Soft division, hard truths

The NFC East is still a mud fight — and Sunday made the standings a little less polite. The Giants won in overtime at Houston, 27-21, and sit alone atop the division at 4-2-1. Dallas and Philadelphia are tied at 2-4 and meet Monday night. The Commanders are 1-4-1, last in the East, on a bye after the 17-23 loss at San Francisco.

Nobody in this division has looked like a trophy club for six weeks. The scoring differentials entering the week were all underwater (Yahoo Sports). That is the opportunity and the trap: January is still mathematically open for every locker room, and every locker room has earned the doubt.

How the board looks tonight

| Club | Record | Notes |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Giants | 4-2-1 | OT win at Houston; J.J. McCarthy’s first start |

| Eagles | 2-4 | Four-game skid; Hurts on IR (blood clots); Tanner McKee under center |

| Cowboys | 2-4 | Hosted Monday in Philly; talk still louder than the tape |

| Commanders | 1-4-1 | Bye; next is Eagles at Northwest (Nov. 1, NBC) |

Philadelphia still holds the better division mark than Dallas from earlier in the season (1-0 vs 1-1 entering Week 7), which is why the Eagles sat second despite the skid. Monday can rearrange that overnight.

What Monday means

Cowboys at Eagles is not a style game — it is a second-place auction. Dallas has spent the week insisting the roster is still built to win the East (CeeDee Lamb’s “why not us” line made the rounds). Philadelphia is trying to stop a four-game slide without Jalen Hurts, who is on injured reserve and expected to miss the rest of 2026 while treating DVT and pulmonary emboli (NFL.com / club statements). Tanner McKee is the starter; Saquon Barkley was listed as a return candidate for this window — confirm the final report before kick.

A Cowboys win stacks pressure on every rematch later. An Eagles win keeps Philly’s division edge alive heading into a short week at Washington.

Washington’s honest lane

The Commanders are last — 0-2-1 in the division after the Week 1 loss in Philly and the overtime tie with the Giants. The East being soft does not hand out free wins. What it does is keep the November slate meaningful: Eagles on Nov. 1 (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), then Rams and Giants dates that still count as oxygen if Washington starts stacking.

Bye week is for cleaning first-down defense, protecting the ball, and lining up healthy enough to play November football. Cosplay about a “soft East crown” can wait until the Burgundy and Gold actually take a divisional game.

The Commanders page is the hub. Related beats below track the Giants win, Monday night, and Washington’s path.

*Sunday desk, October 25, 2026. Standings and Giants final from ESPN; Week 7 East context from Yahoo Sports; Hurts status from NFL.com / Eagles statements.*

Sources

1. ESPN — NFL scoreboard Week 7

2. Yahoo Sports — NFC East standings

3. NFL.com — Hurts out for 2026 season