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We began the final quarter of the regular season on Sunday, and in true fashion to the first three, it was completely unpredictable. That idea doesn’t necessarily apply to the Dallas Cowboys as plenty of people saw them defeating the hapless Cincinnati Bengals. America’s Team got the win in the Queen City and will be celebrated next week in the 1 PM ET hour of games as opposed to Sunday Night Football when they were originally set to play.
In a more shocking result, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New Orleans Saints... in rookie Jalen Hurts’ first start no less. It was that kind of day during that kind of season, and as a result the NFC East needs to be discussed.
The Washington Football Team has established themselves as the top favorite
Only one team within the NFC East did not win on Sunday and it just so happened to be the team that began the day in first place, the New York Giants. This division has hardly been predictable, or legitimate, this season, but it does seem more clear than ever who is going to wind up winning it.
There are three games remaining this season that feature two teams from within the division and the Dallas Cowboys play in two of them (Philadelphia in Week 16, and at New York in Week 17). It all seems like it isn’t going to end up mattering though as the likely winner has just about cemented their status there... or at least cemented Dallas’ as out of it.
Washington Football Team (6-7)
The team with no name won with authority in a road game against the San Francisco 49ers that took place in Arizona.
Washington appeared to be on track to win the division as soon as they beat the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. The Giants kept things interesting by winning in parallel, but what made sense is starting to set in.
The Washington defense is the best unit throughout the division at the moment. With upcoming games against Seattle, a tough one, but then the Panthers and Eagles to close it out, it’s hard to see this team not winning the division.
WORTH MENTIONING: Washington’s tiebreaker by sweeping the Cowboys this season is extremely important starting now. As they have that and have two more wins than Dallas with three to go, any other Washington win eliminates the Cowboys from contention for the title.
New York Giants (5-8)
The G-Men played some tremendous football over the last month or so, but it appears as if the clock struck midnight on that little run. Arizona had their way with the Giants and a flexed game to SNF against the Cleveland Browns isn’t going to help things.
New York has been the healthiest team in the division all year. Thankfully they won’t end up in the top five or so of picks, but they will make for a tough Week 17 matchup for the Cowboys.
Philadelphia Eagles (4-8-1)
We have all made our jokes, but the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles took down the New Orleans Saints in Jalen Hurts’ debut is concerning to say the least. It was quite impressive.
Overall much more data is necessary to properly evaluate who Hurts is going to be, but it’s possible that the Eagles are competitive in the future with him. Either way, their win helps boost the Cowboys’ draft pick odds so Dallas won in a number of ways on Sunday.
Dallas Cowboys (4-9)
As noted, the win in Cincinnati was hardly unexpected, but a win is a win and it had to feel good for the locker room and Andy Dalton specifically.
Hope is still alive for the Cowboys winning the division, however faint it is, and while the win against the Bengals likely took them out of contention for a top three pick, the Cowboys got wins from teams like the Chargers and Eagles to help keep their overall top selection hopes alive.
It was likely only going to end this way. It is almost there.