Earlier this week, the NFL pundits offered their varying takes on the state of affairs in professional football. We offered our take as well with our weekly Top Ten NFL Power Rankings: Week 3 NFL Power Rankings. One team that has garnered a lot of surprise praise at this early point in the season is Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Detroit Lions in Week 1 but only by three points. In Week 2, the Eagles made lighter work of the Minnesota Vikings. Philly does, in fact, seem to be among the better teams in the NFL. But what should the standard be to move them into the Top 5 in NFL Power Rankings? We had them 6th on our own, believing that wins over Minnesota and Detroit are not major victories in this NFL season.
Philadelphia Eagles in NFL Power Rankings
Dan Hanzus publishes his NFL power rankings weekly. On Tuesday after Week 2, Hanzus' top three were the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Buffalo Bills
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Tampa Bay Bucs
- Green Bay Packers
ESPN was not so kind with the Eagles on Tuesday. That sports website went 1-2-3 with the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In ESPN's world, the Philadelphia Eagles are outside of the Top 5, behind both the LA Rams and the Miami Dolphins. ESPN had the Eagles in the 8th spot, perhaps being too generous to Los Angeles. The Super Bowl champs opened from home this season with a large-spread loss.
- Buffalo Bills
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Los Angeles Rams
- Miami Dolphins
CBSsports.com had the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their Top 3. Philadelphia squeezed in behind in fourth place.
- Buffalo Bills
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Green Bay Packers
NFL.com out to lunch?
Third place is really too generous to this Eagles team. How can they be placed above Tampa Bay, Miami, and the Los Angeles Chargers? The latter may only be 1-1 but let's not forget that the loss they suffered was to the Kansas City Chiefs in a game that KC hosted. Furthermore, the spread was just three points.
The Eagles are one of those teams that might be a contender, however, as of yet, they have not really proven it. The situation is akin to the situation you see in college football. You get the weekly Top 25 but some teams are hard to assess because they have not played anyone with significant talent.
The situation with Philadelphia could remain ambiguous. They don't have a "prove it" game coming up in the weeks ahead. It will be just the Washington Commanders and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Weeks 3 and 4 respectively.
But if Philly starts 4-0, then they will belong in the Top 5. Even if you play a weak schedule, you don't beat the bad teams every week without having talent and depth.
But unless Arizona (Week 5) or the Dallas Cowboys (Week 6) are better than their starts suggest, we won't see a big game involving Philly for several weeks. Their toughest opponent appears to be the Green Bay Packers but the teams won't meet until late November.
As final food for thought, the Eagles are 5th by betting odds. Bet365 sportsbook has them at 12/1 to win the Super Bowl behind the Bills, the Chiefs, the Bucs, and the Rams.
