For years the NFC East has sold itself as the most important division in football. Biggest markets, biggest TV ratings, biggest egos. Here’s the newest line for the brochure: the first division in NFL history to go winless in consecutive weeks.
Since Week 5, the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants and Commanders are a combined 0-6-2. CBS’s Garrett Podell summed it up better than any of the four head coaches could: “No one wants to win the 2026 NFC East division. Seriously.”
How we got here
Week 5 set the table. The Buccaneers beat the Cowboys 24-16 on Thursday night in Dallas. The Eagles kicked a go-ahead field goal with eight seconds left in London, then gave up a 53-yard kickoff return that set up a 57-yard Jacksonville field goal to win it 19-17. And the Giants and Commanders played 60 minutes plus overtime and finished 27-27, which counts as the division’s best result of the week. Two ties. That’s the high-water mark.
Week 6 cleaned up the ties by removing all doubt. Green Bay beat Dallas 23-13 on Sunday night. Carolina went to Philadelphia and won 25-14. The Saints beat the Giants 34-27, and New York trailed 34-10 at one point before making it look respectable. Then Washington closed the book on Monday night, losing 23-17 at San Francisco.
Some of this is just bad football. The Cowboys rank 30th in total defense (382.5 yards allowed per game), last against the run (149.8 per game) and last on third down, allowing conversions 54.7% of the time. The Packers came into Week 6 converting 27.6% of their third downs, worst in the league. They went 11-for-18 against Dallas. The Cowboys defense is out here running a charity.
The standings are a hostage situation
The Giants lead the division at 3-2-1. Washington is last at 1-4-1. Philadelphia is 2-4 and has lost four straight and with Jalen Hurts expected to miss the rest of the season, Tanner McKee is set to start again when the Eagles face the Cowboys next Monday.
And yet, as Podell pointed out, “none of the four teams are truly out of the hunt just yet.” That’s the beauty of a division where nobody can win a game. Nobody can lose ground either.
DraftKings odds to win the NFC East heading into Week 7 have Dallas as the favorite at +130, followed by the Giants at +154, the Commanders at +600 and the Eagles at +700. The team with the 30th-ranked defense is the betting favorite. Read that twice.
The Giants, for their part, are leading the pack with a quarterback situation involving Jameis Winston (57% completions, second-to-last in the NFL) and J.J. McCarthy, who finished last in the league last year in completion percentage (58%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (11-12) and passer rating (72.6). That’s your division leader, folks.
Someone is going to host a playoff game out of this division in January. Somebody has to. The NFL rulebook says so, and at this point it’s the only thing guaranteeing anybody in the NFC East a win.
<p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://ballsandbanter.com/nfl/the-nfc-east-just-became-the-first-division-in-nfl-history-to-go-winless-in-back-to-back-weeks/">Balls & Banter</a>.</em></p>
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