As mentioned last week, the Eagles best chance to make something of the 2018 season is winning this division. Luckily, this past weekend, their NFC East rivals did their part: Washington lost, Dallas lost, and the Giants, well… do they even matter? With a majority of their remaining games against NFC East teams, the Eagles still control their own destiny.
Here's what happened, and what's happening, this week in the NFC East:
New York Giants (1-7)
ICYMI: This was probably the Giants best week so far. They got to take the week off.
Spin: When the biggest news of the week is that your back-up rookie quarterback isn't going to get a chance to replace your woeful over-the-hill starter because he tried to hit a cop with his car… and your team has won 4 of its last 24 games… you're not a football franchise anymore. You're the Browns. The New York Giants are the NFC's Cleveland Browns.
What's Next: Monday Night Football against the 2-7 49ers. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume this one won't get its own 30-for-30.
Washington (5-3)
Philadelphia Eagles
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ICYMI: Washington got dismantled by an Atlanta Falcons team that was 1-4 earlier this season. Julio Jones did his usual thing, Adrian Peterson wasn't a factor (12 touches overall), and the Ha-Ha Clinton Dix Era started off with a loss, 38-14. When Alex Smith has to throw the ball 46-times, you're probably playing from too-far behind.
Making matters worse, Washington lost three offensive starters for the season; Brandon Scherff, Shaun Lauvao, and "big" offseason-pickup Paul Richardson.
Spin: Washington had a chance to prove they were a legitimate contender in the NFC. Instead, they got crushed. Sure, it was on the road, and sure, Atlanta might be better than their record indicates. But a win in Georgia on Sunday would have been enough to make Iggles fans start sweating; this is a missed-opportunity at best and the beginning-of-the-end at worst.
In Washington's favor: they only have one remaining game against an opponent with a winning schedule… and that opponent is Houston. They do have to play the Iggles twice, however.
What's Next: Birds fans are rooting for FitzMagic this weekend, as Washington heads to Tampa to face the 3-5 Bucs.
Dallas Cowboys (3-5)
ICYMI: Amari Cooper had the first touchdown of the game, justifying Jerry Jones' overpay for about fifteen-seconds. Despite all the momentum in the first quarter, the Cowboys couldn't put the Titans away and fell at home, 28-14.
Spin: Dallas needed a win to keep pace with Washington and Philly. Instead they fell two games behind the leader, and the end result is a lot of questions regarding the long-term future of the coach (donezo), the quarterback (donezo), and the general manager (for life!).
Even Troy Aikman is calling for big changes. As David Akers reminded them, this franchise hasn't been to a Super Bowl since before the league's current crop of rookies was born. They're not the Browns, by any means… but they're certainly not as deserving of attention as ESPN pretends they are.
What's Next: Like you don't know.
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