The NFC East is on pace to obtain the worst winning percentage by an NFL division since the realignment in 2002. They’ve been, for lack of a better word, putrid. The division-leading Eagles currently sit at 3-5-1 and have the toughest remaining schedule in the division. The Giants have a 3-7 record, placing them second in the division, only a half-game out of first. The Cowboys and Redskins round it off with solid 2-7 records. One of these teams is making the playoffs, which just doesn’t feel right, but it’s what we get.
How did each team get to where they find themselves today? What went wrong for them? What went right? What’s going to happen the rest of the way?
There are so many questions with this division, so let’s break it down team by team to get a glimpse of this awful division.
Philadelphia Eagles (3-5-1 1st in NFC East)
How the Eagles find themselves in first place, is absolutely baffling to me. They’ve been one of the most inconsistent teams so far this NFL season, yet are rewarded with first place nearly 2/3 of the way through the season.
How did they get here?
Well, your guess is as good as mine. Their three wins came against the Cowboys, Giants, and a banged-up 49ers team. They have good losses, as well as inexcusable ones. Losses to the Football Team, Giants, and a tie with the Bengals have left fans scratching their head, and it’s been in large part because of the play of Carson Wentz. Their other three losses come against the Rams, Steelers, and a comeback attempt against the Ravens that fell short.
What went wrong?
Injuries are a huge problem for the Eagles. Their offensive line and wide receiver core have been the ones hit hardest by the bug. The bigger issue with this team is Carson Wentz. He’s had his fair share of ups and downs so far this season. Amazing is the best way to describe his ups, but there haven’t been many of them. What I mean by that is that he’s played, maybe, two good halves of football. He’s been one of the worst QB’s this year (see below). They’re also -7 in terms of turnover differential.
What went right?
Not much. They’ve had flashes from young talent, mainly Travis Fulgham, but then again half of his stats come from one game. The defense has been pretty good, outside of stopping the run and forcing turnovers. The defense ranks 6th in pass yards per game and 11th in total yards per game.
What does the rest of the season hold?
The Eagles are still the favorite to win the division heading into week 11, but I don’t see a way that happens. Their remaining schedule is brutal. Out of their final eight games, six of them come against teams with winning records. Tankathon says their remaining strength of schedule ranks 5th in the league. Considering their next six games come against the Browns, Seahawks, Packers, Saints, and Cardinals, there is a possibility that they head into week 16 on a seven-game losing streak. In their last two games, they play NFC East opponents, the Cowboys and Redskins, which are winnable, but as we saw in week one also a chance they lose. My prediction is that they finish the season 6-9-1, squeaking into the playoffs.
New York Giants (3-7 2nd in NFC East)
The G-Men are probably the best team in the division, even though their record doesn’t reflect that. Coming off a win against the Eagles, they look poised to overtake them for that coveted playoff spot. There’s no question they’re playing their best football right now, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
How did they get here?
They started the season 0-5, which in any other division means that you lose any chance at a playoff spot, but not in this one. In those five games, they looked somewhat competitive in all but one, keeping it within one score in three. Since then, they’ve proceeded to go 3-2, although those three wins came against divisional opponents in the Eagles once, almost twice, and the Redskins twice. The outlier comes against the Buccaneers, a game in which they had a lead at halftime, but ended up losing by two.
What went wrong?
Daniel Jones. He still hasn’t been able to figure out how to hold onto the ball. He’s responsible for all 15 Giants turnovers through ten games. If he could get that under control, who knows how good the Giants would be. It’s the inability of the offense to put up points and move the ball down the field, that’s put them in the position they’re in. They rank 30th in ppg and ypg with 19.5 and 306.6 respectively, ahead of only the Bears and Jets.
What went right?
The defense is the reason that the Giants can even contend in some games. The Giants sit at even in turnover differential, even with 15 turnovers. That just goes to show you how opportunistic this defense is. They boast the 7th ranked rush defense, the 16th ranked pass defense, and the 12th ranked ppg points defense. Another high note is that Daniel Jones is the only person on the team that’s turned the ball over, so everyone else knows how to hold onto the ball.
What does the rest of the season hold?
In my opinion, the Giants have the best chance to win the division, but for them to do so Daniel Jones has to be smarter with the ball. Their remaining SOS puts them at 7th in the league with games against the Cardinals, Seahawks, Browns, and Ravens being their toughest. They can steal at least one of those games if not two. The Bengals and Cowboys sandwich that death row stretch of games. The good news for the Giants is that they’re 3-2 against the division already, so a win against the Cowboys would be huge. My prediction is that they finish the season 6-10, falling a half-game short of the playoffs.
