NFL Power Rankings Roundup: Not everyone has the Eagles

As a new NFL season begins Jay Ajayi Jerseys 2019 , it’s time look at how various media outlets have ranked the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in their NFL power rankings. It’s always interesting to see how the Eagles stack up from an outside perspective. But first, let’s start by revisiting my rankings.Bleeding Green Nation1) Philadelphia Eagles - THE REIGNING SUPER BOWL CHAMPION EAGLES begin the season on top. This team has some injury issues they’re still dealing with (most notably Carson Wentz) but hey, they’re still starting the Super Bowl MVP in Week 1. So it could be worse.SB Nation1) Heading into the season, the Eagles remain at top of the power rankings and their Super Bowl opponent, the New England Patriots aren’t far behind. But we’re not giving the Patriots the No. 2 spot.ESPN1) The Eagles believe they have the elixir to prevent a Super Bowl hangover: motivation from within. QB Carson Wentz, LT Jason Peters, RB Darren Sproles and LB Jordan Hicks are among the big-name players who were sidelined during the team’s postseason run because of injury. Leaders all, their determination to return to the big show should permeate through the team. Success in the quest to repeat will depend on the health of Wentz, who continues to work his way back from a knee injury. Can he recapture his MVP form? Luckily, the Eagles are blessed with a loaded 53-man roster and arguably have the best backup in the league in Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. NFL.com1)So the man who stunned us all last February will be under center for the Kickoff Game. The new/old-car smell on Nick Foles has felt more like what you’d find on an ‘89 Topaz this preseason, as the QB’s play fluttered back to Earth like one of his August tosses. All of which would mean very little if Carson Wentz were ready to go. Alas, he still hasn’t been cleared as he makes his way back from a torn ACL. Even so, with all -- er, almost all -- of the starters returning from the team that won Super Bowl LII, no other squad feels more contender-ish than this group. I can poke holes in all of ‘em Black Fletcher Cox Jerseys , in fact. Rotoworld 1) How do you order your cheesesteak? I’m a wiz wit guy myself. Well the Eagles order theirs with a special ingredient—adversity. Not much fazes the Eagles these days and I’m sure they won’t be sweating it with Carson Wentz (ACL) sidelined in Week 1. With Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) also out of commission, look for Philadelphia to employ more two tight-end sets. That means you’ll be seeing a lot of rookie Dallas Goedert, who impressed with nine catches for 149 yards and a touchdown during last month’s preseason slate.USA Today1) Nope, Carson Wentz isn’t ready. Yup, preseason a mess for Nick Foles and depleted offense. But champs retain our top spot until first L.Reddit1) The defending Super Bowl champions will start the season with Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles at QB. While the preseason raised more questions than it answered, if the Eagles intend to repeat, then Foles will need to shine until Carson Wentz is cleared to take back the reins.PennLive1) It’s hard to argue against the reigning Super Bowl winners. The Eagles have some injuries to overcome — Carson Wentz isn’t starting in Week 1 — so it might be a while before they kick it into gear. But Doug Pederson showed he’s fearless last season. The Eagles deserve to start here.Washington Post1) Nick Foles is the pick to start the opener at quarterback after the defending champs spent all of training camp and the preseason wondering if Carson Wentz would be available while watching Foles, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, struggle with nagging injuries and less-than-promising on-field results. No matter. The Eagles are the league’s top team until someone proves otherwise. They have a still-shiny Lombardi Trophy to prove it.numberFire1) No explanationMile High Report2) No explanationYahoo Sports4) Maybe Doug Pederson’s testy news conference in which he said he wouldn’t announce his Week 1 quarterback was some reverse psychology before the season opener. I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a sharp guy and he knows what he’s doing. However, here’s what it looked like on the surface: A coach frustrated by things other than someone reporting that Nick Foles would start Week 1. Everyone assumed Foles would start. It wasn’t a big deal. Between Peterson’s brief standoff with the local media, and the news item that the Eagles would remove a Super Bowl champions sign in their locker room, it seems possible there are signs of a Super Bowl hangover already.CBS Sports5) The roster is full of talent, but there is still some concern about Carson Wentz and his knee. It doesn’t look like it will be a problem for the long term, but it’s still worrisome.Sporting News5) The Eagles were able to soar above the injury bug last season with some supersubs, led by Nick Foles. Doing it again against an even more stacked NFC will be difficult Fletcher Cox Jerseys 2019 , especially with little clarity on Carson Wentz’s clearance.Bleacher Report5) This ranking will likely anger fans of the defending champions—especially given that at one point in the preseason the Eagles held down the No. 1 spot in the B/R power rankings. To be fair, there was a three-way tie between New England, Philly and New Orleans. But since the best individual ranking the Eagles received was No. 3 (Davenport), they bring up the back end of the trio. The Eagles have some issues. Carson Wentz still hasn’t been cleared for contact, much less to play in a game. