The NFC East is home to some of the most beloved teams in all of football. However, through Week 9 of the season, the division has proved itself to be far-and-away the worst division in the NFL. The Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, and the Washington Football Team have a dismal combined record of 6-19-1, with four of those wins coming from playing each other. According to defense-adjusted value over average statistics, the teams are respectively ranked 26th, 27th, 30th, and 31st in the league, each team earning a place among the NFL’s worst seven teams. While the division has its suffered its fair share of injuries, including Dallas’ star-quarterback Dak Prescott and the Eagles 3x Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz, their healthy players seem completely unable to put good production onto the field, both offensively and defensively. As disastrous as their performances have been, one team, the division winner, will not only receive a playoff game but one at their home field.
The calamity of the NFC East has both analysts and fans alike wondering if the 2020 NFC East could be the worst division in NFL history. There have only been two sub .500 teams in playoff history, the 2010 Seattle Seahawks with a 7-9 record and the 2014, 7-8 Carolina Panthers. Both of these teams, however, had stiff competition within their divisions. The Seattle Seahawks had to get through a tough 7-9 St. Louis Rams team to make it into the playoffs, with the Panthers also having to face the 7-9 Saints as their division rivals. It is looking like whoever wins the 2020 NFC East and heads to the playoffs may not even have 7 wins themselves, let alone have a division runner-up who has at least 7 wins.
The contrast between this disastrous NFC East division and the tenacious NFC West is something to behold. Nearly midway through the regular season, the NFC West has no teams that are below .500, with the 49ers sitting in last place at 4-4, a half-game ahead of the NFC East’s frontrunner, the 3-4-1 Eagles. The Seahawks, Cardinals, Rams, and 49ers have a dominant combined record of 20-10. While it can be argued that the division has such a good overall record due to the lack of division games thus far, there is no doubt that the NFC West has emerged as the NFL’s most commanding divisional force.
With this year’s playoffs featuring a 14-team lineup, the NFC West has the historical chance to send all 4 teams to the playoffs. With MVP-front runner Russell Wilson commanding Seattle’s divisional lead and the new Cardinal passing threat, Kyler Murray and Deandre Hopkins, lighting it up in Arizona, there seems to be no question that the NFC West will be an immense force in this year’s playoffs, especially so for the winner of the painfully dismal NFC East if they are forced to face one of them in January.
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