The Eagles need to avoid “the trap” on Sunday “Trap games.” Man Nate Gerry Jersey , do they suck.In the NFL, “trap games” are very real, and they are most decidedly not spectacular. In many of those cases, that contest comes just ahead of a game that is perceived to be a much more important game the following week, usually against a tough divisional foe or another elite team against which there is some sort of rivalry.This Sunday, the Eagles are four-point favorites as they head into Tennessee to take on a 2-1 Titans team that has a solid and tricky defense, but an offense that struggles to score points. As the defending Super Bowl champions and a team with a very real chance to repeat, this is a game on the schedule that most of us penciled in as a “win” before training camp even began. Oddsmakers clearly believe the Birds are the superior team, and yet, this feels like one the Eagles could very easily lose.This is a textbook “trap game,” kids.The Titans are an AFC opponent, and one they don’t see all that often. In fact, the last time the Eagles played Tennessee was in 2014 when the Eagles blew them out at Lincoln Financial Field 43-24. The last time the Eagles were in Tennessee was in 2010, when they lost 37-19. They are not familiar with this team, and there is no burning rivalry here. Second, this is a road game, although new Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has been urging their fans to actually, you know, show up at this game so as not to make it a pro-Eagles venue. Nevertheless Authentic Corey Graham Jersey , it’s an away game, which means the Birds will be out of their element a bit. This is also a very easy team to take lightly. While Tennessee did make the playoffs last year, going 9-7, and while they did actually win a playoff game against the Chiefs, they were not an overly impressive team. They have a quarterback in Marcus Mariota who struggles to put points on the board. They are a grind-it-out team that likes to run, and they do absolutely nothing sexy. It is very easy to be lulled to sleep by teams like this.Finally, the Eagles have a huge match-up in two weeks as they welcome the Minnesota Vikings back to Philadelphia in a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship Game.It is a game that could have huge implications in the NFC playoff picture as things get tight down the stretch, whereas playing an AFC team doesn’t mean a whole lot in terms of tie-breakers until you get down to record against common opponents. The Eagles also have their first divisional match-up the week after that against the New York Giants on a Thursday night in Jersey.Those are most of the ingredients that make up a classic NFL trap game. The only ones missing are making a cross-country trip and playing on a short week, neither of which apply here. Nevertheless, this is the type of game a lot of teams look past. One of the most remarkable parts of last year’s run to the No. 1 seed in the NFC was that they didn’t fall victim to a single trap game all season long, and there were opportunities to do so.They could have fallen into the trap of losing to a bad Cardinals team at home just four days ahead of a Thursday night match-up against the Panthers in Carolina, but instead they demolished Arizona 34-7. They also then beat the Panthers 28-23 that following Thursday night. They could have lost at home to a brutal Bears team the week after crushing the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football 37-9, but instead they whooped up on Chicago in Philly 31-3.Was their loss to the Seahawks in Seattle the following week a “trap game?” Not really, as Seattle appeared to be a playoff contender at the time, with Russell Wilson looming as a real and potential threat. The Eagles simply got beat by a quarterback playing out of his mind that night in a place very few teams have been able to win in recent years.This Eagles team has already shown tremendous resilience this season. If they are able to fight off a spunky Titans defense and manage to escape Tennessee with a victory, no matter what it looks like, it will mean they have once again escaped the “trap game” NFL teams so very much dread.NFL Power Rankings 2018: Week 3 Edition Week 2 of the 2018 NFL regular season schedule is in the books. Now it’s time to see where all 32 teams rank. For reference purposes, here is a link to last week’s NFL Power Rankings.BLG’S WEEK 3 NFL POWER RANKINGS1 - Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 6) - Andy Reid is just really good in the regular season. Pat Mahomes has 10 touchdowns in just two games. Kansas City’s ceiling could be higher than ever with him starting. 2 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 5) - The Rams were leapfrogged by the Chiefs here because they’ve beaten up on two bottom five teams. To their credit, they’ve taken care of business. 3 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 3) - Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need to be 100% to still be great.
