Who Will Win the NFC East?

     The NFC East has been bad this year. Historically bad. It has been painful to watch and fans of these teams almost expect more to lose than to win.

     Then things happen like Sunday night. Although the New Orleans Saints were expected to win, probably by a lot of Dallas Cowboys fans as well, Dallas managed to get demolished in historical fashion. Drew Brees is a stud quarterback; future hall of famer and consistently a top 4 quarterback in the league along with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers. He is at the helm of an offensive juggernaut, which is fully complete by getting their motor back this year in Sean Payton. They have the always-reliable Marques Colston to go along with a stud rookie in Kenny Stills. They have a three-headed monster at running back with Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas. And they have the best receiving tight end in the NFL in Jimmy Graham. Throw in the fact they have one of the most lethal home field advantages in the NFL, and that spells doom for Big D. But THAT bad? Here are some mind-blowing stats that may leave your eyes wide open:

·      Drew Brees had three passing touchdowns in the first half. Tony Romo had three total completions through two quarters.

·      The Cowboys ran 43 offensive plays in the game. The Saints had an NFL record 40 first downs through the game.

·      Drew Brees was 9/9 for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns on THIRD down alone. Tony Romo was 10/24 and 128 yards through the entire game

·      The Saints garnered 625 yards of total offense, the most ever allowed by the Cowboys breaking the record set…. 2 weeks ago of 623 vs. the Lions.

What the most amazing stat of the night is? The Cowboys are in FIRST place of the NFC East, even after that drubbing. It is quite possible we just saw the NFC East champion on the field Sunday night. WOW

The other three teams:

     The Washington Redskins just lost to a previously 1-7 Minnesota Vikings team who is playing musical chairs at quarterback. Yet at 3-6, they have a legitimate shot at taking the division if RG3 can play like the RG3 of last year, the defense can play better than the 29^th ranking they currently hold against the pass out of 32 teams, and if special teams can clean up their play. With all of these issues, its amazing they are still in it.

     The New York Giants are on a 3 game win streak after starting 0-6 and at 3-6 even they have a chance. They have a very streaky quarterback in Eli Manning who is showing exactly why even 2 Super Bowl victories over Tom Brady don’t garner him “best of the era” talk. He is just way too wildly inconsistent. The Dallas game in two weeks looms large.

     The Philadelphia Eagles are maybe the hottest team of the divison riding the hot hand of Nick Foles who has 16 touchdowns to no interceptions this season, including a 7 touchdown performance against the Raiders. The season finale against Dallas could determine the division.

     Seems like centuries ago, but the NFC East did produce 3 playoff teams just back in 2007, including the eventual champs in the New York Giants. Now they look like they don’t even deserve to send ONE team to the playoffs. The worst division champ was the Seattle Seahawks, winning at 7-9 but even they went on to win a playoff game against Drew Brees and the Saints. After last night, obviously Dallas doesn’t have a chance for a similar fate. No doubt, the NFC East is competitive. But only because every team is bad. Some, HISTORICALLY bad.