PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 25: Quarterback Carson Wentz #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles is seen on the line of scrimmage in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field on September 25, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NFLBy Kevin McGuire on

The NFC continues to be highly competitive.

Over the last few weeks, I have been unable to avoid the topic of just how many good teams there appear to be in the NFC this season. The NFC has become far more interesting than the AFC, where the Patriots and Steelers continue to stand tall above the rest of the conference. But in the NFC, you can make a case for each of the current division contenders to be a team to beat and can even entertain an argument for a team like Seattle.

On Sunday, the best of the NFC flexed some more muscle to make sure we get to the Thanksgiving break thankful for some new storylines to follow in the NFC this season.

Carson Wentz vs. Dak Prescott was no contest Sunday night

After a week off, the Philadelphia Eagles looked a little rusty in the first half of their Sunday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles worked a methodical drive on their first offensive possession of the game to score a touchdown, but the Cowboys stood tough for the remainder of the first half while tacking on three field goals to take a 9-7 lead to halftime.

Then the second half began.

And what a half it was for Carson Wentz and the Eagles, owners of the NFL’s best record at 9-1. The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half, with drives traveling 75 yards, 90 yards, and 85 yards. In between those scoring drives, the Cowboys were forced to punt after five plays.

Just like that, a 9-7 deficit was flipped into a 29-9 lead, and the Eagles weren’t even done there.

Wentz may not have racked up the big yardage through the air, but he was every bit the confident starting quarterback and MVP candidate he has shown glimpses of being. Wentz passed for 168 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception or being sacked. Credit the offensive line for a good amount of that, but Wentz also got out of trouble a few times on his own to keep plays alive. The offensive line also allowed the running game featuring Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount and rookie Corey Clement to grind out 215 yards on the ground with two scores. And the Eagles even got by with using a backup linebacker for kickoff duty.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, had quite a long night on offense. Dak Prescott was under pressure all night long, as the Eagles had no fear about the Cowboys running game. Prescott was picked off three times and sacked four times. He also lost a fumble that was returned for a score in the second half. It is the second time this season that the Eagles have returned a fumble by an NFC East quarterback for a score, the other being against Washington’s Kirk Cousins in the season opener.

At 5-5, the Cowboys now have an incredibly difficult path to get to the playoffs. The current NFC playoff picture sees Dallas sitting four spots behind the Seattle Seahawks for the final playoff spot, and the Cowboys are back two games in the loss column behind the Seahawks. They are also one game behind the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, and the Falcons own a head-to-head tiebreaker should that come into play. Dallas is also tied with the Green Bay Packers, and the Packers also have a head-to-head tiebreaker in their pocket. The Cowboys also still have four more games to play without Ezekiel Elliott and have a short week to prepare for a Chargers team that just put 54 points on the scoreboard.

The Eagles are easily on their way to the postseason. There are still some challenges ahead, but at 9-1, the NFC East crown is quickly coming into view and the focus can shift to playoff seeding. The Eagles currently own the best record in the NFL, but the competition in the NFC is fierce right now and the pressure to keep winning games is strong right now with the Saints and Vikings each winning this week.

Cris Collinsworth dropped the idea of the Eagles being the Super Bowl favorite. I’m not at all ready to go that far, especially considering what Tom Brady and the Patriots continue to do and the crowd at the top of the NFC standings, but the Eagles absolutely have proven they won’t be going away.

The Chargers are going to win the AFC West, aren’t they?

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It was not very long ago when you could said that the AFC West was the best division in the NFL. That is far from the case now with the Chiefs losing that sizzle from the beginning of the season and three other teams currently under .500. Sunday was another brutal day for the division, aside from the Los Angeles Chargers. Phillip Rivers and the Bolts torched the sinking Buffalo Bills, 54-24. (That’s three losses by the Bills, and Nathan Peterman got yanked in favor for Tyrod Taylor after throwing five interceptions in the first half.) The win moved the Chargers to 4-6, and it is not crazy at all to think the Chargers could potentially make a run to the division crown. Is it?

OK, let’s not get too carried away. We’ll see what the Chargers do on a short week with a Thanksgiving game at Dallas coming up, but they’ve won four of the last six games, better than any other team in the division right now.

The Denver Broncos sunk to 3-7 with a 20-17 loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, and now the franchise is facing questions about potentially using a high draft pick to draft a quarterback. This despite the Broncos used a pick just last year to draft Paxton Lynch. And the more games Denver drops, the more sense it makes to consider hitting the reset button at the position.

South of the border in Mexico, the Oakland Raiders went three quarters before putting any points on the scoreboard. Even worse, they were playing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Brady torched Oakland for 339 yards and three scores in a 33-8 blowout, moving the Patriots to an AFC-best 8-2 while the Raiders slipped to 4-6.

