Giants 5-7

Washington 5-7

Eagles 3-8-1

Cowboys 3-9

Since it’s the holiday season let’s think about the island of misfit toys in the classic Rudolph the rednosed reindeer. That’s one way to describe the poor teams in the NFC LEast, the outcasts in a rather deep NFC. The NFL is full of spectacular talent that has been displayed this year whether that is coming from Kyler Murray in Arizona or DK Metcalf in Seattle teams are emerging. The one division that stands alone in this weird season is the NFC East. This division has been through tons of injuries most importantly with franchise players like Saquon Barkley and Dak Prescott. With three new coaches in the division in Joe Judge, Ron Rivera, and Mike McCarthy one would think that Doug Pederson would have the upper hand. The Eagles have been spooked all season and Carson Wentz is taking all the blame. Philly’s year seems to have come to an end replacing Wentz on Sunday when struggling to keep up with the Packers. The bottom line is the NFC East is full of teams that still have several holes. Come January records will be put aside and one of these teams will be hosting a home playoff game. This week gave us a better glimpse of what team we may see host a playoff game in January.

Here’s the breakdown of each team's path to a playoff berth.

Washington Football Team: 

The Washington football team finally were the ones to knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. This Alex Smith-led team is playing their best football of the season but Ron Rivera’s bunch needs to win one more game than the New York Giants to make the playoffs. Washington has proved they can be a force to be reckoned with in this division and opponents like San Francisco, Seattle, Philly, and Carolina give them the easiest schedule left in the division. Let it be a shock to nobody if the Washington Football Team is NFC East champions in 4 weeks.

Dallas Cowboys: 

Who would’ve thought there would’ve been a thanksgiving massacre when the Cowboys hosted Alex Smith and company last week. The Cowboys couldn’t defend the run to save their lives against both Washington and Baltimore. Antonio Gibson’s career day may have shut the door on Mike McCarthy’s year 1 in Dallas last week. And that game led to another poor performance on Tuesday in a blowout loss against the Ravens. They follow with games against San Francisco, Philly, Washington, and New York. There is no way a team with this many question marks both on the field and on Mike McCarthy’s staff can win out to give them a possible chance in the division. 

Philadelphia Eagles

The birds headed into Green Bay with their season on the line last week. The Eagles were blanked for most of the game due to Carson Wentz’s struggles. They then turned to Jalen Hurts for the first time all season. He was able to throw one touchdown but came up short in the end. The Eagles season is over and what fans are looking for now is an improvement from Jalen Hurts and this offense from here out. Hurts will go up against the Saints, Cardinals, Cowboys, and Washington to finish out the year. If he can win 2-3 of these games there may not be a quarterback debate next year. 

New York Giants

The Giants completed the biggest upset of the season last week knocking off Russell Wilson in Seattle. The G-men held the Seahawks offense to 12 points. Even with the absence of Daniel Jones, Jason Garrett’s offense found other contributors like Alfred Morris and Wayne Gallman who have played well since Saquon Barkley was sidelined. But, the play of Leonard Williams the ex Jet is what sparked the Giants defense in route to a win. Williams finished the day with 2.5 sacks, one coming on a 3rd down with little time remaining. The Giants are finally clicking and this young unit is starting to get attention throughout the league. If Joe Judge can continue to motivate this team, and find different ways to win, the Giants should be the team we see host a game in January, being that they won both matchups against Washington. It is now up to Daniel Jones to heal from his hamstring strain and finish out the year with now winnable matchups against the Cardinals, Browns, Ravens, and Cowboys. 

Final NFC East Prediction

Giants 8-8

Washington 7-9

Eagles 4-11-1

Cowboys 3-13

Writer

-By: Sam Kirk

 Philadelphia, PA – In the NFC East, a losing record can win this division. At worst, 2-14 can give any of the four teams in this place a home playoff game. That’s sad to think about, but we’re not here to talk about the mediocracy that is the NFC East, nor are we here to discuss whether the NFL should change its playoff bracket system. We are here to break down the primetime football game that took place on Thursday night between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. Similar to the week 4 Thursday night game between the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, many had this game labeled as an ugly matchup, and for the first three quarters, that’s what we as viewers got. But come the start of the fourth quarter, this game turned a complete 180, and became a season classic, as Philly leaves the Linc with a 21-20 win and the lead in the NFC East. 

