Philadelphia Eagles: The NFC East is still anyone’s game (except Washington)

With the Philadelphia Eagles’ season “saved” on TNF, it looks like the NFC East is anyone’s game through four weeks – except for Washington obviously.

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ Week 4 bout against the Green Bay Packers just felt different.

Dubbed a ‘must-win’ contest by overzealous outside observers prepared to anoint the Dallas Cowboys‘ as the first consecutive winner of the NFC East crown since the Eagles strung out four in a row from 2001-04, Doug Pederson and company walked into Lambeau Field heavy underdogs against an undefeated team helmed by a generational quarterback.

And against all odds, the Eagles won.

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While it wasn’t easy – and almost went the other way more than a handful of times – when Aaron Rodgers‘ bounced that pivotal endzone pass off the cornerback Craig James into the hands of Nigel Bradham it felt like anything was possible.

With things all tied up at 2-2 going into the weekend, Eagles fans sat at home on Sunday happily waiting to see how things would shake out with the rest of the division – spoiler alert, it worked out really, really well.

It all started at 1 PM.

After a shocking upheaval of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – a win that now looks a whole lot more impressive after Bruce Arians‘ squad outgunned NFL golden boy Sean McVay and his Los Angeles Rams – Daniel Jones and the New York Giants returned to New Jersey for the first home game of the post-Eli Manning-era, with  the perfect opponent lined up to give fans something to cheer for: the Washington Redskins.

Locked into a downward spiral after suffering three straight losses by 30-or-more-points, Jay Gruden and company were looking for something – anything – to keep their jobs safe for another week – going so far as to finally bench Case Keenum for Ohio State first-round pick Dwayne Haskins.

It did not go well.

While Jones hardly had a perfect outing at Metlife Field – throwing two interceptions versus one touchdown – at least he performed better than Haskins – who launched his NFL career with a trio of interceptions in route to a putrid 26.1 QBR.

Well hey, at least Washington didn’t give up 30 this time; that’s progress.

However, a team that didn’t progress was the Cowboys, who turned in their worst overall game since December 16th, 2018.

Facing off against a Drew Brees-less New Orleans Saints squad, the Cowboys amassed only 268 yards of offense on 53 offensive touches – and dropped their first loss of the season to Teddy Bridgewater of all people.

With Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper thoroughly shut down by a less-than shutdown defense, the team’s fate was ultimately sealed by a way-underthrown Dak Prescott Hail Mary interception right to Marcus Williams; sealing a 12-10 loss on Sunday Night Football and while simaltaniously opening the door to a thorough critique of the team’s first three wins of the season.

For those keeping track at home, Carson Wentz threw two more touchdowns and seven fewer interceptions than the NFC East’s other three (four) starting quarterbacks combined.

So, as the calendar flips from September to October, Philadelphia Eagles fans should take solace in the fact that only one game separates the top three teams in the NFC East in what could end up being a knock-down, drag-out street brawl for the division pennant come January. While we may not know which team will ultimately have the honor of representing the division, it’s safe to say it won’t be the Washington Redskins.