The NFC East is set to take the stage for Thursday Night Football when the Eagles take on the Giants, but before they do let's take our weekly look at the state of the division. If you're a regular reader of this column, or just someone who pays any attention to what's going on in the NFL outside of Philadelphia, then you know: the division outright stinks. It's so bad that we're running out of ways to show how bad it is (all four teams with negative point differential, by far the fewest combined wins of any division, the fact that 60% of the division's wins have come against divisional opponents). But we like to try to keep things fresh, so consider this: six TEAMS have more wins than the four NFC East teams have combined. Anyway, somebody has to win this thing, so here is the state of things as we prepare for Week 7.
Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
After sneaking out a win against divisional foe New York in Week 5, the Cowboys crashed back down into the muck that is the NFC East last week, getting demolished 38-10 on national TV by the Arizona Cardinals.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Cardinals got into the beleaguered Dallas defense, winning the second quarter 21-3 and the second half 17-7. Kenyan Drake piled up 164 yards on the ground while adding two touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Cowboys offense was wildly ineffective without Dak Prescott, mustering just 10 points while committing four turnovers. All we can really say is that the performance gave a national audience a taste of what it's like watching NFC East football.
Next: at Washington
Philadelphia Eagles (1-4-1)
The Eagles were unable to overcome a ridiculously slow start in a frustrating 30-28 defeat at the hands of the Ravens. It was the second straight week where the Birds were in position late in the game to steal one from a very good team but ended up coming up just short. There were some encouraging signs, but the team is rapidly running out of time for encouraging signs and improvement to not transfer into wins.
The good news is the offense has scored 25+ points in three straight weeks and done so against some pretty good defenses. The bad news is the defense surrendered 30+ points in two of those weeks and inconsistency, repetitive mistakes, and an inability to play a full 60 minutes continue to hold this team back.
There's one other bit of good news. The Eagles are entering an incredibly favorable stretch of the schedule, and if they can go 3-1 or even 4-0 over the next four weeks, they'll be right in the mix for a division title, as crazy as that sounds. They'll look to get started Thursday night when they try to get their first division win of 2020.
Next: Giants (Thursday)
New York Giants (1-5)
Despite an 0-5 start, the Giants managed to climb out of the cellar in Week 6 with a win over the Washington Football Team. To further demonstrate the terribleness of the division, the win over Washington leaves the Giants just a game out of first place.
In any normal division, the Giants would be written off by this point. In the NFC East, we're looking at a game between a 1-4-1 team and a 1-5 team as one that holds significant implications in the race for a division title. It's almost funny.
Next: at Eagles (Thursday)
Washington Football Team (1-5)
They lost to the Giants. With each passing week, the Eagles Week 1 loss to Washington becomes more infuriating. The quarterback situation is a mess and Washington looks like a team adrift. Much like their rivals in New York, under normal circumstances this team would be an afterthought and wouldn't garner much attention in a column like this, but as we mentioned, in the 2020 NFC East, 1-5 teams are still relevant. LOL.
Next: Cowboys
