NFL: Power Rankings at the quarter-mark of the 2018 NFL season

10. Carolina Panthers (2-1)

Cam has been a problem running the ball on designed plays as well as scrambles, but the key to the Panthers success has been limiting his pass attempts. In their two wins over the Cowboys and Bengals, he threw a combined 50 passes, and they leaned more on their defense.

Christian McCaffrey now has a total of 68 touches for 428 yards, which is right where you want him to be. After catching 14 passes for over 100 yards in week two, he went for 184 yards on the ground the next game by running power and trap plays up the middle.

Run CMC should be the focal point of this offense to complement a defense that sets the tone. Carolina’s front-seven is one of the elite units in the game. Rookie cornerback Donte Jackson’s ability to close on passes has translated beautifully to the pros and I think the addition of veteran Eric Reid will help this secondary a lot.

Even if the other teams have shown some vulnerability, the NFC South is a tough division, but I like what Norv Turner has done for this offense that leads the league in rushing and has Cam completing 67.4 percent of his passes.

11. Philadelphia Eagles (2-2)

The Eagles should not have given up that game in Nashville anymore, but I prefer to give the Titans’ aggressive coaching credit and talk about how the Eagles are a very dangerous team going forward.

With Carson Wentz back, this offense doesn’t have any limitations, because their offensive line is still one of the best if Jason Peters is in the lineup, they have a multitude of backs and now that Alshon Jeffery is healthy again they have that big-bodied receiver on the outside Wentz can trust.

Defensively, their D-line goes seven guys deep with Fletcher Cox leading the group as that monstertruck bulldozing through the opposing interior. Jordan Hicks looks energized and Nigel Bradham has been one of the most underrated players for years now at that linebacker level.

At the back-end is where I see some trouble. Jim Schwartz leaves his cover-guys out on an island constantly and quarterbacks decide to go away from Ronald Darby in favor of exposing Jalen Mills constantly. Malcolm Jenkins was all over the Titans receivers and I like some of their young DBs, but I think they might need to go to a more zone-based approach going forward.