NFL power rankings: Eagles rightfully reach a new tier

Share

Does it get much better than waiting all weekend for Monday Night Football just to watch the team you follow live up to early-season expectations with a statement win? 

Eagles fans were living the dream at the Linc as the Birds stomped the Vikings to move to 2-0 and establish themselves as one of the best teams in the NFC, no questions asked. Jalen Hurts was magnificent. The defense woke up after a slumbering Week 1 and shut down an offense featuring Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, and Adam Thielen.

It was a singularly dominant performance, and nationally the Eagles are getting their due respect.

Let's scour seven different national outlets to find out what they're saying about the Birds after a big win:

NFL.com

Last week: 10

This week: 3

"The Eagles have hit the ground running. Nick Sirianni's team dominated on both sides of the ball in a 24-7 win over the Vikings at raucous Lincoln Financial Field. Jalen Hurts again looked the part of a star on the rise, throwing for 333 yards while accounting for three total touchdowns. The star of the other side of the ball was cornerback Darius Slay, who will continue to intercept passes in Kirk Cousins' nightmares for the next several evenings. The Eagles are a team without an obvious weakness right now -- and upcoming matchups against the Commanders and Jaguars seems like a recipe for more good times."

USA Today

Last week: 6

This week: 3 (+3)

"QB Jalen Hurts' dark horse MVP candidacy is already fading ... as he's becoming an increasingly lighter horse."

ESPN

Last week: 9

This week: 8 (+1)

"The Eagles were gashed for 35 points in the season opener against Detroit, in part because defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon had his defensive backs playing soft in coverage at times and didn't make Jared Goff uncomfortable in the pocket. On Monday night against the Vikings, he flipped the script. The corners gave Minnesota's receivers little room to operate, making life difficult for quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw multiple interceptions and faced a number of creative blitzes. Gannon must keep his foot on the gas."

Sports Illustrated

Last week: 10

This week: 9 (+1)

"The thought was always that if Jalen Hurts didn’t peak a year ago, the sky would be the limit for this roster. Well, Monday night’s stomping of the Vikings leads us to believe the Eagles might be in for some late January football this year."

The Athletic

Last week: 6

This week: 3 (+3)

"Let’s overreact. Jalen Hurts played what might have been the best game of his young career in prime time. One week after carving up the Lions with his legs against a blitz- and man-heavy game plan, he did the same to the Vikings thanks to precision passing and the well-timed designed run. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert form one of the league’s best trio of offensive weapons, and the offensive line is arguably the best in football. And all of a sudden, the defense is part of the party, too. By EPA per drive, the Eagles’ defense had the fifth-best performance of the young season and the third-best of Jonathan Gannon’s young career as a defensive coordinator.

"With the second-easiest schedule in the league, according to preseason projected win totals, the Eagles have what looks like a realistic path to a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NFC."

Walter Football

Last week: 6

This week: 4 (+2)

"I'm obviously more confident in my Bills-Eagles Super Bowl prediction. Jalen Hurts has taken a huge step and should be considered the early front-runner for MVP."

Sporting News

Last week: 6

This week: 4 (+2)

"The Eagles have enjoyed a dazzling offensive start, too, led by Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown. They are the clear favorites to run away with the NFC East and shoring up a few more things on defense means they will be a factor in the bigger playoff picture of the conference title chase."

That's five Top 5 placements, a mention of Jalen Hurts as the MVP front-runner, and a mention of a first-round bye in one round of power rankings.

There's no more Eagles hype train. It's now a hype rocket ship.

And it's deserved. The Eagles looked special on Monday night. Honestly, the idea that Sports Illustrated has the Eagles as the ninth-best team in the NFL feels downright disrespectful. Putting the Chargers, Rams, and Packers ahead of this team is comical at best.

But it doesn't really matter, because the Eagles are just getting started and with the schedule they have over the next six weeks they can really show this league what they're about if they play up to Monday night's standard.

This could get special very fast.

I'll be tracking the Eagles' average power rankings across these seven outlets all season long at the bottom of these posts.

Season-long tracker

Pre-Preseason: 12.86

Post-Preseason: 12.14 (+0.72)

Week 1: 7.57 (+4.57)

Week 2: 4.85 (+2.72)

Contact Us