October 31, 2023

Eagles power ranking roundup: Week 9

Where do the Eagles fall across the national power rankings? We round them up.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports

If the season ended today (it doesn't), A.J. Brown would get some MVP consideration.

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 Week 8. Oh, and here's our version of these sellout rankings, too.

NFL.com: 1st

If Tyreek Hill is an MVP candidate in Miami, then A.J. Brown absolutely should be in that discussion, too. Brown has been on a six-week tear, logging 125-plus receiving yards in every game over that span, adding another two TDs in Sunday's heroic performance. The Eagles don't beat the Commanders without the greatness of Brown and Jalen Hurts, both of whom were in peak form. It was once again a rough day in the red zone (Philly went 3-for-5, but lost two fumbles inside the 5-yard line), which has been a lingering issue, and the defense really had few answers for Sam Howell. The Eagles won in spite of those factors. Of course, expecting to do the same in Week 9's massive showdown with the Cowboys would be foolish.

#JimmySays: There really aren't any quarterbacks who are absolutely killing it this season. The last time a non-quarterback won the NFL MVP award was 2012, when Adrian Peterson did it. My guess is that some quarterback will eventually wake up and have a monster close to the season, and they'll win it.

But the point is well taken. If the season ended today, Brown would have to be in the MVP conversation.

ESPN: 1st

Team QBR: 65.6 (7th in NFL)
Jalen Hurts is coming off arguably his best performance of the season in which he completed 76.3% of his throws and tossed four touchdown passes to push the Eagles past the Washington Commanders. It hasn't been the smoothest of rides to this point -- he is playing through left knee pain and has thrown eight interceptions already on the year after being picked off just six times last season. But he has made a number of dazzling plays and tends to come up big in crucial moments, guiding the Eagles to the best record in football. -- Tim McManus

#JimmySays: Jimmy Garoppolo leads the NFL with 9 INTs, and then there are 6 players who are tied with 8. Hurts has 8, as Tim mentioned, as do Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Mahomes, Hurts, and Allen finished 1-2-3 in MVP voting last season.

The Athletic: 1st

Something scary (for others): A.J. Brown
The 6-foot-1, 226-pound wide receiver/cyborg is playing at a historic level. He had eight catches for 130 yards Sunday against Washington and now has topped 125 receiving yards in six consecutive games, becoming the first NFL player in history to do that. He is second in the league in receiving yards (939) behind only Tyreek Hill.

#JimmySays: Brown does look a little like a cyborg with that visor.

USA Today: 1st

The NFL's only seven-win team will arguably take its biggest test to date Sunday when division rival Dallas comes calling to Lincoln Financial Field. Defensively, Philly has some issues, surviving a 31-point barrage from Washington for the second time this season. Offensively, you'd like to see QB Jalen Hurts quit dragging his leg around … but at least the Eagles are developing offshoots of the "Tush Push" that spare him. With his record six consecutive games with 125+ receiving yards, WR A.J. Brown is on pace for 1,995 yards.

#JimmySays: The Eagles have one more game to get through until their bye, when Hurts will have some additional time to heal up.

If you play quarterback long enough in the NFL at some point you'll lose your ability to run, whether that's because your athleticism has eroded away with age, or if it's more of a short-term thing due to injury. It was encouraging to see Hurts show that he could win so emphatically from the pocket on Sunday (not that we haven't already seen him do that).

Yahoo: 1st

A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts may be the best duo in the league right now. Even on a bum knee, Hurts threw four touchdowns and the Eagles’ offense looked fantastic on the way to a win, and sweep, over the Commanders.

#JimmySays: The Commanders give the Eagles issues, but the Eagles have still won five of the last six in this series.

Also, at one time Washington had a 66–43–6 record against the Eagles, all-time. Or... 23 games over 0.500. It is now 89-85-6, Washington. An updated look at the Eagles' records against their three NFC East rivals:

• Giants: Eagles lead, 93-88-2.

• Commanders: Commanders lead, 89-85-6.

• Cowboys: Cowboys lead, 73-55.

For those of you who weren't alive in the '60s and '70s, the Eagles were really bad.