DeVonta Smith is surely one of the more underrated players in the NFL. He’s a legitimate number one wide receiver, but doesn’t necessarily have that outward personality that many top WRs have in today’s NFL. In a low-scoring affair against Green Bay on MNF, Smith hauled in four receptions for 69 yards and a huge touchdown.
He was a primary reason why the Eagles won this game and improved to 7-2, which keeps pace with other top teams in the NFC and also puts Philly, yet again, in a great position to win the NFC East and be guaranteed at least one playoff game.
However, Philly isn’t always perfect, and the way in which they go about their business rubs many people the wrong way. Whether it’s absurd success with the Tush Push, a GM that never sleeps, a polarizing QB, or a GM that never sleeps, there are many things for the ‘haters’ to latch onto, but DeVonta Smith has a pretty clear message for those people.
Talking with Scott Van Pelt, DeVonta Smith dropped a truth bomb that perfectly encapsulates today’s Eagles’ team:
DeVonta Smith on outside noise:
He’s right. The Eagles are the one team that does seem to get the most hate, and it’s because of how often they win. With the latest victory, Philly has now gone 55-22 in the Nick Sirianni era, which comes out to a stellar .714 winning percentage.
Philly is also 6-3 in the playoffs with two Super Bowl appearances and one victory. One huge indicator of the good, bad, and best teams in the NFL is being able to win multiple ways, and the Eagles have displayed that at times this year.
They can win in a shootout and win in close, low-scoring games as well. Sure, it hasn’t always looked pretty this year, but teams are what their record says they are, and no matter what the haters might want to say, Philly is 7-2 for a reason.
Personally, I am guilty of this – I have been critical of QB Jalen Hurts for years now, but he has consistently come through for the Eagles. Now, yes, not every game requires the QB to make major plays, but that’s kind of the point here. Philly is talented from top to bottom and have the ability to win games in various ways, as I just mentioned.
This latest win somehow not only gives fuel for the haters, but also shuts them up.
The Cleveland Browns are off to a 2-7 start, and fans have called for head coach Kevin Stefanski to be fired.
However, it is unlikely that Stefanski will be fired this season. Meanwhile, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot revealed that he is likely to return in 2026. General manager Andrew Berry is also expected back, according to Cabot.
“The truth is, we have no idea what they are actually really thinking,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “I know going into it, Jimmy Haslam has indicated, I believe at the owner’s meetings, that he wasn’t holding Kevin and Andrew’s feet to the fire because this was the year they were trying to figure out what they had in one of these rookie quarterbacks. Or, at least at that point, they knew it was going to be one rookie quarterback.
“I don’t think there was this sense of ‘win or else’ this season. It was about fact-finding and figuring out what they had and helping them inform what to do in the 2026 draft. I just don’t think this was a year where the expectations were super, crazy high. But, still, you have to see certain things from your football team. … I do think that Jimmy believes in continuity and alignment in his organization. And, he knows that this is a challenging year with all of the rookies. In a perfect world, he’s going to want to try to maintain that continuity. And, see if they can’t get this thing on the right track with a new quarterback they will probably draft in 2026.
Cabot believes Haslam still has confidence in Berry and Stefanski, and both could very well return next season with a new quarterback.
Cleveland has struggled this season as the Browns are off to a 2-7 start and coming off a disappointing 27-20 road loss to the New York Jets.
Following the loss, Stefanski made it clear that the goal and focus are on turning it around and finding ways to win.
“Obviously frustrated, disappointed on that result yesterday,” Stefanski said on Monday. “And we’re spending time right now watching it with the players and trying to learn from that. You know, hard to win on the road, and certainly hard when you do some of the things we did in that ball game. But we’re committed to this thing, and we’ll just find ways to get better in all areas and we’ll go from there. Big division game at our place this week.”
Stefanski believes the Browns have to be better in all three phases of the game. Despite that being an issue all season, he has full confidence in his group.
The Browns will host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a game Cleveland is a 7.5-point underdog.
Although Stefanski hasn’t been fired, and there are no signs he will be, his name has come up for other jobs.
The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday after a loss to the Chicago Bears. Following Daboll’s firing, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky links Stefanski to the Giants.
“The No. 1 name that I would pay attention to if I were the Giants is what happens in Cleveland with Kevin Stefanski,” Orlovsky said on Monday on NFL Live. “If I could hand-pick a guy, it would be Stefanski. He’s an outstanding coach, two-time Coach of the Year.
“I understand people in Cleveland are like, ‘This guy can’t coach’. But there’s a lot of empirical data that would say otherwise. … I would pay attention to see what’s going on in Cleveland.”
Stefanski has been the Browns’ head coach since 2020 and has led them to the playoffs twice.