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Eagles

Eagles Run Over the Vikings to Improve to 2-0

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By The Best Show Ever? and Dylan MacKinnon September 14th
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 14: D'Andre Swift #0 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs with the ball during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings at Lincoln Financial Field on September 14, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It turns out the Eagles are still very good at running the ball. After a mostly quiet day on the ground in week 1, the Eagles ran all over the Vikings on Thursday Night to improve to 2-0. 259 yards on the ground, and 3 rushing TDs. 175 of those yards came from D’Andre Swift, who touched the ball just twice against the Patriots. It carried them to a 34-28 win. A score that is closer than the game actually was.

Is there some stuff to complain about? Sure. And you know as Philadelphians, we will complain about them with over a week until they play again. The backups in the secondary looked confused, and there were two times when miscommunication in the zone scheme lead to a wide-open TD. They gave up 364 yards and 4 TDs through the air. But that probably makes the defense look worse than they were.

Because they also kept the Vikings to just 28 yards on the ground. The defense forced 3 fumbles, with the Special Teams adding a 4th. The linebacker group looked far better against both the run and the pass, with Zach Cunningham’s improvement sticking out in particular. Hopefully, Bradberry will be back soon, and hopefully, it will be good news about Avonte Maddox. The D-Line was putting in work all night. They had only 2 sacks but hit Kirk Cousins 10 times. Josh Sweat was responsible for 5 of those.

The Eagles passing attack? Still a work in progress. Hurts looked better as the game went on, but took two bad sacks on one drive that pushed them out of field goal range. Devonta Smith had two long plays though. One went for a TD, and the other should have if Hurts had hit Smith in stride. AJ Brown was mostly quiet but did have a TD taken off the board by a penalty. Swift was the star of the night though. And he should continue to be a huge part of the offense after what he did tonight.

The Eagles don’t play again until Monday Night in week 3. Meaning they have 9 days off. Plenty of time to work out the remaining kins, and for the injured players to get healthy.

Overreacting to One Week? - Eagles Week 2 Power Rankings Roundup

There is a rule I have when it comes to week 1 in the NFL. Try your best to not overreact to anything, whether it is positive or negative. Many teams have looked good in week 1 throughout NFL history, then struggled the rest of the year. Likewise, many teams have looked bad in week 1 but then bounced back. Last year the Bengals started the season 0-2, and then they finished 13-4 and made it to the AFC Championship game. The goal should usually be to survive, and make it to week 2, hopefully with a win. Which is what the Eagles did. It was ugly, but it was a win. 

And there is certainly a lot of teams that should be living by that going into week 2 this year. The Chiefs and Bengals had ugly week 1 losses. Does that mean they are not as good as we think they are? No. It just means they had a bad start. Are the Cowboys suddenly the best team in the league team just because they blew out the Giants? Also no.  

Take everything with a grain of salt. Your opinion of each team should not be changing wildly after just one game, especially the first game of the season. If your opinions are already different, clearly they were not very strong opinions to begin with.  

But of course, there are a lot of people in the National Media who do not follow that advice. In fact they will go into week 2 with wildly different opinions, and be hitting the panic button after just one loss, or be making Super Bowl plans for other teams who looked good. But how does that impact the Eagles? Are those writers hitting the panic button, or do they still think the Eagles are among the League’s best?  

Let’s see where the Eagles fell in the week 2 power rankings: 

  • ESPN- 2 (Previously 2)

    “The 2023 No. 9 overall pick was a disruptive force in the middle of the Eagles’ defense, tying for a team-high in pressures. He sacked Mac Jones on the Patriots’ final possession to help preserve the win for Philadelphia. With Javon Hargrave exiting in free agency, the Eagles needed their recent draft picks — Carter and Jordan Davis — to step up. So far, so good, with Davis registering a forced fumble and a half-sack of his own.” 

    Jalen Carter was a positive in an otherwise underwhelming game. The same goes for Jordan Davis. It looks like the Eagles could have a pretty dominant DT going forward, courtesy of the two guys from Georgia. Thank you Falcons for taking an RB you will get into a contract dispute with 5 from now years over Jalen Carter.  

    ESPN Power Rankings

  • NFL Network- 2 (Previously 3)

    “Despite benefitting from a few Patriots penalties, the Eagles’ offense at no point resembled the group we saw become an elite unit in 2022. Perhaps the rust was expected based on the opponent, location and lack of preseason reps for the first-team offense. A quick turnaround for Thursday’s game against the Vikings should reveal if these are chronic issues. ” 

    The NFL Network drops the Eagles and the Chiefs a single spot to make room for the Niners at the top. Kind of weird that the Chiefs lose, and look worse, yet stay above the Eagles. If you are going to overreact to a good Niners game, why not also put the Eagles over the Chiefs since they actually won?  