Eagles win ugly, but it can’t continue 

            Many in the Philadelphia sports radio/television community are just about fed up with Carson Wentz. With the Eagles possessing a 1-4-1 record going into week 7, in certain aspects, you can’t really blame them for the sentiment. Watching Wentz play in 2020 is like watching LeBron James during his first stint with Cleveland; a superstar trying too hard to make plays, ultimately committing too many mistakes and coming up short when it matters. With the plethora of injuries that this Eagles team has had to deal with in the 2020 season, Wentz has tried his best to pick up the slack, which has led to both moments of greatness and a tendency to overthink on a play. Against the Giants, Wentz had his best performance of the year. At least, on paper he did. Wentz completed 25/43 of his passes (58% completion) for 359 passing yards (14 rushing), three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), and an ugly RedZone pick to Giants cornerback James Bradberry. Wentz played his heart out against the Giants, standing in a crumbling pocket on nearly every passing down, getting hit 10 times on the night (3 of those hits resulting in sacks). A lot of Wentz’s throws were altered in trajectory due to getting hit/being under pressure so much. But, in the few moments Wentz actually had time to work with, he made plays, the epitome of which came in the Eagles’ final drive of the night.  

Down 5, ball at Philly’s 40 yard-line, with two timeouts and 1:55 left on the clock, Wentz got to work. He connected tight end Richard Rodgers (6-85) on a crossing route as Wentz scrambled right and threw cross body for 30 yards. A pass interference call and 2 Boston Scott (12-46) runs later, and Wentz has the Eagles set up inside the 10-yard line. Third and goal, Wentz scrambled right, looking for the rookie wideout John Hightower (1-59) on a crossing route in the endzone, but throws the ball short. Then, flag; defensive holding against Giants defensive back Logan Ryan. It’s first and goal at the 3. Next play, center Jason Kelce gets called for a facemask on defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Now it’s first and goal at the 18-yard line. It doesn’t get any more dramatic than this, folks. Wentz takes the snap, waits in the pocket, and fires a pin-point bullet of a pass to Scott on a wheel route, placing the ball just over the head of linebacker Andre Harper. Scott makes the grab and falls into the endzone for the 18-yard touchdown.  

“It wasn’t pretty,” Wentz said about the game in his post-game presser with NFL Network. “We left a lot of points out on the field. We got to be better than that. But the way we fought these last couple of weeks, and to pull out a win at the end, it was amazing.” 

So, despite getting harassed all night by the Giants front seven. Despite working with what can arguably be described as asinine play-calling by Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. Despite having third stringers and practice squad members serving as his primary weapons and protection, Wentz got the job done. He willed Philly to their second win of the season, along with a half-game lead in the NFC East due to their tie. It was an ugly game and an even uglier win for Philly. But that style of play isn’t a consistent model for success. It’s what cost the Eagles a couple of game-winning drives against the Steelers and the Ravens in weeks five and six, respectively. 

They blue (blew) it. The Giants had it all, and they blew it. 

            Big blue is in big trouble. This is a roster that is littered with talent gaps and mediocrity at one of the more underappreciated but heavily relied-on offensive position groups; the offensive line. The Giants O-line got second-year quarterback Daniel Jones killed against the Eagles pass rush. Eight quarterback hits, three sacks, and six tackles for loss buried Jones and the Giants trio of active running backs (Devonta Freeman, Wayne Gallman, and Dion Lewis). Jones, like Wentz, did his best to elevate this team to a higher level of play. He threw guys open, escaped sacks to buy his playmakers time down the field, and even carried the rock himself to help jumpstart the Giants game in the third quarter (watch out for the turf monster, kids). Jones finished the night completing 20/30 passes (66% completion) for 187 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception that was more Evan Engram’s (6-46) fault than Jones’. On the Ground, the previously mentioned running back trio combined for 65 yards on 16 carries and a Wayne Gallman touchdown. Jones, who came into this game leading the Giants in rushing yards with 204, finished with the team lead again, adding 92 more rushing yards on four carries and a lost fumble. 

The worst part of this for New York; the Giants could have won. On a third and seven in the fourth quarter, with 2:14 left on the clock, Jones floated a beautiful lob pass to Engram on a corner route down the left sideline. Engram was wide open, no defender in sight for at least 5 yards in any direction. And he let it slip through his hands. Engram dropped what could have been the game-sealing catch, helping set up Philadelphia’s ensuing game-winning drive. What a shame.

