In Roob's Eagles Observations: A risky trade that paid off in a huge way originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW ORLEANS – A risky roster move that paid off in a huge way, the best pass Donovan McNabb ever threw and an Eagles coach who coached Andy Reid and coached with Buddy Ryan.
Roob’s 10 Daily Random Eagles Observations are rolling now! Imagine if we did this year round? That would be 3,650 observations a year! Or 3,660 on leap years!
1. Haason Reddick was such a terrific player in his two seasons with the Eagles, and his four-year total of 50 ½ sacks from 2020 through 2023 with the Cards, Panthers and Eagles speaks volumes. That was the 4th-most sacks in the NFL from 2020 through 2023, behind only T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett and Trey Hendrickson – three heavyweights. And with Josh Sweat coming off a disappointing 2023 season, Nolan Smith still an undiscovered talent and Brandon Graham about to turn 36, it seemed like an odd move on the surface when the Eagles traded him to the Jets for a conditional pick that wound up as a three. Reddick felt he was underpaid, the Eagles weren’t about to give a 30-year-old edge a huge contract and just like that he was gone after two years, two Pro Bowls and a tremendous 2022 postseason. I do think the move was about more than just money. You don’t just unload one of the NFL’s top edge rushers. Now, I don’t think Reddick is a bad guy at all, but I do think the Eagles believed the fit between him and the new culture they were trying to build in the wake of last year’s collapse wasn’t a good one. And Reddick, once he arrived in New York, didn’t do anything to prove otherwise. He held out for the first six weeks of the season and by the time he finally got on the field the Jets were 2-5 and four games into a five-game losing streak on their way to a 5-12 season. As for Reddick, he had half a sack against the Texans and half a sack against the Dolphins, and that was it. He turned out to be an overpriced aging player out for himself on a terrible team. If the Eagles felt Reddick was at the end of the line as a player, they may have been right. And if they felt he was the kind of guy they didn’t want in their locker room as they tried to instill this team-first culture, they may have been right there, too. It was a bit of a risk to unload one of their few proven edge rushers, but it’s a risk that paid off. And they have a No. 1 defense, a Super Bowl appearance and a 3rd-round pick to show for it.
2A. The Eagles had 30 missed tackles in four games before the bye week and they have 78 in 16 games since the bye week. That’s 7 ½ missed tackles per game before the bye and 4.9 per game since the bye.
2B. Slay played 699 snaps this year and had two missed tackles, according to Stathead analytics. Only three corners who played at least 400 snaps had fewer missed tackles. Shaquille Griffin of the Vikings, Kristian Fulton of the Chargers and one-time Eagle Ronald Darby of the Jaguars had one apiece.
2C. Interesting note about Darby, who was a starter on the Eagles’ 2017 championship team. He’s now gone 54 consecutive starts without an interception, and according to Stathead that’s the 2nd-longest streak in NFL history by a starting cornerback. Nevin Lawson of the Lions and Raiders had a 63-game streak from 2015 through 2021. Darby’s last interception came in Week 13 of the 2019 season with the Eagles when he picked off Ryan Fitzpatrick in a loss to the Dolphins in Miami. Darby has played for the Eagles, Commanders, Broncos, Ravens and Jaguars during his streak.
3. It’s been interesting watching how poised and comfortable Nick Sirianni has been answering every imaginable question from the world’s media these past few days. Having been through this two years ago seems to have really prepared Sirianni for what to expect at these massive media events, and his answers have been thoughtful and clear, no matter how bizarre the question. He’s been a total pro, relaxed, patient, engaging. Sirianni just seems a lot more at ease this time around than in 2022, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing as his team gets ready for the biggest game of the season. One of Sirianni’s frequent messages to his players is to treat every day, every practice, every game the same and not to put too much importance on one over another, and he’s really shown that same sort of focus this week. He’s just been the same Nick as always.
4. The 10-yard touchdown pass to Brian Westbrook in the third quarter of Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville was the best pass Donovan McNabb ever threw.
