It's that time of week where BGN checks up on the Eagles' divisional neighbors: their NFC East rivals.
Three teams played and each of them left week 9 with a victory. Some looked less impressive than others in their wins (see: Eagles), but a W is a W either way. Funny enough, the only real loser this week was the team that didn't play. The Giants spent their bye week watching their already extremely slim playoff hopes grow even slimmer.
From an Eagles perspective, they are still only one game behind the first place. There is still plenty of time left to turn things around, especially if the Eagles can play anything like they did in their win over the Raiders.
Here's a look at the official standings.
NFC East Standings:
1) Dallas Cowboys (5-4)
2) Philadelphia Eagles (4-5)
3) Washington Redskins (3-5)
4) New York Giants (2-6)
Week 9 Breakdown
1) Dallas
The Cowboys escaped with a close win over the Vikings at home. That's certainly not an impressive accomplishment given how bad the Vikings have been this year. Romo threw a vintage Romo interception late in the game but ultimately came up big for his team on the game winning touchdown drive.
By all accounts this was not a pretty game for the Cowboys. There were drops from every target, misfires by the quarterback, missed tackle after missed tackle by the defense. Dallas was supposed to come out and dominate the 1-6 Vikings but instead found themselves in a battle until the final gun. In a close game, Dallas simply refused to utilize the run, as Tony Romo ended up throwing 51 times, completing 33 of them. His final stat line would be for 337 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Up next: Away at the Saints. Could be a tough one.
2) Philadelphia
Much needed win. It was the first time the Eagles ever beat the Raiders in Oakland and it was a day to remember. Nick Foles, continuing his trend of beating pirate themed teams (Bucs, Raiders), put on a record tying performance with 7 touchdown passes.
This is obvious but needs to be mentioned again. This performance, in just his ninth start, is unbelievable. When you consider that Foles played the worst game of his career in between two phenomenal games is noteworthy. Oh, and he still has yet to throw an interception. If it was not clear who should start moving forward, then I do not know what it will take to convince Kelly otherwise.
Up next: Away at the Packers. Going to be tough, but a good test to see where this team really belongs in the playoff race.
3) Washington
This one came down to the wire as the Redskins won it in overtime. The Chargers came very close to leaving DC with a win; they were only yards away from scoring a redzone touchdown with little time remaining. San Diego was forced to settle for a field goal instead.
As we have said here before, Robert Griffin III basically played his preseason reps in the regular season. Since losing the first two games, the Washington Redskins are 3-3, a .500 team that needs to win at a faster pace down the stretch if it has any realistic hopes of catching Dallas and Philadelphia. There is a lot of good news for these hopes. Our offense is starting to resemble the kind of unit that can impose its will on opponents. Any time you march down the field in overtime like we did and score the game-ending touchdown, you can beat your chest about your offense.
Up next: Away at the Vikings. Certainly winnable.
4) New York Giants
Bye week. Big Blue View has an article up at their site about both the optimistic and pessimistic perspectives of the Giants' playoff chances.
No one is the division appears capable of running off four or five victories in a row and running completely away from the Giants, even after their 0-6 start. The 3-5 Redskins ran off seven straight victories last season after a 3-6 start. Maybe they can do it again, but they have not looked like that team. Maybe the Cowboys can, but history tells us they won't. Maybe the Eagles can, but they have been a Jekyll and Hyde all season and don't look like a team capable of that kind of consistency. The Giants haven't shown at any point this season that they are capable of sustained, solid football. But, why not the Giants? Wacky stuff happens sometimes, and in the ridiculously awful NFC East there is no telling how things might end up.
Up next: Home vs. the Raiders.
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