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The Cowboys and Eagles meet in a crucial NFC East clash as part of a triple-header of divisional rivalry matchups live on Sky Sports on Sunday.
With Washington’s 25-3 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday the NFC East became the first division in NFL history without a three-win team through Week Seven of a season.
That comes after six teams in the league had entered Week Seven with as many wins as the NFC’s East four sides had combined at 5-18-1.
The Cowboys were, meanwhile, the first team to top a division with a losing record after Week Six since the 1970 merger.
Dallas’ defense is in tatters, the Eagles have been destroyed by injuries once again, the Giants’ 30th ranked passing offense have a third-fewest five receiving touchdowns and Washington might well be on the quarterback hunt once more. It’s historically bad, and there are few signs of it getting any better.
NFC East standings
| Team | W | L | T | Pct |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 4 | 1 | .357 |
| Washington | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
| New York Giants | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 |
Rather than being the NFL’s non-entity, though, the situation in the NFC East again raises questions surrounding the league’s playoff setup. The winner of the worst division in football is guaranteed a home playoff game, likely against a team with a far better record. It doesn’t seem all that fair, but that’s probably a conversation for a later date.
We examine the current state of the teams within a division nobody seems to want to win…
“How ‘Bout Them Cowboys!”
It all looked so promising in the offseason, didn’t it? But mediocrity has clung to Dallas in 2020, their defeat to Washington confirming the loss of a first-place lead that had been absent of evidence pointing towards a deep playoff run.
Injury to Dak Prescott looks like it could be defining, and a collapse in production on offense is no surprise. But on a positive note for the quarterback, the loss of his record-threatening passing statistics might convince the organisation to meet his wishes when contract negotiations resume at the end of the season. Of course, that’s assuming Dak wants to stick around.
1:18 GMF’s Kay Adams joins NFL Overtime to give her top NFL Fantasy tips, including whether it’s time to drop Dallas Cowboys stars after a couple of disastrous weeks
The Cowboys have bigger issues than under center. Turnovers being one of those, with Dallas having given up a league-high 16 so far, including seven interceptions and nine fumbles. Of those nine fumbles, Ezekiel Elliott has been guilty of five, two of which came in the Week Six defeat to the Arizona Cardinals and both resulted in touchdowns on the ensuing drives.
The flip side to that is an abysmal Cowboys defense, ranked 27th overall and 32nd in scoring. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan appears to be walking on thin ice, with Tabasco sauce in his eye.
Season-ending injuries to offensive tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins and the recent absence of center Joe Looney makes for a decimated offensive line, while tight end Blake Jarwin is also out for the remainder of the campaign. Linebacker Sean Lee is still nursing a sports hernia and Leighton Vander Esch has only just returned from injured reserve.
0:40 Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Nolan had to step away from his weekly conference call with reporters after getting hot sauce in his eye in the middle of answering a question!
The very capable Andy Dalton, whose ‘unfashionable’ reputation is why faith in him has proven slow coming, is perhaps the least of the Cowboys’ worries as far as production is concerned. But he spent this week in concussion protocol after suffering a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit from Washington’s Jon Bostic, meaning there could be another sighting of third-string Ben DiNucci, the 2020 seventh-round pick out of James Maddison.
The best team in the division?
The Eagles might just well be. But who could know for sure? Head coach Doug Pederson once again finds himself pulling guys off the street in order to field a team.
Last season’s NFC East champions ended Week Six’s 30-28 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens with just two healthy starters left on offense in quarterback Carson Wentz and center Jason Kelce. Tight end Zach Ertz is set to be out for up to a month after suffering an ankle injury in the game, while running back Miles Sanders has been dealing with a knee problem.
5:41 Highlights of the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week Seven of the NFL
The Eagles had already been missing guard Brandon Brooks, offensive tackles Andre Dillard and Jason Peters, wide receivers Jalen Reagor, DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery, tight end Dallas Goedert and linebackers T.J. Edwards and Duke Riley. Ahead of Week Seven 25 Eagles players had missed at least one game so far this season, while the team currently has 11 players on injured reserve.
Despite their defeat to the Ravens, they put up 22 points in the fourth quarter and were a successful two-point conversion away from potentially taking one of the NFL’s leading contenders to overtime.
3:28 Carson Wentz’s best plays in the Eagles’ dramatic win over the Giants
“This is where veteran players who have been through it, and as recently as the last couple of seasons with us, know how to deal with it, know how to handle it and know how to pull these guys along,” said Pederson.
Top spot belongs to them for now after their 22-21 comeback win over the Giants, made possible by Wentz’s stunning game-winning 18-yard touchdown pass to Boston Scott with 40 seconds to play.
