Tag: c.j. gardner-johnson

Eagles vs. Jaguars: Best photos from Philadelphia’s 28-23 win in Week 9

We’re looking at the top photos from the Philadelphia Eagles 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9 at Lincoln Financial Field

Nick Sirianni left 8+ points on the board with questionable calls, but Philadelphia got stops on defense when needed.  The Eagles moved to 6-2 on Sunday afternoon with a 28-23 win over Jacksonville. A.J. Brown was forced to exit with a knee injury. Still, Saquon Barkley made highlight-reel plays, and DeVonta Smith was a rock as the Eagles’ offense struggled to put the Jaguars away. However, it was functional enough to stay within a game of Washington in the division. With preparation for Dallas set to begin, we’re looking at the top photos from Sunday’s big win. ***

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Key matchups

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Key matchups

The Jacksonville Jaguars enter Week 9 coming off a rough loss to Green Bay at home and look to get back into the win column in a tough road matchup in Philadelphia.

However, the Jaguars may be without several key players at key positions this weekend. This could pose some issues for a team that is looking to secure their second win in three weeks. A win against the Eagles could boost a ton of confidence into a roster and coaching staff that needs it.

Philadelphia has seemed to right the ship after a rocky start to the season, having played some of its best football in all phases in recent weeks. Jacksonville looks to slow their momentum and steal the home field advantage in this weekend’s late Sunday afternoon bout.

Jaguars Wire takes a closer look at a couple of the key matchups against the Eagles that could be critical in securing win No. 3 for the Jaguars.

Jacksonville’s skill players vs. Philadelphia’s secondary

The Jaguars got beat up this past weekend against the Packers.

Standout slot receiver Christian Kirk went down with a broken collarbone and is out for the season. Rookie sensation Brian Thomas Jr. is said to be a game-time decision with a rib injury but head coach Doug Pederson suggested earlier this week it will likely come down to pain tolerance for team’s top playmaker. Receiver Gabe Davis is also nursing a shoulder injury.

This means second-year wideout Parker Washington, top tight end Evan Engram, Tim Jones, and a practice squad call-up could be the ones trotting out against a sound Eagles secondary.

Philadelphia is getting some quality play from some of their younger talents, including rookie defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. While Darius Slay is out with a groin injury this week, the Eagles have capable depth in Kelee Ringo and Isaiah Rodgers.

Their safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Reed Blankenship, and Sydney Brown make up the rest of a secondary that is built to take on the vertical stretching ability of the Jaguars offense.

The Eagles 57.1 passer rating against deep targets is the fifth-lowest in football, according to Next Gen Stats. This doesn’t bold well for Trevor Lawrence skill players, especially if Thomas can’t go this weekened.

Yet, should Thomas be healthy, it will be a significant boost for an offense that will need him to continue to be the top playmaker he has been this season. Look for the Eagles to play plenty of disguised coverages from a Cover 3 base alignment that will allow them to rotate to play more match and quarters coverage.

Jacksonville’s defense vs. Philadelphia’s offense

This is seemingly nightmare fuel for a Jaguars defense that is in the bottom-five in most statistical defenses.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley have been terrors on the ground against opposing defenses. These two have allowed the Eagles to field the second-best rushing offense in the NFL behind the juggernaut Baltimore Ravens run game.

It doesn’t help that wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith have been outstanding this season in the passing game, posing more trouble for a lowly Jaguars secondary.

Jacksonville has struggled to penetrate the backfield consistently this season despite the talents of pass rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker along with interior linemen DaVon Hamilton and Arik Armstead. Inconsistency has been a constant theme for defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen and his defense overall.

Putting it bluntly, this is not a well-coached defense and a man-heavy system that has put players on all three levels in a disadvantageous position. However, the key to finding some improvement is simple: an increase in zone coverage variations and blitzes.

Jacksonville has the lowest blitz-rate in the league and that must change if they want to give their secondary a chance to make plays on pressure-influenced passes. If this were to happen Sunday and the Jaguars force Hurts into bad decisions with the football, there is a path to a successful day against a strong Eagles offense.

