The NFC East: it’s anyone’s guess at this point

Bizarre and unexpected wins and losses continue to shift the order around in the division — although the Cowboys are comfortably ahead

Rashan Addison, Sports Writer

It’s a battle of who-is-less-terrible-than-who in the NFC East at the moment.

In week eight, the Eagles made a BIG statement with a win against the hapless Lions.

Eagles starting center Jason Kelce commented via Twitter, “if you want to be a good team, you’re in it together.” Kelce’s words reflected the team’s performance in week eight with a 44-6 blowout against the Lions. Philadelphia represented themselves well and made it known that they are not giving up no matter the adversity.

That celebration was, however, short-lived, as the Birds fell in a down-to-the-wire slugfest with the Chargers last night in Philadelphia. The last minute San Diego field goal undid all the work that quarterback Jalen Hurts put in and the touchdown that rookie DeVonta Smith scored. Sitting low at 3-6, the Eagles have some work to do.

The Washington Football team sought to hold onto the number two spot within the division. Due to injuries of multiple starters, Coach Rivera claimed, “We’ve had to tone the tempo down a little bit so we can get them all in.” Excessive injury reports damage the chemistry of the team, and the whole team suffers from miscommunication on both sides of the ball.

Yet, the team did not show their grievances against the Broncos. The final score of 17-10, resulted in a loss for Washington, putting them under the Eagles–and the Giants–in the division at the number four spot. They are now 2-6, and still figuring out what is next for them, and for the season.

Defensive-end Chase Young, spoke at the post-game interview and stated: “We got to review what we did wrong. … We ain’t going to stop, we gotta keep going.” The Washington Football Team still has a lot to sort out within the season, as well as, to prepare for the next season. 

The Dallas Cowboys visited the Minnesota Vikings on Halloween night. Coming off their bye week, the Cowboys want to utilize the recovery and focus of the week into this week’s game. Two weeks prior, Dak Prescott, the Cowboys quarterback, suffered a calf strain and was questionable for the game. After a pre-game workout, Prescott felt well, but not good enough to play for the game. In preparation, the Cowboys gave their backup quarterback, Cooper Rush, more reps in practice and allowed to get first-team reps, as well. 

Former Cowboys Receiver, Michael Irvin, sat down with cornerback Trevon Diggs, and rookie linebacker, Micah Parsons, to get insight on the defense’s expected performance this week. Parsons claims the success of the defense this year is the amount of “go-getters” they have at every position.

Due to the injury of the defensive end, Demarcus Lawrence, Parsons had to move down to the end position. As for Diggs, he noticed the change of attitude and heart of the defense which is opening eyes around the league, according to the NFL network. As a result, the Cowboys pull out a close, hard-fought win against the Vikings to continue their winning streak…

…which would come to a screeching halt last night against Denver. The Bronco’s quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was able to rush for a touchdown, and the run-game seemed to be the driving factor in the win. The Cowboys weren’t able to put up any points until the fourth quarter, when Prescott was able to match up with Malik Turner. Despite this, the Cowboys are still sitting at the top of the NFC East with a 6-2 record heading deeper into November.

Lastly, the New York Giants are still searching for a winning record, and to get out of the slump that they remain in. Running-back Saquon Barkley and wide-receiver Kenny Golladay have been out for three weeks, suffering from an ankle and knee injury in week five against the Cowboys. With two key factors of their offense out, the Giants have been struggling to advance the ball.

The effect of the two stars being out calls the backups and young players to step up and rise to the challenge. The Giants headed into Monday night’s game with a chip on their shoulder visiting the Chiefs. The Chiefs are not having the season they thought they would have come off a Super Bowl run. Along with the hard work, and playing efforts, the Chiefs still edge out the Giants with a 20-17 loss.

“The lack of focus and discipline late doomed the Giants again,” stated Art Stapleton, NFL writer. Stapleton went on about the costly mistakes the Giants made throughout the game which could have made a difference for the game: “The worst one: an offsides penalty on Oshane Ximines that negated a potential crushing interception for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs by Darnay Holmes.” 

Interestingly enough, however, the Giants did pull out an impressive (and unexpected) win against the Raiders yesterday afternoon. Even though the Raiders appeared to dominate on the field, racking up 286 passing yards to the Giants measly 96, Graham Gano’s kicking led them to a win in the fourth quarter.

Overall, the Cowboys have a stronghold on the number one spot in the division, therefore the Eagles and the Giants continue to battle for the second seed. And for the Washington Football Team, there is slight hope, but they still remain at the bottom of the division.