October 26, 2021
Are power rankings completely dumb and meaningless? Yes. Yes, they are. However, personally speaking, whenever I see them, I click. And now that I've sucked you in with promises of many power rankings, you'll read it and like it.
Here's where people around the country have the Eagles ranked heading into Week 8 of the 2021 regular season. Oh, and here's our version of these sellout rankings, too.
Prediction we missed: The defensive line would be dominant
Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is about the only player who has matched or exceeded expectations. Brandon Graham got hurt early in the season, and that really impacted the whole operation. Ryan Kerrigan has not looked at all like his old self and continues to see fewer snaps, and Fletcher Cox is clearly not happy with the way he's being utilized by defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Offenses are gashing the Eagles, and that's due in part to the fact that things are not clicking up front.
#JimmySays: Cox is on his way down, Derek Barnett is on his way out, Kerrigan never even arrived, and Josh Sweat has underwhelmed. The Eagles' D-line hasn't been the worst unit on the team by any stretch, but they've probably been the one that has done the least to perform up to expectations.
Loved this stat from NBC Sports Edge (via John Daigle): Jalen Hurts has scored 43.4 percent of his fantasy points in the fourth quarter this season. Nobody Cares About Your Fantasy Team, but that data gives us an idea of what's really happening with the Eagles' offense beneath the solid counting stats for the second-year quarterback. This is an offense that regularly sleepwalks through the first three quarters of games before making it respectable in garbage time. The inconsistency of the attack shouldn't be put at the feet of Hurts alone, but would it be entirely shocking if Nick Sirianni turned to newly elevated backup Gardner Minshew to juice Philly's offense when the outcome is still undecided? Hurts doesn't have the draft pedigree or (seemingly) the organizational support to remain the locked-and-loaded QB1.
#JimmySays: Yep, final scores against the Chiefs (42-30), Buccaneers (28-22), and Raiders (33-22) create the illusion that those games were close. They weren't.
The Eagles are lucky that Carson Wentz isn’t playing that much better than Jalen Hurts. In my favorite QB rankings composite, they’re 19th and 23rd, respectively, while running a version of the same scheme, which is a fair comparison. Their three first-round picks looked more tantalizing when it appeared they could command the board and take the No. 1 quarterback. But now that no No. 1 quarterback seems to exist, one hopes they get Hurts the pieces he needs to succeed.
#JimmySays: If the 2022 NFL Draft does not yield a quality quarterback worth taking wherever the Eagles pick, I do not think they'll just shrug and say, "Welp, I guess we just build around Jalen Hurts then."
No analysis given specifically for the Eagles here, but they remain in "the muddled middle," teetering on the edge of "there's always next year."
No defense is getting targeted more through air than this one... and that's because Philadelphia allows league-worst 74.4% completion rate.
#JimmySays: The following sums up that atrocious rate at which the Eagles are allowing completions:
The NFL record for Comp pct in a season is 74.4 (Drew Brees in 2018).
— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) October 25, 2021
The Eagles are allowing a Comp pct of 74.4 this season.
The Eagles actually moved up from 24th to 23rd here, which doesn't make any sense.
The Eagles are officially in free-fall.
After falling to the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday, they have dropped five of six since blowing out the Falcons in Week 1. This game wasn't as close as the final score suggests.
"I haven't been doing a good enough job, clearly," quarterback Jalen Hurts told reporters after the defeat. "We've been losing games. We believe in ourselves, we believe in our coaches, we believe in everything we have going on here in Philadelphia. It's a matter of executing. It's something we've yet to do on a consistent basis."
Yes, the offense has struggled, especially early in games. But part of that has been uninspired play-calling, and the Philly defense was torched by the Raiders for 442 total yards.
At 2-5, the Eagles are in a three-way tangle of terrible with Washington and the New York Giants in the NFC East. And at the rate things are going, some are speculating Nick Sirianni's first year as head coach may be his last.
#JimmySays: Count me among the speculators. I don't think Sirianni will make it to Year 2.
Running back Miles Sanders is likely to miss some time with an ankle injury. It's not like the Eagles are running it much anyway, but it won't help an uneven offense to lose another player.
#JimmySays: Sanders' absence isn't great, but that's pretty far down the list of their many problems.
They suddenly have questions about whether Jalen Hurts should stay in as quarterback. I think he should just to find out about the future.
#JimmySays: The only justifiable reason for benching Hurts is if you believe that he is so bad that he is stunting the growth of the young offensive skill players. And maybe there's reason to believe that. Otherwise, there's really no benefit.
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