By Max McAuliff, Opinion Editor
The National Football League (NFL) is currently six weeks into the season and one thing is clear, the NFC East is abysmal. Words cannot describe how bad the once prominent division is this year.
The division does not have a single team with a winning percentage over .500. The Dallas Cowboys just lost their franchise quarterback for the season, with the possibility that he will not be the same player when he returns. Finally, the Washington Football Team is called the Washington Football Team.
Should Washington have changed their nickname? Absolutely. Should they have done it years ago on their own accord? Yes, they should have. Are they a laughingstock because when they finally changed their name, they could not pick a new nickname and instead elected to call themselves the Washington Football Team? Yes, they are a joke of a franchise. Not to mention they are owned by arguably the worst owner in all professional sports.
The only bright spot for any team in this division is that one of them must make the playoffs, no matter how bad they are.
As of Oct. 21, Dallas sits in first place with a measly two wins compared to four losses. Washington and the New York Giants, who are tied for last place, are also one game out of first place.
As of Oct. 21, the New York Giants have won one football game and lost five. That one win came against an atrocious Washington team that has lost five straight games. New York has a new head coach, the franchises’ third since 2015, in Joe Judge who has shown he can relate with his players on a level not seen the past couple of years. But with General Manager Dave Gettleman likely to be fired during or after the season (finally!) the Giants have at least a few more years before potentially being relevant again.
Washington has a good coach in Ron Rivera, but until Daniel Snyder is ousted as owner they will go nowhere. Not to mention they need to figure out the whole nickname thing.
Dallas comes into every season with Super Bowl aspirations and falls short every time. Even though the Cowboys always come up short, they were the favorites to win the division this year. They have star playmakers on the offensive side of the football in quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Amari Cooper. With Prescott out for the season and Andy Dalton now the starting quarterback, the Cowboys no longer look like the favorites.
That leaves the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017 after finishing the regular season with 13 wins and 3 losses. The Eagles however have not been able to encapsulate the same magic they had when backup quarterback Nick Foles led them to said Super Bowl. The Eagles have not won 10 games since 2017, but are the new favorites to win the division this year. ESPN’s Football Power Index projects the Eagles to win the NFC East with six wins, nine losses and one tie (the Eagles tied the Cincinnati Bengals in week three). If this happens and the Eagles finish the season with six wins, they will host a playoff game.
It is quite unfortunate to see the NFC East in such bad shape. The division is full of great rivalries and iconic players. Players that have gone onto the Hall of Fame like Lawrence Taylor, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Brian Dawkins. It is sad that Thursday’s game between the Giants and the Eagles was a huge game for both teams. An NFC East primetime showdown should consist of two of the league’s best teams, not two of the league’s worst.
It is safe to say that the NFC East has the potential to be the worst division in NFL history. It cannot possibly get any worse for the NFC East. The only silver lining is that all teams in the division have at least one win. The catastrophe that is the New York Jets organization is a whole other story.
Hopefully, the NFC East can turn it around in the years to come and cease being one of the worst divisions in the NFL.
mcaulimr18@bonaventure.edu
