👋 Good morning! Remember when Todd Pinkston caught the game-winner on Monday Night Football at Lambeau Field in 2003?

Great video there. Brett Favre and Mike Sherman looking stunned, getting ready for 4th and 26 a few months later. Chad Lewis bear-hugging Donovan McNabb. John Harbaugh furiously talking special teams with Big Red on the sidelines. Michaels and Madden on the call. Lambeau game ops playing “Brown Eyed Girl” for some reason. Fun game that I think has mostly slipped through the cracks.

But you know what should not slip through the cracks? Righteous Felon Craft Jerky. Low-sugar, high-protein and all-natural. An absolutely delicious snack.

As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

In honor of the Jaelan Phillips deal, let’s talk past trade deadlines…

(1) Sixers: In February 2019, Elton Brand made his second blockbuster in-season trade of the season by acquiring Tobias Harris from the Clippers. Who were the other two players that came over from Los Angeles in the deal?

(2) Eagles: I have written about how Jay Ajayi is The Gold Standard of Howie Roseman trade deadline acquisitions. After that deadline, the Jay Train ran for a 46-yard touchdown in his first game as an Eagle. Who was the opponent?

(3) Phillies: In July 2000, the Phillies traded Curt Schilling to Arizona for four players. Since I have heard of all four of these guys (one position player, three pitchers), who all played legitimate games for the Phillies over the next few years, name two of them.

(4) Flyers: In February 2015, the Flyers traded defenseman Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay for a first-round pick, third-round pick and this hard-hitting defenseman.

As always, answers at the bottom.

OK, so the actual midway point of the Eagles season will be at halftime on Mondee night at Lambeau. But with a Week 9 bye now in the rear-view mirror, I figured it would be a good time to take stock of what we have seen so far from the 2025 Eagles, before looking ahead to what is to come.

The first half the season was, admittedly, uneven at times. The Eagles did not outgain any of their opponents until Week 8. They have a +23 point differential, which ranks 11th league-wide. If you look at DVOA, what do you know, they also rank 11th. Look at other advanced numbers, and they mostly paint the picture of a slightly above-average offense and a slightly below-average defense. I can buy all of that.

Even within games, the Eagles have been rather uneven. They would put together truly awesome halves (first half against Tampa Bay, second half against Los Angeles) and unbelievably terrible halves (first half against Los Angeles, second half against Tampa Bay) on the same afternoon. They would go 45 minutes to an hour without picking up a single first down on offense.

Much of that lack of consistency is due to the offensive line and secondary. The line has run blocked much worse than we are accustomed to seeing from Jeff Stoutland units, potentially due to the wear-and-tear of a deep Super Bowl run. And the secondary, which was more or less flawless a season ago, has struggled at times incorporating a mistake-prone rookie (Andrew Mukuba) and rotating cast of outside cornerbacks opposite Quinyon Mitchell that just do not appear to have it.

The bad news? The offense from the first six games was totally unsustainable. The definition of boom-or-bust. I love a good chart from The Professor, but this one is particularly unhinged.

What does that say, you ask? The 2025 Eagles are currently going three-and-out more than any team in the last decade. Any team! Browns, Titans, Giants, Jets, Jaguars, all of ‘em, in every year. Think about how many bums coached and quarterbacked those teams! They all went three-and-out less than the Eagles offense is currently going. But on the flip side, the Eagles are also converting drives into touchdowns at the third-highest rate in the league this season.

Those two things do not compute. How have the Eagles pulled off the trick?

The red zone, in particular, has saved The Kevin Patullo Experience so far. Patullo can barely get the car out of park for an hour. But once he gets it in gear, he has cooked up some great stuff around the goal line, particularly all of the Big Red-style shovel passes to Dallas Goedert.

The good news? The offense over the past two games felt much more sustainable. 28 points against a good Minnesota defense, with a bunch of explosive plays in the passing game. And then punting just one time against a terrible Giants defense.

The defense has taken a predictable step back. Predictable, because elite defense can be hard to replicate year over year. But also a little disappointing, because of all the young talent still on this group.

Especially in those first few weeks, it was strange to feel like the linebacking room was the team’s best unit. But Vic Fangio has been forced to blitz Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell a tad more than last season, in part because the defensive front has struggled. Jalen Carter has been particularly quiet. And then the secondary is also dealing with aforementioned personnel issues around Quinyon Mitchell’s brilliance and The Exciting Mics.

Above all, the Eagles are 6-2 against a tough schedule. Again, it has been uneven, no question. But the Eagles have played a 7-2 team. They have played two 6-2 teams. They are the only visiting team to win in Arrowhead Stadium this season. They won in Minnesota against a decent Vikings team.

Point being, this has not been Cupcake City. Except for…

They have created some nice distance in the NFC East. The “magic number” concept is more popular in baseball, a sport that plays more often than once a week, but the Eagles’ current number sits at six with nine games left to play. Pretty good spot to break 20 years of NFC East parity! And with the Washington Regressions taking their expected two steps back this season, the final month does not look as difficult as it once did.

