NFL Power Rankings entering Week 17: Should a loss change what we think about the Eagles?

Recency bias is rampant in the NFL. The way the Philadelphia Eagles will be talked about this week, you’d think their record is 0-1 instead of 12-3.

The Eagles lost on Sunday. They allowed Jayden Daniels to throw for five touchdown passes. The final one came with six seconds left and won the game for the Washington Commanders. That wasn’t a great result for the Eagles. But losing in the final seconds, on the road to a 10-win team, with quarterback Jalen Hurts sidelined with a concussion after a hit early, isn’t that bad. It was Philadelphia’s first loss since Sept. 29.

Here’s a list of every team that has lost at least once since the start of October: all of them. The Bills lost in Week 14. The Lions lost in Week 15. The Vikings have lost to the Lions and the Chiefs have a loss to the Bills. Any team’s résumé will have some flaw.

Philadelphia still has one of the best defenses in the NFL, despite a bad game on Sunday. Would the Eagles have won if Hurts was there to make one more play than Kenny Pickett made? Probably. The Eagles would have won if DeVonta Smith would have caught a late third-down pass that he practically never drops. It’s hard to be perfect over a long season, and all we learned Sunday is the Eagles aren’t perfect. Philadelphia is the most balanced team among the contenders. There aren’t any glaring weaknesses. One loss doesn’t change that just because it’s the most recent thing we saw. And that loss doesn’t change Philly’s standing as No. 1 in the power rankings.

Here are the power rankings after Week 16 of the NFL season: