Gimme some respect...

Even after putting an old-fashioned whupping on the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Eagles still aren't getting enough respect from national media--not even from former NFL players! 

The most impressive 3-0 team is the Vikings or the Patriots?! Really, guys?

And all this time, I thought it was expected that Belichick would coach up his players and arrange game plans to maximize the strengths of the guys on the field. After all, it's not like they had no warning that Brady was about to serve a suspension...

And sure, the Vikings lost their 'QB of the future' in Teddy Bridgewater. But how much of a dropoff is it from Bridgewater to Bradford? Peterson is also out for a while, but Asiata and McKinnon have gotten meaningful playing time before, so it's not like the Vikings are having to roll out some unknown quantities to replace their injured stars. And everybody knew that the Minnesota defense would be hot fire this season, so it's not like they're totally coming from nowhere.

Let's evaluate this question (that is, which 3-0 team is most impressive) in terms of achievement relative to expectations. The undefeated teams after 3 games in the 2016 season are: 

• New England 
• Baltimore 
• Denver 
• Minnesota
• ...and Philadelphia :)

New England has a first-ballot Hall of Fame head coach. (One with a record of cheating, no less!) Is it really a surprise that such a coach would find ways [whether within the rules or outside them] to win? Baltimore is coming off of a disappointing 5-11 season that was marred by injuries, but nobody could seriously accuse the Ravens of lacking talent. Denver is coming off of a Super Bowl season. Peyton Manning retired, and took his coach-level understanding of the game with him--so some drop-off may be expected, but with a defense as ridiculously dominant as Denver's, there was never any doubt that they'd be a competitive team once again. And Minnesota lost their QB to injury (no huge loss as far as on-field production), traded for Bradford to replace him, and then promptly lost aging but gifted RB Adrian Peterson to injury as well--but they still sport an outstanding young defense, a tough run-blocking offensive line, an explosive young WR, and a QB in Sam Bradford who has some clear talent, even if he's never yet lived up to his potential.

Speaking of potential:

Be sure to get your Carson Wentz jersey!

The one team on this list that was expected to have a mediocre season while rebuilding was Philadelphia. All of the other undefeated teams have veteran head coaches with successful track records. They also began the season with expectations to compete for a division title (well, maybe except Baltimore). The Eagles, by contrast, have a new head coach with a rookie QB--hardly a recipe for immediate success! 

If I had asked Willie McGinest and LaDanian Tomlinson which of the teams listed above was most likely to start the season 0-3, I guarantee they both would have said "Philadelphia." Instead, now they're 3-0, including a convincing win over a championship contender with one of the NFL's top offenses...and they're trying to tell me that the Eagles aren't the most impressive 3-0 team in the league?! Come on, guys, get real...

Sure, you could argue that the Eagles started the season by beating the Browns and the Bears, which are both weak teams with suspect defenses. And you'd be right. But beating the Steelers--and not just beating them, but beating them--provides compelling evidence that this Eagles team is for real!

If I were to go back in time and tell you that the Eagles would stop DeAngelo Williams in his tracks, holding him to 21 yards on 8 carries...you'd probably think I was an overly optimistic fool with no understanding of the game of football. 

And if I told you that the Steelers' high-powered offense would generate zero touchdowns and only 3 points [against this secondary--including a 7th-round rookie at starter--going up against Antonio Brown]...you'd probably suspect me of using some heavy drugs. 

And if I then told you that, in his third NFL start EVER, the Eagles' rookie QB (one from a small-conference D1-AA [FCS, in modern parlance] university, no less) would perform like a poised veteran, throwing for 301 yards and 2 TDs (and even out-Roethlisberger-ing Ben Roethlisberger on a beautiful improvised play) while leading the team to the largest margin of victory the Steelers had seen since 1989 [my birth year!]...you'd probably swear up and down that a series of Welker-like concussions have addled my brain beyond hope of repair!

But it happened yesterday, and we all watched it! 

Hey, at least some people know greatness when they see it: 
An NFL.com writer gives Wentz some well-deserved love, and some Patriots fans on Pats Pulpit are coming to similar conclusions about Wentz:

Put some respeck on my team!

Or, better yet, in the words of Brian Dawkins himself: "Gimme some respect, right now!"