Dallas Cowboys: Is the NFC East the NFL’s worst division?

The Dallas Cowboys sit atop the NFC East with a 6-4 record. But what does that say about America’s Team if their division is the worst in the NFL?

Normally, after winning your division in the NFL, you’ll have a much tougher climb to retain that title the following year because you’ll play a tougher schedule. Obviously, it’s all relative as teams improve and regress from season to season. But the one constant on the schedule are the divisional matchups, which always happen twice a year during the regular season.

For the Dallas Cowboys, their division is the NFC East, and include longtime rivals like the Washington Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the New York Giants. And regardless of the yearly fluctuating standings, divisional games have a playoff atmosphere and are always highly competitive.

But this season, the NFC East has really been in the tank. With the Redskins and Giants in rebuilding mode and both competing for top-five selections in next year’s draft, the division has been one of the least competitive in football.

Even the Cowboys themselves have struggled to post a 6-4 record as the defending NFC East champions. And that record is tied for the worst among all the other NFL teams leading their respective divisions outside of the AFC South’s Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans.

Here’s what former Cowboys executive turned NFL Media Senior Analyst and recent Hall of Famer Gil Brandt had to say after ranking the NFC East the worst division in the league on NFL.com recently.

"“The 6-4 Cowboys are on track to becoming the first repeat division winners since Philadelphia pulled it off four straight times from 2001 to ’04, but beyond that, there’s not a lot going on in this division. The Eagles have a reputation of finishing strong … they’re also 5-5. Little was expected of either 1-9 Washington or the 2-8 Giants beyond re-setting at the quarterback position, and so far, that’s pretty much the sum of what each team has accomplished … “"

The biggest knock on Dallas right now is the fact they seem to defeat the teams they are supposed to, excluding the 3-7 New York Jets, and they struggle against playoff-caliber opponents like the 8-2 New Orleans Saints, the 8-2 Green Bay Packers, and the 8-3 Minnesota Vikings.

Fortunately for Dallas, the 5-5 Philadelphia Eagles have been just as inconsistent. But the Cowboys are also 4-0 in their divisional battles right now. While Philly has only played two divisional matchups through Week 12, defeating Washington in Week One and losing to Dallas in Week Seven.

The Eagles are viewed as having a much more favorable remaining schedule than the Cowboys, with four of their upcoming six games being against divisional foes. While Dallas will face the 9-1 New England Patriots, the 7-3 Buffalo Bills, the 4-6 Chicago Bears, the 6-4 Los Angeles Rams, the 5-5 Eagles, and finally the 1-9 Redskins.

When trying to determine whether the NFC East is, in fact, the worst division in the NFL, it seems they have very little competition for the title. The closest candidate would likely be the AFC South, with no team having more than six wins. The NFC South could be in the mix as well with none of those franchises outside of the Saints having more than five wins so far this season.

At the end of the day, regardless if the NFC East is the NFL’s worst division or not, the Dallas Cowboys don’t select their opponents. They must simply try to defeat the teams on their schedule. Games like the one this Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on the road should tell us everything we need to know about the current state of America’s Team.