The Packers really should’ve won but the Vikings got bailed out by one of the NFL’s new dumb rules.4 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 4) - One of the NFL’s dumb new rules prevented Kirk Cousins from choking once again. 5 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 7) - The Jags avenged their AFC Championship Game loss on Sunday. Blake Bortles played well despite the fact Jacksonville was missing Leonard Fournette. Clearly a top two team in the AFC. 6 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 17) - Maybe this ranking will look silly in the future but right now the Bucs are red hot. The offense has new life under Todd Monken. Ryan Fitzpatrick is randomly unstoppable. Tampa Bay’s defense isn’t good but their offensive weapons makes other defenses look even worse.7 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 1) - The reigning Super Bowl champions take a hit after losing a winnable game. Jim Schwartz’s defense is just clearly not as good on the road as it is in the confines of Lincoln Financial Field. The good news for the Eagles is they get Carson Wentz back this week. He can certainly help the Eagles get back on track. Or, that’s the hope, at least.8 - New England Patriots (LW: 2) - Hm Youth Corey Clement Jersey , where have I seen this before: Tom Brady got strip-sacked late in the game to cost the Pats a win. Loser. 9 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 9) - Despite missing a number of key players due to injury, the Falcons rebounded this week with a tough division win. Steve Sarkisian’s hot seat got a little cooler. 10 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 8) - The Saints are not that far away from being 0-2 after narrowly avoiding defeat to the Browns. And that’s with both of their games having been played at home. Maybe the Saints are some frauds. 11 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 21) - The Bengals have the AFC North lead after two weeks. It wouldn’t be shocking if they continue to hold on to it. Then Marvin Lewis can try to reach 0-8 in the playoffs. 12 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 10) - The Panthers aren’t bad but they top out as the second best team in the NFC South.13 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 14) - Getting to play the Bills is like a free win but hey, the Bolts took care of business. 14 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 15) - Jimmy G bounced back this week against a Detroit defense that is certainly less challenging than Minnesota’s. 15 - Denver Broncos (LW: 16) - Don’t look now but the Broncos are 2-0. Both wins have been very close. 16 - Chicago Bears (LW: 22) - Mitchell Trubisky has been unimpressive. Chicago’s defense, though, is legit. 17 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 11) - Sorry, but Joe Flacco is not elite. Not even close. 18 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 17) - Pittsburgh is not in a good spot. The Stillers find themselves 0-1-1 as Le’Veon Bell’s holdout lingers. The locker room seems to have some issues as well. 19 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 24) - The Dolphins are unexpectedly first in the AFC East at 2-0. Maybe Miami is decent?20 - New York Jets (LW: 18) - This week was a reminder that Sam Darnold, the youngest starting quarterback in NFL history, is going to have some growing pains. 21 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 23) - The Cowboys have managed to make their fans think that everything is going to be fine after beating a bad Giants team. Dak Prescott was 14/23 for a mere 87 yards (3.78 yards per attempt) after his long touchdown completion to Tavon Austin on a play where Janoris Jenkins stumbled in coverage. In other words, Dak still isn’t good.22 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 26) - Quality road win for Frank Reich’s group. This Colts team has some life.23 - Washington Redskins (LW: 12) - After looking real good in Week 1, Washington looked real bad in Week 2. Losing to the Colts by 12 points at home isn’t a good look. Washington’s running backs combined for 22 rushing yards on 16 carries against Indy’s defense. Yikes. 24 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 25) - Well, they won, but it’s not easy to feel good about this team’s outlook with Blaine Gabbert starting. 25 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 27) - The Browns aren’t that far off from being 2-0. But they’ve Browns’d their way into being 0-1-1 instead. 26 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 20) - Seattle is done. This team is a shell of the Legion of Boom era. The offense looks so bad under Brian Schottenheimer. Big surprise, I know.27 - Houston Texans (LW: 19) - Deshaun Watson isn’t looking so impressive coming off the ACL injury he suffered last season. 28 - Oakland Raiders (LW: 29) - This is too rich:Or, you know, you could have just not traded Khalil Mack, who looks like he could end up being Defensive Player of the Year. 29 - Detroit Lions (LW: 30) - Well, at least the team looked much more competitive than they did in Week 1. Still 0-2 though and Matthew Stafford doesn’t look great, which doesn’t bode well. 30 - New York Giants (LW: 28) - What does Eli Manning have in common with clothes leaving the laundromat? They’re both washed. The Giants are looking very dumb for going all in on the 37-year-old and selecting a running back at No. 2 instead of trying to find a new franchise passer. Having great skill players just doesn’t matter much if your offensive line and quarterback are bad. To make matters worse for New York, they just lost their starting center for the season. 31 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 31) - The Cards have been predictably awful with Sam Bradford starting. Complete waste of time and money. Just get Josh Rosen in there already. 32 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 32) - The Bills are so bad that one of their players literally retired before the game was over.