It was ugly, scrappy and everything the NFC East has grown to be known for this year, but it reminded of the quality Wentz possesses.
1:03 Carson Wentz’s through the perfect clutch-pass to running back Boston Scott to complete the game-winning touchdown
Much like the Cowboys, turnovers are an issue. The Eagles are joint-third in the league with 13, Wentz’s 10 interceptions and third-worst completion percentage illustrating his difficult start to the year. But between their no-quit quarterback (who has been sacked a joint-most 28 times and pressured a league-most 84 times), the ability of Sanders and Travis Fulgham’s emergence, the depleted Eagles continue to warrant respect.
“I’m watching Carson Wentz play heroically, but still lose,” said Good Morning Football’s Nate Burleson. “But there’s something about the way the Eagles are coached, about the way they play.
There’s life in New York
0:32 Daniel Jones drops the a beautifully-weighted touchdown pass into Darius Slayton’s hands against Washington
It’s probably best not to shout about it too loudly, though. Joe Judge chalked up his first win as head coach in Week Six as the Giants ousted Washington in a game they probably could and probably should have won more comfortably. Should, could, probably has been the story throughout this Giants rebuild.
The next week they squandered an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead against the Eagles, tight end Evan Engram’s drop on third-and-six just prior to the two-minute warning proving costly. Catch it, and the Giants are likely celebrating another win.
They should have also beaten the Cowboys in Week Five but blew a 14-point lead and were punished by a last-second game-winning field goal.
4:25 A quick look back at the action and major talking points from Week Seven of the NFL season
One might argue the Cowboys’ struggles under Mike McCarthy suggest Jason Garrett wasn’t the problem in the latter stages of his time in Dallas, but his offense in East Rutherford has been painfully uninspiring through the first seven games.
Granted, he and the Giants have had to deal with crushing injuries to running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver Sterling Shepard, but the play-calling has fallen desperately short of the creativity that was expected.
The Giants rank 31st in both total and scoring offense this year. Alongside the dime here and there, Daniel Jones is making bad decisions and still struggling at times to get past his first read, while Garrett has appeared reluctant to let him attack downfield or utilise his rushing threat on a regular basis. That may change after his 80-yard burst against the Eagles, regardless of his hilarious face-plant agonisingly short of the end zone.
The offensive line in front of him is yet to convince, Engram and Golden Tate have been concerning non-factors and the Giants just can’t run the ball.
0:48 In an amazing play, Daniel Jones ran 80-yards, destined for a touchdown, only to trip himself up just shy of the endzone
General manager Dave Gettleman will be grasping at any positive he can find, with his tenure in a far more vulnerable place than that of Judge in his first year. The success of free agency signing James Bradberry at cornerback leads the way, followed closely by linebacker Blake Martinez, who has been a tackling machine since his arrival in the offseason.
The Giants are actually ranked a respectable 14th in total defense, but, as proven, Patrick Graham’s unit can only carry their offense for so long.
With the red-hot Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming to MetLife on Monday night, dare we say a 1-7 start to the year is looking somewhat inevitable?
We have a new contender
A contender in the running for Trevor Lawrence, that is. Although at this rate, they are very much in NFC East contention.
If not Clemson’s exceptional No 1 overall pick in-waiting, then perhaps North Dakota State’s Trey Lance or Ohio State’s Justin Fields.
Washington can’t move forward until they find some stability at quarterback. Ron Rivera is out on Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen isn’t a long-term solution and nobody quite knows what Alex Smith might be capable of amid his astonishing comeback.
3:26 Jeff Reinebold and Rob Ryan praise Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera after his treatment for skin cancer came to an end this week.
Haskins’ move from starter to third-string meanwhile raises the question as to whether the next general manager of the Giants will be a Daniel Jones supporter. Nothing is a given in the NFL these days.
Allen had some nice moments against the Giants and his mobility was a plus, but his two turnovers both led to decisive touchdowns, including Tae Crowder’s decisive fumble return. He had a better day in the win over the Cowboys, finishing 15 of 25 for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
It’s hard to decipher many positives when it comes to Washington, but there are young stars for this team to mould to on both sides of the ball.
0:38 Washington receiver Terry McLaurin with a 52-yard touchdown catch against the Cowboys
In Chase Young they have a potentially dominant defensive staple to build around, Terry McLaurin a legitimate number one wide receiver, third-round running back Antonio Gibson looks a long-term option and Rivera may be the perfect head coach to navigate the franchise’s recovery. But right now, the team is lacking both direction and identity.
The good news for all four sides? They are in the NFC East, where anybody can win it. Seriously, anybody. It’s messy and erratic, but it’s impossible to ignore.
Watch Cowboys @ Eagles live on Sky Sports NFL from 1:20am in the early hours of Monday morning.
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