How the Eagles Won the Bye Week

Big losses, big trades, and the return of big stars

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As much as I love football, nothing hits like a bye week. A day without Eagles football is a moment of remembrance, mostly remembering that it’s possible to do things other than watch football on Sundays. I imagine this is how billionaires feel, or at least people who go for walks, read books, and do other things that don’t involve yelling at a TV. My newfound availability gave me plenty of time to be productive. I did the important things, like recovering from a Halloween party hangover, inhaling 5 hours of some show I’ve never heard of but am now obsessed with, and remembering that it’s Daylight Savings halfway through the day while convincing myself I made the most out of my extra hour.

However, I wasn’t the only one who had a great bye week (if you can call that great, but beauty is in the eye of the remote-holder). Our beautiful Birds were big winners in Week 9 of the NFL season, despite not even playing a game. They’re like the child of a famous celebrity or that one kid who got an A on the group project even though all he did was add WordArt to the PowerPoint. Here’s why the bye week couldn’t have gone better for Nick Sirianni’s crew.

The New #1 Seed in the NFC East

As Nelly once said in the song #1, “I am #1” (Nelly wasn’t known for his lyricism). Thanks to losses by the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, the Eagles now sit as the #1 seed in the NFC. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit at #2, and the surging Seattle Seahawks sit at #3. Each of the top three teams are 6-2. Not to mention the Giants, Cowboys, and Commanders all lost, giving the Eagles a 3-game lead in the NFC East.

Green Bay dropped a winnable game to the (maybe kinda good now) Carolina Panthers after being favored by 12.5 points. Green Bay is a weirdly inconsistent team. They look like contenders one minute and pretenders the next. Thus far this season, Green Bay has tied the now 3-5-1 Dallas Cowboys and lost to the now 2-6 Cleveland Browns. I repeat, they lost to the Cleveland Browns. The Browns’ brand of football is equivalent to asking ChatGPT for relationship advice. Now and then, it’ll surprise you in a good way, but usually it’s very bad.

Green Bay’s biggest win of the season came in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. Aside from that victory against Detroit, the Packers have beaten teams with a combined record of 13-20. To make matters even worse, Green Bay lost all-world tight end (and fantasy football darling) Tucker Kraft to a season-ending ACL injury. The Birds will visit Lambeau Field to take on the Packers next Monday night. Here’s hoping they can assert their dominance at the top of the conference with a win in Wisconsin.

As for Detroit, they were victims of the football gods after losing to a confusing Vikings team. The NFC North is pure chaos. Anything goes in those divisional matchups. Despite the loss, the Lions seem like the real deal. Their only other losses came at the hands of the surging Kansas City Chiefs and the Packers in Week 1. The Eagles will face Detroit in Philly for a huge game on Sunday Night Football in two weeks.

Big Trade for the Birds

Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman is aggressive in a competitive way. He’s like that guy in a pickup basketball game who calls a lot of fouls. I don’t know if he’s someone you’d want to hit the casino with, but he’s definitely someone you want running your favorite football team. I’m convinced he watches this scene from Glengarry Glen Ross every morning while listening to Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt.

Despite being in the driver’s seat in the NFC, Howie continues to hunt for ways to improve the roster. With the clock ticking towards the November 4th NFL trade deadline, Roseman closed his biggest trade of the season by acquiring edge rusher Jaelan Phillips from the Miami Dolphins for a 3rd round pick (fun fact: The Miami Dolphins are a mess, and are the only people not having fun in Miami right now). Phillips has been a rumored trade target for the Eagles since the beginning of the season, and now, Philly finally gets its man. Most importantly, Phillips also brings the Eagles’ total number of Jalens (or Jaelans) to 3.

A former first-round pick in 2021 out of the University of Miami, Phillips is an extremely talented and disruptive edge rusher. So far this year, Phillips has 3 sacks and 18 QB pressures (Jalyx Hunt currently leads the team with 11 QB Pressures).

One of the difficulties with midseason trades is how quickly incoming players have to adapt to their new scheme. Luckily for Philly, Jaelan is already intimately familiar with the Eagles’ defense.

Phillips played under current Eagles Defensive Coordinator (and Phillies superfan) Vic Fangio when Fangio was Miami’s Defensive Coordinator in 2023. The Fangio defense historically takes time to learn, so bringing in a player who’s already comfortable with the scheme can pay immediate dividends. In his lone season under Vic’s tutelage, Phillips had a career year, totaling 6.5 sacks in 8 games before tearing his Achilles.

