The game of hot potato continues unabated in the NFC East. Every time a new team ascends to the top, they treat it like they’ve been handed a live grenade. Yet, nearly the entire division is still in strong contention for the playoffs — even the Redskins can take a page out of the playbook of Dumb & Dumber: So you’re saying there’s a chance!
The Dallas Cowboys (6-3) are the latest to show they want nothing to do with a division title, turning over the ball three times against Green Bay to submarine the four-game winning streak that had propelled them into first. Instead of pulling away, now Dallas next week must beat a revived Washington team just to maintain its slim one-game advantage.
Not that Philadelphia (5-4) has any clue about how to lead. The Eagles have agonizingly dropped two straight since waltzing by the Redskins on Monday night and embarrassing the New York Giants as a diversion for doomed Phillies fans. A team that can’t convert in the red zone has no chance in the playoffs, yet Philly remains a top wild card contender.
Meanwhile, the Giants (5-4), of course, are the definition of free fall. Remember when they were 5-0 and everyone’s favorite to reach the Super Bowl? The sports psychologists spent the bye week trying to help the G-men erase the memories of the four games they’ve lost since, because New York also has no reason to lose sight of the postseason.
Instead of a season of haves and have nots, the NFC East leads the way as the NFL morphs into “deserves a postseason” and “doesn’t deserve a postseason but just might get it anyway.”
