[Elvis]

Cowboys 6-7
Eagles 5-7
Skins (still alive) 3-9
Giants 2-10

[Elvis]

[aeneas1]

The NFC East is embarrassing itself
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... ng-itself/
By Neil Greenberg Dec. 6, 2019 at 7:57 a.m. PST



The Dallas Cowboys scored 17 points in the fourth quarter on Thursday night but it wasn’t enough to ward off a brutal 31-24 loss at the hands of the Chicago Bears. Luckily for Dallas, the Cowboys (6-7) will remain in first place in the NFC East even if the Philadelphia Eagles (5-7) beat the New York Giants (2-10) on Monday night, thanks to the Cowboys’ win over the Eagles in October. But this season, for both the franchise and the division, has been a complete bust.

According to data provided by TruMedia, NFC East teams are 3-18 against opponents with winning records, the division’s worst such mark at this point of the season since the NFL expanded to 32 teams and realigned into eight divisions in 2002. In another bit of ugliness, NFC East teams are just 10-26 in games outside of their division — again, the worst mark at this point of the season since the birth of the current league configuration. The next-worst division this season? The AFC West, which is 14-18 in out-of-division games.

Free-falling Cowboys leave the once-proud NFC East in shambles with loss to Bears

In fact, the NFC East is putting together one of the worst out-of-division records of the past 18 years. Only the 2008 NFC West, 2014 NFC South, 2008 AFC West and 2004 NFC West were worse at this point in the season.



NFL rules dictate division winners earn playoff berths, so each of those division winners, despite their futile mark against non-division teams, were represented in the postseason. And, surprisingly, they weren’t embarrassed.

In 2004, the NFC West sent the Seattle Seahawks (at 9-7, the division champion) and the St. Louis Rams (at 8-8, a wild-card team) to the playoffs. The Rams beat the Seahawks in the wild-card round but then fell to the Atlanta Falcons, 47-17, in the divisional round. In 2008, the NFC West was represented by the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals, who lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. That same season, the AFC West’s San Diego Chargers (8-8) won their wild-card game before losing to the Steelers in the divisional round. And in 2014, the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers gave the NFC South a playoff win (over the Cardinals) before losing to the top-seeded Seahawks, the eventual Super Bowl runner-up.

As mentioned earlier, the Cowboys sit at the top of the division heading into Sunday, with a 63 percent chance at winning the division. (That estimate is based on 1,000 simulations of the remainder of the season, using teams’ actual win rates, projected win rates based on total points scored and allowed and a regressed win rate that accounts for having played less than a full season of games.) The Eagles have the next-best chance at 37 percent and the Washington Redskins, despite a 3-9 record, are still mathematically alive in the divisional race.

Troy Aikman says the Dallas Cowboys’ struggles begin ‘at the top’

The remaining game that could swing this outlook the most is the Week 16 matchup between the Cowboys and Eagles. According to the New York Times Playoff Picture, an Eagles win in that game would improve their playoff chances from 33 to 60 percent, while a loss would shrink their playoff chances to a mere four percent. That’s irrespective of any other result over the next few weeks. If the Eagles manage to win their next two games (vs. the Giants and then at Washington), Dallas Week becomes much more important. A win in that scenario would push Philadelphia’s playoff chances from 50 to 87 percent, while a loss would reduce them from 50 to 10 percent.

If the Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15, then they could virtually clinch the division against the Eagles the following week. Beating the Rams could also, at least marginally, bolster the division’s sagging reputation.

[snackdaddy]

Didn't a 7-9 Seahawks team beat New Orleans in a playoff game in 2010?

[Hacksaw]

NFCE .. .. nuthin to see there.

[Elvis]

Didn't a 7-9 Seahawks team beat New Orleans in a playoff game in 2010?

Yup, that was the year we went into Seattle for the last game of the season with a chance to make the playoffs. We would've been 8-8 but they had the tie breaker at 7-9.

People will make a big deal out of this and it's probably gonna screw the Rams this year but it doesn't come up that often, we all love talking about it and i think it's fine to have the division winner make the playoffs guaranteed even in extreme cases like this year...

[rams74]

Yup, that was the year we went into Seattle for the last game of the season with a chance to make the playoffs. We would've been 8-8 but they had the tie breaker at 7-9.

People will make a big deal out of this and it's probably gonna screw the Rams this year but it doesn't come up that often, we all love talking about it and i think it's fine to have the division winner make the playoffs guaranteed even in extreme cases like this year...

To me, at least that 2010 NFC West ended up with 1 game in which the winner gets the playoffs, however bad both teams actually were. At the time, it felt like the Rams were ascending a little bit (though they choked away that last game). And the Seahawks weren't that bad.

The NFC East this year seems like every time a team has a chance to take hold of the division, they lose. And they lose in embarrassing fashion.

You shouldn't be allowed to lose your way into the playoffs. Maybe in the end they'll sort it out.

[aeneas1]

[FredsDryer]

To me, at least that 2010 NFC West ended up with 1 game in which the winner gets the playoffs, however bad both teams actually were. At the time, it felt like the Rams were ascending a little bit (though they choked away that last game). And the Seahawks weren't that bad.

The NFC East this year seems like every time a team has a chance to take hold of the division, they lose. And they lose in embarrassing fashion.

You shouldn't be allowed to lose your way into the playoffs. Maybe in the end they'll sort it out.

That 2010 Season was a scrapper. It felt like growth, breaking what I think was a 10 game losing streak to Seattle earlier and just getting some bad breaks. The Seahawks traded blows with the Defending champion Saints in that playoff game before the Lynch run. It actually brings back a little pain, Fisher.. the master of the 8-8 season, that last game in Seattle and losing to Charlie Whitehurst.. YUCK. I will be frank, I don't miss Fish.

[aeneas1]

That 2010 Season was a scrapper. It felt like growth, breaking what I think was a 10 game losing streak to Seattle earlier and just getting some bad breaks. The Seahawks traded blows with the Defending champion Saints in that playoff game before the Lynch run. It actually brings back a little pain, Fisher.. the master of the 8-8 season, that last game in Seattle and losing to Charlie Whitehurst.. YUCK. I will be frank, I don't miss Fish.

argh, the flaccid 2010 rams, they scored 20 or fewer points in 13 of their 16 games and finished the year 25th in offensive scoring... thanks to a 12th ranked defense in offensive points allowed the rams were able to flirt with a .500 season, but of course the crappy offense was on full display in the final game of the season, managed just 2 field goals and under 200 yards of total offense against the hags...