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It was pointed out in another thread that this week's games may make the Eagles three wins look more impressive due to the performance of each of the three defeated teams in week four. IMO it's not as clear cut as that, because I didn't think KC would win. That said, it may have been more of Pittsburgh sleeping on the Eagles than the Eagles being the stronger team. Still, I'll take it!
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/20...es-nfl-week-4/
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/20...es-nfl-week-4/
J. Paunil-
The Eagles were off yesterday on their bye week, and the Giants don’t play the Vikings until tonight, but here are a few thoughts on how Week 4’s action impacts the Birds:
1. Philadelphia’s 34-3 win over Pittsburgh looks even more impressive now.
It wasn’t crazy to predict the Steelers would respond to getting dominated by the Eagles by*coming out angry at home and taking*their attitude out on the Chiefs, but they took it one step further and thrashed*a respected 2-1 team, 43-14.*The Chiefs didn’t score a point until the fourth quarter, while Ben Roethlisberger recorded a nearly perfect passer rating of 152.5.
The NFL is an unpredictable league, and it’s balanced enough to where inferior teams can pull out surprise wins over heavy favorites, as some may have viewed the Eagles’ victory over the Steelers last week. But after watching Pittsburgh remind everyone why they’re thought of as a Super Bowl contender, it’s tough to not come away with an even more positive view of the Eagles and how that’s the team the Birds dominated (minus Le’Veon Bell,*who ran for 144 yards and added 34 receiving yards in his return yesterday.)
The Steelers are now averaging 35 points per game against teams not named the Philadelphia Eagles, and it’s a reflection of how much of an equalizer the Birds’ defensive line is. The Eagles’ secondary played much better than the Chiefs’ secondary did against the Steelers, but Big Ben also showed how lethal he is when he isn’t pressured.
Philadelphia sacked Roethlisberger twice as much as Kansas City did and recorded more than double the amount of quarterback hits, which is partially*why Roethlisberger’s passer rating jumped from 62.4 to 152.5, his touchdown-to-turnover ratio improved from 0-1 to 5-0 and his yards per pass elevated from 5.8 to 11.1 from Week 3 to Week 4.*The Chiefs also turned the ball over twice in the first quarter, which is a subtle reminder of how impressive it is that the Eagles are the only team in the NFL to not*tally a giveaway.
2. Maybe the NFC East isn’t as bad as we think.
The division was atrocious last year, and Dallas and Washington weren’t very impressive yesterday, but NFC East teams are now a combined 7-1 in games outside of the division. While*Washington was down at one point in the second half to Cleveland and Dallas beat an uninspiring San Francisco squad,*the four NFC East teams have*the best combined win percentage*(.714) of any division in the NFL. The NFC East is also the only division without a team under .500.
It’s still early, and the opponents haven’t been top notch, but the lone loss any team has outside of the division is Washington’s Week 1 defeat against the Steelers with about a quarter of the season now in the books. The Giants-Vikings game tonight will tell us more about the NFC East, but between the Eagles’ surprising start and the rest of the division taking care of business against subpar teams, the division may be much improved from a year ago.
3. The Eagles should be (and are) favored to beat the Lions this week in Detroit, where they lost*45-14 less than a year ago.
What a difference a year makes. After being embarrassed on Thanksgiving last year, the Eagles are*now expected to return from this season’s trip to Detroit with a victory.*The 1-3 Lions lost their third straight game yesterday as the Bears picked up their first win of the season.
Brian Hoyer threw for 302 passing yards, a pair of touchdowns and a 120.1 passer rating against Detroit’s defense, while Matthew Stafford threw zero touchdowns and a pair of intercpetions for a 56.8 passer rating.*As we saw in Philadelphia just a week ago, anything can happen in the NFL, but the Lions look like another team the Eagles should be able take care of.
The Eagles were off yesterday on their bye week, and the Giants don’t play the Vikings until tonight, but here are a few thoughts on how Week 4’s action impacts the Birds:
1. Philadelphia’s 34-3 win over Pittsburgh looks even more impressive now.
It wasn’t crazy to predict the Steelers would respond to getting dominated by the Eagles by*coming out angry at home and taking*their attitude out on the Chiefs, but they took it one step further and thrashed*a respected 2-1 team, 43-14.*The Chiefs didn’t score a point until the fourth quarter, while Ben Roethlisberger recorded a nearly perfect passer rating of 152.5.
The NFL is an unpredictable league, and it’s balanced enough to where inferior teams can pull out surprise wins over heavy favorites, as some may have viewed the Eagles’ victory over the Steelers last week. But after watching Pittsburgh remind everyone why they’re thought of as a Super Bowl contender, it’s tough to not come away with an even more positive view of the Eagles and how that’s the team the Birds dominated (minus Le’Veon Bell,*who ran for 144 yards and added 34 receiving yards in his return yesterday.)
The Steelers are now averaging 35 points per game against teams not named the Philadelphia Eagles, and it’s a reflection of how much of an equalizer the Birds’ defensive line is. The Eagles’ secondary played much better than the Chiefs’ secondary did against the Steelers, but Big Ben also showed how lethal he is when he isn’t pressured.
Philadelphia sacked Roethlisberger twice as much as Kansas City did and recorded more than double the amount of quarterback hits, which is partially*why Roethlisberger’s passer rating jumped from 62.4 to 152.5, his touchdown-to-turnover ratio improved from 0-1 to 5-0 and his yards per pass elevated from 5.8 to 11.1 from Week 3 to Week 4.*The Chiefs also turned the ball over twice in the first quarter, which is a subtle reminder of how impressive it is that the Eagles are the only team in the NFL to not*tally a giveaway.
2. Maybe the NFC East isn’t as bad as we think.
The division was atrocious last year, and Dallas and Washington weren’t very impressive yesterday, but NFC East teams are now a combined 7-1 in games outside of the division. While*Washington was down at one point in the second half to Cleveland and Dallas beat an uninspiring San Francisco squad,*the four NFC East teams have*the best combined win percentage*(.714) of any division in the NFL. The NFC East is also the only division without a team under .500.
It’s still early, and the opponents haven’t been top notch, but the lone loss any team has outside of the division is Washington’s Week 1 defeat against the Steelers with about a quarter of the season now in the books. The Giants-Vikings game tonight will tell us more about the NFC East, but between the Eagles’ surprising start and the rest of the division taking care of business against subpar teams, the division may be much improved from a year ago.
3. The Eagles should be (and are) favored to beat the Lions this week in Detroit, where they lost*45-14 less than a year ago.
What a difference a year makes. After being embarrassed on Thanksgiving last year, the Eagles are*now expected to return from this season’s trip to Detroit with a victory.*The 1-3 Lions lost their third straight game yesterday as the Bears picked up their first win of the season.
Brian Hoyer threw for 302 passing yards, a pair of touchdowns and a 120.1 passer rating against Detroit’s defense, while Matthew Stafford threw zero touchdowns and a pair of intercpetions for a 56.8 passer rating.*As we saw in Philadelphia just a week ago, anything can happen in the NFL, but the Lions look like another team the Eagles should be able take care of.
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