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Bleeding Green Nation
Howie Roseman should sit out the trade deadline
If Roseman trades, say, Isaiah Rodgers for the better end of a pick swap or straight up for a pick, go right ahead.
But don’t go making trades to try to add to the 2024 roster. For one, this team isn’t a player away from being a top tier team, and even if it was that kind of player isn’t available in-season. Case in point, just look at the moves that the Eagles have made. The Kevin Byard and Genard Avery trades were a waste of time. The Robert Quinn trade was so good that he never played football again. 106 players had a better yards per reception than Tate did as an Eagle. There is a reason why players are available for trade during the NFL season: they aren’t good enough. Aside from Jay Ajayi, none of those trades improved the Eagles on the field.
The Ajayi trade worked, but only because he helped win the Super Bowl. But taking that out of the equation, and it is a bit unfair to just erase the biggest piece of Eagles history, this was not a good trade. Ajay’s knees were in such bad shape—they were a big reason why Miami gave him up—that upon joining the Eagles he immediately was put on a limited practice schedule. He played 7 games over the next two seasons. A 4th round pick for a running back who played 17 games over two and a half seasons is typically bad business.
Playing the long game of gaining compensatory draft picks to recoup some of the cost hasn’t worked out either. The Eagles traded the 88th pick in the 2019 draft for Golden Tate, and received the 195th pick in the 2020 draft as compensation for him signing with the Giants. Robert Quinn received no comp pick because no one signed him. Kevin Byard did not qualify for a comp pick.
The time to be a buyer in the trade market is the offseason. Unless they’re offloading spare parts, the Eagles should sit the trade deadline out.
Blogging the Boys
Position battleground (defense): Cowboys vs Falcons head-to-head breakdown
Both defense’s have their struggles, but which one is better, Dallas or Atlanta
DEFENSIVE LINE
The Cowboys are facing an uphill battle with their defensive line’s glaring shortcomings. There’s no sugarcoating it: ranking dead last in rush yards allowed is a troubling statistic. This inability to contain opposing backs not only undermines the front seven, but is a significant catalyst for the Cowboys’ dismal ranking as the second-worst team in points allowed this season.
To make matters worse, the Cowboys have managed a mere 16 sacks, placing them at sixth-fewest in the league. This lack of pressure on quarterbacks does little to alleviate the burden on a beleaguered secondary, leaving them exposed to big plays and scoring opportunities.
Veteran lineman Linval Joseph is on the injury report. Meanwhile, Micah Parsons is listed as day-to-day, creating a nagging uncertainty surrounding the unit’s ability to generate any semblance of a pass rush without hiim. They face a solid offensive line, but Falcons guard Chris Lindstrom has missed practice with an ankle issue.
Big Blue View
5 Giants-Commanders questions
Ed: Deonte Banks was ticked off that the Commanders did not draft him (choosing CB Emmanuel Forbes) and had some not-so-nice things to say. It won’t happen, but considering Banks’ struggles and Week 8 benching, would you trade for him at this point? If so, what would you be willing to give up?
Eboracum: I think we’d be happy to do a player swap of Emmanuel Forbes for Deonte Banks to see if we can change the timeline on that first round. Forbes has struggled in the pros and is only playing a rotational role right now. As many predicted before the draft, his slender build creates problems in run support or covering more physical WRs. Those Ron Rivera drafts were brutal for us. Maybe each of these players would do better in a new home. I don’t think we’d be willing to part with any significant draft capital for Banks though. The Commanders are building for the long term, which has meant focusing on good culture (which we’ve achieved) and building through the draft. I don’t think we’d pay for someone else’s problem child.
After setting an NFL record for most pick-sixes in a season, DaRon Bland spent two months on IR. The #Cowboys have the All-Pro corner back on their 53-man roster, moving him closer to a season debut https://t.co/Dgry8sEevb
— Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors) October 31, 2024
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Texans-Jets on ‘Thursday Night Football’: What We Learned from New York’s 21-13 win
Wilson’s freaky catch propels Jets, whose season is alive for now. Garrett Wilson’s incredible touchdown and a relentless Jets pass rush were just enough in Thursday’s win over the Texans to keep the Jets treading water and faint playoff hopes alive at 3-6. Early in the fourth quarter, Wilson made one of the all-time great catches, a one-handed-cross-body grab with a foot and a shin (barely) inbounds to give the Jets a 14-10 lead after a painful night to that point. The touchdown came while Davante Adams was being assessed for a concussion after falling hard a few plays earlier. Adams had been Aaron Rodgers’ go-to guy early, but Wilson stepped into that role while Adams was out, catching four big passes in the final 16 minutes. Adams returned to put the cherry on top of a much-needed victory, catching a pretty Rodgers throw for a 37-yard score. Rodgers had only 32 first-half passing yards, tied for the fewest he’s ever had in a half, but his big-play receivers both stepped up in the second half.
Texans’ pass protection was a nightmare. The Texans knew they’d have to dig deeper offensively with wide receivers Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs out, and Joe Mixon and Tank Dell stepped up to help fill some of that void. But it was undone by a Texans offensive line that struggled all night, with C.J. Stroud being sacked eight times, getting up slowly more than once after contact. Stroud was only 11-of-30 passing for 191 yards, battling until the end and scrambling several times successfully, but it was often out of self-preservation. Dell caught six of Stroud’s passes for 126 yards, and Mixon ran for 106 yards and a score, but offensive mistakes did the Texans in. Offensive holds wiped out Mixon runs of 10 and 17 yards. Stroud lost a fumble in the red zone early on. Six offensive linemen allowed multiple pressures, including both Greens (Kenyon, who left with injury, and Kendrick, his replacement). In addition to that, the Texans missed two field-goal tries, including a 27-yard miss by Ka’imi Fairbairn after he’d made a 43-yarder minutes earlier that saw New York flagged for unnecessary roughness. The Texans accepted the Jets penalty, and it backfired.
Corley, Watts mistakes don’t come back to bite Jets. On a night when many things were going wrong, it was easy to envision either Malachi Corley’s mindless fumble or Eric Watts’ crucial late penalty coming back to thwart the Jets’ comeback hopes. In the end, both were absolved. The Jets’ best play call of the first half was an end-around to Corley, who appeared to score a 19-yard touchdown. But it officially went down as an 18-yard gain because Corley dropped the ball prior to the goal line. It rolled through the end zone for a Texans touchback. It was Corley’s second NFL touch, and it should have been his first TD – and a Jets 7-0 lead – but he cost his team dearly. He was the biggest goat until Watts vaulted over the Texans’ long snapper on a late field-goal try, with the Jets up 14-10. The kick was good, but the Texans took points off the board and tried to take the lead after Watts’ 15-yard penalty. Thankfully, Watts was off the hook when Fairbairn’s 27-yard try doinked off the upright. Earlier, the Jets’ new kicker, Riley Patterson, doinked in an extra point. Maybe the football spirits were looking down on the Jets on All Hallows’ Eve.
NFL.com
Coughlin, Shanahan among 9 semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Members of the Coach Blue-Ribbon Committee made their selections from a list that originally contained 14 candidates. The committee will discuss the Semifinalists at length when it meets virtually Nov. 19 to select one Finalist for the full Selection Committee to consider for possible election with the new class of enshrinees.
The nine Semifinalists in the Coach category this year are: Bill Arnsparger, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert, Mike Shanahan and Clark Shaughnessy.