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Blogging the Boys
NFC East update: Cowboys drop ahead of bye week
The Cowboys just fell down a peg in the NFC East standings, and their bye week may allow Washington and Philadelphia to build greater leads.
With their Week 6 loss to the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys fell to third in the NFC East. They’re limping into the bye week, both with health issues across the roster and from their cringe-worthy performances. What’s worse, Dallas may have to watch the Commanders and Eagles pick up some more wins while they rest.
Current NFC East Standings
- Washington Commanders 4-2 (1-0 in division, 2-1 vs NFC)
- Philadelphia Eagles 3-2 (0-0, 2-2)
- Dallas Cowboys 3-3 (1-0, 1-2)
- New York Giants 2-4 (0-2, 1-3)
We’re talking about assumptive wins for Washington and Philadelphia in Week 7 because of their scheduled competition; the Commanders host the Panthers while the Eagles will face the Giants in New York. After a brief surge of improvement when Andy Dalton replaced Bryce Young at quarterback, Carolina is back to losing games big and staying in the hunt for the first pick in the 2025 Draft. Washington should have little trouble improving to 5-2 this Sunday.
The Eagles’ task is certainly taller. The Giants have shown heart the last two weeks, even getting a stunning road win in Seattle. Meanwhile, Philly came off their bye and had trouble putting the Browns away last week. The offense clicked better with A.J. Brown back in action but the game was far closer than expected, and Nick Sirianni is still behaving like a heel wrestler’s manager.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys fanbase almost unanimously has no confidence in the franchise at the moment
After the embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions at home, all faith has been cashed out.
We asked earlier in the week if you believe the franchise is headed in the right direction, and the answer was the lowest of any SB Nation team fanbase this week at 3%. The next closest mark was the Jacksonville Jaguars fans at 5% and the Cleveland Browns fans at 9%. Both of those teams are 1-5 on the year.
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The rot has gone so far that hopes of making the playoffs in 2024 are also at a very low number. Only 11% fans think that Dallas will turn their season around and make a charge into the playoffs.
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This is really an unprecedented low for a team that is 3-3 on the season. But the blowouts at home, and the fan’s simmering anger from the offseason where it was felt Jerry Jones and company did little to improve the team, together have reached a boiling point.
ESPN
Walder: Five key stat trends that could determine Week 7 winners
Can Dexter Lawrence II disrupt the Eagles enough to steal a win?
This is mostly an excuse for me to talk about what Lawrence has done this season. He has seven sacks in six games, tied for second most in the league — while playing nose tackle. It’s so much harder to get that kind of production from his spot compared to other top sack leaders. Lawrence lines up in a 1-technique (between the center and guard) more than any other spot on the defensive line, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Since the start of 2023, 1-techniques record a sack on just 0.8% of their pass rushes. That number jumps up to 2.1% at the 9-technique, where edge rushers primarily align, meaning Lawrence’s production is roughly equivalent to an edge rusher reaching double-digits by now.
Could the Eagles stop him Sunday? The interior of the Eagles’ offensive line isn’t playing at its normal level. Center Cam Jurgens is solid in terms of pass block win rate (97%, sixth best), but Landon Dickerson (92%) and Mekhi Becton (90%) rank 30th and 43rd, respectively, out of 66 qualifiers at guard. They’ll have their hands full with Lawrence.
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles roster news: Sydney Brown is back
The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced two roster moves ahead of their Week 7 road game against the New York Giants. An overview:
- S Sydney Brown was activated from reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP) to the active roster.
- OL Jack Driscoll was temporarily elevated from the practice squad.
Brown is returning to game action for the first time since suffering an ACL injury at MetLife Stadium earlier this year on January 7. The second-year safety is certain to contribute on special teams. His defensive role remains to be seen since he’s currently behind full-time starters Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson on the depth chart.
The Eagles did not activate Albert Okwuegbunam nor Ainias Smith despite their practice windows being open.
Bleeding Green Nation
Cap hell is real
The salary cap isn’t real, as teams can redo contracts whenever they want and deal with the consequences later. The Saints have been doing this for years. The Eagles however, can not.
The Eagles do not have a single player not on their rookie contract who makes more than $1.75M in salary. Not just this year or next, but at any point in time on their contract. That means that they have no ability to convert base salary to a signing bonus and free up significant cap space for that season. In any season.
