Eagles Power Rankings Summary: Week 8
Are power rankings completely stupid and meaningless? Yes. Yes they are. Personally, though, I click whenever I see them. And now that I’ve hooked you with the promises of many power rankings, you’ll read it and like it.
Here are the Eagles’ national rankings after Week 7. Oh, and here’s our version of those sold-out rankings, too.
NFL.com: 2nd place
The Eagles had both starting safeties and their slot corner behind and still held Miami to a season-low 244 yards and 10 offensive points. Tua Tagovailoa was under pressure all game, and even taking into account his ability to get the ball out quickly, it seemed to have a cumulative effect. This is where defensive coordinator Sean Desai could potentially set himself apart from his predecessor. I liked how Desai didn’t let Miami off the hook and kept the pressure on. And while the offense may not be performing at quite this level, the connection between Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown has arguably never been stronger. They have now combined for 701 yards in Brown’s last five games. The Eagles also won every major four down on Sunday. This is my kind of team. And now they get Kevin Byard? Watch out, people.
#JimmySays: Spoiler: In every power ranking we’ve put together here, the Chiefs are at No. 1 and the Eagles are at No. 2.
ESPN: 2
Young rising star: DT Jalen Carter
The 22-year-old Carter has made a strong case for the rookie defensive player of the year award so far. He generated 27 pressures with 3.5 sacks. His constant disruption upfront has forced opponents to pay close attention to him. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Carter has been double-teamed on 51.7% of his snaps and has the third-most pressures (8) among double-teamers. – Tim McManus
#JimmySays: The current NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year odds, via Covers.com:
- Jalen Carter, DT, Eagles (-140)
- Devon Witherspoon, CB, Seahawks (+300)
- Will Anderson, LB, Texans (+1100)
- Brian Branch, S, Lions (+1400)
- Tuli Tuipulotu, LB, Chargers (+4000)
- Byron Young, LB, Rams (+5000)
- Lukas Van Ness, LB, Packers (+5000)
Van Ness’s appearance on this list caught my eye. He was a player I didn’t think the Eagles should sign. I was excited to see what he’s done so far this year and…8 tackles, 1 sack. Huh? Aren’t there other rookies who had a bigger impact?
The athlete: 2
One question: Should the tush push be banned?
The Eagles converted two four-and-1 plays with their signature scrimmage play on their game-winning drive against Miami on Sunday night. There is growing opinion that the NFL’s competition committee will ban the game in the offseason, but why? What’s better than a football game than the bigs pushing their bigs back a yard, or in the Eagles’ case, two or three? Getting to third, fourth and short plays should be beneficial. In case it’s not clear, our answer to this question is: “No!”
#JimmySays: Oh, in my opinion, the Brotherly Shove will probably be eliminated this offseason. The Eagles are the only team that can execute it at a high level, and the 31 other teams would prefer not to have to prepare for it. They’ll come up with some other nonsensical reason to get rid of it (like it’s “unsafe”), but convenience will be more important than fairness for most of the league. And to be clear, it would be an absolute shame if they got rid of it, but that’s what’s coming.
USA today: 2
Look who’s almost at the top…but still staring toward Kansas City. Looking back at the 2022 season, Philadelphia is 41-44 (93.2%) when using the Brotherly Shove while needing 1 yard to convert a first down. “Every first down is a first and 9,” HC Nick Sirianni said Sunday night after Philly won 4-4 on the tush push against Miami. Sidebar: If WR AJ Brown can reach 125 yards again in Week 8 against Washington’s 29th-ranked defense, he will set a league record by doing so in six consecutive appearances.
#JimmySays: Brown had 9 catches for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Eagles’ Week 4 matchup against the Commanders, although he won’t have the help of now-benched Emmanuel Forbes this time around.
I was curious to see what Terrell Owens’ numbers looked like after his first seven games of the 2004 season.
- Giants: 8-68-3
- Vikings: 4-79-1
- At Lions: 6-107-1
- At Bears: 8-110-1
- Panthers: 4-123-0
- At Browns: 4-109-2
- Ravens: 8-101-1
• Terrell Owens after 7 games, 2004: 42-697-9
• AJ Brown after 7 games, 2023: 52-809-3
Yahoo: 2
What mind control does general manager Howie Roseman have over the rest of the NFL? The Titans traded safety Kevin Byard, a former first-team All-Pro, for safety Terrell Edmunds and a pair of late-round draft picks. Byard is only 30 and not yet finished as an elite player. What a bargain for the Eagles. Again.
#JimmySays: We will see. We did a few posts called “People Who Make Sense for the Eagles at the Trade Deadline,” and while I thought about Byard, I didn’t think the Titans would trade him, so he never made it.
Last offseason, Tennessee converted $7 million of Byard’s $11 million salary into a signing bonus and spread that money over future years. If they trade him, they will have $8,828,556 of dead money on their books for Byard in 2023 and $13,359,000 in 2024. The fact that they traded him for fifth- and sixth-round picks and a struggling safety in Edmunds kind of resonates with me. .. 🤔.
Byard should be an upgrade over the likes of Edmunds and Justin Evans, but he’s probably not the great player he once was.
CBS: 2
The defense was able to prevail against a good Miami offense on Sunday night. This is a good sign for the future. Jalen Hurts still doesn’t look quite right, but he’s close.
#JimmySays: CBS with the fire analysis as always.
Average performance ranking of the six media mentioned above
- Week 1: 2.0
- Week 2: 2.8 📉
- Week 3: 2.7 📈
- Week 4: 2.8 📉
- Week 5: 2.7 📈
- Week 6: 2.0 📈
- Week 7: 4.3 📉
- Week 8: 2.0 📈
MORE: NFC Hierarchy/Obituary Week 8 Edition
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