So, we all know the Cowboys had a bad night Sunday, losing for the third time in five games. The thing is, the team’s odds of winning the NFC East actually increased (according to Football Outsiders). That’s because all of the Cowboys’ division rivals also lost in week five. This leaves the NFC Least in a sad state of affairs. Consider: A .500 team (that just got waxed by a 43-19 score) leads the division. The division’s overall record is 7-12. That’s a 37% winning percentage, which would translate to less than six wins for a team over 16 games. None of the four teams has scored more points than their opponents. No other division has more than two teams with a negative point differential, for comparison. And it’s not like the division was going up against a bunch of NFL titans. The NFC East’s four opponents headed into week five with a collective 11-10 record and emerged with a collective 15-10 record. It was a collectively embarrassing effort. Here are the averages from the four games: In short, it’s really ugly right now. Which is terrific for Cowboys’ fans. Generally a 2-3 record after five games means having to make up multiple games to catch the division leader. Not so for the NFC East teams. PLAYOFF ODDS Everything about the above table just screams mediocrity. Outside of the Giants, these aren’t terrible numbers, they’re just not very good. Here’s Football Outsider’s odds for each team for winning the division, earning a wild card spot, making the playoffs and earning a one-six conference playoff seed: As you can see, Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia all have relatively similar odds of winning the division (Washington is slightly higher). But the teams combined odds of earning a first-round bye is only eleven percent. That’s bad. The team’s also have only a combined 21% likelihood of earning a wild card spot - meaning if you don’t win the division you’re not likely making the playoffs. Here’s how those wild card odds have changed since week one: We can also see how each team’s odds of winning the division have changed since week one: Both the Eagles and the Cowboys have declined significantly while both the Redskins and even the Giants (despite a 1-4 record) have seen their odds improve. That’s remarkable and just more evidence of a truly bad division. Offensive and Defensive Rankings Offensively the division is a mess. All four teams rank in the bottom ten of the league in points scored and in the bottom 13 of the league in yards. The Giants and Redskins add turnover problems to their offensive woes. If you’re looking for high quality offensive football you need to look outside the NFC East. A big reason for that is the sad state of the division’s quarterbacks. You could argue Dallas, Washington and New York each have bad short-term QB situations with no plan for the future. Eli Manning and Alex Smith are old and won’t be getting better any time soon. Barring a dramatic turnaround, Dak Prescott won’t be a starting NFL quarterback soon. Only the Eagles have a quarterback they know will be there for the next several years. Ugh. Defensively things are better but they’re not great. Dallas pretty well epitomizes the problem: they do well in terms of points and yards surrendered but they’re terrible at generating turnovers. The teams have combined to generate only 21 turnovers in a combined 19 games, barely one per game. All four teams rank in the top twelve of the league in yards allowed, showing they’re able to stop teams. Combine the poor offenses and much better defenses and anyone watching NFC East games should expect some ugly, low-scoring games. TEAM OUTLOOKS Philadelphia Eagles Despite the team’s 2-3 start I would still make the Eagles the favorite to win the division. Mostly because they still have the best roster and the best quarterback situation. But this isn’t the same team as last season and “best” in the NFC East simply mean better than mediocre. The offensive line, which was the best in the league last year, has been a problem spot. Carson Wentz has been sacked twelve times in three games. The Eagles rank 27th in rushing yards per attempt. Losing Jay Ajayi for the season didn’t help. The Eagles simply aren’t moving the ball or scoring points at the same rate as last year. Defensively they’re giving up more yards and aren’t generating turnovers (dropping from fourth last season to 24th this season). The front seven is still very strong but the secondary has been exposed numerous times. Reason for optimism: if you watch the Eagles they keep shooting themselves in the foot with untimely drops, penalties and boneheaded plays. You don’t have to squint too hard to see them moving from mediocre to good. They face a tough schedule though (six division games as well as the Panthers, Saints, Jaguars, Rams and Texans). All those who believed the Eagles 2018 season began a sustained period of domination have seen that’s extremely hard in the NFL. Dallas Cowboys It’s hard to believe that a year ago the Cowboys also sat at 2-3 but looked nothing like the current version. The 2017 version had come off consecutive losses to the Rams and Packers despite the offense being an unstoppable juggernaut. Dallas combined for 61 points and 848 yards of offense, which