NFL Power Rankings Roundup Week 3: Not everyone’s ready to give up on the Eagles

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.

Pro Football Talk

19 - The sooner they think they’re in a “must” win situation, the sooner they’ll start winning. (LW: 15)

Yahoo! Sports

20 - At some point, we have to ask how good Doug Pederson is. He was great during the Super Bowl season, but in hindsight, maybe then-Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich deserved more credit. Since then, the Eagles have underachieved. Had they not backed into a playoff spot each of the past two seasons, we’d be much more critical of Pederson. (LW: 14)

Bleacher Report

20 - The Philadelphia Eagles are in serious trouble. When the Eagles blew a 17-0 lead last week against a bad Washington team, it was a glaring red flag. However, they were blasted by injuries on both sides of the ball, which could help explain away that dud. The Eagles got some of those injured players back ahead of their home opener against the Rams, which should have helped them get back on track. Instead, they committed three turnovers and gave up 449 yards, while quarterback Carson Wentz finished 26-of-43 for 242 yards and a passer rating of 56.6. The only thing standing between the Eagles and last place in the NFC East is the New York Giants. And with games against the San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens looming over the next month, Philly’s season is perilously close to spiraling out of control... if it hasn’t already. (LW: 14)

ESPN

21 - Raise your hand if you thought Goedert would be leading the Eagles in targets (17), catches (12) and receiving yards (131) through two weeks. Yeah, me neither. His talent has long been evident, but given that he shares the field with one of the best tight ends in the league in Zach Ertz, it seemed Goedert had a pretty well-defined ceiling. Well, he looks to be breaking through it. (LW: 16)

Pro Football Network

21 - This game started very ugly for Philadelphia, and while they fought back to close the gap on the Rams, the game ended ugly again for the now 0-2 Eagles. And Carson Wentz has now thrown four interceptions in 2020, although he played better this week. The Eagles are not playing good football, but they are only one game back in the NFC East. Still, Philadelphia has a losing record since winning the Super Bowl. (LW: 14)

CBS Sports

22 - At 0-2, they have looked awful for two weeks. Is it possible to turn it around? The defense was terrible against the Rams. (LW: 16)

NFL.com

22 - This team needs Carson Wentz to be at his best right now — and that has not been the case so far. You understood Wentz’s struggles more in Week 1, when a fierce Washington pass rush racked up eight sacks. But on Sunday against the Rams? Wentz wasn’t sacked once, yet he still threw two picks and failed to put together enough positive drives to dig Philly out of an early hole. In the third quarter, with the Eagles in position to take the lead, Wentz fired an end-zone pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, an ill-advised throw that led to a game-swinging interception by Darious Williams. Wentz needs to make better decisions than what we’ve seen during an 0-2 start. (LW: 17)

The Athletic

23 - It might be time to panic. The Eagles’ most significant moves in the offseason came on the defensive side of the ball. They traded for Darius Slay, signed Javon Hargrave, Will Parks and Nickell Robey-Coleman and let Malcolm Jenkins walk. On Sunday, the defense looked like a group that hadn’t watched a minute of Rams film and had just met each other five minutes before the game. Los Angeles used its usual staples, but the Eagles had no answers, allowing 449 yards and five touchdowns. Based on EPA per snap, it was the worst performance by a defense through the season’s first two weeks. The offense wasn’t much better. Through two weeks, Carson Wentz ranks last among 34 qualifying quarterbacks in EPA per play and 33rd in completion percentage above expectation. The Eagles have had a recent history of rallying late in the season, but this feels different. (LW: 18)

Rick Gosselin

23 - The winless Eagles have a battered offensive line and a struggling quarterback, two maladies that are generally tied together. Carson Wentz has thrown twice as many interceptions (four) as touchdowns (two), lost a fumble and been sacked a league-high eight times. The Eagles lead the NFL in offensive giveaways with six. (LW: 21)

Sporting News

23 - The Eagles are getting shoddy play from Carson Wentz when he was such a big factor in lifting them last season. The offensive line and wide receiver issues have been bigger than expected. But that defense is also getting pounded more than expected, too.

Reddit

23 - Carson Wentz had a passer rating under 74 twice in 40 starts from 2017 through 2019. He’s had two in the last 8 days. The Eagles’ defense has now allowed 64 points in two games, that’s the most they’ve allowed after 2 games since 1971. (LW: 17)

Blogging The Boys

24 - It’s so hard to bury this team’s potential because we have seen elite play from Carson Wentz before. That being said, they look like an absolute disaster right now. (LW: 19)

The Ringer

25 - The Eagles have had to deal with multiple injuries to their offensive line and receiving corps, but it’s hard to paint this team’s start as anything but an abject disaster. Through two weeks, Carson Wentz has struggled badly (he’s completed just 59 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and an NFL-worst four picks and a 64.4 passer rating) and the team ranks dead last in DVOA. To say that morale seems low would be an understatement. Philadelphia still has time to right the ship, and should get a more advantageous matchup this week at home against the Bengals. But unless Wentz can show clear improvement this Sunday, the Eagles feel doomed to a long, disappointing year. (LW: 18)

Chicago Tribune

26 - Carson Wentz has four picks through two weeks, tying Kirk Cousins for the most in the NFL. The Eagles are on the verge of being in complete disarray. (LW: 18)

Washington Post

26 - This is a troubling start: The Eagles followed the opening loss at Washington with another wobbly performance in Sunday’s defeat at home to the Rams. The only consolation for them is that the NFC East again appears to be less than fearsome. (LW: 24)

Sports Illustrated

27 - Carson Wentz looks like he’s regressing and his head coach is struggling to explain why. The Eagles were a team that looked far from in trouble just a season ago. Now, the outlook is far different. (LW: 14)

Bleeding Green Nation

29 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 18) - I was tempted to put the Eagles at 32. They’re the NFL’s worst team in terms of DVOA and they’re tied for the second worst point differential. Carson Wentz looks awful; he’s seriously struggling with accuracy and decision-making issues. At least the defense is goo— oh, wait, no, the Eagles surrendered 449 yards and 37 points without much resistance despite investing all of their free agency resources on that side of the ball. The Birds are bad.

USA Today

29 - Rampant issues here, but focus will intensify on struggling QB Carson Wentz, whose string of games with at least one TD pass ended at 20. (LW: 25)

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ANALYSIS

The rankings range from as high as 19 to as low as 29. The most common ranking is 14. The average ranking is 23.5, which is a significant drop from last week’s 17.7 mark.

I’m honestly surprised that most outlets don’t have the Eagles lower. They should be 23rd at the very highest because they’re clearly a bottom 10 team right now. I’m of the belief they belong in the bottom five. Losing to the Cincinnati Bengals would cement their status in that regard. A win won’t have the team making a major rebound as much as it would (temporarily?) stop the bleeding.