Taking a look around the division.
In Roob’s Stats: A record for Dallas Goedert, history from Eagles’ defense – Reuben Frank, NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles advance to the Divisional Round with a convincing win over Green Bay.
Lots of interception stats, an all-time Eagles receiving record, an NFL record Jalen Hurts is closing in on and the worst Packer ever.
This is a loaded postseason edition of Roob’s Eagles Stats, so let’s get right to it!
1. The interception section
1A. Quinyon Mitchell became the youngest Eagle in 44 years with a postseason interception and Darius Slay became the oldest Eagle in 45 years with a postseason interception. Mitchell, who is 23 years, 178 days, is the youngest Eagle with an INT in the playoffs since Roynell Young had one off Danny White in the 1980 NFC Championship Game win at the Vet at 23 years, 41 days old. Mitchell is also the first Eagles rookie with a postseason INT since Young in 1980. Slay, 34, became the oldest Eagle with a postseason interception since Bob Howard picked off Mike Phipps in the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Bears at the Vet in 1979. Slay is also the oldest NFL player with a postseason INT in seven years, since 36-year-old Mike Adams of the Panthers had one off Drew Brees in the Superdome in 2017. The last time a team had interceptions in the same game from two players 11 years apart in age was in the 1999 NFC Championship Game, which the Bucs lost 11-6 to the Rams at TWA Dome in St. Louis. In that game, 34-year-old Hardy Nickerson and 23-year-old Brian Kelly of the Bucs both picked off Kurt Warner.
4. A record-setting day for Dallas Goedert
With four catches, Dallas Goedert increased his career postseason total to a franchise-record 39, one more than Chad Lewis. Goedert’s 39 catches are 2nd-most among active tight ends, just behind Travis Kelce, who has 165. Goedert’s 39 catches are 13th-most all-time by a tight end in the postseason, one more than former teammate Zach Ertz. Goedert needs six more catches to enter the all-time top-10. Goedert’s four postseason touchdowns are two shy of the Eagles record of six, held by Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael.
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Shares Secret to Success – Jeremy Brener, Sports Illustrated
Washington snuck out of Tampa with win and is on to Detroit.
The Washington Commanders are having their best year in over three decades, and it comes during the first year of the new regime with quarterback Jayden Daniels, coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters.
A lot has changed within the organization, and Daniels shared the secret to the team’s success in his postgame press conference after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.
“I mean, that’s just the brotherhood that DQ (Head Coach Dan Quinn) set – the brotherhood and togetherness we have within the locker room. Obviously, the people that have been in the locker room, you can see how close we are off the field. We’re always hanging around each other. Everybody gets along with each other, so in those moments, when times get tough, we fall back on those moments,” Daniels said.
Daniels is just a rookie, but his sentiments have been echoed by linebacker Bobby Wagner, arguably the most established veteran on the roster.
“I think it’s the camaraderie, I think it’s the brotherhood,” Wagner said. “I feel like we’ve been tested throughout the year like you said. We had moments where we were up, we had moment where we were down and I think all those tests have allowed us to build that confidence especially for a group that’s first playing together, especially for young players that we have that are playing really big minutes so all these wins are good for our experience and makes it fun for us.”
Patriots hire Mike Vrabel: Giants let key front-office executive leave, join HC in New England, per report – Jordan Dajani, CBS Sports
There was front office movement in New York, but not what many anticipated.
During his introductory press conference as the New England Patriots head coach on Monday, Mike Vrabel was asked about potentially adding New York Giants executive advisor Ryan Cowden to the front office. Vrabel responded by saying nothing had been finalized regarding the front office, but just hours later, it was reported that Cowden is set to reunite with Vrabel.
According to NFL Media, the Giants are allowing Cowden out of his current deal to join the Patriots front office under executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf. Ian Rapoport reports this was not an easy decision for the Giants, but that they didn’t want to stop Cowden from pursuing an opportunity he wanted.
Cowden spent the past two seasons with the Giants as the executive advisor to general manager Joe Schoen, but previously worked with Vrabel when the two were members of the Tennessee Titans. During his time in Nashville, Cowden served as the vice president of player personnel, and was named the interim general manager when Jon Robinson was fired in 2022.
The 46-year-old Cowden has 25 years of NFL experience, working in scouting for the Carolina Panthers for 16 years before securing a promotion with the Titans in 2016. During his time in Carolina, the Panthers won two NFC championships, five NFC South titles and made the playoffs a total of six times. The Titans made the playoffs in four out of the seven seasons Cowden was in the front office, including an AFC Championship appearance in 2019.
