We have now completed a quarter of the 2018 NFL season, and the NFC East remains neck and neck. The Redskins, Cowboys and Eagles all sit with 2 wins on the season, while the Giants fell behind the pack to 1-3 with a home loss last week.
Week 5 features some critical games across the division, as three of the four teams take on conference opponents who each made the postseason a year ago.
Washington Redskins
Washington had a bye week last Sunday, so they enter week 5 with a 2-1 record. This week they travel to New Orleans to face a Saints team which seems to have found themselves after a shaky start to their 2018 campaign.
Alex Smith should be able to get things going through the air against the Saints, and running back Chris Thompson should have a good game as a receiver out of the backfield. Defensively Washington will certainly be challenged, especially as Drew Brees chases Peyton Manning’s career passing yards record on Monday night.
Washington currently sits atop the division, but the early bye week may come back to haunt them down the stretch.
Philadelphia Eagles
Though they came into the season as the clear favorite to win the NFC East, there is a strong argument to be made that the Eagles should be winless through the first four games of the year. Carson Wentz and the offense have been quietly not-so-great, as they barely squeaked out a home win over a bad Colts team, and lost in overtime to Tennessee last week.
Still, this team has the weapons to break out and look like their 2017 selves at any moment, and they might need to do so this week during an NFC Championship game rematch.
The Eagles host a Vikings team on Sunday which desperately needs a win to keep pace in both the NFC North and NFC Wild Card race. At home, against a conference opponent who should be alive in tiebreakers at the end of the year, the Eagles have to take care of business.
This is being deemed “America’s Game of the Week” for a reason and should be a good one from start to finish.
New York Giants
The Giants look really bad. That’s about it. They look bad.
Offensively the Giants have failed to score 30 points since 2015, and looked pathetic against what has been a bad Saints defense a week ago. On defense the Giants have actually been respectable, and though they have the skill players on offense to create big plays, their quarterback and offensive line are holding them back from doing so.
The Giants are tasked with a road game against the Carolina Panthers this week. Carolina is currently 2-1, and coming off a bye should be well rested to face this struggling Giants team. If there’s any hope for the Giants it’s that outside of their week one performance against Dallas, Carolina’s pass defense has been very suspect this season.
Maybe this is the week they turn things around offensively and get something going, but until they do it we have no real reason to expect it from them.
