at AT&T Stadium on November 19, 2017 in Arlington, Texas.

As the seconds ticked off and the Philadelphia Eagles were putting the finishing touches on a decisive 37-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, NBC analyst Chris Collinsworth took everything he had seen and decided it was time to finally discuss the Eagles as a Super Bowl contender and elevate them to the status of a Super Bowl favorite.

After trailing the Cowboys 9-7 at halftime and showing some rust after a bye week on the road against a desperate Cowboys squad playing without Ezekiel Elliott, the Eagles blanked the Cowboys 30-0 in the second half and improved their NFL-best record to 9-1.

Maybe the Eagles have benefitted from a mostly favorable schedule to this point, but 9-1 does not happen by accident in the National Football League. Neither does a 30-0 second-half outburst on the road or four consecutive double-digit victories. Neither does winning eight straight games.

The Eagles have drastically improved this season from where they were a year ago. Offseason roster moves to improve the receiving game have settled in nicely with Alshon Jeffery making some key catches going along with some positive development for Nelson Agholor.

The running game was beefed up with the offseason addition of LeGarrette Blount and the in-season trade acquisition of Jay Ajayi. Even though the team has lost Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, the offensive line play this season has taken a giant step forward to help protect franchise quarterback Carson Wentz, who continues to build a resume worthy of MVP consideration.

All of this has come together to form the NFL’s top scoring offense with 32 points per game with the league’s second-leading rushing offense. Other quarterbacks are putting up more passing yardage and have higher passing percentages, but Wentz leads the NFL with 25 passing touchdowns, three more than Tom Brady, and he continues to impress with his maturity and ability to make moves to keep plays alive.

His decision-making has not been what you typically see from a second-year quarterback, but that has been aided by getting a full rookie season under his belt too.

The Eagles defense has also been impressive, with the eight-leading defensive ranking going right now. Against the Cowboys, the defense set the tone early, held off a couple of potential opportunities for Dallas to do more damage, and then shut things down in the second half. Everything is clicking for the Eagles right now, but are they really a Super Bowl favorite, as Collinsworth suggested during the Sunday Night Football broadcast?

The NFC is loaded at the top right now with challengers to the NFC throne, which could mean the Eagles will not be able to let up at the end of the regular season with home-field advantage potentially on the line. The Eagles will likely be wrapping up the NFC East Division crown in the next few weeks, officially.

After Sunday night’s win, the Eagles have a four-game cushion in the NFC East and a clean 4-0 record so far against the division. The focus has already shifted to playoff seeding in the NFC. The Eagles are on top of the conference at 9-1 but the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings are each 8-2 and the Los Angeles Rams are 7-3.

The Eagles will play the Rams on the road in a few more weeks in what could be a possible playoff preview, but the Eagles avoid having to play the Saints or Vikings. The Rams were just chopped down by the Vikings on Sunday and the Rams host the Saints this weekend.

The Saints have been just as hot as the Eagles with their own eight-game winning streak powered by veteran Drew Brees and a surging ground game featuring Mark Ingram. And as we all know, venturing into the Superdome for a playoff game is not an easy task. That makes winning home-field advantage in the playoffs critical.

The Vikings, like the Eagles, are taking advantage of a weakened division. The Chicago Bears are playing with rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The Green Bay Packers are without Aaron Rodgers. The Detroit Lions could cause some problems, starting on Thanksgiving in a head-to-head matchup, but the Vikings defense is allowing the team to thrive while the offense gets by with Case Keenum at quarterback instead of an injured Sam Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater. The jury may still be out on the Vikings, but they have not faltered yet when it was expected they may.

The NFC has some terrific competition jostling for playoff positioning, but the Eagles are certainly deserving of the spot they occupy at the moment. The Eagles actually check off all the boxes of strengths their fellow NFC competitors can check off. The Vikings are strong on defense, and the Eagles defense has played very well. The Rams have been an explosive offense, and the Eagles lead the NFL in scoring average. The Saints have a strong running game, and the Eagles can spread the ball around on the ground as well as any team right now.

So maybe the Eagles are the favorite in the NFC with a well-balanced team capable of finally bringing a Super Bowl championship to Philadelphia. History would suggest the Eagles stumble, but maybe this team is finally different.

Of course, the sports books out there may be giving the Eagles some great odds to win it all, but there is still a pretty reliable bet that is getting the best odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy yet again.

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.