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery remains sidelined by a shoulder injury. And Nick Foles banged up his shoulder in the preseason and hasn’t looked right since. Still, despite this relatively low ranking and the problems facing the team, Sobleski cautioned that no one needs to be hitting any big red buttons just yet. ”The NFC is absolutely loaded, yet the Eagles remain among the league’s best due to the team’s overall depth, especially at quarterback. Even with the uncertainty surrounding Carson Wentz’s recovery and Nick Foles’ inconsistent preseason play, the champs still have more than enough talent to be considered elite.” A home tilt with the Falcons to open the season will give the Eagles an opportunity to show they deserve to be ranked higher—or that the concerns regarding the team are valid.ANALYSISThe rankings range from as high as 1 to as low as 5. The average ranking is 2.1. The most common ranking is 1. (For perspective, the Eagles’ rankings ranged from 9 to 22 at this time last year. Their average ranking was 16.3.)No one thinks the Eagles are lower than a top five team but not everyone is willing to accept that the reigning Super Bowl champs are still the best team in the league heading into the season. It’s not unfair to raise some concerns about Philadelphia’s current status given their injury situation, but I think putting them all the way down at five is a little much. Have some respect.The Eagles can continue to prove their doubters wrong with a big win over the Falcons in front of a national audience on Thursday evening. A loss would justify them falling to around five. The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, 27-20. Here are some thoughts on this highly disappointing defeat.1 - The Eagles’ season is probably overSad to say, but it’s probably true.We knew the stakes coming into this game. A win meant a 70% chance at the playoffs. A loss meant dropping to 35%.Well, the Eagles lost. Philadelphia is now third in the NFC East and 11th overall in the NFC playoff picture. They’re not mathematically eliminated Black Carson Wentz Jerseys , no. But let’s be real. It’s Week 10 and this team hasn’t been able to string together back-to-back wins all season. What’s the likelihood they’re going to get hot down the stretch and make a run? Not saying you have to give up on the team. Stranger things have happened. Still seven games left, with four against divisional opponents. But the odds are certainly not in their favor. More likely than not, they’re done.The Eagles are very much staring 4-6 in the face with a road game against the juggernaut Saints up next.2 - Doug Pederson deserves a lot of blameThe Eagles had no great reason to lose this game. They were coming off their bye. The Cowboys were coming off a short week after playing on Monday Night Football.The Cowboys were 0-4 road and averaging 13.5 points per game in those four losses. And yet the Eagles lost.The offense struggled out of the gate, going three-and-out on their first drive of the game. This didn’t look like a team ready to make a statement that they’re back.For a team that’s talked a lot about getting off to fast starts, the Eagles only put three points in the first half. And it took a 56-yard field goal to get those three points. The Eagles obviously improved in the second half by scoring 17 in the final two quarters but the overall output just isn’t enough in today’s NFL. The team’s offensive struggles and lack of urgency ultimately do not reflect well on Pederson. I’m not even going to get into nit-picking specific play calls. The overall theme is that the offense is just not good enough. It’s not inspiring. It feels like the Eagles have to work so hard to generate their offense. It’s hardly as effortless as other teams in the league (Saints, Rams, Chiefs, etc.). A team that was so good at moving the sticks last year only managed to convert four of 12 combined third/fourth down attempts on Sunday night.The struggles really make you wonder about Pederson. I think it’s too much to say he’s a total fraud who was only propped up by Frank Reich and/or John DeFilippo. He was ultimately the one calling plays during the Eagles’ Super Bowl season in 2017.But with Reich and Flip now gone, it’s hard to ignore how the offense has lost its’ luster. The truth is the Eagles were always due for some offensive regression because they were just so good in key areas last year. But the regression has been compounded by the absence of good coaches.I can’t help but wonder if the Eagles were a little too hasty in making internal promotions, especially with Mike Groh at offensive coordinator. Maybe having a new, more experienced voice from the outside would’ve helped Pederson more. He’s ultimately in charge of his staff.It’s hard not to be losing faith in Pederson right now. He just hasn’t done a great job of coaching this team.3 - Jim Schwartz isn’t off the hook, eitherAgain, the Cowboys were averaging 13.5 points on the road this season. Schwartz’s unit allowed them to double that figure on Sunday night.The Eagles ultimately had no answer for Ezekiel Elliott, who ran 19 times for 151 yards (7.9) average and one touchdown. He also had six receptions for 36 yards and one score.Schwartz’s unit allowed Dak Prescott to have one of his best games of the season. Prescott finished with a season