With all of that in mind, I do believe the Eagles have earned The Benefit of the Doubt. When we talk about teams “flipping the switch,” you never know if they can or not. But unlike some teams who have relatively slept walk through portions of a season, these Eagles have actually done something before. Many of these guys have played in two Super Bowls. Even more of them have won one of them.

Now, it’s time to look ahead. EJ and Bo made their predictions yesterday. I will give you five questions that I am looking at for during the season’s second half.

(1) Can Jalen Hurts make an MVP run? 🚨 IMPORTANT REMINDER 🚨 In his last two games, Hurts went 34-43 for 505 yards, 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He is playing great ball right now. As EJ pointed out here, Jalen is pushing the ball down the field while also avoiding turnovers. He has a 15-1 TD/INT ratio!

The passing volume is working against Jalen yet again when it comes to MVP, but if he can hit explosive plays to A.J. and DeVonta like the past few weeks? Does not seem impossible, does not seem like a bad flyer to take.

(2) Can the run blocking normalize? Last year, Saquon Barkley was first among running backs in yards before contact (3.8). The Eagles offensive line sprung him to the second level, and then he hit home runs. This year, Saquon is 12th among running backs in yards before contact (2.6).

That number improved in Week 8 against the Giants, and finally with some good blocking, Saquon finally hit a home run. Can that continue?

(3) How much do the trade deadline acquisitions boost the defense? Here are their new numbers, by the way.

I have written enough about these guys already, but does Howie Roseman’s strategy — A big swing at edge-rusher, two dart throws in the secondary — give a boost to the two struggling areas of the defense?

(4) How does playing time at linebacker play out? Nakobe Dean looks like Nakobe Dean, which is great! But now there is no more excuse to play Jihaad Campbell, who is also playing well, on the edge. Nolan Smith, Jaelan Phillips and BG will all be out there. So, uh, how is this whole linebacking sitch gonna work? Fascinating question.

(5) How do the Eagles fare in their big games? I could not reasonably term this second half as “A Gauntlet.” Washington (2x), Las Vegas and Dallas are all looking increasingly worse. Even the Chargers are incredibly banged-up.

But there are three heavyweight fights still left, with two in the next two weeks: At Green Bay, Detroit, at Buffalo. Should be fun.

Hey, did you know that ALLCITY NFL draft expert and my guy Fran Duffy has a new draft-focused newsletter? Even with the Jaelan Phillips trade, Howie still has eight of those picks in the first five rounds.

It drops every Friday and is packed with tons of information about the college game and the upcoming draft process. You can sign up just by clicking here!

#HowieSZN: Our guy ZB would always talk about how he spent way too much time thinking about whatever Howie Roseman was thinking about. I dunno if EJ can beat ZB in that regard, but he sure wrote a nice piece off of Howie’s press conference on Wednesday.

Jose Alvarado, back for 2025: #AsExpected

Just from the television copy, John Middleton seems to hang out in Jeffrey Lurie’s suite at Eagles games from time to time. I wonder if ol’ Jeff told John not to bother with the exercisedexercisedexercisedexercisedexercised graphic for this one like the Eagles did with Jordan Davis. You know what, I bet Jeff told John to alert the Phillies social media team at the Giants game a few weeks ago. That’s teamwork, baby.

Alvarado completely screwed the Phillies this year, and no, I am not entirely over it. But once you move past the hard feelings for a moment, it seems like a no-brainer to bring him back for the final year of his deal.

I forgot about this, but Alvarado struggled after returning from the 80-game suspension. But he was very good pre-suspension, and still throws gas from the left side. You put the guy from the first half with The Durantula on the back end, and you have the makings of a nice bullpen.

Some outfield rumours: The Phillies might have three new outfielders this offseason. Maybe 2.5, if Brandon Marsh sticks around. Maybe 1.5, if Marsh and Harrison Bader both stay. Definitely at least 1.5, though. Need a platoon bat with Marsh and a replacement for Nick Castellanos.

Anyway, the Phillies are gonna be linked to a bunch of different players. Two of them are from the Angels, who hit a bunch of homers at CBP last summer.

Both of those guys, Jo Adell and Taylor Ward, had pretty good years. 37 and 36 homers, respectively.

Cleveland 132, Sixers 121: No problem with the effort from the players on the second night of a back-to-back. The shorthanded Sixers got roasted in transition in this one, because their legs were dead tired after last night and Cleveland had two days off. Post-game pod is here.

🚓 But The Minutes Police are out for Nick Nurse! 🚓

I am in firm agreement with The Police. The Sixers had no chance to win that game, and they fought pretty admirably for 2.5 quarters. But Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre and VJ Edgecombe all had no business playing 36+ minutes in that one. Edgecombe had the first clunker of his career, and it’s clear that he is gassed out there.

On a positive note, I like Trendon Watford. He’s gonna help them.

The Flyers are in Nashville to take on the Predators for the second time in a week (8:00 p.m., NBC Sports Philly). Not a great Thursday Night Football game. I wonder if all the football hipsters still think Geno Smith is the fourth best quarterback in football.

Your tentative Thursday schedule at PHLY:

And oh yeah, the trivia answers:

Let’s make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS