November 29, 2022

Eagles power ranking roundup: Week 13

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports

Nick Sirianni is happy the Eagles moved up in the power rankings.

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 have the Birds ranked after Week 12. Oh, and here's our version of these sellout rankings, too.

NFL.com: 1st

Monster performances in prime-time games can serve as ultra fuel in an MVP race. Jalen Hurts showed a huge audience what a difference-maker he can be on Sunday Night Football, breaking Michael Vick's franchise record for quarterbacks with 157 rushing yards in a 40-33 win over the Packers. Hurts also became the first NFL QB since at least 1950 with 150 rush yards, 150 passing yards and at least two passing scores in a single game. The Eagles nearly made team history, as well: Philly rushed for a whopping 363 yards, falling just 13 yards shy of the franchise record, set way back in 1948. Said RB Miles Sanders: "It's chasing greatness every week."

#JimmySays: The Eagles rushed for the 16th most yards in a single game in NFL history Sunday night, by the way.

Year	Team	Rushing yards
1950	Giants	423
2000	Bengals	407
1955	Bears	406
2021	Ravens	404
1961	Texans	398
1966	Chiefs	380
2007	Vikings	378
1950	Giants	377
1950	Lions	377
1948	Eagles	376
2006	Jaguars	375
1977	Bears	375
1951	Rams	371
1978	Bills	366
1947	Packers	366
2022	Eagles	363

I've only seen what the Eagles did on Sunday night compared to other huge Eagles rushing performances, so if you were curious how it stacked up league-wide, there you go. You're welcome.

ESPN: 2nd

Realistic expectation: Representing the NFC in Super Bowl LVII.
They have the best record in the league at 10-1, an MVP candidate in Jalen Hurts and a cold-weather-friendly offense that can suck the life out of you on the ground and rip it up through the air when need be. The defense is opportunistic and leads the league in takeaways (23). The Eagles are as deep and well-rounded as any team in football, and have already beaten the conference's top contenders in the Vikings and Cowboys, though the Cowboys were without Dak Prescott in that Week 6 matchup. The rematch on Christmas Eve in Dallas should be fun.

#JimmySays: They also have some reinforcements on the way, with Jordan Davis eligible to return from IR this week, Avonte Maddox eligible next week, and Dallas Goedert eligible after Week 14.

The Athletic: 2nd

Jalen Hurts and company bounced back from a two-game offensive lull to run roughshod over the Packers’ depleted run defense. Hurts and Miles Sanders both set career highs for rushing yards in a game while the team ran for 363 yards total, the eighth-most for any team in the Super Bowl era. One of the most encouraging things about Philadelphia has been its ability to win in different ways. We’ll see how it handles the Titans’ stout run defense this week.
Meanwhile, the NFC’s top seed may very well come down to the Christmas Eve showdown in Arlington, Texas. The Eagles have a two-game lead over the Cowboys atop the NFC East, but Dallas is likely to hold any tiebreaker if it wins the rematch. So while Austin Mock projects the Eagles to have a 74.7 percent chance of earning the NFC’s top seed (and the Vikings a 12 percent chance, just ahead of the Cowboys at 11.4 percent), the margin for error is relatively slim.

#JimmySays: I imagine the Titans run defense will be a talking point this week. It'll certainly be at the top of my "five matchups to watch." This matchup reminds me a bit of the Eagles-Saints matchup a year ago, when the Saints had the No. 1 run defense in the NFL. The Eagles didn't care. They ran it 50 times for 242 yards and 3 TDs.

The Ringer: 1st

I considered dropping the Eagles from the top spot last week, but in Week 12 they proved they deserve to remain here. Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, and the Philadelphia offensive line bullied a pillow-soft Packers defense en route to 363 rushing yards, 40 points, and a win on Sunday Night Football. Knocking off the Eagles as the NFC’s top Super Bowl contender will require matching their physicality up front and slowing the run game down.

#JimmySays: The difference between this year's team and last year's team is that once you commit to shutting down the run, the Eagles' offense can now also torch zone defenses all day, most notably like they did against the Vikings Week 2.

USA Today: 1st

You might not want to bet your mortgage – you shouldn't – that they'll win Super Bowl 57, but an uneven stretch of games has also served reminder that Philadelphia can beat you in a lot of ways. Physical, versatile and deep, a week after a second-ranked defense held the fort at Indy, the offense hung 40 points and 500 yards on Green Bay – MVP candidate Jalen Hurts topping 150 yards both through the air and on the ground. But the stretch run won't be a cakewalk, four of Philly's final six matchups against teams currently with winning records.

#JimmySays: Two of the remaining games against teams with winning records are against the Giants, who were missing four starting offensive linemen, two starting cornerbacks, and four wide receivers against Dallas on Thanksgiving. They're 2.5-point home underdogs to the Commanders Week 13. To be determined how healthy they'll be in the Eagles' upcoming matchups against them.

Yahoo: 2nd

The Eagles ran for 363 rushing yards, their most as a team since 1948. That won't happen every week, but it's a reminder that the Eagles can beat you in different ways. The defense has to get out of its slump though.

#JimmySays: I'm not disagreeing that the defense can play better, but Sunday night was the first time they gave up more than 21 points in a game since Week 1.