high in completion percentage and his third best passer rating at 102.8 overall.In fairness to Schwartz’s unit, the secondary was pretty depleted Carson Wentz Jerseys 2019 , especially when Ronald Darby went down with a knee injury. At that the point the Eagles were missing their top three corners and a starting safety. Not ideal. Philadelphia was down to Rasul Douglas, undrafted rookie free agent Chandon Sullivan, and recent acquistion Cre’Von LeBlanc at corner.But injuries don’t explain away all of the defense’s struggles. A common theme that’s persisted throughout the season now is this unit’s inability to come up in the clutch. For example, the Eagles FINALLY get on the board with a field goal late in the second quarter and then the Eagles allow the Cowboys to easily march down the field for a touchdown drive. Then the Eagles finally string together some touchdown drives of their own and the defense immediately hands the momentum back over to the other side.We saw this same issue against the Titans, Panthers, and even Jaguars. I brought this up following the Jacksonville game:On the whole, the offense deserves more blame than the defense this season. But Schwartz’s unit still deserves criticism.4 - Carson Wentz failed to come up big in another big spotCarson Wentz was 7-0 in his last NFC East games. This was his opportunity to advance to 8-0 in a big way.Once again, however, Wentz ultimately didn’t come up big in a big moment.The numbers certainly weren’t bad: 32/44, 360 yards, 8.2 average, 2 TD, 1 INT, 102.5 passer rating. And zero fumbles! But those numbers don’t show the plays that Wentz left on the field. Wentz had Alshon Jeffery open in the end zone for a touchdown but he got the ball out too late and the contested pass ended up being complete. The Eagles settled for a red zone field goal instead of seven points. Wentz’s accuracy was off on some other throws as well. And his interception, which was a really bad throw Youth Mike Quick Jerseys , just set a bad tone early on.Wentz is a very good quarterback and the Eagles’ future is potentially bright with him under center. But the Eagles need him to come up bigger in big moments such as Sunday night’s game.5 - There’s really no run game to rely upon Eagles running back carries over the last three games:Smallwood is average at best and Clement is just giving this team nothing. Adams has been the team’s most efficient rusher but unfortunately it’s not as simple as giving him all the carries. Adams is an undrafted rookie who is a non-factor as a pass catcher (one reception) this year. It just sucks the Eagles can’t rely on the run to make life easier on Wentz at times. 6 - The Golden Tate trade is already looking questionableThe Eagles gave up a 2019 third-round pick for Tate. In his first game with the Eagles, Tate only played about 20% of Philadelphia’s snaps. He was targeted four times and had two receptions for 19 yards.Tate only has seven more games with the Eagles before he becomes a free agent this offseason. The Eagles may have given up a significant draft pick for a rental who won’t really be able to help the team make the playoffs.7 - Zach Ertz is having hell of a seasonOn a positive note, the Eagles have a great tight end. Zach Ertz finished the game with 14 receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He’s up to 75 receptions for 789 yards and five touchdowns on the season. Where would this unimpressive Eagles offense be without him?8 - Michael Bennett is killing it, tooBennett had a strong game against Dallas. He finished the night with two solo tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits. Bennett now leads the Eagles in sacks this season with 5.5. He’s easily been the team’s best offseason addition.9 - There’s a reason why Jalen Mills wasn’t getting benched I’d like to think I’m neither a Mills hater nor a Mills stan. But I must note that the Eagles’ defense still struggled without everyone’s favorite scapegoat. And it was Mills’ replacement — Rasul Douglas — who was getting toasted in coverage. Now you might see why the coaching staff had Mills ahead of Douglas. It’s not like Douglas is this infallible stud who’s an obvious upgrade on Mills.10 - Maybe the Eagles are playing four dimensional chess? Maybe the Eagles lost on purpose so the Cowboys keep Jason Garrett and Dak Prescott around for the long-term?!Nah. The Eagles needed to win this game. I’m just looking for a silver lining here.11 - Trying to put a disappointing season in perspectiveI feel like I’ve mentioned this before but I find the need to put the Eagles’ struggles in perspective. Winning in the NFL just isn’t easy. There’s a reason why there hasn’t been a repeat winner in the NFC East since 2004. And why there’s only been one repeat Super Bowl winner in the salary cap era. It’s just tough. The Patriots missed the playoffs the year after they won their first Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick era. The Eagles had a bad year in 2005 after having a great season when they went to the Super Bowl in 2004. I’m not saying this means you shouldn’t be upset about the Eagles having a disappointing season. But this idea that they’re blowing a golden opportunity to repeat just isn’t true. Also, just because the Eagles aren’t having a good season in 2018 doesn’t mean their 2017 Super Bowl championship is any less legit. That still very much counts.At the same time, there are very real issues with this franchise moving forward. It’s completely fair to express concerns about such.