December 12, 2022
The Eagles are flying high atop the NFC East after a 48-22 blowout of the Giants that had the whole team firing on all cylinders.
They're an NFL-best 12-1, became the first team to officially punch its ticket to the playoffs, and are gunning straight toward the NFC's No. 1 seed.
They're not alone in the NFC East, however, as the Cowboys, Commanders, and Giants are all in the playoff picture as well.
We know what's going on with the Giants given Sunday's pummeling, but what about the other two?
Here's a look at what's going on around the division:
The Commanders have activated Carson Wentz off injured reserve, but as reported last month, the starting quarterback job belongs to Taylor Heinicke now, so Wentz will sit as the backup.
The #Commanders activated Carson Wentz from injured reserve and he’ll serve as the backup for Taylor Heinicke.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 12, 2022
Heinicke took over the next week against Green Bay, and since then, the Commanders have looked like an entirely different team.
They've gone 5-1-1 with Heinicke under center, handed the Eagles their only defeat of the season so far, and climbed into the playoff picture as one of the NFC's hottest teams. At 7-5-1 overall and third in the NFC East after the Giants' loss to the Eagles on Sunday, FiveThirtyEight now has the Commanders with a 73% chance of making the playoffs.
A brutal past couple of years for Wentz, meanwhile, continues. Once the Eagles' franchise QB, who completely fell apart in 2020 then burnt out quickly in Indianapolis, Wentz hasn't been all that bad in Washington – 62.1% completion rate, 1,489 yards, 10 TDs, 6 INTs – but the Commanders' offense never completely meshed out of the gate with him, and he was still prone to some reckless decision-making with the football.
What comes next for Wentz is unclear as the soon-to-be 30-year-old has another two years left on his contract.
Washington was on the bye this week and will face the Giants in the Meadowlands Sunday night in primetime.
The Cowboys just barely squeaked by the league-worst Houston Texans on Sunday, but it came at a massive cost.
Their starting right tackle, Terence Steele, is now out for the season with ACL and MCL tears in his left knee, per ESPN's Todd Archer.
In addition to the ACL, Steele also suffered an MCL tear, per source. Major loss for the Cowboys OL. Zack Martin called Steele the best OL on the team. Set to be an RFA after the season. Cowboys have hoped to sign him to long-term deal. https://t.co/J424CQoEQ5
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) December 12, 2022
Steele, 25, formed a key run-blocking duo with guard Zack Martin on the right side of Dallas' line, so to lose him this late in the season could be a critical blow to the Cowboys' hopes of catching the Eagles in the race for the division and be a major problem heading into the playoffs.
The Cowboys will see the Eagles in Arlington on Christmas Eve, and the expectation is it will be one of the biggest games all season. But after back-to-back routs of the Titans and then the Giants the past two weeks, the Eagles are relatively healthy and playing arguably the best football in the league right now.
Any team looking to compete with them right now needs to show up with their absolute best, and Dallas very well may not have that.
Outside the NFC East, but maybe (probably) of interest to Eagles fans.
From earlier this week, with the Vikings in a position to clinch the NFC North with a win:
Jalen Reagor has guaranteed #Vikings to win at Detroit. I asked him about possibly clinching division & he said “We’re going to win” I asked him if that's a guarantee: "Yes'' He added “I’m not going to say nothing about if we might win. I’m..expecting us to win..I have no doubts"
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) December 7, 2022
Reagor's line: 1 target, 0 receptions, 0 yards, 1 punt return for 9 yards.
Lions left tackle Taylor Decker postgame (via MLive): "Tough look for Jalen Reagor this week, huh?”
Brutal.
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