Well Philadelphia, it looks like you'll need to keep those dog masks handy for next season. Before the dust has even settled on the Patriots' Super Bowl victory, ESPN has released the top 10 teams in its "way too early power rankings" for the 2019 season.
Before we dig in, we should note that it is borderline laughable to be doing power rankings for next season on February 4. We have to get through the draft and free agency, as well as offseason workouts and training camp, and it's impossible to know what the rosters will look like come the opening kickoff of 2019. But since ESPN did, we'll dissect things as it's equally laughable that the Eagles aren't in the top 10. Here's how ESPN sees things:
Where to start?
Perhaps with the fact that the Eagles beat four of those 10 teams head-to-head last season, including one in the playoffs, and that the Birds had a 4-2 record against teams in ESPN's top 10.
Or we could consider the disrespect of the NFC East. The only two playoff teams from last season that didn't make the top 10 happen to be the two representatives from the NFC East. The only division besides the NFC East that had two teams reach the divisional round was the AFC West, and each of those teams is in the top five according to ESPN.
We could also consider the fact that the Eagles were devastated by injuries once again, that their starting quarterback wasn't 100 percent, and that the team was left for dead at 4-6 before overcoming all of that to make the playoffs and win a playoff game. Four of the 10 teams on this list failed to win a playoff game. I guess ESPN doesn't account for mental makeup in its evaluation of teams.
Ultimately this list is meaningless, but it's hard to ignore the continued disrespect of the Philadelphia Eagles. The good news is that the Eagles will get a shot at three of these teams next season (Bears, Seahawks, Patriots) and we can thank ESPN for the early bulletin board material.
Hey, no one likes us, we don't care.
