Cowboys running away with NFC East after just six games originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The battle for the NFC East crown in 2020 was an all-out war between four teams below .500, fighting for the right to get sent home by Tom Brady in front of their home fans.
Washington came away with the division title despite a 2-7 start, which goes to show just how ridiculous the division was a year ago. This year, it's been much more simple. There are still three teams below .500 trying to figure ways around their weaknesses on the fly with the 5-1 Cowboys running away with it atop the standings.
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There is still plenty of football to be played, but as of now, this is Dallas' division to lose.
Washington Football Team (2-4, T-2nd)
You would've been hard-pressed to find a large group of people who truly believed Washington was going to beat the Chiefs this week, and probably for good reason. Washington kept things close and forced three turnovers on the two-time defending AFC champs, but in the end, it came down to Patrick Mahomes making more plays than Taylor Heinicke.
That doesn't make this loss any easier to get over from a fan's perspective and the defense still can't seem to get off the field when they need to, but at the end of the day, this was an expected outcome. Things won't get any easier, either. Washington must now travel to Lambeau Field to play Aaron Rodgers and the 5-1 Packers in Week 7.
Dallas Cowboys (5-1, 1st)
Barring a serious injury to Dak Prescott or Trevon Diggs, it's hard to see a world where the Cowboys don't win this division by a healthy margin. As of now, they're the only team in the division not having a weekly crisis on at least one side of the ball.
There's no real way to stop their offense, the defense gives up a decent amount of yardage week-to-week as we saw in Week 6 against New England, but they always seem to get turnovers when they need them. As long as Mike McCarthy's game management skills, or lack thereof, don't get in the way at any point, it's safe to consider this Dallas team bonafide Super Bowl contenders out of the NFC.
Philadelphia Eagles (2-4, T-2nd)
Through the first six weeks, only four teams have run the ball less than the Eagles (132 attempts), but nobody is gaining more yards per carry (5.2). Does anyone see the problem here?
They have a dual-threat quarterback in Jalen Hurts, a talented running back with big-play ability in Miles Sanders and a well-coached offensive line that's borderline dominant when healthy. However, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles are refusing to feature the running game each week.
Philadelphia ran it 19 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns in its Week 6 loss to Tampa Bay and threw it 26 times for 115 yards and one score. Passing the ball is the most efficient way to move the ball and score points, but the Eagles haven't been nearly efficient enough to warrant such a one-dimensional attack. Right now, this coaching staff simply looks like it's trying to fit Hurts into a Phillip Rivers' offense.
New York Giants (1-5, 4th)
Could the Giants have played better in a 38-11 loss to the Rams this week? Absolutely. They couldn't run the ball, Daniel Jones threw three picks in part because he had to throw it 51 times in total, and the defense got gashed left and right by Matthew Stafford.
Similar to Washington, this was an expected result. The only new problem worth worrying about after this game is the lack of effort a few defensive players showed on Cooper Kupp's late touchdown. If your team's bad and they aren't playing hard, that usually leads to a long season and an offseason full of difficult conversations.
