What They’re Saying About the Eagles

Here’s the roundup of what the national media are saying about the Eagles:

The Eagles fell four spots to 11 in ESPN.com’s power rankings. From Dan Graziano:

Not to repeat myself here, but nothing I saw from the Eagles on Sunday changed anything about my opinion of their team. They lost by two points on the road in Pittsburgh on a last-second field goal to a team that was coming off a bye week and is notoriously tough to beat in its building. I had the Eagles ranked ninth last week, and I have them ranked ninth this week. I had them ranked ninth in Week 4 as well. We’ve done six of these polls this season, and I’ve put the Eagles at No. 9 in four of them. I don’t see how a two-point road loss in Pittsburgh — or a two-point home victory over the Giants, for that matter — makes people change their minds about a team so dramatically. But I am the new guy in this exercise, so I guess I’m still learning.

SI.com’s Don Banks has the Eagles 11th:

I’m not qualified to coach the Eagles, but if I were I wouldn’t let Michael Vick carry near the goal line any more when fumbling has been his issue so far in 2012. If LeSean McCoy doesn’t get the call in that situation from here on out, I’m asking Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid for their definition of insanity.

SI.com’s Peter King also has the Eagles 11th:

When or if you figure out this team, please let me know.

Vince Verhei of Football Outsiders thinks their might be reason to believe Vick will cut out the fumbles:

Vick leads the league with eight fumbles in five games. This is nothing new — he led the league with 11 fumbles in 2010, and with 16 in 2004. But he has also shown the ability to get over these slumps quickly. He fumbled seven times in the first three games of 2011, but only fumbled three times in ten games the rest of the year. In 2010, his comeback year, he fumbled seven times in three games between November and December, and only four times in his other nine games. The all-time leader in fumbles is Brett Favre, but that’s largely because he played a bazillion games. Warren Moon fumbled 161 times (five fewer than Favre) in 208 games (94 fewer than Favre), a rate of 12.4 fumbles per 16 games. Vick’s rate is 11.6 fumbles per 16 games, so this is not unprecedented. The Eagles will just have to hope he plays his way out of it.

Elliot Harrison of NFL.com puts the Birds at No. 11:

This football team might point back to the Week 5 loss in Pittsburgh as the downfall to its playoff positioning, or lack thereof. Thank goodness it wasn’t a conference loss. But still, it was the kind of defeat Eagles brass built this team to not endure. With Philly’s pass rush and cover corners, the Steelers should not have been able to convert on third-and-a-mile deep in their own territory — before marching down the field for the winning field goal.

Even though the Eagles are 3-2, a FoxSports.com writer thinks they are pretenders:

The Eagles have gotten outscored by a 99-80 margin yet maintain a winning record. That won’t last for long if Philadelphia doesn’t get more consistent play from quarterback Michael Vick. He lost two fumbles in last Sunday’s 16-14 loss at Pittsburgh. That raises Vick’s turnover total for the season to 11, which is more individually than every NFL team besides Kansas City, Buffalo and Cleveland. None of those three teams is headed toward the playoffs. Unless the problem is fixed, neither will the Eagles.

Brian Billick of FoxSports.com has the Eagles 11th:

QB Michael Vick had three fumbles, two lost, on Sunday. But why is he running QB draws on the goal line if he is so prone to red-zone turnovers in the first place? If I have a running back like LeSean McCoy on my team, I give it to him as much as possible, especially on first-and-goal.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has the Eagles 12th:

Those Mike Vick turnovers are just killers. They cost them again big time in Pittsburgh.

Pat Kirwan of CBSSports.com has the Eagles 13th:

The Eagles turn it over and they lose. The Eagles defense is solid, now Mike Vick just has to take care of the ball.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the Eagles 13th:

“But, Jeff, we lost those eight games by 12 total points” likely won’t get the owner to change his mind.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.