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It’s time for our weekly roundup of how various media outlets view the Philadelphia Eagles in their NFL power rankings. Always interesting to see how the Birds stack up from an outside perspective.
Sports Illustrated
15 - Injuries have decimated Philly again, which has meant a who’s who of who? starring for Philly again. Jordan Mailata, Alex Singleton and Travis Fulgham (?) all played huge roles in Sunday’s big road win. (LW: 27)
Washington Post
17 - The Eagles went from winless when Sunday evening began to residing in first place in the NFC East by night’s end. What a division. But QB Carson Wentz was better in the victory over the 49ers, and the Eagles received unlikely contributions from unsung players such as LB Alex Singleton and former practice squad WR Travis Fulgham. (LW: 28)
CBS Sports
18 - They are in first place. Can you believe it? They’ve been a disaster for most of this season, but winning at San Francisco was impressive for this beat-up team. (LW: 24)
Rick Gosselin
18 - The NFC East-leading Eagles have rushed for only four touchdowns this season and quarterback Carson Wentz has three of them, one in each of the last three weeks. Halfback Miles Sanders has the other TD three games ago against the Rams. (LW: 25)
NFL Network
19 - Carson Wentz’s 42-yard touchdown strike to Travis Fulgham (who?) wiped away a night of frustration for the undermanned Eagles, who moved into first place in the woebegone NFC East with a 25-20 win over the 49ers on Sunday Night Football. Wentz got it done without his top four wide receivers, tight end Dallas Goedert, left tackle Jason Peters and — for parts of the night — right tackle Lane Johnson, who was in and out of the lineup with an ankle issue. Fulgham began the weekend on the Eagles’ practice squad, while Alex Singleton — the linebacker who plays primarily on special teams — had the game-clinching pick-six on the ensuing series. If the Eagles turn their season around, this will be remembered as the flashpoint. (LW: 23)
Pro Football Network
19 - As if Carson Wentz needed even less help around him, Lane Johnson obviously played hurt in this game, leaving Wentz with a brutal front five and arguably the worst set of wide receivers in the league. Wentz still played his guts out under constant pressure and without many open receivers to target. It seems ridiculous, but the Eagles now sit atop their division and at number 19 in my Week 5 NFL Power Rankings. (LW: 23)
Sporting News
19 - The Eagles worked hard to get their win over the 49ers with offensive grit and defensive physicality, overcoming their major injuries and more than minor weaknesses. They are far from a complete team but they played better complementary football when they absolutely needed it. (LW: 26)
ESPN
20 - Where’s the respect for the division-leading Birds? OK, they’re not very good, but that’s basically a requirement to play in the NFC East, which has a combined record of 3-12-1 through four weeks. The Cowboys can move the football, but their defense has allowed a league-high 146 points. Dallas doesn’t deserve to be heavy favorites in anything right now, unless we’re voting for most overhyped team of the past decade. (LW: 22)
Yahoo! Sports
20 - As stated here last week, Eagles coach Doug Pederson got heat for punting on fourth down in overtime of Week 3, but the tie was much-needed and will be important in the NFC East race all season. That unpopular decision could be the difference in the Eagles making the playoffs. (LW: 22)
The Ringer
20 - N/A (LW: 29)
Blogging The Boys
21 - Congratulations on a win, ugh.
The Athletic
21 - Just as we all predicted: Travis Fulgham, Alex Singleton, Genard Avery and Cre’Von LeBlanc leading the Eagles to an upset win and first place in the NFC East. What I’m buying: the Eagles’ defensive line is legit. They produced five sacks and 15 quarterback hits in their win against the 49ers. What I’m not buying: the Eagles found answers offensively. Their offensive performance ranked 25th out of 30 teams statistically in Week 4. It’s amazing how one play can shape our impressions of what’s happening with a team. Carson Wentz delivered a perfectly placed pass to Fulgham for a 42-yard touchdown. If he’s even a little bit off or if Fulgham fails to come down with the catch, we’re likely talking about a winless team with major offensive issues. Instead, the Eagles have life, but matchups against the Steelers and Ravens await.
Bleacher Report
21 - That the Philadelphia Eagles are in first place after notching their first win of 2020 in Week 4 says everything you need to know about the flaming bag of dog excrement that is the NFC East. Credit where it’s due—the Eagles notched their first win against an injury-ravaged San Francisco 49ers team, but it’s not like Philly doesn’t have issues in that regard. The wide receivers and offensive line have been decimated. Thanks to gutsy play from quarterback Carson Wentz and some timely defense, the Eagles finally broke into the win column. The bigger problem is going to be building on that win. Over the next two weeks, the Eagles play at the 3-0 Pittsburgh Steelers and then host the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens. It’s going to take an admittedly unlikely win against one of those AFC North powers for us to start truly taking the Eagles seriously. (LW: 23)
Pro Football Talk
22 - The fact that this team technically is in first place in the NFC East shows just how bad the NFC East is. (LW: 26)
22 - The Eagles notched their first victory of the year and catapulted into first place of the worst division in professional football. Things don’t get easier from here, with back to back games against top 10 opponents. That said, the NFC East continues its downward spiral into the maw of oblivion where winning seems less important than not losing horribly. (LW: 28)
USA Today
22 - Their nine turnovers (including QB Carson Wentz’s seven INTs) pace league, yet only three have occurred in last two weeks – games Philly hasn’t lost. All said, just middling enough to pace NFC East. (LW: 29)
Bleeding Green Nation
23 - It sure wasn’t pretty but Carson Wentz managed to do enough to lead the Eagles to a much-needed win on Sunday Night Football. And with that victory, the Birds are first in the truly awful NFC East. If Wentz can build on this performance and the defensive line can continue to dominate, the Eagles might very well win the division. Still far off from being serious championship contenders, though.
Chicago Tribune
23 - The Eagles vaulted into first place in the NFC (L)East with a victory in the Injured Reserve Bowl at San Francisco. Linebacker Alex Singleton, a former CFL star, returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown. (LW: 29)
ANALYSIS
The rankings range from as high as 15 to as low as 23. The most common rankings are 19, 20, 21, and 22. The average ranking is 20, which is up from last week’s 26.2 mark.
The Eagles moving up big can partially be explained by other bad teams near them losing. In other cases, I think some are overreacting to the Eagles’ win. They’re suddenly the 15th or 17th best squad — an average team — because they beat Nick Mullens? They didn’t even thoroughly outplay the 49ers. They’re very much still below average.
Now, if the Eagles beat the Steelers this week, then we can talk. But that’s going to be easier said than done. With Pittsburgh and the Baltimore Ravens up next, the Eagles have their work cut out to avoid dropping to 1-4-1.