Eagles land behind five non-playoff teams in recent NFL Power Ranking

Forget that pretty pass from your favorite quarterback on second-and-long in the third quarter. These days, we can spend hours discussing the NFL and never mention any plays that occurred on the field, especially if the most recent Philadelphia Eagles game didn’t turn out in the manner that we would have liked.

Somewhere between Pro Football Focus and Fantasy football sits our interest in Madden NFL ratings, NFL Next Gen Stats, and mock drafts. It seems like it’s been four months since the Super Bowl wrapped, but the most recent scouting combine and the approaching draft keep us busy.

Oh, and who can forget about power rankings? We’re still more than five months away from seeing games played and their results counting against the win-loss total, and everyone’s already sharing their opinions about who the best teams in the NFL will be once we reach 2022’s regular season.

Is it fair to say the Eagles were disrespected in NFL.com’s recent power ranking?

As we made our way through the last days of March, NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus dropped an NFL power ranking. The Buffalo Bills topped the list, followed by the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The remainder of the lucky top seven was rounded out by the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers. That’s when things get interesting.

Let’s put things this way. The Eagles, the 18th-ranked team on Hanzus’ list, land behind five teams that didn’t make the playoffs a year ago: The Los Angeles Chargers (8), Denver Broncos (9), the Cleveland Browns (14), the Baltimore Ravens (15), and the Indianapolis Colts (16).

Here’s what Hanzus had to say about his reasons for placing the Birds among the league’s bottom half:

"We imagine Jalen Hurts felt a sense of comfort upon learning that the Eagles were not among the crop of teams attempting to trade for Deshaun Watson last week. Hurts is Philly’s unquestioned present at QB with a chance to make himself the team’s long-term future with a strong 2022. (Adding some more playmakers in the draft will help the young QB). Philly made a big splash on the other side of the ball by signing Haason Reddick to a multi-year deal. The Temple product is just 27 years old and a proven pass rusher. He piled up 23.5 sacks over the past two seasons."

The remaining teams ahead of Philadelphia are the Tennessee Titans (10), Las Vegas Raiders (11), Dallas Cowboys (12), New England Patriots (13), and Arizona Cardinals (17). Some might cry ‘foul’. These types of discussions lead to debate all of the time.

Perhaps we can argue a few points here and there but look at the teams that are ranked ahead of them. If Philly played any of those teams in a head-to-head clash tomorrow, how many matchups can you find that make you feel like they’d come out as the victors?

Does anyone feel like they’re toppling the suddenly high-powered Chargers? What about that Raiders rematch? Are you putting any money on the Birds?

Let’s hope Philadelphia nails the coming NFL Draft and adds a few more difference-makers late because, if you’re of the impression that this is an accurate assessment of where these teams are in their present state, this obviously means that we’re approaching some unwanted results.

Let’s just say that the Eagles are the 18th-best NFL team at the end of the 2022-2023 regular season. That means that they would have missed the postseason for the second time in three years. What kind of conversations do you think we’ll be having if that happens?