NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Philadelphia Eagles down bad following ugly loss to Bucs

Ryan OLeary

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NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Philadelphia Eagles down bad following ugly loss to Bucs image

Early bye weeks are typically seen as a disadvantage for NFL teams, but the Week 5 bye is coming at the perfect time for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles (2-2) are down bad following Sunday’s ugly, 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Injuries have piled up, inadequate roster depth has been exposed and the defense has been awful through three of the team's four games in 2024.

Arguably no team could use a Week 5 bye week as much as Philadelphia. The offense has been relegated useless in the passing game since A.J. Brown’s injury. It’s reasonable to see three major pieces return to full health — Brown (hamstring), DeVonta Smith (concussion) and Lane Johnson (concussion) — in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns.

NFL analysts downgraded the Eagles significantly in power ranking reports on Monday. Here’s a breakdown of what the experts are saying.

NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Philadelphia Eagles 

Iyer: "The Eagles tried to operate without key wide receivers for Jalen Hurts, but they never really had a chance with the defense regressing and breaking down again for Vic Fangio against Baker Mayfield. They are all over the place with a mix of good and bad under Nick Sirianni, and their Week 5 bye is sorely needed.”

Wirth: "This defense might be as big a liability as it was last season. The offense isn’t the same without its two top receivers. Who would have thought?”

Cherepinsky: "It’s hard to dock the Eagles for their loss to the Buccaneers because they were missing A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Lane Johnson. However, their defense continues to suck. You’d think their stop unit would step up with all of the offensive injuries, but apparently not.”

Johnson: "NFL teams don’t like early bye weeks and for good reason, but the Philadelphia Eagles need it. Without A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Lane Johnson in Week 4, Jalen Hurts stood little chance. We can give the Eagles offense a slight pass, under the circumstances, for mustering just 16 points and 227 total yards (ESPN). What’s alarming is seeing Philadelphia’s defense continue to be wildly inconsistent, with the secondary seemingly not fixed. With Johnson, Brown and Smith expected to return in Week 6, we’ll keep a healthier version of this team in the top 10 of our NFL power rankings.”

Bedinger: "I mean, what are we doing here?  The Philadelphia Eagles are not a good football team and are just a mess from top to bottom.  Their head coach, Nick Sirianni, is clearly in over his head and is probably not going to last the rest of the season.  This franchise acts urgently; they had no issues firing Doug Pederson, their Super Bowl-winning head coach. They also had no issues moving on from Carson Wentz as well a few years ago.  I’d imagine that Sirianni is on the hot seat even with the Eagles being 2-2, but it’s how they get to these points. Philly continually plays sloppy football and also have some issues at QB.  Do we want to talk about how underwhelming Jalen Hurts is, or is that too much?  I just don’t see much at all that is currently working for this team, and Howie Roseman, their stud GM, has to be sick to his stomach watching this team. The roster is way too talented for them to be as bad as they are, and it would not surprise me to see the Eagles finishing last in the NFC East during the 2024 NFL Season.  This is far from a playoff team.”

Dewey: “The Eagles have major issues on both sides of the ball, and they were blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. At 2-2, Philly isn't a sure thing in a suddenly tough NFC East division.”

Consensus ranking: No. 13 (down 8 spots)

More Philadelphia Eagles news:

Too much Avonte Maddox, not enough Cooper DeJean for Eagles vs. Buccaneers

Eagles Week 4 defensive snap counts: Philly’s Bryce Huff problem continues vs. Bucs

Projected trade has Eagles adding former SB champion to aid decimated WR group

Bryce Huff vs. Josh Uche: Why Eagles made a $51 million blunder in free agency

Ryan OLeary

Ryan OLeary Photo

Ryan O'Leary has spent his entire professional career in sports multimedia, working as journalist, editor, podcaster, and in live events as a content manager and show emcee. His career highlights include working as a podcast host and audio editor for USA TODAY Sports Media Group, where he led a series of NFL podcasts for the company’s top-performing NFL sites. A born and raised New Englander, Ryan’s career kicked-off in newspapers after graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in journalism. He developed an affinity for small-town youth, high school and college sports, while also realizing his childhood dream of covering the Patriots in multiple AFC Championship Games. Ryan enjoys kicking it with family and friends, beating his dad and brother in chess, and arguing with anyone crazy enough to insist that Tom Brady isn’t the GOAT.