NFL Power Rankings Roundup Week 2: Eagles drop

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

14 - The Eagles suffered one of Week 1’s most disappointing losses, given the combination of their preseason expectations (particularly at this very website), their opponent and the size of the lead they blew. With four of their next five games against the Rams, 49ers, Steelers and Ravens, they’ll need to get healthy and/or figure things out with a patchwork offensive line or else they may find themselves trying to dig out of a hole like they did down the stretch last season. (LW: 5)

Pro Football Network

14 - Unfortunately, injuries are nothing new to the Eagles. All the offensive line shuffling and running back injuries are not the only reason why Washington won this game…but it can’t be ignored either. (LW: 9)

Yahoo! Sports

14 - The Eagles were so beat up at running back, wide receiver and the offensive line that it’s hard to evaluate them after one week. No matter the injuries, it’s not good to blow a 17-0 lead to a Washington team expected to be one of the NFL’s worst. A Week 2 home game against the Rams takes on a lot more importance than it should for Philly. (LW: 14)

Bleacher Report

14 - The Philadelphia Eagles headed to Washington on Sunday with a team that has already been ravaged by injuries. Heading into the game, they were down three starting offensive linemen, one of their starting wide receivers and their starting running back. Despite all those injuries, the Eagles raced out to a 17-0 lead. It looked like they were going to weather the storm and get a win in Week 1. That is, until Washington peeled off 27 unanswered points. “Yes, it’s just one game, but it was one game against a bad Washington team,” Davenport said. “The Eagles are in trouble. The linebackers in Philly are bad. The secondary might be worse. The offensive line is a mess, allowing eight sacks in Week 1. And if Carson Wentz keeps taking a beating like that, it’s only a matter of time until he goes down, too. I’m not saying the Eagles should panic. Actually... yes, I am.” (LW: 13)

Pro Football Talk

15 - Before they can once again climb out of a hole, they first have to dig one. Congrats? (LW: 14)

ESPN

16 - Reagor broke loose for a 55-yard completion early in the game, showing the speed and explosiveness that made Philadelphia want to select him in the first round. That was his only catch of the day on four targets, though he likely would have added a 75-yard touchdown if another Carson Wentz offering was a couple of yards shorter. A promising debut all in all, especially given that Reagor was playing through a small tear in his left shoulder. (LW: 16)

CBS Sports

16 - Blowing a 17-point lead to the Redskins has to sting. Carson Wentz has to take care of the ball better - no matter who is playing around him. (LW: 8)

Sporting News

17 - What was that? The Eagles’ offensive line is now a weakness and they still have consistency and injury issues at wide receiver. They also should be more of a dominant defensive unit, vs. one that has key lapses. (LW: 7)

NFL.com

17 - The opener played out like a slow-motion car crash. What started as a pleasant Sunday drive (17-0 lead) turned into a tangled mess of steel for the Eagles (27-17 loss), who have to be wondering — respect to John Madden — “Where’d that truck come from?” That 18-wheeler was the Washington pass rush, which trampled Carson Wentz for eight sacks and forced the quarterback into a host of ill-advised passes. (Wentz threw two picks and easily could have tossed five). Not every team has a front-seven push like Washington, but the Eagles have every reason to worry right now. (LW: 14)

Reddit

17 - It’s easy to point fingers when a team blows a 17 point lead against a 3 win team on opening day. One could target Carson Wentz, whose abysmal second half directly led to the meltdown. Or the offensive line, none of whom seem capable of blocking their crazy relatives on Facebook, let alone defensive ends. Perhaps the strength and conditioning program, which has yielded more injuries than any other unit in the NFL over the past 3 years. (LW: 14)

Bleeding Green Nation

18 - The Eagles’ Week 1 loss was very troubling. Carson Wentz looked downright terrible as the team blew a 17 to 0 lead. He simply made too many inaccurate throws, regardless of offensive line struggles. Doug Pederson and his coaching staff didn’t do their best to maximize Wentz as they kept him stationary. Howie Roseman’s Day 2 draft picks (from the last two years, really) weren’t able to make any impact as the team missed seven starters due to injury. This team deserves the benefit of the doubt to some extent because we’ve seen them climb out of hole before. But it’s quite possible that the Eagles just aren’t good. (LW: 11)

The Athletic

18 - What we learned: Carson Wentz needs to play better. The circumstances were less than ideal, given the state of the offensive line. But at some point, franchise quarterbacks need to lift their teams out of bad situations. Wentz had two interceptions and two fumbles in the Eagles’ loss against Washington. All five of Washington’s scoring drives began in Eagles territory. The Eagles’ offensive line was a mess, and the loss isn’t all on Wentz, but he can’t make that many mistakes if this team wants to win the NFC East. (LW: 9)

The Ringer

18 - Washington racked up eight sacks in its surprising 27-17 win over the Eagles, overwhelming an injury-riddled Philly line while hitting Carson Wentz 14 times and helping to force three backbreaking turnovers (two Wentz interceptions and a lost fumble). Overall, that defensive group held Philadelphia to a measly 4.0 yards per play and put the clamps down after the Eagles jumped out to an early 17-0 lead. (LW:

Blogging The Boys

19 - Injuries are not cool no matter who they happen to. They are a mess at the moment. (LW: 12)

Sports Illustrated

21 - Philly’s two offensive tackles of choice, Lane Johnson on the right side nd Andre Dillard on the left, are absent from the lineup and it shows. QB Carson Wentz was sacked eight times, lost a fumble and threw two interceptions as the Eagles cratered in the opener, blowing a 17-0 lead in losing to the Redskins. (LW: 13)

Chicago Tribune

22 - Carson Wentz was brutal in the opening loss to Washington but injuries are crushing Philadelphia. He has to find a way to keep the Eagles afloat while some of the key missing players — offensive tackle Lane Johnson, running back Miles Sanders and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, among others — are out. (LW: 18)

Washington Post

24 - No one should overreact to Week 1. But the offensive line issues were glaring as the Eagles simply could not block the Washington defensive front in the loss at FedEx Field. Squandering a 17-point lead to a team coming off a three-win season is not exactly a promising beginning. (LW: 14)

USA Today

25 - Somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at Washington, a defeat that could very well haunt Philly remainder of season.

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ANALYSIS

The rankings range from as high as 14 to as low as 25. The most common ranking is 14. The average ranking is 17.7, which is a big drop from last week’s 11.8 mark.

It’s surprising to see some still have the Eagles as highly as they do. The Washington loss was very troubling.

Philly won’t retain much benefit of the doubt if they lose to the Los Angeles Rams this weekend.