Week 8 Eagles Power Rankings Round Up: A Dominant Win
After getting only ugly wins all last year, and 3 so far this year, the Eagles finally had a pretty one. They went up to Met Life and put a thumping on the Giants. They beat them so badly that they got to pull their starters in the 4th quarter. Is the national media now high on them? Find out in the Week 8 Eagles Power Rankings Round-Up.
Week 8 Eagles Power Rankings
ESPN- 11 (Previously 13)
“(DeJean) has been a difference-maker since becoming the starting nickel corner in Week 6. DeJean, 21, has posted 10 tackles, half a sack and two quarterback pressures in two games, helping to solidify a unit that has yielded nine points total in that span.”
It is the Browns and Giants, so we maybe can’t read too much about this. But the difference in how the Eagles’ defense has played since Cooper DeJean took over for Avonte Maddox is stark. In past weeks opposing teams attacked the middle of the field relentlessly, but DeJean has been near perfect in his two weeks as starters. Suddenly this looks like a formidable secondary.
NFL.com- 10 (Previously 12)
“The Eagles’ pass rush also took batting practice on Daniel Jones and Drew Lock, racking up eight sacks and holding them to a net 43 passing yards. The Giants’ long gain on the day was 14 yards; Barkley alone had three runs longer than that.“
Again, it is the Browns and Giants, two bad O-Lines. So we can’t read too much into this. Still, they got to face some bad O-Lines earlier in the season and didn’t look like this. The D-Line took over in both games. Blowing up the run game, and getting pressure in the QBs face all game long. If they play half this well going forward, they are in good shape.
CBS Sports- 11 (Previously 15)
“Eagles That Eagles team we saw against the Giants is the team we expected to see. They put to rest for a week all the talks that head coach Nick Sirianni is in trouble.”
I mean, for now sure, but his job is still very much on the line. He won’t be fired in season, but that was never likely to begin with. If they don’t win a playoff game, or win the division, he could still be gone. Sirianni earned himself a week off from the mud-slinging, but his seat is still very hot.
Sports Illustrated- 14 (Previously 13)
“A thorough thrashing of the Giants could provide Nick Sirianni and the Eagles with the inverse of their momentum-sapping losses of a year ago that spurred an infamous losing streak and a prolonged period of sleepwalking. A stretch of winnable games upcoming with Cincinnati, Jacksonville and Dallas are the preamble to a clash with the Commanders on Nov. 14 that is, all of a sudden, circled on calendars.”
Dropping them a spot after that game seems weird. The reason they dropped is because the Seahawks jumped from 17 to 10 after beating up the Falcons, who the Eagles lost to. But the Seahawks lost to this Giants team that the Eagles just blew out. So why did the Seahawks jump 7 spots, but the Eagles fell 1?
Yahoo Sports- 9 (Previously 11)
“Maybe it was just the Giants being awful, but this was finally a game in which the Eagles looked like a contender. The talent has always been there but the results haven’t. The defense in particular looked like it is starting to warm up to coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme, allowing just 119 yards and collecting eight sacks.“
The defense has been perfect the last two weeks. We will find out if it is just the bad opponent, or real improvement on Sunday vs the Bengals. Expecting them to be this good vs Joe Burrow is unrealistic, but if they can put together another good performance, we can start talking about this defense being the real deal.
USA Today- 11 (Previously 11)
“Among the many things that went well in Saquon Barkley’s first visit to the Giants, he clocked 21.93 mph on his 55-yard run Sunday – the fastest this year by a running back, per Next Gen Stats.”
Saquon Barkley has been such a difference-maker. I was always against the idea of paying big money to a RB. But when they are this good, they can make a difference. His explosiveness is evident every week. At any point, he can break off a big run. He has 3 50+ yard runs, 4 40+ yard runs, and 7 20+ yards runs this season.
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