Eagles Power Ranking Round-Up: Week 5

In the wake of a demoralizing week 5 loss to a divisional foe, it’s hardly surprising that the Philadelphia Eagles have experienced yet another precipitous tumble down weekly power rankings. Here’s a round up of where the Eagles stand across the web, heading into week 5:

ESPN: 22

Last Week: 17

The World Wide Leader wasn’t very kind to the Eagles in week 5, pinpointing the offense’s proclivity for starting slow as a factor in the early season woes:

"The Eagles have shown bursts on offense but no consistency. They have been held to three or fewer points in a half in each of their games this season."

Washington Post: 25

Last Week: 14

Writer Mark Maske takes a shot at DeMarco Murray in this week’s lowest Eagles ranking:

"Memo to DeMarco Murray: Average more than 1.6 yards per carry and you’ll probably get the ball more often. Until then, it’s probably best to remain quiet and not draw too much attention to your lack of production. Chip Kelly certainly deserves the blame he’s getting. But he’s not the only one under-performing."

Bleacher Report: 20

Last Week: 12

Though BR football analyst Sean Tomlinson was the kindest of the bunch with his ranking, he shares an all too familiar sentiment regarding the Eagles poor starts, before going on to cite continuity as a potentially fatal flaw:

"Until this week, I stubbornly remained among the few who believed in a Philadelphia Eagles turnaround, hence the overdue spiraling drop in these rankings.Sure, the Eagles completed a second-half comeback against the Washington Redskins Sunday as quarterback Sam Bradford threw three touchdown passes, two of which were of the long-distance variety (a 62-yard bomb to wide receiver Riley Cooper and a 39-yarder to wideout Miles Austin).But that comeback was required because the Eagles went an entire half without scoring a single point.Throughout the offseason, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly went about the business of conducting an experiment with this central question: Does the effectiveness of a scheme outweigh continuity among the players executing it?So far the answer is a loud “nope.”For the second straight game, Kelly’s new quarterback completed less than 55 percent of his pass attempts (Bradford had a completion percentage of 53.6 Sunday), and an offense that averaged 396.8 yards per game in 2014 is moving along at a meager 294 yards a week now."

FOX Sports: 22

Last Week: 16

FOX Sports is yet another outlet that has the Eagles taking a significant plunge, dropping 6 spots while pointing to the team’s weakness at guard:

"The Eagles have two different starting offensive guards from their dominant 2014 offensive line, and it shows. Constant interior disruption has limited their run game and forced quarterback Sam Bradford into making inaccurate throws."

CBS Sports: 22

Last Week: 16

Pete Prisco unsurprisingly unloads some misplaced vitriol on Chip Kelly’s perceived egotistical persona:

What has happened to the offense that will revolutionize the game? Despite what he says, Chip Kelly has to be concerned with the 1-3 start.

Bleeding Green Nation: 23

Last Week: 17

Brandon Lee Gorton is blunt in his criticism of the team, but offers a consolation:

"Surprise: Philadelphia’s offense is still pretty bad. Sam Bradford did show some positive signs (for once) in the Eagles’ close road loss, but this team is just bad overall."

SB Nation: 23

Last Week: 17

Danny Kelly designates the Eagles as one of the teams that are “free falling,” and admits that he is dubious following their latest failure. Though, he does part with a pretty damning “wake-up call” for some rival fans:

"I thought after last week that maybe the Eagles had taken a step forward and fixed a few of their issues, but after losing in Washington, my faith in Philly is falling precipitously. The Eagles’ division rival the Cowboys fall in our rankings as well — they just can’t compete on a high level with Brandon Weeden at quarterback."

Analysis:

It’s difficult to make a convincing argument against any of the above sentiments –with the exception of Prisco’s typical snark. The Eagles simply aren’t playing good football right now. Sure, there are spurts of brilliance from the offense and the defense has played well altogether, however, the team has yet to put together anything that remotely resembles a full 60 minutes of fundamentally sound football. The offensive line is a mess, Bradford has been maddeningly inconsistent, the receivers have continually dropped passes, and the pass rush hasn’t been able to get home. The Eagles look every bit a 1-3 team at the moment, and leaving week 5 without a win could put the team out of contention for good.

Next: Eagles run game is even worse than it was in 2014

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