And exhale. The worry that the unfortunate combination of a 2-game losing streak and Carson Wentz might lead to a full on embarrassment never came to pass. Instead we saw one of the best games of Jaeln Hurts’ career against a great defense and, in the end, all was well. They can right a terrible wrong next week in the rematch against the New York Giants. The Eagles are a good team with some quality wins, but it’s clear that they are not great. There are very clear problems that cannot be fixed overnight. The good news? There do not seem to be any great teams in the NFL right now.
Great Teams – (None)
It looked like Philly and Buffalo were just a little better than everyone else through 4 weeks with some nice wins each. Then they both kind of fell apart. The Eagles rebounded this week against the Vikings there are still clear problems: the offensive line can’t block, the pass rush can’t get home, and CB2 might as well just not be on the field. These are issues, but less so than maybe anyone else. As for Buffalo? We don’t know if they fixed anything. They went from looking unstoppable to basically stopping themselves. They have problems on defense and can’t seem to move the ball anymore. Then there’s Josh Allen with 7 fumbles and picks the last 3 weeks. For all the praise he gets for winning games, he’s lost them the last 2 weeks. Their bye week could not have come at a better time.
Contenders (4)
Buffalo and Philly had a rough two weeks, but both are still among the best in the league. Joining them in the top tier are the Rams and Chiefs. Both have offensive geniuses leading the way with Super Bowl winning QBs while also fielding great defenses. They are never going to find themselves out of a game. These 4 are still the favorites to play in their respective championship games.
For all the doom and gloom to start the year for the defending champions, they still have wins over the Chiefs, Rams, Cowboys, and Bucs. The Giants are the only sub-.500 team they’ve played so far.
I Just Don’t Know Yet (3)
The Lions, Packers, and Bucs are all on paper contenders. I can’t consider them contenders though because they do not have any quality wins and the wins they do have are not exactly convincing. Green Bay beat Detroit but lost to Cleveland and barely escaped the Cardinals and Bengals. The Lions have quality losses but no good wins. The Bucs seem like a great story, but why aren’t they beating anyone convincingly? Four of their wins are by 9 total points. Detroit and TB tomorrow will tell us a lot. We won’t really know anything about the Packers until they play the Eagles in 3 weeks.
Need Some Great Luck (4)
Did anyone have the Commanders in the NFC Championship game last year? They were good enough that with some help from Detroit’s injuries, they made it. The Rams were a Jalen Carter Hercules act from joining them. The Seahawks, 49ers, Cowboys, and Broncos are all in that territory. They have enough talent to be frisky, but all 4 of them have QB problems that could hold them back. If they could get in a situation where their QB didn’t need to win them a game, then they could get lucky enough to win.
I know what you’re thinking, Bo Nix was good enough to beat the Eagles and the Giants today. If you watched those games, you know that isn’t true. As for the Cowboys, Dak is the reason they are good right now and they are on a heater. Unfortunately, he is also the reason no one should trust them in the playoffs.
They Play Football (12)
Right in the middle there are unsurprisingly a group of teams who can win games, but no one is really afraid of come playoff time:
- Panthers: nice story, but they are a year away from being a year away at best
- Falcons: there is talent here, but ZERO consistency. They were destroyed by Carolina then beat Buffalo. Frisky is probably the best you could call them
- Vikings: They painfully do not have a QB. You have to feel bad for them
- Bears: They beat the Cowboys…but no one else. Just be happy that Williams looks competent
- Commanders: We knew going into the year that they were old and not deep. Both are cause for concern so far. Nothing special
- Chargers: Justin Herbert defenders will champion his 400+ yards and 3 TDs while ignoring his first half egg that put the game basically out of reach. He’s a loser.
- Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence stinks
- Texans: Two quality losses out of 3, but they need to win some games before they dissapear in the playoff race. I reserve the right to promote or relegate them following their game against Seattle
- Bengals: They are fun, but not good.
- Steelers: This is not a very talented team but they are good enough to beat the bad teams and lose to the good ones.
- Patriots: Do not be fooled by the 5-2 record or the win over Buffalo. The other 4 wins are against the Dolphins, Panthers, Saints, and Titans. They lost to the Raiders.
- Colts: They have the best record in the NFL, but very little talent and an incredibly light schedule. I can’t take them seriously. They are playing solid mistake free football though and that’s awesome.
Bad But That’s Ok (3)
These are not good football teams, but for their own reasons, that’s okay. The Cardinals need more high-level talent. They are creeping up, even if their record doesn’t show it. No one expected them to contend this year anyway. The Ravens are going through a very unexpected catastrophe, but a high draft pick might be just what this talent factory needed, kind of like the Eagles falling into Jalen Carter. The Giants are very happy to be bad. As long as Jaxson Dart looks good, keep the losses coming. That’s their best-case scenario.
Terrible (6)
Dolphins, Jets, Browns, Titans, Raiders, Saints. There isn’t much to say that my trade deadline primer can’t answer. The Raiders weren’t included in that though because Pete Carroll won’t let them sell. What the hell was he thinking coming back for this franchise?
Philly Front Office 
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