There is no situation, no schedule, no parallel reality where we can call the Eagles “winners” this season. Of course, there is the literal meaning of actioning a bad Team with a record of 3-5-1 to win games. It’s the boring part of this whole thing. The overwhelming disappointment comes from realizing how easy it would have been for Philadelphia to win the NFC East this season and move toward the Playoffs, and watching them completely screw up the opportunity.
If you looked at the division before the season, there is a hierarchy. Dallas would probably win, maybe the Eagles could surprise and sneak into a wild card spot, then the Giants were a hot mess and Washington a warmer mess. We don’t rely on the NFL for predictability, but at least we assume that things will make sense.
Nothing in the NFC East makes sense in 2020, but less so the Eagles. This was marked on Sunday by the loss to the Giants by 10 points. Unconditional fans are now screaming and stressing that Philly is still the first in the division. The realists accept how bad the Team is this year, and appreciate that at this point losing is the best blow the Eagles could make instead of limping further under the facade, this Team is good.
Sure, Zach Ertz came out-and that’s a big blow to the offense. In 2019, he was the team’s best catcher, along with Carson Wentz’s safety valve. Look around the Rest of the department and it’s much worse. Washington plays the hot potato with their Quarterbacks week to week, the Giants don’t have saquon Barkley, and the Cowboys, well, it’s a wonder they even have a team on the field week to week at this point.
The biggest reason Philadelphia struggles is not entirely due to Ertz. It is that Wentz has suffered from the most pronounced drops in performance of recent memory.
Carson Wentz-2019 vs 2020
The cruel twist of it all is that running back Miles Sanders is playing much better than in 2019, improving his yards by carrying up to 6.1 in the season, second in the league among running backs behind Nick Chubb. That’s something the Eagles would have been able to capitalize on, but they weren’t able to put together a solid attack — Ranking in the bottom third in yards per game, and points per game.
In short: the Eagles had so many promises this season, and are more likely to basically walk SideShow Bob on rakes.
Winner: Cam Newton.
No one in the NFL needed a signature win more than Cam Newton. Sure, beating the Ravens was an unmissable victory in terms of hoping to keep New England’s slim chances in the Playoffs, but more importantly, on a personal level, Newton is trying to win another contract.
It’s probably premature to put that Rebound on Covid, but it’s pretty remarkable how different Newton has been over the past two weeks. Granted, the Patriots said they would re-equip the attack to use the quarterback’s skills, but things always seem different.
It was easy to vaguely Hand off last week’s Release against the Jets as a performance against a poor Team, but the Ravens have one of the best defenses in the NFL. They are not only Top 5 in yards allowed, but lead the league by preventing points and giving up a stingy 18.3 per game.
While Newton’s stats don’t come off the page (118 Yards per Pass), he still completed 76.5% of his passes, threw a Touchdown and threw in another run. It may be too after to save the season, especially in a division with Buffalo and a Miami Team on the rise, but now Newton is playing to prove he deserves another look. Games like the one he had against Baltimore show that he deserved it.
Loser: Seahawks.
It was a huge week for Seattle, and it went badly. Admittedly, the NFC West is brutal-but that’s a bit of the Problem here. The division will go to the wire, and dropping a game at the Rams was exactly the kind of thing the Team had to avoid.
Yes, there is a three-way tie at the top of the division, so it’s not as if Seattle has been eliminated, but the Team is now 0-2 against the Cardinals and the Rams, placing them in third place in the division even though they all share the same record. Chances are that the Seahawks can be out when all of that is done, and when that happens, it will be a game that defines the season.
Winner: Rams
Continuing with the NFC West, because it is frankly football’s most interesting division, Los Angeles got the win they desperately needed. The Rams have been completely inconsistent this season, much more than their 6-3 card would show, but just as the Seahawks will contrition dropping this week, the Rams might be able to circle this one at the end of the season and say it was a turning point.
The Rams do this despite the lack of running game. This is really quite remarkable, and a testament to how Jared Goff managed to put this offense on his back.
Loser: 49ers.
OK, let’s stay with the division. I don’t want to throw too much at the Niners because everyone knows they have to deal with so many injuries, it’s a mess. That’s just recognizing that they’re pretty much out of the Playoff picture at this point. It would require a huge playoff calculation, and a ton of luck to sniff out even the Playoffs at this point.
That said, they would still be at the top of the division in NFC, according to silver linings.
Winner: Dolphins.
Miami is one of the best stories in the NFL right now, Hand in hand. If you are not a fan of the Dolphins and you can call 10 players on your list without a name Tua Tagovailoa without Googling, I will give you a prize.
Seriously, however, it is a testament to how Brian Flores brought this Team together. He took the NFL’s sorriden list, added a Rookie Quarter, and now has a chance to win the AFC East for the first time in 12 years. Of course, the Bills are still the class of the division at the moment, but the Dolphins are really not far behind.
Of course, it helps when Tagovailoa plays as a five-year Jump Veteran. Look at this Team if they manage to set up a receiving corps for him, as the Dolphins could be on their way to a serious race in 2021, assuming they don’t make the Playoffs this year.
