What They’re Saying About the Eagles

Photo by: Jeff Fusco.

Here’s a roundup of what the national media are saying about the Eagles this week.

With the loss to San Francisco, the Eagles drop four spots to sixth in the NFL.com power rankings:

The offense might be fast-paced, but speed doesn’t matter if you become one-dimensional. Having no faith in the run game killed the Eagles on that first-and-goal series in their penultimate drive in Santa Clara. You’d think LeSean McCoy, the NFL’s reigning rushing king, would get the ball on one of the two plays from the Niners’ 1-yard line. Instead, Nick Foles had to try to fit the ball into an end zone full of 49ers defenders. And we know how that worked out.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com put together his list of winners and losers through the first quarter of the NFL season. While both the Cowboys and Giants were mentioned as winners so far, the Eagles were mentioned in the loser column:

Philadelphia Eagles clarity: They are 3-1 despite three ugly games from Nick Foles, endless offensive line injuries, scant production from LeSean McCoy and very little pass rush. The offense disappears for 30 minutes at a time (or 60 in San Francisco), yet the unit ranks third in points per game and was two yards away from a 4-0 record. I can’t decide if this is a good or bad sign for the Eagles’ future, which makes them the perfect symbol of this last month.

In the ESPN.com power rankings, the Birds fell two spots to sixth:

Nick Foles was 0-of-10 with two interceptions on passes more than 20 yards downfield Sunday, the most attempts without a completion in ESPN Stats & Info’s dataset (since 2006).

The Eagles tumble from sixth to 10th in the FoxSports.com power rankings:

Given the fact that they were on the field for more than two-thirds of the game, the Eagles defense fared well. The issue for the Eagles was their offense — all 21 of their points came off of defense and special teams scores. Some blame does deserve to be directed at their patchwork offensive line again, but Nick Foles and LeSean McCoy did not have good games. The good news is that RT Lane Johnson comes off of suspension and should bolster the offensive line.

Donovan McNabb placed the Eagles sixth in his power rankings for Fox Sports:

Lack of a run game is concerning — where is Shady?

At 3-1, Philadelphia received a B in Alex Marvez’s quarter season report card:

It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles have overcome offensive line injuries and a shaky defense with three big second-half comebacks.

Jay Clemons of Fox Sports South put together 15 facts to ponder for Week 5:

13. Falcons wideout Julio Jones (29 catches, 447 yards, three TDs) has been targeted eight or more times in 11 straight games (dating to the 2012 NFL playoffs).

But no one can match the pace of Philly’s Jeremy Maclin, the only NFL wideout with double-digit targets in every game this season. The Eagles host the Rams on Sunday.

12. It’s been a long time — try 2009 — since Philly’s LeSean McCoy endured five straight games without rushing for 80 or more yards. But there’s a ray of light to celebrate:

The Rams have the NFL’s 30th-ranked defense, allowing 155.3 ground yards per game, and in his only career effort against St. Louis … McCoy rolled for 137 total yards and two scores in 2011.

The offense has taken way too many hits on the line, and that showed up in San Francisco. But at 3-1, they’re still off to a good start, despite the injuries.

For a team with almost no offensive line, they’re not bad.

SB Nation drops the Eagles four spots to ninth in its power rankings:

San Francisco moves back into the top 10, and does so on the back of a dominant defensive beatdown of the previously undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. Chip Kelly’s explosive, injury-decimated offense could not get anything done, managing only 213 total yards and 3.8 yards per play. The Niners appear to have gotten their mojo back on defense, and now they just have to get some consistency on offense and special teams to keep moving up. Crazily enough, even with that San Francisco defensive performance, the Eagles were actually in a position to take the lead very late in the game before the Niners put up a goal-line stand, so for now, balance is a big red flag for San Francisco.

Matt Cassidy is a journalism student at Temple and an intern at Birds 24/7.