Week 4 of the 2019 NFL season saw things tighten up in the NFC East. The Dallas Cowboys' lead in the division was lessened by an ugly loss in New Orleans, plus wins by the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants in their games.
As for the Washington Redskins, they simply are one of the worst teams in football this year.
Here are the updated division standings as we head into Week 5:
- Dallas Cowboys 3-1 (2-0 vs division)
- Philadelphia Eagles 2-2 (1-0 vs division)
- New York Giants 2-2 (1-1 vs division)
- Washington Redskins 0-4 (0-3 vs division)
Despite their slip-up against the Saints, Dallas still came out of September with a solid 3-1 start to the year and two division wins. They will hope to pick up a few more wins against the Packers and Jets before the first meeting with the Eagles in Week 7.
There's still a lot of football left this year, meaning the cushion that the Cowboys built from Weeks 1-3 can be quickly eroded. But while we're generally focused on Philadelphia as the threat in the division, could a new contender be emerging?
The Giants have gone 2-0 since naming Daniel Jones the starting quarterback. But while he looked fabulous in the debut win over Tampa Bay, Jones did throw two interceptions in Sunday's victory over Washington. The Redskins simply weren't good enough to take advantage of the turnovers.
The competition is about to heat up for Jones and the Giants. They host the Minnesota Vikings this week and then travel to New England. The bloom may come off Daniel's rose quickly against those defenses.
Speaking of rookie quarterbacks in the NFC East…
Dwayne Haskins Debuts for Redskins
Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter and getting nothing done on offense against the Giants, Washington put rookie QB Dwayne Haskins into the game for the first time this year. Unfortunately for Haskins, the lack of preparation showed as he barely completed half of his passes and threw three interceptions.
Leave it to the Redskins to screw up this QB situation, as they do most situations. Tossing Dwayne out there in the middle of a game, after still treating Case Keenum like the starter all week in practice, was desperate and unwise.
Now Washington has broken the glass on Haskins, undermined Keenum, and all while getting ready to host the New England Patriots on Sunday. Belichick has never been more excited.
Even if the Redskins were set to go to the rookie after their ugly Week 4 loss to the Bears, they should have waited until after the Patriots game. They get one of the few teams worse than they are, the Miami Dolphins, in Week 6.
Yes, these guys are all professionals and the idea of coddling them may sound out of place. And yes, rookie quarterbacks don't need the kind of grooming and protection that they used to.
But at the same time, you don't set these guys up to fail.
Even though it was 25 years ago, I can't help but think of Heath Shuler and how poorly Washington handled his entrance to the NFL. The third-overall pick in his draft, Shuler got stuck in a QB controversy and seemed broken before he ever got a chance to grow as a player.
Dan Snyder didn't even own the team then, but the Robert Griffin III debacle happened during his tenure. The Redskins seem to always find a way to ruin a good thing.
If they're not careful, Dwayne Haskins may become another casualty of their failure.
