October 06, 2015
Week 4 of the NFL season is in the books, and the Eagles are at their lowest spot of the season in our hierarchy. Last week we had our first obituary of the season, when we killed off the Bears, but there are no new additions to the graveyard this week. Here's this week's hierarchy/obituary:
15) Lions (0-4)It's hard to put the Lions anywhere but here, seeing as they're the only winless team in the NFL and in a division with the best team in the NFC. However, since they have a very strange scheduling quirk in which they have four consecutive home games upcoming, I will hold off on sending them to the graveyard for one more week.
If you think the Eagles' rushing attack is woeful, at least they're not the Lions. On the season, the Lions are averaging 47 rushing yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry, both of which are worst in the NFL by a wide margin.
Last week: 11
14) Buccaneers (1-3)The Bucs are three games behind a pair of 4-0 teams in their own division, although I don't really trust that the Falcons or Panthers are legitimate Super Bowl contenders just yet. We'll give the Bucs one more week.
Last week : 14
13) 49ers (1-3)The 49ers have the worst point differential in the NFC:
| Team | Point diff | Team | Point diff |
| Cardinals | +75 | Cowboys | -6 |
| Falcons | +44 | Eagles | -8 |
| Packers | +42 | Rams | -15 |
| Panthers | +37 | Saints | -18 |
| Giants | +20 | Lions | -30 |
| Seahawks | +16 | Buccaneers | -45 |
| Vikings | +7 | Bears | -57 |
| Redskins | -1 | 49ers | -62 |
Over their last three games, the Niners have been outscored 107-28.
Last week : 12
12) Saints (1-3)In 2012, the Saints defense set a dubious all-time NFL record when they allowed 7042 yards of total offense, which was just over 440 per game. That season, they gave up 6.5 yards per play. So far in 2015, the Saints D is allowing 381.5 yards per game, which is bad, but certainly not nearly as historically bad as they were in 2012.
However, they are allowing 6.5 yards per play this season like they did in 2012. No team has given up that many yards per play since those 2012 Saints.
In other words, to be more blunt, their defense stinks.
Last week: 15
11) Eagles (1-3)But they'd be 3-1 if they just made a couple kicks!
Last week: 7
10) Redskins (2-2)The day before the Eagles-Redskins matchup, my daughter picked the Redskins to win the NFC East:
If you're thinking to yourself "Who cares what a 3-year-old has to say, especially one who is the daughter of some idiot writer," think again. My daughter has made just three predictions in the past:
Three for three.
Last week: 13
9) Cowboys (2-2)The Cowboys will get nogoodniks Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain back from suspension this week, however, the injuries continue to pile up. Sean Lee suffered a concussion against the Saints and leading receiver Lance Dunbar was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
Also, as we will for a while, I'll just leave this here.
Actually, to be fair, Weeden has a 108.8 QB rating, ha.
The Cowboys are 10-point home underdogs to the Patri*ts this week.
Last week: 6
8) Rams (2-2)The Rams are such a weird team. They'll beat great teams one week and lose to terrible ones the next. So far this season they've beaten the Seahawks and Cardinals, and lost to the Redskins and a Steelers team that had to play with Michael Vick during parts of the second half.
Last year they beat the Seahawks and Broncos, but found a way to lose nine games.
Last week: 10
7) Giants (2-2)In 2014, the Giants couldn't stop the run to save their lives. They gave up 4.9 yards per carry, which was worst in the NFL. So far this season they're allowing 69.8 yards per game (best in the NFL) and 3.1 yards per carry (second in the NFL).
Against the run-heavy Bills Week 4, the Giants held Buffalo to 55 yards on 24 carries.
Last week: 9
6) Vikings (2-2)So it turns out that Adrian Peterson is still pretty good. Peterson leads the NFL in rushing yards (372), rushes of 20+ yards (4), rushes of 40+ yards (2), and he's getting 5.0 yards per carry.
Last week: 8
5) Panthers (4-0)The Panthers' first four opponents have a combined record of 4-12 with a combined point differential of -139. They'll play their first real opponent this week in Seattle.
Last week: 5
4) Seahawks (2-2)We've all seen how bad the Eagles' offense has been this year, right? Well, on the season, they are averaging 294 yards per game. The Seahawks, defensively have allowed the following yards per game in each of the last three seasons:
• 2013: 273.6
• 2014: 267.1
• 2015: 278.8
In other words, what we've seen from the Eagles' offense so far this season is what Seahawks fans are used to seeing from opposing offenses on a week-to-week basis since 2013. That must be nice.
That said, the Seahawks have major issues along their offensive line.
Last week: 3
3) Falcons (4-0)The Falcons have taken down three of the four NFC East teams so far and a bad Houston Texans team on their way to a 4-0 start. However, statistically, their defense really isn't much better than it was a year ago. In 2014, the Falcons finished at or near the bottom of the NFL in the following statistical categories. Here's how their numbers last year compare with this year:
| Category | 2014 | Rank | 2015 | Rank |
| Yards per game allowed | 398.2 | Dead last | 390.5 | 28th |
| Yards per play allowed | 6.1 | Dead last | 6.1 | 27th |
| First downs allowed per game | 22.1 | Dead last | 22.2 | 26th |
| 3rd down conversion % allowed | 47% | Dead last | 42% | 21st |
| Passing yards per game allowed | 279.9 | Dead last | 305.2 | 30th |
| Passing yards per attempt allowed | 8.2 | Dead last | 7.1 | 9th |
| Pass plays resulting in first down % | 39.6% | 31st | 33.7% | 13th |
| Sacks | 22 | 30th | 5 | 28th |
| Rushing yards per game allowed | 118.4 | 21st | 85.2 | 5th |
| Rushing TDs allowed | 21 | Dead last | 7 | Dead last |
| Points per game allowed | 26.1 | 27th | 23.2 | 15th |
There's no debating that the Falcons' defense is better. It'd be difficult to be any worse, really. But it's not like they've made extreme improvements on that side of the ball.
Obviously, the Falcons' offense has been terrific on the strength of Julio Jones and others, but I do kinda feel like the Falcons' undefeated start is a bit of a mirage.
Last week: 4
2) Cardinals (3-1)The first three weeks of the season the Cardinals handled their business (well, "stomped out" is the better way to put it) three of the worst teams in the NFL, in the Saints, Bears, and 49ers. The first time they played an opponent without severe issues, they lost at home. This week they get the only winless team in the NFL in the Lions. Their first five opponents this season have a combined record so far of 5-16. Like the Falcons and Panthers above, let's see what Arizona can do against better competition.
Last week: 2
1) Packers (4-0)December 2, 2012:
That was the last interception Aaron Rodgers threw at Lambeau Field. It has been 1039 days.
Last week: 1
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