Eagles vs. Giants: Best photos from Philadelphia’s 28-3 win over NY in Week 7

We’re looking at the top photos from the Philadelphia Eagles 28-3 win over the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in Week 7

The Eagles are 4-2 and back atop the NFC East after an emphatic 28-3 win over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

In Saquon Barkley’s first game against his former team, the running back logged 17 carries for 176 yards (10.4 avg) and one touchdown on the afternoon.  Barkley finished 14 yards shy of his career-high yards in a game and placed himself firmly back into the race for the NFL rushing title and the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award.

With preparation for the Week 8 matchup against the Bengals set to begin, we’re looking at the top photos in Sunday’s win.

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Darius Slay laughing with Micah Parsons about Eagles’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson getting torched in Tampa was so bizarre

The Eagles desperately need a mature adult in the room.

They might just be 2-2, but the reeling Philadelphia Eagles sure feel like they’re on the brink of an all-out collapse. Little incidents like a recent conversation between Darius Slay and Micah Parsons on his podcast The Edge definitely won’t help matters.

In a discussion about Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s well-known antics, Slay weirdly laughed with Parsons — who, need I remind everyone, plays for the rival Dallas Cowboys — about Gardner-Johnson getting burned by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after talking trash.

It’s a horrible look from someone like Slay. As a teammate, he should have Gardner-Johnson’s back in public at all costs — especially when he’s talking to a rival player like Parsons, who is invested in the Eagles’ downfall:

Gardner-Johnson seemingly caught wind of Slay laughing at him with Parsons and reacted to it on Instagram with disappointment:

Listen, even if you’re an Eagles player bothered by Gardner-Johnson not backing up his usual trash talk, you have to handle that business behind closed doors. You don’t go smiling and laughing about his perceived failures with arguably the best player on Philadelphia’s most hated rival. That’s the absolute last thing you do when your team is already on the verge of a crisis.

Suffice it to say, the Eagles sure do seem like they have a massive dearth of leadership. They really need to grow up before 2024 goes off the wheels.

At this point, after seeing how a “leader” like Slay is happy to throw Gardner-Johnson under the bus, I’m starting to think that’s inevitable.

Eagles limp into bye week after a 33-16 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 4

The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a disastrous 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

With A.J. Brown (hamstring), DeVonta Smith (concussion), and Lane Johnson (concussion) out with injuries, the Eagles didn’t have enough depth in key positions. They suffered a disastrous 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Jalen Hurts was sacked six times on the afternoon, and the star quarterback committed another turnover (fumble), as Philadelphia could not sustain any offensive consistency without the big three in the lineup.

Saquon Barkley had ten carries for 84 yards (8.4 avg). Still, with the Eagles playing from behind all afternoon, the running back was unable to get the Philadelphia offense over the hump against a motivated Tampa defense.

An Eagles defense that shut New Orleans down in Week 3 was gashed to 445 total yards for the Buccaneers offense, including 111 rushing yards and a twelve-minute advantage in time of possession.

Baker Mayfield was on fire early, and even after an inefficient second half, he still was 30-40 passing for 347 yards, two touchdowns, and a 100.2 rating.

Philadelphia (2-2) will now have a week off, during which questions about Sirianni’s job security and the Eagles’ playoff hopes will dominate the airwaves.

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Sights and sounds from first half of Eagles matchup vs. Buccaneers

Jalen Hurts was 7-15 passing for 49 yards and one touchdown, and the Eagles offense was non-existent in the first half as Tampa jumped out to a 21-0 lead before finishing the first half with a 24-7 lead. The Buccaneers dominated time of possession, …

Jalen Hurts was 7-15 passing for 49 yards and one touchdown, and the Eagles offense was non-existent in the first half as Tampa jumped out to a 21-0 lead before finishing the first half with a 24-7 lead. The Buccaneers dominated time of possession, holding for 20:14 seconds, compared to Philadelphia’s 9+ minutes with the football.

With the second half set to begin, here are sights and sounds from the first half.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson fined a total of $45K for three incidents in win over Saints

Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson fined a total of $45K for three different infractions in win over New Orleans Saints

C.J. Gardner-Johnson is the emotional leader of the Eagles, and that intensity will impact his wallet.

