a double-digit win.

(2) What is the lesson that the Eagles offense takes from Monday night in SoFi? On one hand, it was the second-most yards that the Eagles have gained in a game this season (365), albeit with some overtime involved. It still would have been third even without OT. Speaking of which, the Eagles had 11 games of 365+ yards last season. Man, this offense has not been very good. News at 11.

Monday night was also the Eagles’ third-highest explosive play rate of the season. Point being, they did some good things, against a much better defense than the one they will play this weekend.

As Fran broke down on Tuesday, the Eagles ran some good stuff. But the interesting caveat is that it was mostly on first and second down. The Eagles got back to their hitchiest tendencies on third down, almost as if the early-down and late-down playbook were written by two different authors. Make it the same author!

My hope, because I think it’s the only chance for this team, is that they lean into more of the crossing routes and intermediate passing. But of course, Jalen Hurts’ lesson from that game could be that he has to avoid turnovers at all costs. And hey, that might be enough to beat the Raiders with four three-and-outs and 17 points. But as I just wrote, it’s clearly not enough to gain 365 yards in an NFL football game.

One underrated thing: Would you take the Thomas Booker IV-Jakorian Bennett trade back if you could? Hindsight is 20/20, but I certainly would.

At the time, it felt like the Eagles were trading from a position of strength to a position of weakness. But Bennett is not playing ahead of Adoree’ Jackson and we are living in a world where Byron Young is playing 45 percent of the defensive snaps. Jordan Davis is having a really nice season, perhaps the best season on the team compared to preseason expectations, but Jalen Carter’s injury is asking a ton of both him and Moro Ojomo. A low snap-count game from the Eagles defense sure would be nice.

The Raiders’ biggest threat in the passing game is Brock Bowers, who might be the best tight end in the entire league. Interesting to hear Fran say that the Eagles will likely match Quinyon Mitchell on Bowers. That could be fun.

And look, I have no ill will towards Kenny Pickett at all. I love that he got to clinch the NFC East in front of his family and friends, and that he played hurt doing so. Some real Ocean County, NJ Philly Guy type of stuff. I love that he got to win a Super Bowl for his childhood team. He seems like a good dude.

But I am sorry, you have to be able to beat Pickett playing with limited weapons and behind an offensive line that is giving rookie running back Ashton Jeanty nothing. Jeanty ranks 50th of 51 qualified running backs in yards before contact.

Earlier in the year, I thought this game would have some juice. Chip Kelly’s return to The Linc was the big reason for that, and then there was the whole controversy about Tom Brady getting to talk to coaching staffs about their pre-game strategy when he owns five percent of the Raiders and is clearly part of their football operations group. Well, Chip and is gone and I could care less if Brady knows the whole Eagles playbook. Yeah, yeah, it’s a bunch of hitch routes.

As much as I love Tanner McKee, I really could do without spending another week hearing about him non-stop. Come on 1, get that swagger back. And in the words of Mark Davis’ dad, just win, baby.

Former Eagles, Current Raiders: Devin White, Kenny Pickett, Thomas Booker IV, Raheem Mostert and Tristin McCollum on the 53. Albert O and Terrell Edmunds on the Practice Squad.

(If I missed someone, I am sorry!)

Uncle Vic praising BG: For playing a lot of defensive tackle, that is. Selfless stuff. By the way, a new episode of Unblocked is live.

Phillip Rivers: Outside of Philly, this is the game I am most interested to watch.

The Colts are desperate, which is somewhat their own fault. There is no way Danny Dimes should have been playing last week. But turning to 44-year-old Phillip Rivers, who has not taken an NFL snap since 2020, is… insane? It does not surprise me that Rivers said yes, because he always seemed to run hot.

Imagine being Riley Leonard, and them turning to a 44-year-old who has not played in five years over you. I cannot wait to watch this.

Vegas 3, Flyers 2 (OT): Got the point, but a rough overtime turnover from Travis Konecny.

The Possession Game: It’s been nice to have a few days off from the Sixers. They play so many close games, it can be draining. No big news today, but I have been doing some NBA reading over the break and wanted to write about where the Sixers fit into a few league-wide trends.

The big trend this season is that Possession Ball is in. Teams got tired of the NBA being a “Make or Miss League,” so they figured out other ways to win. And the two ways to do that are by crashing the offensive glass with reckless abandon and upping the pressure on defense to force turnovers. If you get more shots than the other team, it becomes less of a Make or Miss League.

So, where do the Sixers fit into the Possession Ball revolution?

So, not bad. The Sixers are an average team overall, and they are average-ish when it comes to the Possession Ball revolution. Solid enough.

The rebounding part is pretty funny. It feels like the Sixers are a terrible rebounding team when you watch them, but the fact of the matter is that the whole league is getting/giving up offensive boards. They are actually above average on the glass, which is a huge improvement from last year when they were the worst defensive rebounding team in the league. The two-way guys (Dom Barlow, Jabari Walker) and VJ Edgecombe have helped a lot there, as has a rejuvenated Andre Drummond.

The only thing the Sixers were good at last year was forcing turnovers, and that is the only thing they are below average at now. You will take the tradeoff.

It’s clear that with this version of Joel Embiid, the Sixers’ offensive ceiling is not very high. Tyrese Maxey is forced to carry an insane load, and they have leaned into more defensive lineups. Reminds me a little bit of the Allen Iverson Sixers and Derrick Rose Bulls, albeit with a worse team. The Sixers are a little clunky offensively because of their personnel, but these lineups are holding their own in The Possession Game.

Charles Bassey: Remember him? The lesser of the two end-of-roster guys who got waived and picked up elsewhere in October 2022. Man, that Isaiah Joe moves remains a sore spot among Sixers fans.

Well, the Blue Coats traded for Bassey. That does not mean the Sixers own his rights, but maybe they might call him up for a 10-day at some point. He will be playing in Delaware in the meantime.

Tonight’s game: Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey (illness) are listed as probable. Poor Maxey, he finally gets off his feet and gets sick. No Oubre or Watford still but everyone else who should be playing seems good to go.

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Big weekend ahead.

And hopefully, we get a J.T. Realmuto signing while we are at it.

A quick Sundee afternoon rooting guide that I am just doing off the top of my head:

The Eagles game is gonna be freezing (bundle up!), but those games in the midwest are gonna be frigid. Football weather, baby!

Your tentative Friday schedule at PHLY:

Have a great weekend. Let’s make it a good one today.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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