NFC East Recap, Week 10: Redskins and Giants Come Through As Winners

In Week 9, the Dallas Cowboys took control of first place in the NFC East with a 20-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The team appeared to be in good shape as contenders for the division title after an impressive four-game winning streak.

One week later, it's clear the NFC East title is still up for grabs and could be won by any team at this point.

The division may not be living up to the "NFC Beast" name from a few years ago, but it's clear the winner of the division will most likely be determined in Week 16 or 17. Here's a recap of all four teams from Week 10 of the 2009 NFL regular season.

Dallas Cowboys

Prior to Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers, Tony Romo previously won 13 straight games in the month of November">Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo previously won 13 straight games in the month of November. While all good things must come to an end, he can still rally his team for next week's matchup against the Washington Redskins.

The Cowboys failed to find the end zone against the Packers until there were 38 seconds remaining in the game. Even though wide receiver Roy Williams had the team's only score of the day, he had a few costly plays that could have helped the Cowboys stay in the game, including a fumble after a 42-yard reception.

Instead of taking advantage of the Eagles' loss to the Chargers, the Cowboys still remain just one game ahead in the NFC East standings.

However, give credit to the Packers, who may have needed this win more than the Cowboys. The defense stepped it up big to prevent the team from falling below .500 on the season, a place nobody expected them to be even close to in September.

Packers cornerback Charles Woodson had his best game of the season and did everything he could against the Cowboys—including a sack, an interception and two forced fumbles.

New York Giants

With a 5-4 record entering Week 10, the New York Giants could not have asked for a better time to have their bye week. Despite not even playing, the Giants may have had arguably the best week overall out of all the teams in the NFC East.

After beginning the season 5-0, the Giants have lost their last four games to the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Eagles and San Diego Chargers.

At 5-4, the Giants found themselves entering Week 10 two games behind the first-place Cowboys. With losses from the Cowboys and Eagles, the Giants now find themselves in better shape to climb back near the top of the division. Not only do they share the same record with the Eagles, but are now just one game back of the division-leading Cowboys.

Their upcoming game in Week 11 against the Atlanta Falcons may be seen as a playoff game by some considering how important the outcome is for the Giants to stay in the hunt.

This team has performed well in the second half of the season before. It shouldn't be a surprise if they make another late-season run for the playoffs again.

Philadelphia Eagles

No team in the NFC East is more difficult to figure out after 10 weeks than the Philadelphia Eagles.

Some weeks, they look like a team determined to be a strong playoff contender. Other weeks, they look horrendous and struggle against teams they would beat nine times out of 10—such as the Oakland Raiders.

Last week against the Chargers, the Eagles offense failed to find the end zone until the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, their two touchdowns by wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and tight end Brent Celek were "too little, too late" considering the team was already down 28-9.

The Eagles are capable of having one of the top offenses in all of football. For some reason, they struggle to perform well on a consistent basis. Last week's game against the Chargers was the perfect example. McNabb was forced to throw the ball 55 times in the losing effort.

Washington Redskins

Who would have thought the Washington Redskins were the only team in the NFC East to come away with a victory?

A few weeks ago, the Denver Broncos were considered one of the top teams in football with a 6-0 record. Now, they have to deal with losing to a Redskins' team that failed to score over 17 points until Week 10 of the regular season.

It may have taken 10 weeks, but the Redskins finally managed to score more than 17 points in a game en route to their 27-17 win over the Broncos on Sunday.

With running back Clinton Portis resting on the sidelines from his concussion, Ladell Betts stepped it up, rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown.

They may be at the bottom of the NFC East standings with a 3-6 record, but the Redskins have to be satisfied that their four-game skid is finally over. With an important division game coming up against the Dallas Cowboys this week, it should be interesting to see if the Redskins can keep this "winning attitude" going.

Dan Parzych is the founder of the new NFCEastFootball.com