Eagles finish outside the top 10 in early 2019 NFL power rankings

ESPN put out some “way too early” NFL power rankings following Super Bowl LIII and you might be surprised to see the Philadelphia Eagles did not make the top 10. In fact, they’re all the way down at No. 12.

12. Philadelphia Eagles. 2018 record: 9-7. Reason for optimism: The Super Bowl hangover was real for the Eagles early in 2018. The long run over the season prior took its toll physically and mentally and factored into their 4-6 start, which prevented them from securing any home games in the playoffs. They should be quicker out of the gates this time around. QB Carson Wentz will help with that. He’ll look more like his old self with the ACL injury now well in the rearview mirror.

Power rankings are admittedly silly but, hey, they give us something to talk about. And that’s what we do here at Bleeding Green Nation: talk about the Eagles.

You’ll be shocked to learn that I think 12th is a little too low. I mean, why are the Pittsburgh Steelers — who didn’t even make the playoffs — ahead of the Eagles? Why are the Texans — who got beat by the Eagles in Week 16 and then lost by two scores at home in the Wild Card round — also ahead of Philly? I think the Eagles should be considered a top 10 team, at least.

With that said, I do see reason why some could have reservations about the 2019 team. The Eagles could undergo a lot of change this offseason with a number of key players potentially leaving: Nick Foles, Brandon Graham, Jason Peters, Darren Sproles, Ronald Darby, Jay Ajayi, Jason Kelce, Golden Tate, Jordan Hicks, etc. There’s also obvious concern about Carson Wentz’s ability to stay healthy.

But the upside of Wentz and Doug Pederson, who has proved himself as one of the league’s better coaches, should be good enough to reasonably put the Eagles in the top 10.

Other thoughts from these power rankings:

• Lol at the Los Angeles Rams at No. 1. I don’t doubt they’ll be in the playoff mix once again next season but we’re really ranking them as the top team after scoring the fewest points in Super Bowl history? After Sean McVay got completely pantsed? After Jared Goff showed why teams shouldn’t really be all that afraid of him?
• Somehow the New England Patriots are only at No. 4 coming off their sixth Super Bowl title.
• I think some could make a case for the Eagles over the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens. But I don’t think those teams being ahead of Philly is egregious.
• The Chicago Bears at No. 6 is tricky. Their defense is really good, yeah, but I just don’t know about Mitchell Trubisky.
• Around the NFC East: the Dallas Cowboys are 13th (right below the Eagles), the New York Giants are 21st, and Washington is 25th. We’ll have to see what New York and Washington do at quarterback before we can get a better gauge of where they stack up heading into 2019.