Heading into Week 12, the Eagles have managed to start the season 3-0 against their NFC East rivals.
Winning the following games:
@ NYG 28-3
@ DAL 34-6
VS WAS 26-18
Being able to beat Dallas after the Commanders blew a 10 point lead to the Steelers was just the start to taking over the division that the Eagles trailed since their 2-2 start. And following that week with beating the Commanders just 4 days later gave the Eagles a 2.5 game lead on the division. With just 7 weeks left in the regular season, it looks like the NFC East will have a different winner after all.
Continuing a streak spanning 21 years.
Rivals Throwing In The Towel
While it might only be week 12, and the Eagles won’t play their final 3 division games until weeks 16-18. And even then their rivals are already starting to throw in the towel.
Through 12 Weeks, here is how the NFC East looks in the standings
Eagles 8-2 (2nd NFC)
Commanders 7-4 (7th NFC)
Cowboys 3-7
Giants 2-8
Barely two years removed from the Giants making the playoffs. Daniel Jones has now been benched in favor of the sensational Italian talent, Tommy DeVito. With a disgruntled Drew Lock hoping to see playing time, the Giants continue to blunder almost every important decision a franchise has to make, like giving the likely OPoY, Saquon Barkley a a contract extension. Maybe another top 5 pick will help them turn the ship around.
As for Dallas, without Dak things look even more grim. Getting blown out once again at home is not a good look for Jerry Jones in what will probably be Mike McCarthy’s last season in Big D. But with a top 10 pick looming, at what point will the cowboys give up and hope for that pick to get closer to the top 5? After all, they still have 4 division games to finish off the season. Including a Kelly Green week 17 appearance at the Linc.
The “Tough” Stretch
There’s no real gauntlet for the Eagles to make you want to pull your hair out against a bunch of juggernauts across the league. But the next few weeks will be the Eagles biggest test before the playoffs. Including last weeks match against the Commanders:
Vs Commanders TNF
@ Rams SNF
@ Ravens
Vs Panthers
Vs Steelers
Now you might be saying “The. Panthers?!” BUT
The Eagles almost blew a 22 point lead to the Jaguars just a few weeks ago because they couldn’t help themselves from going for 2 every possible chance. Coming out of 2 road matchups against explosive offenses to host the Panthers the following week might be the Eagles biggest trap game of the year. And a potential loss that could destroy playoff seeding in the coming weeks.
Already with a win against the Commanders to start this stretch, the Eagles can make the best out of this with another visit to SoFi stadium to take on Cooper Kupp & Matthew Stafford. The last time the Eagles came to visit was Week 5 of 2023, with a 23-14 win, they moved on to 5-0 to start the year.
Stacking these wins quickly in this stretch will find the Eagles in a better position come Weeks 17 & 18.
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