Week 8 Eagles Power Rankings Roundup- Back In The Win Column

The Eagles needed that, and Eagles fans needed it. After 2 straight ugly losses, the Eagles are finally back in the W column. And they did it behind a big performance by Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, and Devonta Smith. The pair of WRs combined for over 300 yards and 3 TDS. Was that bust-out performance enough for people around the league to believe in the Eagles again? Here is the Week 8 Eagles Power Rankings Roundup.

"Ojomo has been key in making up for the departure of Milton Williams to the Patriots this offseason. He has three sacks, five QB hits, and three tackles for loss. "He's a good football player. You need to stop being surprised by that," d defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said earlier this season."

Last season, Ojomo had the 2nd-best Pass Rush Win % for DTs with at least 100 snaps. With Williams gone, they asked him to step up into a bigger role. So far, he hasn't missed a beat. He is the Eagles' most dangerous pass rusher. The DTs in general have been great. Carter has been a bit limited on the field due to various injuries. But he looked more like his usual self on Sunday. Ojomo has been great, and Davis has really come on this season.

"Jalen Hurts showed against the Vikings that he can still throw it for big plays when needed. But they do need to get the running game going."

The run game is the biggest concern now. The pass game hopefully figured something out. After a 2000-yard season, Barkley has yet to have a 100-yard game through 7 weeks. Some of that is a poor run scheme, some is poor play by Barkley, and some is poor run blocking. The concern is that this O-Line is just too badly beaten up, and never fully recovered from last season. You have to hope that is not the case, and it is something they can figure out.

"Effectively swapping in un-retiring DE Brandon Graham for retiring DE Za'Darius Smith seems like a net win … even as we wait to see what GM/EVP Howie Roseman might have up his sleeve ahead of next month's trade deadline."

It will be interesting to see what Graham has left. He looked great last year before the tricep injury that ended his regular season. The Eagles need the help. They will get Nolan Smith back soon as well. But to this point, the Edge Rush has left a lot to be desired.

"Jalen Hurts rediscovered his arm and his receivers, but this Eagles team still can’t run and struggles on defense. It’s getting harder to justify having them way up here, but they’re still sixth for now."

Has the Eagles' defense struggled? You could definitely say that. They are limited at Edge Rusher and at CB2 right now. But they are also 3rd in Red Zone defense. That is not nothing. Holding teams to FGs has been the difference in at least 3 of their 5 wins. With that said, they are also near the bottom of the league in 3rd down conversion rate. So the defense needs to do a better job getting off the field.

"The Eagles are very good. They’re one step from being great, and that’s getting Saquon Barkley going. Barkley had 42 total yards on Sunday. Did last season’s workload catch up to him? Maybe. The Eagles are still 5-2 without Barkley doing much yet."

This is very much a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty situation. On one hand, they are 5-2 without Barkley making a difference. Imagine how they will look if they figure out the run game. On the other hand, it is week 7, and Barkley and the O-Line are still struggling. Every week that passes makes it less likely they will just figure this out. But they are buying themselves time to figure it out. Maybe the week 9 bye week will help get them fresh.

"Jalen Hurts was dealing against the Vikings, especially with downfield shots, and getting the ball to his best playmakers. A.J. Brown had two TDs and the dagger catch to end it, while DeVonta Smith had more than half the Eagles' net yardage. Things still aren't churning up front in the ground game behind a remixed offensive line, but when the aerial attack hums like this, the run's not as critical."

We know this offense is capable of big passing days. Last year, they pulled it out whenever they had to. For whatever reason, getting the ball to Brown and Smith had been a struggle this season. Maybe they figured something out. A lot of it was Hurts just improvising and buying time, but the one TD to Smith great design, and something Smith apparently pointed out at halftime would work.