:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/4926799/134864414.jpg)
You could make a pretty good argument that the East is the worst division in the NFC. While our division doesn't have as many bad teams as, say, the NFC West has... the West has a real contender in it, while the NFC East does not. That fact was made pretty obvious yesterday by the Cowboys and Giants.
The Cowboys lost embarrassingly in overtime to the Cardinals, thanks to an overtime TD pass from Kevin Kolb. But the real killer moment came when Jason Garrett iced his own kicker at the end of regulation. Rookie Dan Bailey hit what should have been a game winning 48 yard field goal, but his coach had called a timeout at the last moment. When Bailey tried the re-kick, he predictably missed. It really was an awful loss from Dallas, whose road to the playoffs and NFC East title looked so easy. Actually, with the Giants loss yesterday, Dallas has no teams with a winning record on it's second half schedule. But they can't even go to Arizona and get a win? Does anyone think this team wouldn't get blown out by the Saints or Packers in the playoffs?
As for the Giants, their players and fans can tell themselves "there's no such thing as a moral victory but... this was a moral victory" all they like. The fact is that they lost to the Packers yesterday at home and have now dropped four straight. It's December now and they've lost four straight, how often does that bode well for a teams' playoff chances? The Giants are now .500, mired in a total free-fall, but are actually still in the playoff hunt despite that fact they have no right to be. With Dallas, Detroit, Chicago & Atlanta all losing, the Giants are still within striking distance. Of course, they will need to eventually win a game.
We all laughed at the NFC West when the Seahawks made the playoffs at 8-8 7-9. That's a real possibility in the NFC East this year. And it becomes even more salt in the wounds of Eagles fans. Had this team been even ok, they'd be in the thick of the playoff hunt. But they're not even ok. They're in the last place in the worst division in the NFC, if not the entire league.