The NFC East has been considered the worst division in football for years, yet if the playoffs started today, all FOUR teams would have played a game.
The Eagles sit atop the East with a 10-1 record. The Cowboys are second at 8-3, the Giants at 7-4, and the Commanders at 7-5. Good for a combined 32-13 record. A season ago, the division had 32 wins total at the end of the season.
Six weeks remain before the regular reason ends, and the NFC East has already matched the win total from a season ago.
At the moment, the ENTIRE NFC EAST is in the playoffs 🤯 (via @gmfb) pic.twitter.com/N8pM4HCdV3
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) November 28, 2022
How did it happen?
Many knew the division could grab two playoff spots coming into the season. The winner of the East and the other coming as a wild card since they added a spot in 2020.
Nobody thought after the first 11 weeks of the season; all four teams would have a spot if the season ended today. The Giants have a new head coach and declined Daniel Jones's 5th-year option, and everyone wrote them off.
Washington was a question mark coming into the season. Carson Wentz was traded to the Commanders in March of this year. His third team in three years.
The Commanders and the Giants are the two biggest surprises thus far.
Most picked the Eagles to win the division because nobody has won the NFC East in a back-to-back season since the Eagles in 2003 and 2004.
After the Cowboys went 12-4 a season ago and won the division, people picked against them. The Cowboys faced adversity to start the season. They traded Amari Cooper and lost Dak Prescott at the end of week one against the Bucs.
After that game ended, the season was over for Dallas, and they had no chance of making the playoffs. Yet here we are, rolling into week 12, and the Cowboys are not only 8-3, and they still have a chance to steal this division from Philly.
The Cowboys are the No. 5 seed in the NFC, two games behind the Eagles for the division lead. Philadelphia owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Dallas, but they will meet again on Christmas Eve, and that game could determine who will take control of the division lead.
The next three out of four games are at home for Dallas. They welcome the Colts this week, then the Texans. Go on the road for the Jaguars, then Philly comes to town the night before Christmas.
The Eagles have a bit of a tough stretch. They welcome the Titans and Derrick Henry to town, then go on the road for three straight games against the Giants, Bears, and Cowboys.
These next four games, weeks 13-16, will determine who wins the NFC East.
The division that people once made fun of for the Cowboys beating up and getting the easy path to the playoffs has put everyone on notice. Despite the Eagles' impressive ten wins, Dallas is not letting them get comfortable.
Dallas needs to keep the pressure on Philly and not beat themselves. We will learn a lot about the makeup of this team as they take the field in December.
