December 13, 2024
The Eagles are aiming to move to 12-2 on the season when they face the Pittsburgh Steelers at home on Sunday. Before then, here is some Birds talk to hold you over...
NFL Films did an eight-minute feature on Eagles run game coordinator/offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland that dropped on Thursday. Naturally, future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce narrated the video:
A first-class football education with a one-of-a-kind family.
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) December 12, 2024
Why @eagles players cherish the privilege of attending Jeff Stoutland University 💚#NFLFilmsPresents: narrated by @JasonKelce pic.twitter.com/fx5uYhRb8X
"He is the professor," Lane Johnson says about Stoutland and "Stoutland University."
The Eagles should just give Stoutland a lifetime contract at this point.
An excuse to write about Nick Foles? I would never miss it.
A guest on Barstool Sports' The Yak this week, Foles, the only Eagle to ever win Super Bowl MVP, reflected on the atmosphere at Lincoln Financial Field the night the Birds hosted the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game:
“The fans create a huge home court advantage in Philadelphia” -@NickFoles pic.twitter.com/Ag9yvZHGjv
— Viva La Stool (@VivaLaStool) December 12, 2024
I was in the crowd that night in my pre-journalism days. So often as a fan, you think if you do some little thing, some stupid superstition, it can have a tangible effect on the game. If you tailgate hard enough, if you cheer hard enough, if you wear your lucky Brian Dawkins jersey, it will change the fate of the team on the field. Perhaps that's all nonsense, but for one game, for one night, it truly felt like that happened.
I've never heard a crowd rock in Philadelphia like I did that night. I doubt I ever will again.
As fellow 2017 Eagle Chris Long once said, "Anyone could've gotten it that night."
A.J. Brown's numbers in two career games against Pittsburgh: 12 catches, a whopping 309 yards and four touchdowns. That gives me "Larry Fitzgerald against the Eagles" vibes.
Who can forget this electric TD celebration from Brown in 2022 in a matchup with the Steelers?
HIM#PITvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/iPzJw3GsnF
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 30, 2022
The Eagles' passing game, quite notably, has not been at that 2022 level for some time, but if the Eagles feed Brown the ball, that could be a step in the right direction.
Conversely, Pittsburgh's quarterback continuously gets the best of the Eagles. Russell Wilson has proven himself to not be washed this year with the Steelers. Wilson is undefeated in five career regular season games against the Eagles with an 8-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Additionally, Wilson defeated the Eagles in the 2019 Wild Card Round in South Philadelphia.
One of the most crushing Eagles moments of my college years burned into my brain involves Wilson. Back in the 2014 season, the Eagles had a 9-3 record and were coming off a Thanksgiving road smackdown against the Cowboys when they returned to Lincoln Financial Field for a matchup with Wilson's Seahawks. The Eagles fell 24-14, and it was the first of three consecutive losses that sunk the Birds' playoff hopes. Wilson had three total touchdowns on the day and could simply not be brought down, scrambling around and extending plays, doing everything in his power to make Eagles pass-rushers look silly time and time again.
It was a tough scene.
I've been reading a book this week... "Last Team Standing: How the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles — The 'Steagles' — Saved Pro Football During World War II" by Matthew Algeo.
It's a fairly well-known tale at this point, but during the 1943 season amidst war overseas, Pittsburgh and Philly needed to combine rosters to compete due to so many players joining the war effort. The book dives into how it all came about.
If you're a Philly sports or football wannabe historian like myself, I'd recommend checking it out.
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