            Big Blue’s defense did it’s best to contain Wentz. And for most of the game, they kept the Eagles offense in check. Blake Martinez and James Bradberry, who both were signed in free agency this year, have been game-changers for New York. Martinez, who is second in the league in total tackles, added nine more and a pass deflection to his scorecard, while Bradberry picked Wentz off in the endzone in the second half. But it just wasn’t enough. 

What’s next? 

            The Eagles path to clinching the division gets easier in the coming weeks, as they’re set to host another division rival in the 2-4 Dallas Cowboys in week 8.  

            As for the Giants, their path gets increasingly worse, as they host a 4-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that just took down the seemingly unstoppable Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers in week 6.  

Writer

-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo

Eagles Week 17 Preview: Win & In

Sunday, December 29 at MetLife Stadium, Eagles 4-point favorites (Bovada)

After taking sole possession of the top spot in the NFC East last week, all Philadelphia needs to do is complete the season sweep of the Giants for a spot in the NFC playoffs.

Injury Report:

OUT:

Philadelphia: WR Nelson Agholor (knee), TE Zach Ertz (ribs, back)

New York: TE Rhett Ellison (concussion), T Mike Remmers (concussion), TE Scott Simonson (concussion)

QUESTIONABLE:

Philadelphia: T Lane Johnson (ankle), CB Jalen Mills (ankle)

New York: CB Corey Ballentine (back), CB Sam Beal (shoulder), LB Alec Ogletree (back)

After being made a sacrifice by an errant Carson Wentz throw, Ertz will miss Sunday’s game as a precautionary measure. The hope is that Dallas Goedert continues his strong play in place of Ertz this week. Nelson Agholor remains nonexistent and will miss yet another week. He still hasn’t been placed on IR so maybe there’s a chance he returns. In better news, Jordan Howard finally returns from the shoulder injury that caused him to miss six weeks. As is customary for players that are just returning, he will see a lighter role than he’s used to. Luckily for the Eagles, Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate Miles Sanders is playing lights-out. The Giants are dealing with a trio of concussed players including starting right tackle Mike Remmers. 

Analysis:

We already know how much this game means to the Eagles, but how about New York? After winning last week and effectively losing any shot at drafting Ohio State’s Chase Young, the Giants are motivated to play spoiler this week. Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley are both coming off of ridiculous performances and could spell nightmare for Philadelphia if they continue.

The Eagles defense played exceptionally last week, but the inconsistency of this unit scares me. Will the unit that made Russell Wilson look pedestrian show up or will the unit that made Eli Manning look rejuvenated for 30 minutes show up? The Eagles have proven over the last few years that they can motivate themselves and play better with their backs against the wall, so history says they’re trending towards a performance like last year’s Week 17 shutout of the Washington Redskins. Of course, nothing is actually that simple.

One good trend for the Eagles is that they’ve seemed to have broken the curse of the NFC East running backs. Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley were the two backs who always had their way with Philadelphia, but the Eagles shut them both down in a three-week span. Barkley had his best game of the season last week against Washington (279 total yards and two scores), but is that because he finally hit his stride or because he was playing the same Redskins defense that allowed Miles Sanders to put himself on the map? Regardless of what it is, the Eagles must key in on him in both the running game and the passing game. 

If the Eagles shut down Barkley, they go a long way towards winning this game. Daniel Jones isn’t going to throw for five touchdowns again, and taking away his safety blanket in Saquon (especially with him missing a few tight ends) will force him into erratic decisions. Also with starting RT Mike Remmers out, Brandon Graham can take full advantage and harass Daniel Jones all game. 

The Giants are severely shorthanded in the secondary, and I actually think the Eagles receiving core can take advantage. Carson Wentz has raised his level of play as the season has gone on, and I trust him to deliver once again. Miles Sanders and a hopefully okay Jordan Howard should provide a formidable one-two punch as we saw in the Packers game earlier this season. The Eagles have been much better when they run the ball effectively, and the Giants front isn’t exactly a scary unit.

All in all, as long as Philadelphia doesn’t let their guard down, their season shouldn’t end here. After pulling out a statement win last week against a bitter rival, it would be a letdown of epic proportions if they fell to New York on Sunday. It’s time to host a playoff game.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Giants 16

-By: Micah Jimoh

Writer/Interviewer