Nick Sirianni and the Eagles offense attempted five 4th-down conversion in Week 4. The coach was asked about his aggressiveness on Monday after the win.
We're four weeks into the NFL season and there's only one undefeated team left standing.
That should make the first entry of this week's power rankings pretty easy, right? You'd think, and yet...!
It seems the majority, but not the entirety, of national football analysts are buying the Eagles as the best team in the league after they rattled off 29 straight points and forced five turnovers to down the Jaguars and move to 4-0. It was a truly impressive performance from a team that continues to be truly impressive.
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Let's scour seven different national outlets to find out what they're saying about the still-undefeated Birds:
NFL.com
Last week: 1
This week: 1 (+0)
NFL
"Adversity came for the Eagles on Sunday, and they turned it away. Playing in rainy conditions and with multiple important players forced out of action with injuries, Philly relied on its ground attack (210 yards rushing) and an opportunistic defense (five turnovers) to hold off a game Jaguars team at the Linc. Quarterback Jalen Hurts looked pedestrian for the first time all season, so Miles Sanders did the heavy lifting, with 134 yards and two scores on 27 carries. The NFL's lone undefeated team, the Eagles should have another favorable matchup this Sunday against the inconsistent Cardinals."
USA Today
Last week: 1
This week: 1 (+0)
"The league's lone undefeated team, arguably the league's best-balanced squad and featuring MVP candidate Jalen Hurts. But if one thing sums up the early season success, then how about this – Philadelphia has the most takeaways in the NFL (10) and the fewest turnovers (2)."
ESPN
Last week: 3
This week: 3 (+0)
"Corners Darius Slay (forearm) and Avonte Maddox (right ankle) are expected back soon. But there's little to pick apart. The Eagles are first in sacks (16), tied for first in takeaways (10), third in yards allowed (277.3 per game) and 10th in points allowed (17.8). They look really solid from front to back, even with safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, formerly of the New Orleans Saints, acclimating to a new position and team."
Sports Illustrated
Last week: 3
This week: 1 (+2)
"We talked to Philly legend Howard Eskin for yesterday’s Daily Cover on the Eagles and he said something we didn’t include in the piece that absolutely floored me: The Eagles, barring any serious injury, will not be an underdog in any game until at least Christmas Eve, with the one possible outlier being Sunday Night Football at home against the Green Bay Packers. While their schedule has been somewhat friendly, the Eagles are demolishing the good teams (Vikings, Jaguars) and laughing off the bad teams alike. It’s unlikely but not entirely outlandish to suggest they could be undefeated still at Thanksgiving."
The Athletic
Last week: 2
This week: 1 (+1)
"The undefeated Eagles have proven they can win in a variety of ways. They won an offensive shootout in Week 1 thanks in large part to Jalen Hurts’ scrambling ability. They dominated the Vikings in Week 2 with Hurts’ precision passing and a suddenly aggressive defense. They turned the pressure up in Week 3 with nine sacks, then proved in Week 4 they could take a punch, storming back from a 14-0 deficit against the Jaguars to win 29-21 behind a run-heavy offense that turned the clock back to the second half of last season. Jonathan Gannon was a punching bag for Eagles fans last year and now sports the No. 2 defense in the league by defensive EPA per drive. The offense is No. 8 in EPA per drive and the team is fourth in points per game. There’s a long way to go, but this is the best team in the league so far."
Walter Football
Last week: 3
This week: 3 (+0)
"The Eagles finally faced some adversity after demolishing their first three opponents. They were down 14-0, and yet they still covered the 6.5-point spread. Jalen Hurts finally didn't have a great passing performance, but that was a difficult feat in the heavy rain."
Sporting News
Last week: 3
This week: 1 (+2)
"The Eagles went down into a 14-0 hole against the Jaguars at home but casually erased with sticking with the run in bad weather and Jalen Hurts being in full command of their offense. The defense also was up to cooling off a hot young QB."
Look, I understand that sometimes the team with the best record is not the best team in the league. Fluke wins and fluke losses both exist.
But come the hell on.
Two separate outlets putting them at No. 3 (?!?) is extremely dumb. The Eagles are, currently, the best team in the league. They have the second-highest point differential, they have a Top 10 offense and a Top 10 defense in EPA per play, they have Pro Bowl-caliber playmakers in all three phases, and they've beaten the four teams they were told to play - feat no other team can boast.
Respect is earned, not given, I suppose, and Jalen Hurts & Co. will just keep having to prove it to everyone.
Time will tell!
That said, being No. 1 in five of these seven rankings is pretty exciting stuff for Eagles fans. It's only October 4, but this is a great football team.
I'll be tracking the Eagles' average power rankings across these seven outlets all season long at the bottom of these posts.
Season-long tracker
Pre-Preseason: 12.86
Post-Preseason: 12.14 (+0.72)
Week 1: 7.57 (+4.57)
Week 2: 4.85 (+2.72)
Week 3: 2.28 (+2.57)
Week 4: 1.57 (+0.71)
