NFC East Roundup Week 10: Wild Card Race Heats Up In Division
The Dallas Cowboys are still the favorites in the NFC East, but the Wild Card race is heating up for the other teams in the division.
The NFC East saw a very successful week in NFL Week 10. All four teams were in action, and all four of the teams came out on top. However, none of the victories were as big as the one that the Washington Redskins recorded.
The Redskins needed a win in the worst way coming out of the bye, and they were taking on the Minnesota Vikings. Though the Vikings had struggled over the past few weeks, they still have a strong defense that projected to matchup well against the Redskins.
Instead, the Redskins exploited them. Kirk Cousins played well and helped to lead the team to two early touchdowns. In the running game, Rob Kelley came close to recording his first 100 yard game. He had 97 yards on 22 carries and was able to keep his legs churning. He picked up excess yardage and looks like he could carry the load moving forward. Overall, this game was huge for the Redskins.
The Philadelphia Eagles also had a big win on Sunday. They were taking on the Atlanta Falcons who were favored in the contest. The Eagles defense looked fantastic with the return of Bennie Logan, and they shut down the running game as a result.
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Then, on the offensive side of the ball Ryan Mathews played one of the best games of his Eagles career. He ran 19 yards for 109 yards and two touchdown after barely playing the previous week. It was a breakout game for him, though it remains to be seen if he will get a big workload moving forward. The Eagles look to have a legitimate chance to contend for a wild card spot, as is the case with most of the NFC East.
Surprisingly, the New York Giants looked good on Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Giants defense did a great job of limiting the Bengals in the second half, and the pass rush finally looks to be improving. They got a lot of pressure on Andy Dalton during the contest, recording three sacks during the game. Prior to the game, they had only produced 11 in the entire season.
Eli Manning looks to be getting into a groove as well. The game was close, but the Giants managed to eke out a 1 point win. They are currently in second place in the division, but it seems likely that they will finish third or fourth. They simply are not ready to be a playoff team yet.
Mentioning the Dallas Cowboys is just a formality at this point. They improved to 8-1 on the season after their 35-30 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ezekiel Elliott had a huge game totaling three touchdowns, including the game winning one on a gutsy play call. They have won eight straight and it would be shocking if they cannot win the division this year.