5. You hear a lot of off-the-wall questions during these Super Bowl media availabilities, and the other day someone was going around the room asking various Eagles players what their “dream halftime show” would be. They made the mistake of asking Nolan Smith, and Nolan is all football all the time and doesn’t play games. I loved his answer: “I’m in the Super Bowl now so I really don’t care about the halftime show. But even when I watched the Super Bowl, I didn’t care about the halftime show.”
6. It’s nuts that the Eagles’ longest pass play ever in a Super Bowl was a 55-yard catch-and-run from a backup quarterback to an undrafted rookie running back. But it was Nick Foles’ pass to Corey Clement just before halftime in Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis that’s in the record book as the Eagles’ longest Super Bowl pass play. Without Clement’s incredible effort down to the Patriots’ 8-yard-line there is no Philly Special. What’s amazing is Foles’ longest completion to Clement during the regular season went for six yards. To this day, Clement’s 55-yarder is the 2nd-longest Super Bowl catch by a running back – Kenny King had an 80-yarder from Jim Plunkett for the Raiders vs. the Eagles in 1980 – and the 2nd-longest catch by a rookie – Ricky Nattiel of the Broncos had a 56-yarder from John Elway against Washington in 1987. The Eagles’ longest Super Bowl catch by a wide receiver? That was DeVonta Smith’s 45-yarder from Jalen Hurts two years ago in Glendale.
7. An interesting connection between the Buddy Ryan Eagles and the Andy Reid Eagles is Doug Scovil. In 1976 and 1977, Scovil was offensive coordinator at BYU under LaVell Edwards, and Reid was a deep backup offensive lineman who already loved studying offensive football. Scovil was one of the coaches Reid learned from as he gradually began thinking like a coach. Scovil left BYU after the 1977 season and joined Neil Armstrong’s Bears staff. That same offseason, Buddy became the Bears’ defensive coordinator, and while Ryan stayed through 1985 and led that Super Bowl XX defense, Scovil returned to BYU for a couple years and then left for San Diego State, where he became head coach in 1981. After 1985, Eagles owner Norman Braman fired head coach Marion Campbell and hired Ryan. One of his first hires was Scovil as quarterbacks coach. Scovil coached Randall Cunningham to a couple Pro Bowl seasons before tragically dying of a heart attack during a workout at the Vet at the age of 62.
8. The combination of an elite rushing attack and an elite run defense is tough to beat. The Eagles have outrushed their three postseason opponents by 366 yards and that’s the 4th-largest margin by a team reaching a Super Bowl since 1942. The 1974 Steelers with Franco Harris had a 548-yard advantage going into Super Bowl IX vs. the Vikings in New Orleans, which they won 16-6; the 1998 Broncos with Terrell Davis had a 390-yard margin going into Super Bowl XXXII against the Falcons in Miami, which they won 34-19; and the 1973 Dolphins had a 427-yard edge going into Super Bowl Super Bowl VIII in Houston, which they won 24-7. Do you notice a pattern? In four years under Nick Sirianni, when the Eagles out-rush their opponent by at least 50 yards they’re 29-4.
9. Jalen Hurts has thrown one interception in his last 351 pass attempts.
10. It’s been fun seeing Mekhi Becton on the Super Bowl stage this week. What a remarkable story. After four miserable years in New York – the Jets were 20-47 while he was there – he’s reinvented himself with the Eagles as a guard, and everything you heard out of New York over the last couple years – that Becton was out of shape, didn’t have good work habits, wasn’t a team guy – has proven completely unfounded. He’s fit right in with the other offensive linemen and given the Eagles consistently solid play at right guard. This is a guy who was on the street, who anybody could have signed, but Jeff Stoutland and Howie Roseman saw something special in him, and it’s incredible how a 1st-round bust can become a Super Bowl starter almost overnight. Reminds me of Jermane Mayberry, the Eagles’ 1st-round pick as a tackle in 1996. It just didn’t work out at tackle, and in 2000 offensive line coach Juan Castillo moved him to guard and he became a Pro Bowler and all-pro and like Becton became a starting right guard on a Super Bowl team. I asked Becton what the biggest factor was in his success this year and he didn’t hesitate saying Stout. “It’s the first time I’ve ever had anybody believe in me.”
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