January 07, 2025
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 around the country have the Eagles ranked after the NFL's regular season. Oh, and here's our version of these sellout rankings, too.
The Eagles technically didn't even field a full game-day roster on Sunday (they were one short of the standard allotment of available players), and their backups still played at a high enough level to help secure another victory heading into the playoffs. This team boasts nearly the same level of proficiency as the 2022 Eagles, who came up just short in Super Bowl LVII two years ago, and that gives Philly an excellent chance to win the franchise's second post-merger championship (it would be No. 5 overall). Saquon Barkley, who rested in Week 18, doesn't seem too broken up about giving up an opportunity to set a new single-season rushing mark, and now he'll enter the playoffs as one of the league's biggest non-QB difference makers. He began his brilliant campaign down in Brazil with a three-touchdown outing against Green Bay -- the same team he'll face Sunday.
#JimmySays: Each NFC team's biggest non-QB difference maker:
This exercise has made me realize there aren't really any super scary individual defensive players in the NFC playoffs like there are in the AFC, like T.J. Watt or Patrick Surtain. In the NFC playoffs, if we're talking about players who opposing offensive coordinators lose sleep over, is Jalen Carter the scariest?
#JimmySays: ESPN hasn't posted power rankings yet. Maybe they're just late? Kinda weird to post them all season, only to skip the conclusion.
Granted, retired C Jason Kelce is gone (from the lineup anyway), and transcendent RB Saquon Barkley is present for duty. Otherwise, there are ample similarities between the 2024 Eagles and 2022 Eagles, who came up just short of winning Super Bowl 57. Philadelphia can be dominant on offense and/or stifling on defense, coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit ranked No. 1 overall by a sizable margin after surrendering fewer than 280 yards, on average, per week.Unsurprisingly, after finally being plugged into an offense worthy of his copious talents and propelled by perhaps the league’s best line, Barkley has been more than a difference-maker here. His mere presence creates easier and increased opportunities for WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and TE Dallas Goedert, who rejoined the lineup Sunday.However, also like 2022, QB Jalen Hurts has battled injury down the stretch, sidelined by a concussion since Dec. 22. He’s quietly crafted his most efficient season as a pro, and early indications are that he’ll be ready to play this Sunday when the Packers come to Lincoln Financial Field. But the rust factor could be an issue, and there will likely always be concerns about Hurts’ ability to pass his team back into a game if it falls into a sizable deficit that reduces the Barkley threat – and that’s not a far-fetched problem in a field that includes the Lions and Buccaneers, who have no problem posting 40 points, while Green Bay and Minnesota are also certainly capable of running up the score quickly.
#JimmySays: I may be too focused in on the "40 points" line here, but the Eagles haven't allowed 40 points in a game all season, and they only allowed 30 points twice. They allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL this season, and the fewest yards by a wide margin. They also had deficits in most games because they couldn't score in the first quarter for most of the season. They'd usually come back and eventually choke those teams out... with Barkley.
The Eagles won their past two games by a 61-20 score while playing their second- and then third-string quarterbacks. This is a really good team that is 12-1 since September. They have to hope Jalen Hurts returns from a concussion this week and isn't rusty.
#JimmySays: In fairness, they were playing a couple of teams that had their bags packed for Cabo, but the point that they have a great roster is well taken.
They sit as the second seed in the playoffs and will be a tough out for all. They have to hope Jalen Hurts isn't rusty coming off a concussion.
#JimmySays: The "rust" factor becomes more of a concern if he isn't quickly a full participant in practice soon. If he barely practices at all this week and then plays in the game, obviously that could be problematic.
The Jalen Hurts concussion situation is becoming a concern as the playoffs start.
#JimmySays: Thanks.
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