Washington Football Team (2-7 3rd in NFC East)
The Football Team situation is probably the hardest to explain. They’re 2-7, but outside of their two wins, haven’t been all that competitive against good teams. In fact, against teams with a winning record, they’ve been outscored by 63, but in all other games, they’re +25 in point differential.
How did they get here?
They shocked the world with a week one, decisive, win over the Eagles. Then they proceeded to go 1-7 in their next eight games with a five-game losing streak sprinkled in. Their most recent loss came against the hapless Lions, in which they came back down 24-3, only to lose 30-27 on a Matt Prater 59 yard field goal.
What went wrong?
The Dwayne Haskins experiment seems to be over in Washington after he was benched in favor of Kyle Allen. The offense looks lost a lot at times, ranking 29th in points and yards per game, but they pick up the performance against worse teams. That’ll happen when you play three different QB’s in a season. They’re in a similar situation as the Eagles, with a -7 turnover differential.
What went right?
There’s a lot to be happy about if you’re a Redskins fan. Antonio Gibson looks like the team’s future feature back, showing flashes of being a top tier running back. Alex Smith is back, which is the best story of 2020, and he looked pretty good in their most recent game against the Lions. The defense overall looks like a force to be reckoned with in the future. They claim the 1st ranked pass defense, 14th ranked points defense, and 7th ranked defense in total yards. The defensive line is scary, averaging 3.1 sacks a game, good enough for 5th in the league.
What does the rest of the season hold?
The Football Team have the 24th ranked SOS for the remainder of the season. They do play the Steelers and Seahawks, but other than that, nothing too difficult. They have a chance to beat the Seahawks because of their number one ranked pass defense, but they still need to play out of their mind to win in. The team that remains unnamed, still has two divisional games left, one against the Eagles and Cowboys. The other teams they finish up against are the Niners, Panthers, and Bengals. My prediction is that they finish the year 4-12, but they look competent in most of their games.
Dallas Cowboys (2-7 4th in NFC East)
When you lose your Pro Bowl QB to injury, have a very different o-line, and have a garbage defense, a 2-7 record doesn’t seem all that unlikely. Unfortunately, for the Cowboys, this is exactly what happened to them. I wish there was more to say about this team, but they just aren’t good.
How did they get here?
Even with Dak Prescott at QB, the Cowboys were a disappointing 1-3. They would’ve been 0-4 had it not been for the utter incompetence of Dan Quinn and the Falcons. Things looked good against the Giants. It looked like they would get their first win and be on the right track, that is until Dak Prescott went down with a gruesome injury. They did end up winning that game, but since then have been 0-4, with little to no offensive pulse.
What went wrong?
Like I said, Dak Prescott’s injury is a huge blow to the Cowboys, but they invested in a backup QB this offseason for a reason, right? Well, he got hurt too, so they were playing with 3rd and 4th string guys the past three weeks. Throw in the fact that Zeke is having Daniel Jones syndrome and you have a great recipe for disaster. The defense’s inability to keep opposing teams off the scoreboard hasn’t helped the situation. They rank dead last in points and bottom third in yards defensively. Mike McCarthy also shouldn’t be an NFL head coach.
What went right?
The only thing that the Cowboys had going for them was Dak Prescott being on pace to shatter the single-season passing yards record. That is literally the only positive takeaway from this season for them.
What does the rest of the season look like?
I’m going to be honest, even with Andy Dalton set to come back, I don’t see the Cowboys winning any more than one game the rest of the season. However, they do have the 31st ranked SOS for their remaining games, with only one game coming against a team with a winning record, the Ravens. They play three more divisional games, which gives them the ability to hop all of them into first place if they can pick up one win outside of those three. They also play the Bengals, Niners, and Vikings. Are any of those games winnable? I don’t think so. My prediction is that they finish 3-13, cementing themselves as the worst in the division.
Takeaway
The 2020 NFC East, will go down as the worst division since the realignment in 2002. If my predictions come to fruition, which at this point who knows if they will, the NFC East finishes with a win percentage of 29.7%. It also means that the Philadelphia Eagles will make the playoff with a grand total of six wins, which, if it happens that way, will be the new record low for a team that made it to the playoffs. The future does look bright for this division, well, maybe not the Eagles. We’ll see how the division finishes up the year, but I think everyone can agree, it’s been nothing short of a dumpster fire.
