Packers, Bucs, Eagles highlight NFL power rankings debate

The NFL’s latest power rankings list dropped courtesy of USA Today, and certain teams’ placement on the countdown has fans in a collective uproar.

The Rams drawing the top spot didn’t surprise many, but as the list went on, several revelations were met with more scrutiny than praise. 

For Shannon Sharpe, he took issue with the Packers’ placement at No. 4 and Tampa Bay coming in seventh. His biggest call-out was the Eagles’ landing at No. 9, six spots ahead of the Cowboys.

Rams, Packers, Bucs & Eagles feature in NFL’s latest Power Rankings

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe weigh in on the list and give their biggest surprise.

“The Eagles at four in the NFC?” Sharpe questioned Friday on “Undisputed.”

“They’re sold on Jalen Hurts, that’s the only thing that I can believe,” he said. “They have nice pieces — A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert, DeVonta Smith, Miles Sanders — but for them to be ranked as high as they are, that says Jalen Hurts is that dude, he’s turned the corner, and is going to be exponentially better this year than what he’s been his first two years. I don’t get it. It’s hard for me to believe they’re the fourth-best team in the NFC.”

Skip Bayless didn’t have a problem with Philly’s ranking, stating that the squad was better than Dallas in the first place.

“The Eagles are a little better than my Cowboys,” Bayless said. “I’m not saying Jalen is better than Dak [Prescott], but on intangibles, he’s a better leader. That team loves him a little more than the Dallas Cowboys love and trust Dak Prescott. I’m sold on Jalen Hurts, which is why they vaulted all the way up to No. 9. The Cowboys lost much more than they gained. I fear the Eagles, because I do fear Jalen Hurts, and the team around him is way better than the team around Dak.”

Bayless, however, was not on board with the Buccaneers’ fall.

“The Bucs have fallen three slots from four to seven because of one reason only: the loss of Tom Brady’s center Ryan Jensen,” he guessed. “He is it for Brady. He’s going to get hit and hurried more without Jensen. Pretty good bet that Brady would rather have an injured Jensen than Julio Jones.”