generally will win you many games. But the defense simply couldn’t stop the opponent. Now it’s the opposite. The defense is giving up an average of only 19 points, which is fifth in the league. Dallas has been able to either limit teams from moving the ball or has been extremely stingy in the red zone. However, there’s worrying signs on the defensive side of the ball: The defensive line was touted as a potentially dominant unit. Yet against highly suspect offensive lines the team has twice (Seattle and Houston) barely been able to get to the QB and allowed multiple big plays in the passing game. Opposing quarterbacks are again slicing up a vulnerable secondary. Deshaun Watson and Matthew Stafford combined for 660 yards passing the last two weeks. Opposing quarterbacks now have a 101.3 quarterback rating for the season. You’re not a top ten defense while giving up a passer rating over 100, sorry. Offensively things are worse, much, much worse. Somehow combining marginal talent at QB, WR and TE with an unimaginative, predictable, boring scheme hasn’t resulted in success. Who knew? It’s bad in every way and the team’s bottom of the league rankings in every major offensive category are a true reflection of how bad it’s been. Reason for optimism: despite the deep systemic problems with both the roster and the scheme, offensively plays have been there to be made. Prescott is missing open receivers. Receivers are dropping catch-able balls. Offensive lineman are blowing assignments. These are all correctable. That’s all I got. Washington Redskins The ‘Skins were largely exposed as a fraud Monday Night while getting run over by the New Orleans Saints. Despite having two full weeks to prepare they were disorganized, dysfunctional and a complete and total mess. Alex Smith looks nothing like the league’s top-ranked quarterback from 2017. Who knew taking him away from one of the most innovative offensive minds in the league and an elite surrounding cast of talent would lead to diminished returns? A defense that had played pretty well early in the season simply got run over Monday night and had no answers for Drew Brees. The Saints found open spaces everywhere on the field. Reason for optimism: Drew Brees slices up lots of defenses. The Redskins simply need to forget Monday and move on. Unfortunately, they have a short week to prepare for a difficult Carolina matchup. New York Giants First the good news. The Giants scored more than 30 points for the first time since the final week of the 2015 season (a stretch of 37 games). They also put up 447 yards of offense and Eli Manning is actually in the top half of the league in passing metrics. Saquon Barkley is the real deal.<doc-sep>The Philadelphia Eagles would’ve dropped to last place in the NFC East if they lost to the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football. But that did not happen. Instead, the Eagles handled the Giants with relative ease on their way to a 34-13 victory. As a result, the reigning Super Bowl champions are now back in first place where they rightfully belong. Let’s take an updated look at the standings. 1 - Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) 2 - Washington Redskins (2-2) 3 - Dallas Cowboys (2-3) 4 - New York Giants (1-5) The Eagles currently have the tie-breaker over Washington when it come to division wins. The Eagles are 1-0 while Washington hasn’t played an NFC East opponent yet. Washington has an opportunity to jump back into first if they can beat the Panthers at home this Sunday. NFL odds currently have Washington as one-point favorites. Eagles fans should be rooting hard for Carolina this weekend. Elsewhere, the Cowboys will be looking to avoid dropping to 2-4 as they host the Jaguars. NFL odds have Jacksonville entering the game as three-point road favorites. Cowboys fans are expecting a loss, for what it’s worth. If all goes well for the Eagles, the division could look like this after Sunday’s Week 6 games: 1 - Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) 2 - Washington Redskins (2-3) 3 - Dallas Cowboys (2-4) 4 - New York Giants (1-5) Plenty of season left to go still, of course, but that’d be nice.<doc-sep>LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 14: Redskins tight end Vernon Davis catches a touchdown pass in the first quarter during a game between the Washington Redskins and the Carolina Panthers at FedEx Field on October 14, 2018, in Landover, MD. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Just when you thought you could count on a few things during this NFL season, it was another week of teams making some subtle moves within their divisions. It was another wild week in the NFL but not a great deal of changes in terms of the standings. One notable exception may be the Houston Texans, who opened the season 0-3 and are now in three-way tie with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. Here’s a look at all eight divisions entering the San Francisco 49ers’ Monday night appearance at Lambeau Field. AFC East: Just when it looked like the Miami Dolphins were on their way to third straight loss, the team rallied to knock off the visiting Chicago Bears in overtime. But Adam Gase’s team is looking up tie-breaker wise at the New England