What they're saying about the Eagles

The national media are hopping on the Eagles bandwagon.

The Birds are 4-2 after six weeks, and many think they are among the top few teams in the NFC.

Here's a roundup of what they're saying:

Kevin Kolb's performance against Atlanta was one of Peter King's major storylines in his Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com:

He got emotional after the game when Asante Samuel -- not a coach -- gave him the game ball in the locker room. "I'm tearing up just telling you about it,'' he said. "But that's what you play for -- the respect of the guys you share the locker room with. That meant a lot to me, obviously.''

King has the Eagles all the way up to No. 7 in his weekly rankings:

When's the last time one team had two of the top 12 quarterbacks in football? Or at least two quarterbacks who, this year, have played like top-12-in-the-game quarterbacks?

The Saints are the only NFC team he ranks ahead of the Birds.

Mike Mayock of NFL.com does a good job of showing how the Eagles set up the 83-yard touchdown to Jeremy Maclin with the first quarter end-around to DeSean Jackson. The end of the video shows Samuel giving Kolb the game ball.

SI.com's Don Banks has the Eagles eighth in his power rankings, but smells something fishy with Michael Vick staying in the locker room last week:

Sorry, but even after Andy Reid explained his thinking I still don't get the whole keep-Michael-Vick-in-the-locker-room story that unfolded last Sunday in Philly. You didn't want him getting hit while standing on the sideline holding a clipboard? Huh? Reid talked about it like it happens somewhere almost every week in the NFL, but I've never, ever heard of anyone allowing their third-team quarterback to arrive 45 minutes before the game and watch the action from the locker room. Have you? Strange is the only word that fits both the decision and the explanation.

Joe Posnanski of SI.com ranks all 32 coaches as players. Reid comes in at No. 14:

Offensive lineman at BYU. Apparently, according to his bio, one of his quirks as a player is that at the same time he was a writing a column for the Provo Daily Herald and, yes, that he loved Jim Murray and dreamed of writing at Sports Illustrated. Maybe we could change jobs for a day or something.

Matt Williamson of ESPN.com ranks the league's top rookies. Nate Allen comes in at No. 3:

Allen is playing every portion of his position very well. He hits, tackles well, plays the run and the pass and also can blitz the quarterback. What's not to like?

ESPN.com has the Eagles 10th in its power rankings:

Andy Reid now has two top QBs to choose from in Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick.

Adam Caplan of FoxSports.com has the Eagles eighth:

Wow, that was some win over the visiting Falcons. The Eagles are starting to put it together on both sides of the ball, and their much-maligned special teams coverage just might have been fixed.

Clark Judge of CBSSports.com makes the case for the Eagles as the NFC's best team:

Philadelphia, with New Orleans and the Giants right behind. Until last weekend, Atlanta was the consensus pick, but the Falcons just got torched by Philadelphia. That moves the Eagles to the front of the pack. Yeah, I know, they lost to Green Bay and Washington, but in both those games their starting quarterbacks bowed out by halftime with injuries. When they have one quarterback play four quarters they're 4-0. More than that, they have a legitimate running game, they commit few mistakes and their defense is producing the big plays that were missing a year ago.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com thinks Kolb should be the Eagles quarterback, even when Vick is healthy:

I think he's the long-term answer. He showed last week that he could get it done in the passing game. This is a passing league. Michael Vick has improved as a passer, but I don't think in the long term he is a good enough passer to win a Super Bowl. Kolb can be. He isn't there yet, but he made big strides last week against Atlanta. Kolb looked much more comfortable in the pocket. It looks like he will get the start this week at Tennessee. If he goes out and has a big game against that defense on the road, I think Andy Reid has a problem on his hands. If he struggles, Reid will go back to Vick after the bye week when he returns from a rib injury. If Kolb plays well, look for a full-blown controversy.

Prisco has the Eagles eighth in his power rankings:

Kevin Kolb or Michael Vick? You can't go wrong with either, so Andy Reid faces a nice dilemma.

The National Football Post has the Eagles eighth:

Questions on who should be the No.1 QB in Philly? Not with the way Kevin Kolb is playing right now.

Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports has the Eagles eighth:

While watching the Titans pummel David Garrard on Monday night, do you think it's possible Michael Vick took a deep breath, winced in agony as his ribcage shifted and texted Andy Reid, "It's cool – roll with Kevin one more week"?

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has the Eagles seventh:

Maybe Andy Reid should use Mike Vick for one series and Kevin Kolb for the next.

Football Outsiders rank the Eagles sixth. They have Kolb's performance as the second-best in the league in Week 6:

In his two starts since Michael Vick went down, Kevin Kolb's completed 73.3 percent of his passes. Vick was at 58.4 percent in the two games he completed. While Vick unquestionably has the stronger arm, he averaged 8.8 yards per attempt; Kolb's at 9.6. Vick threw five touchdowns without an interception, better than Kolb's four scores versus one pick, but Vick fumbled twice to Kolb's lone fumble. For all his elusiveness, Vick took a sack every nine dropbacks; Kolb's taken one every 13. On the other hand, Vick is clearly the better rushing quarterback, but all in all, Kolb's produced 2.64 points per drive, even with David Akers missing three field goals. Vick produced a near-identical 2.63 points per drive. The soft factors favor Kolb: He started against pass defenses ranked 12th (Atlanta, 27th last year) and 23rd (San Francisco, seventh last year) this year, while Vick was against teams ranked 15th (Detroit, 32nd last year) and 30th (Jacksonville, 31st last year). Finally, Kolb spent most of Sunday without DeSean Jackson and didn't have left tackle Jason Peters, either.

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