NFC East Breakdown: Week 7

(Dan T. writes for The Landry Hat, which is FSB’s Dallas Cowboys blog. Representing the rest of the NFC East are G-Men HQ, Inside the Iggles. and Riggo’s Rag.)

Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips still has a job. Why? Jerry Jones has never fired a coach mid-season, even Barry Switzer and Dave Campo lasted full seasons. The Cowboys are in trouble and even Phillips isn’t sure they can turn it around. Fresh off a Pacman suspension and giving up three top picks for wide receiver Roy Williams, the Cowboys get busted up in a 34-14 drubbing from the Rams. Ouch. Meanwhile, the counterparts in the NFC East keep on ticking away. The Washington Redskins didn’t have it easy against the Cleveland Browns, but a win is a win. Clinton Portis is vying for MVP honors. The New York Giants played it a little close with the San Francisco 49ers but when the dust settled the final score resembled a blow out. The Giants are still the beast of the East. The Eagles had the week off.

Dallas Cowboys (4-3):

Looking Back: Nothing went right for the Dallas Cowboys against the St. Louis Rams. The offensive line allowed the Rams defense all access to backup quarterback Brad Johnson. The Cowboys defense couldn’t tackle. The secondary couldn’t cover a wide receiver. It was truly awful. For the first time in 10 years, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stormed into the locker room and lashed out on his highly paid players. But it doesn’t matter because the Cowboys don’t have a coach who instills fear. No one thinks they will be cut the next morning, so it doesn’t matter. To many Cowboys fans, the season is lost. If this team does not turn it around, it may be the biggest flop season the NFL has ever witnessed. That’s history the Cowboys did not plan to make. New wide out Roy Williams did not catch one pass. Terrell Owens didn’t get much opportunity either. If this team continues to have the attention span and discipline of kindergartners with a substitute teacher, it’s going to be a rocky road.

Looking Forward: The Tampa Bay Bucs are no slouches. If Brad Johnson starts a second game, it could be down and out for the Cowboys again. But this is a must-win game to stay in reach of the NFC playoff spots. The Bucs are in direct competition for one of those spots, so this is essence is a regular season playoff game. It doesn’t get any easier for the Cowboys in week nine either, with the New York Giants.   Wade Phillips is pretty much working himself out of a job, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has never fired a coach midseason. But never have the Cowboys faced such an embarrassing season as this one is turning out to be. Someone has to turn this around, and that leadership has to come from the veteran players and the coaching staff. Don’t expect much.

New York Giants (5-1):

Looking Back: The Giants continue to glide through opponents, minus a bruise from the Cleveland Browns last week. They came back and played a decent game against a fighting San Fransisco 49er team. Brandon Jacobs had two touchdowns and Plaxico Burress is clutch in the red zone. The Giants run defense was amazing, holding Frank Gore to 11 yards on 11 carries. It will be tough for any other team in the division to topple these guys and the Giants continue to run roughshod over the NFC.

Looking Forward: The Pittsburgh Steelers will have the terrible towels in force for this game against the defending Super Bowl champions. Certainly the Giants toughest matchup of the year, to win they will need crybaby Eli Manning to perform. If he throws interceptions as he can be prone to do, the Giants are toast.

Philadelphia Eagles (3-3):

Looking Back: The Eagles had a bye week.

Looking Forward: If Brian Westbrook is healthy, the Eagles are as tough as anyone. Problem is, he’s not healthy. The Eagles had a week to prepare for the upstart Atlanta Falcons, with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan and first-year starter Michael Turner. The Eagles certainly don’t want to look past these kids in black. The Falcons are surprising everyone, and caught a lot of attention with the win over the Chicago Bears. If the Eagles can establish a running game, they’ll be in good position to win this game. But if the running game struggles, then the Eagles are forcing passes, and there could be a lot of three-and-outs that will tire the defense and turn into a big night for Turner.

Washington Redskins (5-2):

Looking Back: The Redskins hold a full two-game lead over the Cowboys right now for the divisional playoff race (they have beaten them so if they have an even record, the Redskins win tie breaker unless Cowboys beat them next time around and then it goes to divisional record). They escaped a nail-biter at Fed Ex Field against the Cleveland Browns, who missed a 54-yard field goal in the final minute. A win is a win. Nothing was particular pretty about the Redskins this week other than Clinton Portis having another huge night.

Looking Forward: The Detroit Lions are really bad. It’s a perfect trap game for the Redskins who are riding high with new coach Jim Zorn. Problem is, the Lions don’t have any receivers left that they drafted all those picks for. Well, they have Calvin Johnson, but there is a quarterback with a last name from Norway that is throwing the ball to him. The Redskins cannot lose this game. But rookie coaches sometimes look past these games. You listening Zorn?