    NFL Network’s Power Rankings

  • Fox Sports -2- (Previously 2)

    “Never apologize for an NFL win, but we can admit this game got away from the Birds. Racing out to a 16-0 lead in the blink of an eye, only to hold on for dear life isn’t exactly the way you’d draw it up.” 

    Fox Sports did what the NFL Network didn’t, which is keeping the Eagles at 2, but swapping the Niners and Chiefs. Which feels like the fair thing to do. Fox Sports also went on to praise the Eagles’ young defenders, namely Davis and Carter, while also knocking the O-Line for Struggling in week 1. I wouldn’t be too concerned about the O-Line though, they have more than proven themselves over the years.  

    Fox Sports Power Rankings

  • The Athletic- 6 (Previously 2)

    “At least six of the eight general managers who passed on Jalen Carter in the first round of the NFL Draft got texts from their owners Monday morning, right? The rookie defensive tackle had more quarterback hurries (seven) than any player in the league Sunday, and he did it on just 32 pass-rush snaps. The Eagles won despite being outgained by 131 yards.” 

    I can see a case for the Niners, Cowboys, and Dolphins being ahead of them. It’s an overreaction to a single week, but they did look amazing and were also highly hyped coming into the season. Putting the Browns and Jaguars over them after one week is just silly though. If the Browns look bad in week 2, they will suddenly drop them outside the top 10 again. Because whoever is putting up these Power Rankings has the attention span of a squirrel. To be fair, the premise of their article is “Let’s Overreact” so they may realize how silly it is. 

    The Athletics Power Rankings 

  • Pro Football Talk- 3 (Previously 3) 

    “They need to worry about the 49ers. And the Cowboys.” 

    Thank you for the analysis, Mike Florio. Riveting stuff. You mean the Eagles have to worry about their biggest competition in the NFC? Who knew? But can you expect anything more from the guy who co-hosts a show with Phil Simms’ far less successful son?  

    PFT’s Power Rankings

  • USA Today- 2 (Previously 2)

    “The NFC champs broke in their new coordinators, running back by committee and some defensive alterations, and it showed in a slightly uneven performance – though no shame in winning in the rain and in Bill Belichick’s backyard.” 

    All fair. The Eagles will certainly need more from their new coordinators, and new RBs in week 2. There is no way Swift can get just two touches against the Vikings. And I suspect part of his lack of touches was to keep him fresh for the Vikings on a short week.

    USA Today’s Power Rankings

  • Yahoo Sports- 2 (Previously 2)

    “While Rashaad Penny was a healthy scratch and D’Andre Swift had two touches, Gainwell was practically an every-down back. It will be interesting to see if that split continues going forward. Also, defensive tackle Jalen Carter was unbelievable in his debut (and a lot of Bears fans are already angry that Chicago passed on the chance to take Carter to trade down with the Eagles).” 

    I don’t think Gainwell will get this much usage going forward. He may still be the guy with the most touches, but the difference in touches won’t be this crazy. Swift should see the field far more on Thursday night.  

    Yahoo Sports Power Rankings

     

  • Pro Football Network- 1 (Previously 2)

    “The Vikings defense the Eagles face in Week 2 should offer some clean looks for the Eagles’ talented corps of WRs. Meanwhile, it’s worthwhile to keep an eye on how things look over the middle of the Eagles defense at each level.”  

    PFN separated the 1-0 teams from the 0-1 teams, and the Eagles were ranked 1 among the 1-0 teams. I don’t know if they would have kept the Chiefs above them. Going into week 1 they had the Chiefs ranked 1 overall. But they did not penalize the Eagles for an ugly win, or the Chiefs for an ugly loss, still keeping them as the top two teams. 

    Pro Football Network’s Power Rankings

  • CBS- 2 (Previously 2)

    “It wasn’t pretty against the Patriots, especially on offense. That will change as they play more, starting Thursday against the Vikings.” 

    That should probably be the standard line for the Eagles after week 1. It was not pretty, but they survived. If they look bad again in weeks 2 and 3, then we can talk.  

    CBS Power Rankings 

     

  • 97.5 The Fanatic- 1 (Previously 1)

    “It was anything but pretty. The Eagles jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead behind two forced turnovers, but they narrowly escaped a stunning upset loss. Ultimately, they traveled to face one of the greatest head coaches in the history of the sport and left with a 1-0 record.” 

    Once again, The Fanatic is a source of sanity among some weird power rankings. Though to be honest, there were fewer overreactions than I assumed. It’s just one week. Yes, it was ugly, but lots of teams looked bad. It shouldn’t change what you think of the team yet.  

    97.5 The Fanatic’s Power Rankings

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