That being said, this trade doesn’t come without its risks. Phillips was partially available because of his extensive injury history. As I mentioned, Phillips tore his Achilles back in 2023. Last season, Phillips tore his ACL and missed 13 games. He looks fully healthy so far this year, but it’s hard to tell how injury-prone players will progress.

The Eagles have made a slew of midseason trades throughout the years that have failed to pan out (see Kevin Byard in 2023 and Robert Quinn in 2022). But this trade for Phillips feels different. The 26-year-old edge rusher is entering his prime. He has the potential to become the best edge rusher on the defensive line. Phillips won’t be relied on to take the majority of snaps with the Eagles’ newfound depth, and his flexibility rushing from the interior or from the edge adds variety to a defense that values versatility as a means to confuse opposing quarterbacks. Not to mention, he joins a surging Eagles defensive line that just put up 5 sacks against the New York Blue Man Group, and adds Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham after the bye.

Jaelan is in the last year of his rookie contract, so there is the potential that he’s a short-term rental for the Birds. However, if Jaelan balls out, he’s in line to sign a long-term deal with the Eagles (if they can afford him). Howie loves premium pass rushers, especially ones in their prime. I can’t imagine he’d let a productive player leave for nothing. I could even see the Eagles working out an extension for Phillips before the end of the season. If Jaelan does leave, there’s a chance he’d count towards the Eagles’ compensatory pick formula if he resigns with another team for big money and the Eagles don’t sign a player of equal or greater value after the season. That could deliver the Eagles a 4th round pick in 2027. So a low risk for a potentially high reward. Either way, in the push to repeat as Super Bowl Champions, it’s good to have a demon like Phillips on board.

The Eagles also made smaller trades in the past week to bolster depth in the secondary. They traded wide receiver John Metchie and a 7th-round pick to the Jets for a 7th-round pick and Michael Carter II, a promising 26-year-old slot corner who has dealt with injuries that have sidetracked his career. Carter provides nice depth at the slot to give the Eagles flexibility to more easily move Cooper DeJean (the most exciting white!) around the formation.

Last Saturday, Howie traded a 6th-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for former All-Pro outside corner Jaire Alexander and a 7th-round pick. Alexander is best known for being A.J. Brown’s son:

Aside from being pan-fried by Brown, the once stellar cornerback has fallen from grace since his time in Green Bay. After 7 years in Wisconsin, Jaire signed with Baltimore this past year and failed to make much of an impact. Baltimore’s defense is as formidable as a piece of paper trying to stop a runaway train, and Jaire couldn’t even make it on the field the past few games. The Eagles are hoping Alexander can find his mojo and at least deliver average cornerback play across from Quinyon Mitchell.

Safe to say, the Birds are throwing spaghetti against the secondary and seeing what sticks. It seems like Howie and Fangio believe that average cornerback play can solidify this defense. They’ve refrained from overinvesting resources in the position since letting Darius Slay walk in the offseason. So far, they’ve been partially right despite Kelee Ringo and Adoree Jackson being inconsistent and unreliable.

All of these trades improve a roster that is already the most talented in the league. Shout out to Howie for continuing to roll the dice to give the Birds the best chance to win.

The Boys are Back in Town…from the Injury Report

The bye week couldn’t come at a better time for the ailing Eagles (or as we refer to them at Burds of a Feather, “The Ail-gles” or the “Jalen Ouches”).

Cornerback Destroyer and Head of the Cryptic Social Media Post Department A.J. Brown should be ready to rock after sitting out against the Giants due to a hamstring injury. Nolan Smith (who has been out of the lineup since reaggravating a tricep strain in Week 3) should come off of IR to help bolster an improved pass rush. Tush Push King Cam Jurgens will hopefully return to fortify the offensive line at center, and backup cornerback/Game of Thrones character Jakorian Bennett should come back to provide some depth in the secondary.

Week 10 will also bring the long-awaited season debut of formerly retired Eagles legend Brandon Graham. The Birds have a tough remaining schedule, including big games against the aforementioned Packers and Lions as well as the Bills, Chargers, and Bears. They’ll need all the firepower they can get.

But as we say goodbye to the bye, the vibes couldn’t be better for the Birds. Don’t you just love a bye week?