Through the first four weeks of the 2020 NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles sit atop the lead in the NFC East at an astounding 1-2-1.
Yep, that is all it takes in a division no team seems to want to win – and the putrid start to the season has reached historical depths.
The Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Football Team and New York Giants have combined to go 3-12-1 in 16 games this season. That is just the second-worst division record through four games since the AFL and NFL merger 50 years ago, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell.
If not for the Eagles’ tie to the Cincinnati Bengals, it would indeed be the worst division in football through four weeks in the last 50 years.
Since 2002, when the NFL adopted its current eight-division, 32-team format, no division had ever failed to combine for four wins through the first four weeks of the season, until now.
Even the three wins come with asterisks.
Washington and the Eagles faced each other in Week 1 – meaning someone had to win (unless there was another tie). The Cowboys’ lone win came courtesy of an epic fourth quarter collapse by the Atlanta Falcons, who have made that a habit under Dan Quinn. And the Eagles’ win on Sunday night came against a depleted 49ers team with Nick Mullens playing so badly he had to get benched for third-string QB C.J. Beathard – and even that came down to the final play of the game.
And while the Eagles are in first place, they have only run three offensive plays total while leading in the fourth quarter, per ESPN Stats & Info. That’s three more than the Giants and Cowboys, while Washington ran 11 against the Eagles in Week 1.
According to FiveThirtyEight, the Cowboys still have the best odds to win the division at 54%. The Eagles are next best at 37% while Washington is at 9% and the Giants at 4%.
Those odds will continue to fluctuate, but the division should at least get one more win next week when the Cowboys and Giants square off against one another.
The Giants, on the other hand, are perhaps the worst of the bunch. In a year where the NFL is averaging a record-high 51.8 combined points per game, the Giants are averaging 11.8 points per game under new head coach Joe Judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Daniel Jones has appeared to regress in Year 2 and losing Saquon Barkley certainly has not helped matters.
Washington isn’t much better, averaging 19.8 points per game for the third-worst in the league, but at least they have a win to show for it – which will certainly go a long way in the NFC East where it may not take many wins to finish atop the division.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram