Any guesses on the friendliest division in the NFL? We’re talking about four teams who get along no matter what and always root for the successes of one another. No guesses? Seriously? It’s the NFC East of course!
The second week of the 2015 NFL season saw the second clash within the division, which included our Dallas Cowboys, and it was quite a doozy. The other two NFC teams had some interesting days of their own that left them in interesting situations heading into Week 3.
Step into my laboratory and let’s examine our Dallas Cowboys and annoying little brothers within the division.
Dallas Cowboys: 2-0 Overall, 2-0 Within NFC East
America’s Team traveled to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the runt of the NFC East litter – the Philadelphia Eagles. Without Dez Bryant the Dallas Cowboys Defense came to play, continually getting pressure and finding themselves tackling Eagle running backs for losses.
Rod Marinelli is having a drastic influence on his defensive unit, but the biggest impact is being felt by Sean Lee.
The newly crowned NFC Defensive Player of the Week helped the Cowboys pull off a 20-10 victory over the Eagles, giving them a 2-0 record and making them 2-0 in the division. These first two wins count so much more than regular victories, seeing as they are against division rivals, and the Dallas Cowboys are currently the only NFL team who is 2-0 within their respective division.
Washington Redskins: 1-1 Overall, 0-0 Within NFC East
Two weeks ago there was a lot of question about whether or not the Washington Redskins could even win a game in the NFL. Then Kirk Cousins quarterbacked this crew to a nice win over the St. Louis Rams, who were coming off an impressive Week 1 win over the Seattle Seahawks, to give this team their first victory of the season.
The biggest story out of D.C. seems to be the emergence of rookie running back Matt Jones. With Alfred Morris at their disposal you would think that the Redskins were set at that position, but Matt Jones looked very good against what people believe is an elite defensive front in St. Louis.
Washington sure has surprised a lot of people with how composed they are (or rather how they are not a flaming dumpster fire) in 2015, and if they can pull off a win on Thursday against the G-Men, they’ll really enter the conversation of relevance.
New York Giants: 0-2 Overall, 0-1 Within NFC East
Odell might be able to catch a ridiculous amount of hype, but the New York Giants just can’t catch a break. They dropped a heartbreaker against the Atlanta Falcons in the waning seconds of the game… a practice that they are developing into a tradition for the 2015 season.
The Giants have shown some moxie in 2015. Their offense has moments where it looks like they could be lethal against opponents; they just seem to have an inability to finish games. Washington comes to town on Thursday and that could be just what the doctor ordered. You never want losses like this to fester over a whole week, so getting back on the field quickly could help them re-focus faster.
Philadelphia Eagles: 0-2 Overall, 0-1 Within NFC East
The freshest wings out of the Eagles nest, DeMarco Murray, had an astonishingly terrible performance on Sunday against Dallas… only producing 2 yards against his former team. His 2 yards were part of the 7 total yards that the Eagle running backs found on the ground… calling Head Coach Chip Kelly’s philosophies into question.
The Eagles are a complete offensive mess. They lead the NFL in one offensive category – three and outs. Chip Kelly has a lot of pressure on him this week as the Eagles take on the 2-0 New York Jets.
With a division loss already blemishing 2015, Philadelphia is an 0-3 step away from completely unraveling.
What do you think of our division rivals and where the NFC East stands? Let me know at rjochoa@insidethestar.com or Tweet @rjochoa.
