NFC East: A Week 5 Wrap and a Look To Week 6
Only one team in the NFC East won last weekend, and that was the Eagles, who conquered the New York Jets, 31-6.
It could be argued that the Eagles really just had a bye week given that hapless condition of the Jets. Or one could take the approach of former Eagles coach and current Chiefs coach Andy Reid and argue that any win in the NFL is a good win.
Either way, the Eagles lifted their record to 3-2 and they are now tied after the Dallas Cowboys lost their second straight game, this one to the Green Bay Packers. The New York Giants slipped one game off the pace with their loss to the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Redskins continue to be so bad that they fired their head coach, Jay Gruden, at 5 a.m. Monday.
The Eagles now embark on a three-game road trip, the only team in the NFL to have to do that this season.
Head coach Doug Pederson isn’t sweating it, though.
“I was excited, get on the road, three great hotels,” he joked.
“I don't know. I mean, it is what it is, honestly. We don't get a chance to make the schedule. We know who our opponents are. We just don't know when and where we play them.”
Pederson has more important matters to concern himself with if the Eagles are to navigate this three-game stretch against the Vikings (Sunday at 1 p.m.), Cowboys, and Bills with any modicum of success.
He has an offense right now that isn’t clicking on all cylinders. At least it wasn’t against the New York Jets, against whom the Eagles managed just 265 yards of offense while committing nine penalties for 76 yards.
“It's never as good as you think and never as bad as you think,” said Pederson about his team’s offensive performance against New York. “To be able to score twice on defense and then what we did offensively, you can still take away and play better, especially on offense.
“Wins and losses, wins we say can cover up a lot of flaws, but if we continue to make the errors or the assignment errors that we did on offense, obviously as we go, we are not going to win those games, but there is definitely a lot to take away and work on moving forward.”
Here’s what’s on tap this week in the NFC East:
DALLAS COWBOYS (3-2)
Last game: Loss, 34-24, to Green Bay Packers
Next up: Sunday, at New York Jets, 4:25 p.m.
Analysis: Eagles fans know how bad the Jets are, so this should be a layup for the Cowboys and they need one badly. After fattening up with three wins to start the season against bad teams, Dallas has lost two straight to teams with winning records.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott was held in check on both losses, rushing for just 35 yards in a loss to the Saints and 62 last week. Without a run game, quarterback Dak Prescott has struggled. He threw two first-half interceptions as the Packers built a 17-0 lead at the break then opened it up to 31-3 later in the third quarter.
Most of Prescott’s 453 yards came in garbage time. He has now thrown the third-most interceptions in the league with six.
After this game, the Cowboys will host the Eagles on Sunday night football.
NEW YORK GIANTS (2-3)
Last game: Loss, 28-10, to Minnesota Vikings
Next up: Thursday, at New England Patriots, 8:20 p.m.
Analysis: the Giants really missed Saquon Barkley this past week. The best running back in the NFL may return Thursday after suffering a high ankle sprain a couple games ago, but that seems unlikely.
Even if he does, handing the Patriots their first loss of the season on their home field is a big ask.
Receiver Golden Tate made his season debut after serving a four-game suspension, and the former Eagle was a nonfactor. He was targeted six times but had just three catches for 13 yards.
As for the Daniel Jones, the rookie passer’s day wasn’t terrible, with 21 completions on 38 attempts, but he managed just 182 yards on those throws and a passer rating of 65.9. He was also sacked four times against a formidable pass rush that the Eagles must contend with this week.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS (0-5)
Last game: Loss, 33-7, to New England Patriots
Next up: Sunday, at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m.
Analysis: With two of the final four winless teams still left in the league going head-to-head, will anybody bother to watch this? I would think that even Redskins fans have seen enough of an organization that hasn’t done much of anything right under owner Daniel Snyder. So the owner will start again with another head coach at some point and hope for different results than the one Gruden failed to deliver. Right now, Bill Callahan will serve as the interim head coach, as if that will make a difference.
Callahan has already said that rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins won’t start in Miami. That leaves Case Keenum, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago and Haskins took over and threw three interceptions, or Colt McCoy, who started against the Patriots and put up a passer rating of 60.9, with 18 completion on 27 passes for 119 yards.