Patriots, who handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of 2018 with a last-second 43-40 win. The New York Jets are back at .500 thanks to two straight wins, while the Buffalo Bills are the lone team in the division with a losing record. AFC North: The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens picked up key road wins on Sunday, while the Cincinnati Bengals (losers to Mike Tomlin’s team, 28-21) and Cleveland Browns (38-14 loss to Chargers) took it on the chin in their own building. The latter is now on the only team in the AFC North below .500, while the Steelers (3-2-1) are now just one-half game behind the 4-2 Bengals and Ravens. AFC South: It sounds like a broke record. Bill O’Brien’s Texans owned a 0-3 record. While the team rallied to beat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts all lost for the second consecutive week. Tennessee is technically leading the AFC South with a 3-3 record. But suddenly there’s quite the divisional logjam and it’s anyone’s guess who’s playing the best football these days. AFC West: For the second consecutive year, the Kansas City Chiefs opened with five straight wins and failed to get to 6-0. The team fell just short at New England, 43-40, and suddenly is just one game ahead of the rejuvenated Los Angeles Chargers, who have won three straight games after a 1-2 start. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Denver Broncos lost their fourth consecutive game after a 2-0 start and the Raiders dropped to 1-5 with a 27-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at London’s Wembley Stadium. NFC East: Six days after Jay Gruden’s Washington Redskins were humbled at New Orleans, the team rebounded with a 23-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers and are all alone atop the NFC East once again with a 3-2 record. Both the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys came up with decisive wins this week, while the disappointing New York Giants have dropped three straight games. NFC North: Although the team remains in first place, the vaunted Chicago Bears’ defense couldn’t protect a double-digit lead at Miami and the team’s three-game winning streak came to an end in overtime. The Minnesota Vikings have won two straight games for the first time this season. The Lions were off in Week 6 while the Packers host the 49ers on Monday night. NFC South: The defending NFC South champion New Orleans Saints (4-1) have now won four straight but have a stiff task ahead of them this weekend as they travel to Baltimore. The Carolina Panthers are only one game behind but have yet to figure out how to win on the road this season. The battered Falcons snapped a three-game losing streak on Sunday but still sit in the basement at 2-4. And the Buccaneers’ 2-0 start has turned into a 2-3 reality. NFC West: Sean McVay’s club is 6-0 and the lone unbeaten team in the NFL. The Rams have eeked out back-to-back wins at Seattle (33-31) and at Denver (23-20). The team heads to San Francisco for a third consecutive road game on Sunday. Don’t look now but the Seattle Seahawks have won three of their last four games after a 0-2 start. The Niners head to Green Bay Monday night while the 1-5 Cardinals have scored a combined 82 points in six games.<doc-sep>
Entering Week 6, the New York Giants had what appeared to be a real opportunity to gain ground in the NFC East despite their dismal record, and possibly even come out of it back just a half a game. Rather, a disaster scenario played out for Big Blue where instead of gaining ground, they actually lost ground and positioned themselves for another season in the basement and without the playoffs. With one non-divisional game remaining in Week 6, here’s how the NFC East currently shapes up: Washington Redskins (3-2) The inconsistent Redskins, coming off a loss to the New Orleans Saints, rebounded in Week 6 and managed to do what the Giants couldn’t a week earlier — hold off a Carolina Panthers comeback attempt, walking away with a 23-17 victory. Josh Norman played well a week after being benched in the second half, while Washington remained ahead of the pack. Dallas Cowboys (3-3) In a game many expected the struggling Cowboys to lose, they surprised the football world and blew the Super Bowl hopeful Jacksonville Jaguars out of the water, 40-7. It was one of Dallas’ best all-around performances in recent memory, and it set up a Week 7 battle with the Redskins for first place in the division. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) The Eagles broke out of their offensive slump in a big way on Thursday night, wiping the floor with the Giants in front of a packed house at MetLife Stadium. After breaking their two-game losing streak, Philadelphia will now host three consecutive games at home with a bye week in between. They could be getting things right at the ideal time. New York Giants (1-5) The Giants were the only team in the NFC East to go home with a loss in Week 6, and that’s compounded by wins by Sam Darnold (New York Jets), Philip Rivers (Los Angeles Chargers) and Ben Roethlisberger and the (Pittsburgh Steelers). Big Blue is also now tied with the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts for the worst record in the league.