Don’t look now, but by early Tuesday morning the Philadelphia Eagles could be in first place in the NFC East. The Birds we’re able to pull out a win over the Giants, while things broke their way across the rest of the division. The result is a very clear path for the Eagles to head into the stretch run at the head of the pack. Let’s sort things out.
Cowboys (6-5)
As hard as it was to do, Eagles fans were hoping for a Cowboys victory over the Redskins on Thanksgiving, and they got it. Dak Prescott was solid, Ezekiel Elliott continued to be a terror, and much to the chagrin of Eagles fans, Dallas has had no trouble “integrating”their new weapon Amari Cooper, who piled up eight catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys have won three in a row and leapfrogged the Redskins with the win courtesy of 3-1 division record.
Dallas hosts the red-hot Saints on Thursday night, and a loss opens the door for the Eagles to get into first place. Hopefully the Cowboys suffer a similar fate to the Eagles against Drew Brees and the Saints.
Redskins (6-5)
Washington missed a golden opportunity on Thanksgiving Day, as it could have opened up a two-game lead on the Cowboys and a three-game lead on the Eagles. Instead they find themselves tied with Dallas and just a game ahead of the Birds, sitting in second place thanks to the division record tiebreaker.
Colt McCoy tossed three interceptions and Adrian Peterson had just 35 yards rushing, and that is a recipe for disaster for the Redskins.
Washington heads to Philly on Monday night in a monstrous game for the two teams.
Eagles (5-6)
It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles bounced back from yet another sleepy start to escape the Giants with a win. Carson Wentz engineered a game-winning drive, Zach Ertz continued his incredible season, and the Eagles FINALLY got the running game going.
Despite all the frustrations of this season the Eagles are on the cusp of taking over the division lead. All it will take for the Eagles to enter Week 14 in first place is a Cowboys loss to the Saints and a Birds win over the Redskins.
Giants (3-8)
You almost have to give the Giants credit. After a 1-7 start, they could have easily folded and looked ahead to the draft. Instead, they won two in a row before giving the Eagles a scare on Sunday with an opportunity to tie the Philadelphia in the standings. The game up just short, largely because their coach forgot he had Saquon Barkley in the second half. The Eagles will take it, and now at 3-8 the Giants’ season is all but over.
Overview
It’s kind of hard to believe. After all the slow starts, the blown leads, the injuries, the poor playcalling, the fact that arguably not one of the Eagles players are playing as well or better than they did a year ago, the Eagles are one bit of help from the Saints away from controlling their own playoff destiny once again. As frustrating as all of that has been, it’s encouraging that the team has kept fighting and at least given itself a chance to salvage the season, setting up a big Week 13.
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