The Giants entered Week 14 atop the NFC East, but Sunday night's loss to Cleveland combined with Dallas' win over San Francisco moved Big Blue down to third at the close of Week 15.
Still, they, as well as the last-place 4-9-1 Eagles, are still alive in the chase for a division title and a No. 4 seed in the playoffs. We don't know who will win the NFC East, but we do know two things: whomever does will be the sixth team in the 16-game era to win a division at .500 or worse, and could still be the worst of all, either tied with or a game behind the 7-9 2011 Seahawks.
In theory, the loser of Sunday's Eagles/Giants game will be officially eliminated based on tiebreakers, but pending results in the 1 p.m. window, Washington could have already clinched the division by the time that game kicks off. Ridiculous scenarios abound, but with all that said, here are some of the paths to the NFC East crown with just two weeks remaining.
WASHINGTON (6-8, 3-2 Division)
Remaining: Carolina, at Philadelphia
The Washington Football Team, left for dead at various points this season even into December, has a magic number of two with an asterisk. Because they swept the Cowboys but got swept by the Giants, they need to do one better than Big Blue and no worse than one woes than Dallas, so it's not a straight two and out.
A win over Carolina and a Giants loss in Baltimore would actually clinch the East for the WFT in Week 16, rendering Dallas/Philly later that day and WFT/Eagles on Jan. 3 moot. Of course, reverse results in those games could leave them needing a win and help, so it's still a crapshoot.
Bottom line: beat Carolina, and at worst they head into Week 17 needing to win or match the Giants to be playoff-bound; lose to the 4-10 Panthers, though, and the WFT is going to be left hoping a lot of cards fall the right way.
DALLAS (5-9, 1-3 Division)
Remaining: Philadelphia, at NY Giants
Dallas has one path: win out and hope Washington loses out. Based on head-to-head, Dallas loses a straight up 7-9 tiebreaker with the WFT, and if there's a three-way tie at 6-10, it means one of two things: Philly won out and won the division at 6-9-1, or the Giants win the division (Dallas would be first out on head-to-head in that case, having gone 1-3 vs. NYG and WFT, and then the Giants swept Washington). Getting to 7-9 means they drop both the Giants and Eagles to 10 losses, so they'll need help from Carolina and an Eagles team they would have just beaten.
NEW YORK (5-9, 3-2 Division)
Remaining: at Baltimore, Dallas
Big Blue actually has better odds than Dallas because they swept Washington and don't play a divisional game in Week 16, but the path still isn't easy. They can win the division at 7-9 if they win out and Washington loses either of their last two, they can win at 6-10 in the scenario outlined above (lose to Baltimore but beat Dallas, Washington loses out, and Dallas beats Philly, or they can win at 6-9-1 if they tie Baltimore, beat Dallas, and Philly loses to Dallas but beats Washington (you'd have Dallas and Washington 6-10 and Philly 5-10-1). Eight days ago, they controlled their own destiny, and now, they're left with three paths but all require a lot of help.
PHILADELPHIA (4-9-1, 2-2 Division)
Remaining: at Dallas, Washington
The reason Sunday's Dallas/Philly loser is eliminated is because Philly's tie and Dallas' two losses to Washington kill any chance at a tiebreaker. So, like Dallas, Philly has one path to a division title: win out to get to 6-9-1, and have Washington also lose to Carolina to finish 6-10. From there, though, they could actually control their own destiny entering Week 17.
If Philly and Carolina win and the Ravens beat or tie Giants in Week 16, the 5-9-1 Eagles are win and in for Week 17; a Ravens win means the Giants and Dallas would be at 10 losses and Washington would be 6-9, while a tie would make both Philly and New York 5-9-1, but Philly would win the tiebreaker (conference record, 6-6 versus 5-7) if both finished 6-9-1. And, if the Giants beat Baltimore next week, Week 17 would need Philly and Dallas wins to get the Eagles to the permutation where they win at 6-9-1 against three 6-10 teams.
So, then, one thing we can all agree on: no more ties?