This is still a way better place than the Saints, who are over the cap for next year by over $80M. The Eagles are nearly $34M under the cap for next year, 21st most. But there is no cap wizardry to be had in upgrading this roster. What you see is what you get.
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NFL already has rule in place to address time-killing loophole that Oregon utilized in win over Ohio State
The NFL has been proactive in limiting the ways teams can manipulate the game clock
The loophole Oregon exposed had a player in formation and not actively running off the field, which is why the Oregon example would be a dead-ball foul in the NFL. And NFL officials have at their disposal the opportunity to determine for themselves whether an unfair act is intentional, and then properly assess either a penalty to the offender or reward to the victimized team.
In Week 8 in Carolina, the Panthers lined up for a game-winning, chip-shot field goal against the Texans with three seconds left. Houston committed fouls on consecutive plays, either in the hopes of getting away with a defensive offsides or forcing the Panthers to eventually accept a penalty that gave them an even closer attempt — potentially messing with the angle of the kick because of its unusual proximity.
But the Texans stopped with the blatant fouls after two tries. Why? A source says the Texans were informed if they did it again, the field goal and its associated three points would be awarded to the Panthers without the need for a successful attempt.
“For successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score: If the violation is repeated after a warning, the score involved is awarded to the offensive team,” reads Rule 12, Article 2 of the 2024 NFL Rulebook.
That’s never before happened in the NFL, and perhaps it’s as close as the NFL has gotten to Dicky Moegle being awarded a touchdown in the 1954 Cotton Bowl when Tommy Lewis left the bench to tackle him.
This summer the NFL sent a memo to teams regarding the upcoming new dynamic kickoff. Teams were grappling with how to both return and defend those kicks, but that wasn’t all. Some intrepid coaches were trying to figure out ways to use the kickoff to potentially kill valuable time off the clock just like Oregon did last Saturday.
A scenario popularly floated went something like this: The kicking team had a lead with seconds remaining. As the ball is in the air but before it is touched by the return team, a player or players on the coverage team would leave the setup zone early to prevent a quality return. Though the play would draw a 5-yard illegal formation penalty, it would kill valuable time off the clock — maybe five seconds — during the return and cost the kicking team just 5 extra yards.
The NFL informed teams that if they tried that, they’d be on to them. Officials would either shut down the play entirely or let it go, then restore the time on the clock and move the kicking team back 15 yards for a palpably unfair act.
ESPN
Fowler: What I’m hearing as we near kickoff
The Jets are preparing for Russell Wilson to start at quarterback for the Steelers this week. But even if Wilson does start, could Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin find a role for Justin Fields, who acquitted himself well through six games? The Jets have at least prepared for the possibility of a third-down/red zone package for Fields.
Meanwhile, the Steelers have shown interest in a potential trade for Jets receiver Mike Williams, who is on the block. Williams is open to finding a new home before the deadline, and Pittsburgh has basically scoured the Earth for receiver help in recent months. Any possible deal would have to wait until next week, due to the head-to-head matchup.
Pro Football Talk
Report: Teams are targeting Jets WR Garrett Wilson in potential trade
Mike Williams seemed to have fallen completely out of favor. After dropping a pass on Monday night against Buffalo, he ran the wrong route on the game-sealing interception.
PFT reported in the aftermath of the acquisition of Adams that the Jets are looking to trade Williams.
That hasn’t stopped teams from calling about Wilson, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Schefter also reports that the Jets have responded by saying they won’t be trading the 2022 NFL offensive rookie of the year.
As a practical matter, it’s a non-story unless and until the Jets express a willingness to consider a trade.
NFL.com
Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson has chance to return if Detroit makes it to Super Bowl LIX
The Lions’ star pass rusher faces a long road to recovery following surgery after last Sunday’s win over the Dallas Cowboys, with Campbell estimating Hutchinson’s rehab time to be 4-6 months. Campbell clearly left the door open intentionally and with good reasons.
Sources say there are several factors that point to Hutchinson potentially being back at the early benchmark of four months — which would be right at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025 — provided Detroit makes it, of course.
Though Hutchinson’s injury was horrific and chilling to watch, the fracture itself was actually a clean break, sources say. There was no ligament damage. There was no nerve damage. The kinds of issues that can result with such a serious break were not present — very good news.