Philadelphia’s talented safety was fined $45,000 for three separate infractions in the 15-12 win over New Orleans in Week 3.

https://Twitter.com/ZBerm/status/1840120614838849724

Gardner-Johnson had eight tackles and one pass defended on the afternoon.

After Philadelphia’s victory, Gardner-Johnson called the Saints pretenders.

Still, the most significant thing he did was criticize Khristian Boyd’s hit on DeVonta Smith, for which the rookie defensive tackle was fined. He called the play and the Saints, as a whole, dirty.

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C.J. Gardner-Johnson lost half his Saints game check in fines to the NFL

C.J. Gardner-Johnson lost half of his game check from Week 3’s win over the Saints in fines to the NFL. That’s some expensive trash talk:

You don’t see this very often. Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was fined three times by the NFL for his actions in Week 3’s win over the New Orleans Saints, losing half his game check for an illegal hit and two taunting infractions. He was a little too eager to get after his old team for his own good.

It had previously been reported that Gardner-Johnson was being fined for unnecessary roughness; he made a late hit on Saints running back Alvin Kamara after the play went out of bounds, and that came up to $11,255. But a league review found two instances of Gardner-Johnson crossing the line in taunting his opponents, which cost him two charges of $16,883 each.

Add that up and it’s $45,021 coming out of Gardner-Johnson’s paycheck. He has a base salary of $1,375,000 this year, per Over The Cap, which comes up to 17 weekly game checks of about $80,882 each (before taxes). So Gardner-Johnson really lost a little more than half of his game check because he was too hot under the collar. That’s some expensive trash talk. For his sake, it’s a good thing the late touchdown he gave up to Chris Olave didn’t cost Philly the game on top of it.

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C.J. Gardner-Johnson fined for late hit out of bounds on Alvin Kamara

C.J. Gardner-Johnson blasted the Saints for playing dirty. Well, he was the recipient of a fine from the NFL for a late hit on Alvin Kamara:

Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson had a lot to say about the New Orleans Saints after the Week 3 game. This was to be expected. The Saints drafted Gardner-Johnson in 2019, and fans became accustomed to his propensity to talk trash.

After their victory, Gardner-Johnson called the Saints pretenders, but the biggest thing he did was criticize Khristian Boyd’s hit on DeVonta Smith, for which the rookie defensive tackle was fined. He called the play and the Saints, as a whole, dirty.

Dennis Allen denied that earlier this week. Funny enough, Gardner-Johnson had his own play that was late. He slung Alvin Kamara to the ground early in the game while both players were out of bounds.

Just like Boyd’s play, there was no penalty in the game. Just like Boyd’s play, there was a fine after the game, per NBC Sports’ Mike Florio.

Gardner-Johnson’s hit wasn’t as vicious but it was clearly late. It’s pretty ironic that he had so much to say only to be fined playing beyond the whistle.

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Dennis Allen responds to C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s claim the Saints are a dirty team

C.J. Gardner Johnson called out the Saints for having a culture of cheap hits and playing dirty. Dennis Allen denied that notion:

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith took a hit from Khristian Boyd that led to him suffering the concussion. In that play, Smith was being pushed back by New Orleans Saints defenders before the hit. There didn’t seem to be ill intent involved.

After the game, Smith’s teammates C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Jordan Mailata called the play dirty. Mailata kept it at that, but Gardner-Johnson went further and connected the play to the culture of the team.

Dennis Allen responded to a question about the play, but his answer leans towards a response to Gardner-Johnson’s culture point. Allen was straightforward on Monday, saying, “I don’t think we play dirty. I don’t think we ever have played dirty. It’s not the way we coach it, not the way we teach it.”

Allen instead said his team plays hard, and honestly, that’s what the play looked like. Boyd appeared to just be playing through the whistle. You wish he would have let up in hindsight, but this doesn’t look dirty.

Allen made sure to dispel the notion that the Saints are a dirty team by reiterating “dirty” is an inaccurate description of how they play or coach.

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