Are the Eagles fraudulent despite impending NFC East title?

The Philadelphia Eagles escaped with their ninth-straight win, a 22-16 nail-biter over the Carolina Panthers. They now lead the NFC East by three games with four to play.

Barring an epic collapse, the Eagles will win the division this year.

But a deeper dive into how they are winning their games reveals a team weaker than their record indicates.

Forget advancing to the NFC Championship game to face the highly-motivated Lions. The way the Eagles are playing, they won’t get past the divisional round.

Forget getting to the Lions, the Eagles will struggle against either Green Bay or Minnesota, their likely divisional round opponents at this point.

Washington remains on track to earn one of the three wild card spots, and last week’s bye will help them in their final push.

The Cowboys and Giants have been reduced to playing out the string at this point.

Here’s how the NFC East played out this week:

Dallas Cowboys (5-8)

Apparently, the Cowboys are unable to learn from past mistakes.

With a chance to get the ball back in very good field position after a strong defensive stop, the offense never got a chance to try to win the game in the final two minutes on Monday.

The special teams unit charged in and got an excellent block by Nick Vigil. Unfortunately, instead of letting the ball die at the Bengals’ 43, Amani Oruwariye, just activated for the game, tried to play the hero.

In the same vein as Leon Lett some 30 years ago, Oruwarive tried to field the bouncing ball.

He muffed it and the Bengals happily pounced on the loose ball for a new possession.

Three plays later the Bengals scored the game winner and Dallas never got the ball back across midfield in their final possession.

The news on Tuesday that DeMarvion Overshown’s season is over, and he might be out all of 2025, just added insult to more injury. It’s been that kind of year, hasn’t it?

The Cowboys had already been officially eliminated from winning the division title with the Eagles win over Carolina on Sunday.

Monday night’s loss all but mathematically ends the Cowboys season. They would need to win their final four games and then have a lot of other games go perfectly their way.

That’s just not going to happen.

Next game: at Carolina, Sunday, Noon.

New York Giants (2-11)

You have to hand it to Big Blue. They are finding some unique ways to lose football games this year.

After falling behind 14-3 to the New Orleans Saints, the Giants rallied back late and got to within three points and got the ball back.

With 80 seconds left, the Giants got off a nine-play drive that covered 56 yards. The drive got them to the Saints’ 17 with 11 seconds left.

Graham Gano set up for a 35-yard field goal to tie the game.

The kick was blocked by a defender coming right up the middle who was not touched by any of the offensive linemen.

New York is likely going to end up with the No. 1 pick. If I were a college player, I would pray that I’m not the No. 1 pick in April.

Next game: hosting Baltimore, Sunday, Noon.

Philadelphia Eagles (11-2)

Saquon Barkley, the running back Jerry Jones couldn’t be bothered to even call because Ezekiel Elliott was available, set the Eagles’ new franchise rushing record on Sunday.

In case you were wondering, Barkley has 1,499 rushing yards in 13 games. Elliott has 189, for the year.

And now you also know why the Eagles have won nine in a row and have all but wrapped up the NFC East title with four games to play.

But that ninth win came with some nervous moments in Philadelphia. Especially in the final minute.

Carolina nearly took the lead in that final minute.

But Panthers receiver Xavier Legette couldn’t maintain possession on a bomb down the middle as he fell to the ground in the endzone.

The ball came loose, and the Panthers couldn’t get back into the endzone after the drop. The Eagles escaped with a win.

But despite the streak, the Eagles aren’t dominating their opponents. And they still trail the Detroit Lions for the best record in the NFC.

Philadelphia’s final four games aren’t all going to be cakewalks.

They host the Steelers, play at Washington, and then host Dallas and the Giants. The division might be theirs, that first round bye is still beyond their grasp.

Next game: hosting Pittsburgh, Sunday, 3:25 p.m.

Washington Commanders (8-5)

About the only thing that went wrong for the Commanders last week was the Eagles’ win. Now three games out of the chase for the NFC East, Washington’s focus is on a wild card spot.

The Commanders finally got a bye and can use the rest going into the final quarter of the season.

Washington would almost certainly need to win all four of its remaining games, and have the Eagles lose their last four, to win the division.

So, for now, the Commanders are probably hoping for at least two wins to secure that wild card slot. In addition to games against the Eagles and Cowboys, Washington plays Atlanta and New Orleans down the stretch.

They also got the welcome news that the franchise’s old logo is probably making a comeback.

With that, the Commanders’ moniker is likely on its way out. It does not sound like it will be replaced by Redskins.

But the only name that makes sense with the logo’s return would be Warriors.

Which is still better than Commanders. And certainly much better than “Football Team” was.

Next game: at New Orleans, Sunday, Noon.