After the Cowboys rolled to a 33-13 victory over the Eagles on Sunday, the NFC East is now a two-horse race.
They’ve rounded the turn and are charging down the homestretch.
What lies ahead is a four-week sprint to end a marathon season. The Eagles have the easier schedule but they have looked very mortal the last two weeks.
Seattle’s defense, the next team up for Philadelphia, now has the blueprint from the 49ers and Cowboys on how to shut down the Eagles.
The Cowboys on the other hand, have two divisional leaders and a team very much in the playoff hunt ahead.
It promises to be a very exciting final quarter of the season, if nothing else.
Dallas Cowboys (10-3)
Dallas’ defense throttled Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ offense. They forced, and recovered, three fumbles.
They also kept Philadelphia’s offense out of the endzone.
Jalen Carter’s defensive fumble recovery and return was the Eagles’ lone touchdown.
The Cowboys’ offense, aside from that Dak Prescott fumble, looks like a well-oiled machine. They moved the ball on the ground and in the air with ease.
Dallas looks very much like a different team from the one that got crushed in San Francisco a few weeks back.
While the schedule isn’t in their favor, they are capable of winning all four of their remaining games.
The Cowboys have road games at Buffalo and then Miami. The Dolphins looked less than invincible Monday night in a loss to the Titans.
The Cowboys will host the Lions before closing out the year at Washington.
If the season ended today, Dallas would be the No. 2 seed as the NFC East champion.
But even if they win out, they would still need one more Philadelphia loss to keep that position. They’d also need another 49ers’ loss to gain the No. 1 seed.
Philadelphia Eagles (10-3)
The Eagles have a Monday night game against the Seahawks before hosting back-to-back games against the Giants and Cardinals.
They will close out the season at New York against the Giants.
While they have faced the two best teams in the NFC – if not the entire NFL – the Eagles look like a tired team.
And they have had several games this year they were very fortunate to win.
The Eagles going 4-0 down the stretch is certainly not a given. Especially with two games coming against a suddenly dangerous Giants’ team.
Especially if those four defenses were paying attention to how the 49ers and Cowboys caged the Eagles.
New York Giants (5-8)
New York kept its hopes alive for an over-.500 season and a wildcard slot with a 24-22 win over the Packers on Monday night.
Tommy DeVito isn’t going to mistaken for a Hall of Fame quarterback. But he’s giving the Giants hope that they can win a game every week.
New York has back-to-back road games against the Saints and then Philadelphia. The Giants close out the season with two home games against the Rams and then the Eagles.
New York is in position to have a say in who wins the NFC East, especially if they manage to take one of those two games against the Eagles.
Even if the playoff berth doesn’t materialize, the Giants are also playing to stay out of the NFC East cellar.
Washington Commanders (4-9)
The Commanders had their best week in over a month. The accomplished this by not playing this week, which pretty much sums up Washington’s year.
Now riding a four-game losing streak, the Commanders are ensured of finishing either third or fourth in the division.
They travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams on Sunday, then go up to New York to play the Jets. These are likely the last two chances to win a game for Washington.
The Commanders close out the year hosting the 49ers and then the Cowboys.
In all likelihood, Ron Rivera will take the field as Washington’s head coach on January 7th against Dallas.