Do the Philadelphia Eagles have large talons? No idea, but somehow they have two players in the top 10 on the latest edition of the MVP Watch. The first is the no-brainer stud running back who's leading the league in rushing. The second is a quarterback who has only started five games and has two drawers full of "Vote for Pedro" T-shirts he has received as gag gifts every Christmas since "Napoleon Dynamite" hit theaters in 2004.

"Come on, Watch," you're saying. "Two Seahawks, I understand. They're 10-1. But two Eagles? They're 6-5 and in first place only because nobody wants to win the NFC East."

And, yeah, that's true. But the MVP Watch is a complex organism, constantly changing and growing and regenerating -- especially at the bottom, where the week-to-week whims of the NFL season can elevate new candidates and sweep away last week's like the tides. Or, in this case, like the Eagles. And their large talons.

So chalk one up for the NFL's burgeoning middle class. You can't be on this list if your team is under .500, but if you're 6-5 that means you're in first place in the NFC East. And first place means trophies, especially if you (or your Uncle Rico) can throw a football over them mountains.