NFL Power Rankings – Week 3: Where the Eagles Stand
Week 2 is in the books, and with numerous teams suffering key injuries, it was certainly a wild one.
The league witnessed Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger suffer major injuries, Antonio Brown made his debut with the Patriots amid a second sexual misconduct allegation, the Giants finally benching Eli Manning, the Steelers acquiring Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Jalen Ramsey requesting a trade from the Jaguars. There was certainly a lot going on, and that doesn’t even involve the results of the actual games.
In terms of the game results, it was a much more quiet week, though we did see some more movement in terms of the top and bottom of the league. Before getting into this weeks Power Rankings, first review last weeks rankings.
Now, here’s a look at the NFL’s Power Rankings ahead of Week 3.
32: 0-2 Miami Dolphins
Last weeks ranking: 32
Last weeks result: 43-0 loss at home to the New England Patriots
31: 0-2 Denver Broncos
Last weeks ranking: 29
Last weeks result: 16-14 loss at home to the Chicago Bears
30: 0-2 New York Giants
Last weeks ranking: 28
Last weeks result: 28-14 loss at home to the Buffalo Bills
29: 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals
Last weeks ranking: 27
Last weeks result: 41-17 loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers
28: 0-1-1 Arizona Cardinals
Last weeks ranking: 30
Last weeks result: 23-17 loss on the road to the Baltimore Ravens
27: 0-2 Washington Redskins
Last weeks ranking: 26
Last weeks result: 31-21 loss at home to the Dallas Cowboys
26: 0-2 New York Jets
Last weeks ranking: 25
Last weeks result: 23-3 loss at home to the Cleveland Browns
25: 0-2 Jacksonville Jaguars
Last weeks ranking: 24
Last weeks result: 13-12 loss on the road to the Houston Texans
24: 0-2 Carolina Panthers
Last weeks ranking: 18
Last weeks result: 20-14 loss at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23: 1-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last weeks ranking: 31
Last weeks result: 20-14 win on the road against the Carolina Panthers
22: 1-1 Oakland Raiders
Last weeks ranking: 21
Last weeks result: 28-10 loss at home to the Kansas City Chiefs
21: 0-2 Pittsburgh Steelers
Last weeks ranking: 14
Last weeks result: 28-26 loss at home to the Seattle Seahawks
20: 2-0 San Francisco 49ers
Last weeks ranking: 22
Last weeks result: 41-17 win on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals
19: 2-0 Buffalo Bills
Last weeks ranking: 20
Last weeks result: 28-14 win on the road against the New York Giants
18: 1-0-1 Detroit Lions
Last weeks ranking: 23
Last weeks result: 13-10 win at home against the Los Angeles Chargers
17: 1-1 Cleveland Browns
Last weeks ranking: 17
Last weeks result: 23-3 win on the road against the New York Jets
16: 1-1 Tennessee Titans
Last weeks ranking: 15
Last weeks result: 19-17 loss at home to the Indianapolis Colts
15: 1-1 Indianapolis Colts
Last weeks ranking: 19
Last weeks result: 19-17 win on the road against the Tennessee Titans
14: 1-1 Los Angeles Chargers
Last weeks ranking: 7
Last weeks result: 13-10 loss on the road to the Detroit Lions
13: 1-1 Houston Texans
Last weeks ranking: 13
Last weeks result: 13-12 win at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars
12: 1-1 Chicago Bears
Last weeks ranking: 12
Last weeks result: 16-14 win on the road against the Denver Broncos
11: 1-1 Minnesota Vikings
Last weeks ranking: 11
Last weeks result: 21-16 loss on the road to the Green Bay Packers
10: 1-1 Atlanta Falcons
Last weeks ranking: 16
Last weeks result: 24-20 win at home against the Philadelphia Eagles
9: 1-1 New Orleans Saints
Last weeks ranking: 6
Last weeks result: 29-7 loss on the road to the Los Angeles Rams
8: 1-1 Philadelphia Eagles
Last weeks ranking: 4
Last weeks result: 24-20 loss on the road to the Atlanta Falcons
7: 2-0 Baltimore Ravens
Last weeks ranking: 9
Last weeks result: 23-17 win at home against the Arizona Cardinals
6: 2-0 Green Bay Packers
Last weeks ranking: 10
Last weeks result: 21-16 win at home against the Minnesota Vikings
5: 2-0 Seattle Seahawks
Last weeks ranking: 8
Last weeks result: 28-26 win on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers
4: 2-0 Dallas Cowboys
Last weeks ranking: 6
Last weeks result: 31-21 win on the road against the Washington Redskins
3: 2-0 Los Angeles Rams
Last weeks ranking: 5
Last weeks result: 27-9 win at home against the New Orleans Saints
2: 2-0 Kansas City Chiefs
Last weeks ranking: 2
Last weeks result: 28-10 win on the road against the Oakland Raiders
1: 2-0 New England Patriots
Last weeks ranking: 1
Last weeks result: 43-0 win on the road against the Miami Dolphins
Why The Eagles Are Ranked Where They Are
After looking like they built some momentum following a thrilling second-half comeback against the Washington Redskins, the Eagles had a let down on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. There was some good and some bad, but any time you lose, especially while suffering multiple key injuries, that team is destined to fall a bit in the rankings.
First, let’s start with the bad. The Eagles are experiencing some similar issues that ultimately proved to be their downfall for the large part of the 2018 season. Slow starts have put the Eagles behind in both of their first two games, and as we saw on the road specifically, it makes it that much harder to have a good chance of coming out victorious. The Eagles will also face much more difficult opponents in the coming weeks that will bury them if they continue to have similar slow starts.
Another thing that has the potential to significantly hurt the Eagles’ chances of rises back up towards the top is injuries. With Malik Jackson out for the year, Tim Jernigan out for 6 weeks, and Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson out for 2 weeks, the injury bug is, yet again, striking early. While excuses shouldn’t be made since injuries are part of the game, it would be hard to imagine the Eagles, or any other team for that matter, finding success with such key players missing time. The Eagles must get healthy and stay healthy this season to give them a chance to compete for a second Super Bowl.
Both of those reasons, among others, are why the Eagles fell four spots from 4th to 8th heading into week 3.
Now, let’s get into some of the good and why the Eagles are still in the top 10. For as long as the Eagles have Carson Wentz as their quarterback, they will always have a chance to win any game they find themselves in. Despite playing with a depleted offense that he hadn’t previously gotten much work with, Wentz found a way to make things happen to get the Eagles back in the game and even gave them a chance to win.
Another encouraging sign from Sunday’s game was Jim Schwartz’s ability to recognize tendencies in the Falcons offense to give the defense a chance to succeed. Time and time again, Matt Ryan poorly reacted to blitz’s dialed up by Schwartz, forcing his hand into turnovers or sacks. After a rocky week 1 performance by the defense, it seems Schwartz has found a potential blueprint to get the group going.
All in all, while things may seem somewhat negative for the Eagles, they’ve only played 2 games and there are some things to be encouraged about. However, they must find consistency and get healthy before their full potential can be realized.
Photo: Yong Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer
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