This is why Eagles can't count on NFC East being bad

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The Eagles are 3-4, but the silver lining is the rest of the NFC East is bad too — or so I keep hearing. All the Birds need to do is finish in first place in their division and they’re back in the postseason.

A piece of cake, supposedly.

“They’ll still win the division and go to the playoffs. The NFC East stinks,” said an Eagles fan on the elevator at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday following their 21-17 loss to the Panthers. The other folks in midnight green murmured their approval.

Their sentiment was echoed on the radio during the drive home after the Eagles’ latest meltdown. The owner of my local hoagie shop was giving me the same spiel three weeks ago already. Even Eagles coach Doug Pederson concedes winning the NFC East is the team’s best shot to reach the playoffs at this point.

“The great thing about where we are is we still control our division,” Pederson said Monday. “We still have games in our division ahead of us.”

That would be great — except what if the NFC East isn’t actually bad? Because while it may be the fashionable thing to say, that doesn’t necessarily make it true.

The Redskins are 4-2. After quarterbacking a team to the playoffs in five of the last seven seasons, Alex Smith is doing his thing in Washington now. Future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson looks rejuvenated behind a quality offensive line. The defense ranks fifth in yards allowed and seventh in scoring. Sounds like a respectable team to me.

The Cowboys are 3-4 — same as the Eagles — but just swung a trade with the Raiders to pair wide receiver Amari Cooper with quarterback Dak Prescott and All-Pro running back Ezekiel Elliott. Plus, that Dallas defense is a legit top-three unit in terms of both yards (third) and scoring (second). This squad has the potential to get on a roll.

The Giants … just kidding, they’re terrible.

But seriously, can anybody honestly claim the Eagles are superior to the Redskins or Cowboys? Because I’m not so sure.

Pederson is correct. With five division matchups, including two each against Washington and Dallas, the Eagles control their own destiny. The playoffs are well within reach.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking rival teams are going to pave the way for the Eagles. Washington is out to a 1½-game lead, while Dallas just attempted to fix its most glaring weakness.

As it turns out, the NFC East might be kinda tough.

None of this will matter much anyway if the Eagles don’t fix their own issues. But the Redskins and Cowboys don’t appear to be willing to lay down for the Eagles, either, and that should worry people.

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