From Rags to Riches: A Look at the Rising NFC East

We all remember the 2020 NFL season very well, don't we? So many things stood out about that year, the main thing being that it was being played in the midst of a terrible pandemic. As for on the field, the most memorable thing about the 2020 NFL season? The NFC Least, I mean East. The National Football Conference's Eastern Division, which was a beastly division during my childhood, was an outright joke in 2020. The crazy thing, it seemed to be heading that way in 2019, but we did see .500 or better records that year. 2020 was a mess, as all four of the division's teams--the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the then-named Washington Football Team--all sucked.

Washington, in their first year after finally removing their team name, Redskins, won their season opener and started 1-0. It would be the first and last time that any NFC East team had a winning record at any part of the 2020 season. The division continued to decline so much that Urinating Tree, a popular YouTuber who I am a huge fan of, referred to the NFC East as "Tank Division" during the 2020 season, due to the fact that thanks to how bad the division was, the teams involved had a chance at either the division's lone playoff spot, or a pretty good 1st-round draft pick.

The division was so terrible that the Giants actually had a chance to win the East at 6-10! The Giants defeated the Cowboys on the final week, and needed the Eagles to defeat Washington in the final to get into the playoffs as NFC East Champions. However, Washington ended up defeating Philadelphia on NBC's Sunday Night finale, making the Washington Football Team division champions at 7-9. I'll be honest, I was pulling for Philly in that game, because I wanted to see the purists lose their shit over a team with 10 losses winning the division and hosting a playoff game.

Fast forward to 2022, and all of a sudden, the NFC East is good! Not only good, but monstrous. We football fans expected the AFC West to be the beastly division due to the offseason moves made by all four teams, but in a huge surprise, it's the NFC East standing tall as the stacked division, two years after it served as comedy relief. There is a good possibility that all four teams could be in the playoffs, something that has never happened in the two decades that have passed since the last division realignment. With one-quarter of the season left, here's how the NFC East looks.

Philadelphia Eagles (12-1)

You know, it was two years ago that the Philadelphia Eagles benched Carson Wentz and started Jalen Hurts, and I said back then, "The Eagles have a QB now." This was proven right in 2021, when the Eagles, in their first full season with Hurts, reached the playoffs as one of the NFC's three Wild Cards. That's a big improvement. So I was curious to see what the Eagles would do this year with Hurts. I wasn't expecting this! The Eagles won and won and won and won; they were the last team to lose a game in 2022. All I heard on various networks was the same statement: "The Eagles haven't done (whatever the accomplishment is) since 2004." 2004 was the year the Eagles reached Super Bowl XXXIX.

The Eagles defeated the Giants, 48-22, to lock up a playoff spot; becoming the first team to do so in the 2022 season. All the Eagles needed to do was win to get in, and they did just that. Also, with the Minnesota Vikings' loss, the Eagles now lead Minnesota by two games in the race for the #1 seed--three if you count Philly's Week 2 victory over the Vikings this year. The Eagles also lead the NFC East by two games as well.

Philadelphia's remaining schedule: @ CHI, @ DAL, vs NO, and vs NYG. The game in Dallas could be important, as Philly could enter that game needing a win over the Cowboys to lock up the NFC East, allowing the team to focus on the #1 seed.

Dallas Cowboys (10-3)

Ah, the Dallas Cowboys. We all know the story with this team, and other NFC fans like to laugh about it. Five Super Bowl Championships, three in four years in the 1990s, but since then, nothing. Not even a conference championship. They've been through a lot of quarterbacks since then, but they are currently happy with Dak Prescott. They've also been through a lot of coaches since then, and right now...they're stuck with Mike McCarthy. As a Packers fan, I send my condolences.

Despite playing several weeks without Dak, and playing every week with McCarthy's "coaching," the Cowboys are 10-3 following their win over the Houston Texans, which--somehow--wasn't easy. Despite the fact that Houston only had 1.5 wins and was playing for the #1 pick, the Cowboys had to scratch and claw to defeat the Texans, needing a last minute Ezekiel Elliott touchdown to get it done. The Cowboys reached 10+ wins for the second straight year, and regarding their playoff status, they haven't clinched yet, but could get into the playoffs as early as Week 15.

Dallas' remaining schedule: @ JAX, vs PHI, @ TEN, and @ WSH. Three road games in their final four, though they appear to be winnable. Again, the meeting with Philly looks to be quite interesting, and could have a lot on the line entering the Christmas Eve matchup.

Washington Commanders (7-5-1)

Funny, isn't it? Two years ago, the then-named Washington Football Team won the NFC East with seven wins. This year, the currently-named Washington Commanders have 7.5 wins, a slight improvement, but because the NFC East is juiced up this season, it's only good enough for third place via tiebreaker. Even so, this is a surprisingly good campaign for the Commanders, who ended up with Carson Wentz at QB after he blew it in Indianapolis. The team started 1-4, though Wentz did win his last start against the Bears. However, he ended up injured, resulting in Taylor Heinecke becoming the starter.

Counting the win over the Bears, the Commanders are 5-1-1 in their last seven games. They are red hot, even after the 20-20 tie against the Giants last week. At the moment, Washington holds the second Wild Card position (the overall #6 seed in the NFC), meaning that they are on pace to reach the playoffs for the second time in three years. See how good karma works? They get rid of the racist name, and all of a sudden, they become a near perennial playoff team.

Washington was off this week, but regarding their remaining schedule: vs NYG (SNF), @ SF, vs CLE, and vs DAL. Three home games in their final four; very good, though two of them are divisional, and they start off against the team they tied a week prior. The Commanders' road should be quite intriguing.

New York Giants (7-5-1)

The irony surrounding the Washington Commanders is quite crazy. The irony surrounding the New York Giants is even crazier. The Giants have 7.5 wins, which is 1.5 wins more than 2020, which saw them almost win the division! This is a dream season for the Giants, as they suffered a lot in the last few years. They were suffocating under the ball of hot air and grease known as Ben McAdoo, yet ironically (there it is again), the last time they made the playoffs? 2016--under McAdoo. They suffered under Joe Judge for a couple of years, until finally hiring Brian Daboll, and boy has that worked wonders.

Despite the wins, though, the respect wasn't there. Even when the Giants started 3-1, the respect wasn't there. Then they beat the Packers in London. Now heads were turning. They later added two more wins. The respect came. You have to take a 6-1 team seriously. New York has had a tough few games lately; going 1-4-1 in their last six games, but even so, the Giants are having an amazing season, and they are a serious playoff threat.

New York's remaining schedule: @ WSH (SNF), @ MIN, vs IND, and @ PHI. Oh boy! Not only three road games in four weeks, but two of them are against the top two teams in the conference! That's a very bumpy road for the Giants. We'll see if they survive.

The NFC East is truly back; going from a punchline to a dominant division in only two years. Again, there is a huge possibility that the entire division could reach the playoffs this year, which would be monumental. The final four weeks will definitely tell the tale.