Philadelphia Eagles are being saved by a bad division
The NFC East has donned it’s ‘NFC Least’ costume just in time for Halloween, and the Philadelphia Eagles are benefiting from subpar play in a bad division.
The 2019 Philadelphia Eagles are currently playing the role of the ‘tallest short person’ in the NFC East. For a division layered in a history of success and championship greatness, this has been a downright embarrassing start to the 2019 campaign.
Philadelphia is playing some of the sloppiest football we’ve seen in the Doug Pederson era, and they’re still in a position to take the division lead on Sunday Night Football this week. This is a sign of poor competition, and it’s keeping the Eagles afloat through six weeks.
The NFC East as currently constructed is the only division in the NFL that doesn’t have a team with a winning record. This is a division filled to the brim with teams that are either .500 or worse, and the four teams as a whole have ONE victory versus a team with a winning record. That honor goes to the Eagles thanks to their win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 4.
That’s been the high watermark for the entire division so far, and it’s the one moment that currently makes Philly the favorite to win it. With the Washington Redskins seemingly tanking and with the New York Giants slowly bringing Daniel Jones along, the Dallas Cowboys and Eagles are the NFC East’s top two teams, although that may just be by default.
There isn’t a dominant team in this group, but Sunday nights marquee matchup will crown a lead dog in the NFC East whether they deserve it or not. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated’s MMQB couldn’t help but address the current state of the division. Take a look.
Eagles and Cowboys now tied at 3-3 atop the NFC East and playing next week. The Giants are actually just a game out of first. Wild.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 13, 2019
Sunday nights matchup will be less of a battle of strengths, and more of a battle of which team can mask their deficiencies better. For Philadelphia, they will have to continue to stop the run effectively and capitalize on the probable absence of Amari Cooper. For Dallas, they will have to generate a pass rush on Carson Wentz and force contested catches for Philly’s struggling wide receivers.
Pro Football Talk pointed out on twitter that Dallas’ losses may include more than just Cooper.
Amari Cooper, Tyron Smith, La'el Collins, Byron Jones, Randall Cobb aren't practicing for the Cowboys on Wednesday https://t.co/2goa8Cpqz1
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 16, 2019
Next. Eagles must capitalize on Dallas Cowboys inactives. dark
Any way you slice it, this Dallas and Philadelphia matchup will yield a first-place team. The quality of that team overall is questionable at best, but the standard of the NFC East in 2019 makes anything possible. The Eagles need to capitalize on a weak division by beating the Redskins, Giants, and Cowboys soundly for the rest of the season. They can get a fresh start by bouncing back under the bright lights on Sunday Night Football.