The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles continue to slug it out for the NFC East.
The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants keep falling further behind the pace. The chances of either winning the division as we hit the halfway point of the year are low.
The chances of either making the playoffs aren’t that much better.
The Commanders hold a half-game lead in the division, they still have four games to play until their bye week.
The Eagles are keeping the heat on Washington. The two teams collide in nine days on Thursday Night football.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, are imploding.
Dallas has lost its last three games. They host the Eagles in their next game trying to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 2020.
A task made that much more difficult with Dak Prescott looking to miss the game, and a few others after, and CeeDee Lamb’s availability uncertain.
The Cowboys lost five in a row back in 2015, part of a seven-game losing streak that season.
With games upcoming against the Eagles, Houston Texans, and Commanders, the Cowboys could be in jeopardy of matching that streak this year.
The good news is that they should snap their losing streak at six, even without Prescott, when they host the Giants on Thanksgiving Day. New York is also likely the only reason why Dallas will not finish last in the division.
Barring a miracle, the second half is unlikely to go any better than the first half has.
Here’s how the NFC East teams fared on Sunday:
Dallas Cowboys (3-5)
Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
The Cowboys’ offense had a nice opening drive on Sunday, only to settle for three points.
The Falcons scored a touchdown on their next drive to take the lead. The Cowboys never regained that lead the rest of the way.
Mike McCarthy gambled on fourth down five times. Dallas only converted one of those five attempts.
One was on a fake punt that was a bust almost from the beginning.
McCarthy was slamming his tablet to the ground in frustration.
Then Dak Prescott got hurt and who knows how many weeks he’ll be out. And now the rest of us at home are looking for things to slam to the ground in frustration.
Dallas almost has to pull off a miracle win on Sunday against Philadelphia, or this season is all but officially done.
The bad news is that the Cowboys have yet to win a game at home this year.
Next game: hosting Philadelphia, Sunday, 3:25 p.m.
New York Giants (2-7)
The Giants have now lost four straight games after dropping a 27-22 decision to the Commanders on Sunday.
New York is simply playing out the string at this point. The only question surrounding the Giants in 2024 is who will be back in 2025.
The General Manager, Head Coach, and starting Quarterback will almost certainly be packing up their respective lockers and offices as soon as they return from their season finale at Philadelphia.
That is assuming the three of them are allowed to come home from this Sunday’s game in Munich, Germany.
Next game: vs. Carolina in Germany, Sunday, 8:30 a.m.
Philadelphia Eagles (6-2)
The Eagles are riding a four-game win streak after holding off the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-23 on Sunday.
The Eagles might have been looking ahead to their road game at Dallas this Sunday, especially after taking a 22-0 lead early in the third quarter.
They very nearly let the Jaguars rally all the way back. Only an interception in the final two minutes prevented an epic collapse by the Eagles.
It isn’t very likely that Philadelphia will suffer another such lapse at AT&T Stadium.
Next game: at Dallas, Sunday, 3:25 p.m.
Washington Commanders (7-2)
Washington will be looking for its second four-game win streak of the season this Sunday.
Dan Quinn’s turnaround with the Commanders is clearly the story of the year in the NFL. That he’s doing it with a rookie quarterback just makes it that much more impressive.
This week at least, Jayden Daniels didn’t need a last-second Hail Mary to secure the win.
But he will face a tougher test against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who came within one second of beating the Cowboys a few weeks back.
If Prescott had been a second slower in recovering Rico Dowdle’s fumble Dallas would be much closer to last place. The Eagles await just four days later.
A five-game winning streak would put the Commanders in prime position for a division title.
Next game: hosting Pittsburgh, Sunday, Noon.