The only team with a winning record in the AFC West is the Chiefs, and they may have had the biggest stinker of the day in the division. The Chiefs came off a bye week and played on the road against the New York Giants, the team which was the first defeated by the San Francisco 49ers last week. Given Andy Reid’s track record off a bye week and how bad the Giants are, this should have been an easy win for Kansas City, right?

Wrong. The Chiefs lost to the Giants, 12-9 in overtime. That is just pitiful. The Chiefs have now lost four of their last five games. Fortunately for them, the remaining schedule appears to be the most favorable among AFC West teams, so the division may still be theirs to lose.

The Race For The No. 1 Draft Pick

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With the New York Giants winning their second game of the season and the San Francisco 49ers getting the week off, all the attention was on the Cleveland Browns, the last team in the league without a win this season. Would the Browns finally put one in the win column, or would they continue to set the pace for the number one draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft? Well…

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The Browns fell to 0-10 with their sixth loss at home this season, this time a 19-7 setback against the Jacksonville Jaguars. DeShone Kizer completed just 16 of 32 pass attempts for 179 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown, and was sacked five times. He also lost the football on a strip sack that resulted in a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to practically seal the win for the Jags. Cleveland’s offense had just 184 yards of offense and five turnovers with 11 first downs.

But what I do like about the Browns is they are still finding ways to get the most out of Joe Thomas, who is now giving weather reports before the game.

NFL Blitz

Vikings 24, Rams 7: OK, it’s time to start seriously discussing the Minnesota Vikings as a NFC contender. The offense may still be an issue for them at some point, but this defense is pretty darn good. The Vikings shut down one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses in the league, holding the Rams to just one touchdown. But the question is whether or not the Vikings are for real or were the Rams exposed? It may be a bit of Column A and Column B, and one game should not be the ultimate litmus test for either team.

It’s still too early to start working through the playoff seeding, but the Vikings getting a leg up on the Rams could be a nice advantage to have down the line.

Saints 34, Redskins 31 (OT): The New Orleans Saints remain one of the hottest teams in the NFL after grabbing their eighth consecutive win since starting the year 0-2. This one would require a little extra playing time as the Saints had to edge the Redskins in overtime. Drew Brees tied the game with a touchdown pass to Alvin Kamara with 1:05 to play and wiped out a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Mark Ingram rushed for 131 yards and had a couple of big gains on the ground to help setup for the game-winning field goal.

Washington will feel jilted in this one, however, after a questionable intentional grounding penalty was called on Kirk Cousins in the final minute of regulation when it appeared Washington had reached a good field goal spot. There appeared to be a miscommunication with a receiver and that confusion led to an intentional grounding penalty. But, as it would later be determined, that penalty may not have been the correct call anyway.

Washington still had their opportunity to win the game in overtime, but was unable to do anything with the ball in the extra session, allowing the Saints to put it away. Washington also lost running back Chris Thompson for the rest of the season.

The Saints and Vikings continue to keep the pressure on the Eagles in the NFC, and now the Saints head west to play the Rams next week in a pivotal NFC matchup. The Redskins will get a short week to turn the page as they host the New York Giants on Thanksgiving night.

Lions 27, Bears 24: Matt Prater, who was once cut by Bears coach John Fox, got his revenge in lifting the Lions to a division win in the Windy City. How Prater booted a 52-yarder in those conditions is unknown, but kudos to him. On the bright side for Chicago, Fox didn’t challenge any plays that resulted in a turnover for his team this week. And Mitch Trubisky showed some good things in the game as well. Detroit will kick off your Thanksgiving this week with a good NFC North showdown with Minnesota. The Bears have to go to Philly on Sunday.

Ravens 23, Packers 0: Let’s be real. The Packers season was done when they lost Aaron Rodgers. Getting blanked at home by Baltimore is a horrible look no matter who your quarterback is.

Buccaneers 30, Dolphins 20: Jay Cutler left the game after throwing three interceptions and was diagnosed with a concussion, according to the team. That means it will be the Matt Moore show with the Dolphins for an undetermined amount of time. But on Sunday, it was the Ryan Fitzpatrick show for the Bucs as he tossed a pair of touchdowns and 275 yards in the win. Both teams are now 4-6.

Texans 31, Cardinals 21: Were you pumped up for a QB matchup of Blaine Gabbert and Tom Savage? Yeah, me neither. But credit the two of them for combining for five touchdowns (and three interceptions) in a game that was a bit more entertaining than I suspected it would. The Texans put together a fourth-quarter rally to get the win with two touchdowns from rookie running back D’Onta Foreman while the defense held on for the win. Both teams are now 4-6.

All your rowdy friends are coming over tonight

It’s a bird fight on the west coast tonight as the past two NFC champions square off for Monday Night Football. The Seattle Seahawks host the Atlanta Falcons, with Seattle playing for first place in the NFC West and the Falcons looking to keep up the pace in the NFC South.

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.

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