There were some Philadelphia Eagles and other NFL news items over the last few days that probably aren't worthy of their own articles, but we'll round them up here.
Vic Fangio said that Nick Sirianni did not make a defensive play call against the Browns
After the Eagles' win over the Browns on Sunday, Sirianni said that he made a play call on 3rd and 1 near the end of the half that led to a sack of Jalen Hurts, and the subsequent blocked field goal that the Browns returned for a touchdown. He added that he also made a call on defense.
"I'll say this: I made the call on third and one," Sirianni said. "Nobody else but me. You know, like I said to you, I did that on defense one time as well. I made a call on defense. It didn't work out just so you know. I'll put that out there. That wasn't on Vic. I won't tell you which play. I'm going to do that from time to time. This time it didn't work. That's on nobody else but me."
Fangio spoke with the media on Tuesday, and was asked which call Sirianni made. It's probably easiest to just copy and paste from the transcript here:
"Nick said after the game that he made a defensive play call. First of all, what was that call, and are you okay with that?" (Jimmy Kempski)
Fangio: "It wasn't a defensive call. It was just a situational thing where he just said, ‘Hey, be alert for this.’ He didn't call a defense."
"What was the situation then that he…" (Jimmy Kempski)
Fangio: "It was just when they had the ball near midfield, and it was 3rd-and-long. He said, ‘Hey, be alert that they may check it down’ or something. ‘They are trying to get in field goal range.’"
"How is Nick’s level of involvement in what you're doing on game day compare to other head coaches you've worked for?" (Bo Wulf)
Fangio: It's pretty similar.
"He said that he made the wrong suggestion, I guess, on that play. What happened on that 3rd-and-long?" (Jimmy Kempski)
Fangio: "They ended up getting more than I would have liked to see them get. But it was inconsequential what he said."
E.J. Smith of the Inquirer guessed that the following play was the one in question. (I agree.)
Based on Vic Fangio and Nick Sirianni's comments about the call Sirianni said he made on defense against the Browns, my guess is this third-and-14 is the play in question.#Eagles blitzed, hoping to knock the Browns out of FG range and it backfired (CLE converted the next play). pic.twitter.com/WiuvZ1dXmB
— EJ Smith (@EJSmith94) October 15, 2024
Fangio has been coaching in the NFL since 1986, when Sirianni was five years old. He probably doesn't need or want Sirianni taking bullets for him, especially when nobody was even asking about that particular play.
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It all feels like fake accountability, in that Sirianni is essentially creating a setup where nobody is accountable, himself included. He takes blame for other coaches and players, but has also been sure to note that he’s willingly taking all blame, thus muddying the accountability waters. You can’t have it both ways.
Eagles-Bengals got flexed 💪
The Eagles' Week 8 game in Cincinnati was originally scheduled for 4:25 p.m. It was announced on Tuesday that it has been moved to 1:00 p.m.
💪 news for Week 8:
— #Eagles vs #Bengals will now be at 1 pm, going to 70% of the country. Much greater distribution for the white out.
— #Bears vs #Commanders is now at 4:25.. and word is Jim Nantz & Tony Romo will call it for CBS. 👀
— CBS also has #Chiefs/#Raiders at 4:25.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 15, 2024
The Bengals will wear their white helmets and all-white uniforms that game, and fans will be encouraged to wear all white as well.
The Eagles' Week 9 game on Sunday Night Football against the 1-5 Jaguars feels like a great candidate to be flexed out of primetime. Please do that next week, NFL, thank you in advance.
There were a couple of big-name wide receiver trades 🤝
The Jets traded for the Raiders' Davante Adams:
| Jets got | Raiders got |
| Davante Adams | Conditional 3rd round pick in 2025 |
The third-round pick can become a second-round pick if Adams is a first- or second-team All-Pro this season, or if the Jets make the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl and Adams is on the active roster for either game.
The Bills traded for the Browns' Amari Cooper. The details of that trade:
| Bills got | Browns got |
| Amari Cooper | 2025 3rd round pick |
| 2025 6th round pick | 2026 7th round pick |
If trading a third-round pick for a wide receiver sounds familiar, it should! The Eagles traded a third-round pick to the Commanders for Jahan Dotson in August. The details of that trade, which was made in August:
| Eagles got | Commanders got |
| Jahan Dotson | 3rd round pick, 2025 |
| 5th round pick, 2025 | 7th round pick, 2025 |
| 7th round pick, 2025 |
Dotson (24) is a lot younger than Cooper (30) and Adams (32 in December), and he will also be cheap for two seasons, but Cooper and Adams are obviously much better players right now.
Alim McNeill got a new deal 💰
The basics of McNeill's new deal:
The #Lions are giving DL Alim McNeill a four-year deal worth $97M with $55M guaranteed. Huge.
💰 💰 💰 pic.twitter.com/9p32FfLlBd— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 15, 2024
Uh, who cares, Jimmy? Well, McNeill was the source of the infamous incident in which former Eagles executive Tom Donahoe begrudgingly gave Howie Roseman a fist bump after the Eagles selected Milton Williams in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
A few people on Twitter asked me if McNeill was the player that Donahoe wanted, but Roseman drafted Williams instead. It wasn't exactly like that. The Eagles liked both players quite a bit, but they had McNeill higher on their board. When the Eagles were on the clock at pick No. 70, they traded back three spots, picking up an extra sixth-round pick. At pick No. 72, the Lions snatched up McNeill, and the Eagles took Williams at pick No. 73. Donahoe was unhappy that Roseman didn't just take McNeill at pick No. 70.
With the extra sixth-round pick, the Eagles selected DE Tarron Jackson.
Williams has been decent enough for a player selected in the third round, but McNeill has been excellent in his role in Detroit.
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