This was such a proud division not that long ago. At the start of the regular season, the division had what were considered three legitimate contenders in the Eagles, Giants, and Cowboys, and, of course, the Washington Redskins as The Beaver.
Still, it was pretty good. Three legitimate quarterbacks, three credible defenses, three teams with great histories and high expectations.
Yesterday was not a good day for the division. The Giants coughed up a dreadful loss at home against the Chargers, their fourth straight defeat; the Redskins continued their systematic withdrawal from the NFL; and then the Eagles and Cowboys played a sloppy, uninspiring game that wouldn't have been worthy of also-rans, let alone contenders. In fact, it was a stinker.
The national prime-time audience was treated to an array of penalties, poor throws, bad tackles, dumb play-calling, and - this wasn't the fault of the teams - lousy officiating. Andy Reid likes to trot out the aphorism that a team is never as good as it looks when it wins or as bad as it looks when it loses. The Eagles had better hope that's true. They looked awful in the 20-16 loss to a team that could barely get out of its own way.
As if to prove that having a false start and then a punt on what should have been a simple quarterback sneak isn't so bad, the Eagles went to the line with the same situation in the fourth quarter, didn't mess around with the snap count, but also didn't gain the inches necessary for the first down.
