What They’re Saying About the Eagles

Here’s a roundup of national media coverage of the Eagles this week.

ESPN.com has the Eagles 12th in its power rankings:

Philly kept RG III in the pocket enough to win. He threw both touchdowns outside the pocket, but was sacked four times and completed 12 of 27 passes with an interception inside.

Eagles punter Donnie Jones earned co-special teams player of the week honors from TheMMQB.com’s Peters King:

Four of his six punts in a 24-16 win pinned Washington inside its 20-yard-line (at the 2, 17, 15 and 4), but it was that last one that was one of the plays of the day. Having lost all offensive momentum, midway through the fourth quarter and clinging to that 24-16 lead, the Eagles had to punt from their 26, and Jones nailed a 70-yarder down to the Washington 4-yard-line. Robert Griffin III didn’t have a 96-yard drive in him, and the Eagles hung on.

King also has the Eagles 10th in his power rankings:

First time over .500 since opening night, and the arrow is trending upward.

Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com takes aim at Chip Kelly for the way he handled the clock in the fourth quarter:

Why did the Eagles struggle to hold a 24-point lead at home? Chip Kelly’s blur offense is fifth in yards per game, last in the league in time of possession. Taking possession at the start of the fourth quarter with the score 24-0, when the priority should have been draining the clock, the Eagles staged a quick-snap three-and-out that consumed only 1:08.

Danny Tuccitto of Football Outsiders writes that the Eagles now have a 61.1 percent chance to make the playoffs:

Last weekend was as good to Philadelphia as it was bad for Detroit. With division-leading Dallas on bye, the Eagles’ win over Washington gave them the largest increase in playoff odds of any team in the NFL. As we wrote last week, it has been etched into stone tablets that the NFC East will come down to Dallas-Philadelphia in Week 17. But if anything can overcome the power of destiny, it’s that the Eagles’ five remaining opponents average 9.7 DVOA percentage points higher than the Cowboys’ remaining six opponents.

Brian Billick of FoxSports.com has the Eagles 12th:

Nick Foles had 47 yards on the ground on Sunday and now has just as many rushing touchdowns as Michael Vick does on the season. I’d say he has a pretty firm hold on the starting quarterback position for the remainder of the season.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has the Eagles 11th:

Nick Foles has this team rolling. But what’s really impressive is how improved the defense is the past month.

Pat Kirwan of CBSSports.com has the Eagles 12th:

Dangerous team because of an improving defense and Nick Foles under center. The Eagles haven’t thrown more than 28 times in any contest during their three-game winning streak.

Elliot Harrison of NFL.com has the Eagles 13th:

Though it got a wee bit scary there at the end for the Eagles, another quality showing from Nick Foles led to a divisional win. Don’t look now, but a surprisingly fun (and important) matchup is coming up in Week 13, when the 6-4 Cardinals visit the Linc.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the Eagles 12th:

Buddy Ryans would say of Nick Foles, “All he does is throw touchdowns. And run for them.”

Foles had the seventh-best QB performance of the week, according to Football Outsiders:

Throwing to his right, Foles went 8-of-10 for 150 yards with five first downs.

Frank Schwab of Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner has the Eagles 14th:

The Eagles are 4-1 with Nick Foles starting and 2-4 with Michael Vick starting. It sounds crazy but shouldn’t Foles (16 touchdowns, no interceptions) get at least a little bit of MVP candidacy buzz?

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