The Eagles are 12-2 with a chance to clinch the NFC East this week against the Commanders in Washington's dump of a stadium. Before then, let's check in once again on the state of the NFL overall through a slight Birds prism...
The New York Giants are not a real football team
The Giants are now 2-12 and currently slated to have the No. 1 pick in next spring's NFL Draft. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens annihilated them 35-14 on Sunday. Jackson threw for five touchdowns on maybe the league's worst pass defense.
Fans are bringing out the fly-by banners to demand that ownership cleans house:
Please reconsider, Mr. Mara! One more year of this nucleus is just what this organization needs to return to its former glory!
The Minnesota Vikings are not scary
The biggest surprise of the 2024 NFL season? It's unquestionably the Minnesota Vikings. In what was supposed to be a pseudo-rebuilding year with stop-gap quarterback Sam Darnold, head coach Kevin O'Connell has guided the team to a 12-2 record. With how hard injuries have hit the Lions in the NFC North race, there's a shot Minnesota could win the division and even nab the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
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They're eighth in points scored. They're fourth in points allowed. They're fourth in point differential, ahead of the likes of Green Bay, Baltimore and Kansas City. Brian Flores is an incredible defensive mind they have on staff.
Even so... I don't see it.
Darnold has tossed 29 touchdowns this season against 11 interceptions. Pretty good! In watching him play at home against a suspect Bears defense on Monday though, he was throwing up some lollipops. The Eagles defense has the requisite cornerback talent to match up with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, who make for the NFL's best receiver duo.
Perhaps I'm still mentally living in winter 2018, but a journeyman Vikings quarterback potentially coming to Lincoln Financial Field for a playoff game should not instill any fear whatsoever in Philadelphia. Minnesota is well-coached and they're lucking out with the Lions' rash of injuries, but they've never been the most talented team in the NFC. That matters!
A new 'trying too hard' reaction just dropped because of the Cowboys
Step aside for a second, Sebastian Janikowski. A new "you're doing too much" football image is here courtesy of the Cowboys' 70-yard field goal attempt on Sunday:
Shocker: Dallas didn't connect on it.
The Cowboys pulled off a thorough 30-14 win over Carolina in Week 15, but with them out of the playoff picture, the victory only serves to mess up their draft positioning and maybe even keep Mike McCarthy for 2025 along the way. Great stuff for Eagles fans!
The Falcons have benched Kirk Cousins
Atlanta now has Kirk Cousins, who the team handed a contract worth up to $180 million this offseason, riding the pine in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. It's the latest installment in a bizarre handling of the quarterback position for the Falcons. Atlanta handed Cousins all that money with the goal of immediately contending in a winnable NFC South only to use the eighth pick in this year's draft on Penix Jr. What?
To include a line a friend messaged me on Tuesday evening, "These are the general managers that Howie Roseman is out there dealing with and fleecing."
Penix Jr., who has five career NFL passes to his name, will now make his first pro start with Atlanta just a game outside of the Buccaneers' divisional lead. Atlanta holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Tampa Bay, too. The Falcons are simultaneously trying to contend and build for the future at sports' most important position, but throwing Penix Jr. to the wolves right now isn't the most prudent of decisions even with how horrific Cousins has been as of late.
Bad teams stay bad!
How about a Penix Jr.-led Falcons team improbably coming to South Philly in January? The Eagles would be... 9.5-point favorites at this juncture maybe? That's with even taking into consideration that Atlanta beat the Eagles in Week 2, but that feels about five years and three teams ago at this point.
The best receivers of the last 30 years
In NFL columns last week, I ranked the best quarterbacks and then the best running backs of my lifetime. It's fun. I'll continue on with wide receivers today!
1. Randy Moss
2. Jerry Rice
3. Terrell Owens
4. Calvin Johnson
5. Larry Fitzgerald
6. Isaac Bruce
7. Marvin Harrison
8. Antonio Brown
9. Justin Jefferson
10. Mike Evans
Honorable mention: Julio Jones, Torry Holt, Jimmy Smith
Much like every other football fan out there, I'm hoping for the best with Randy Moss and his current health issues.
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