It hasn't been the most dominant year for the teams of the NFC East, but with three teams knotted up at 8-6 with just two games to play, the NFC East may give us one of the most exciting divisional finish we've ever seen.
As it stands, the Redskins lead the NFC East, but they're not the only team in the division that controls their own destiny. The Dallas Cowboys, coming off an exciting overtime win, also hold the keys to their own future. While the Giants don't hold their destiny in their own hands in terms of the divisional championship, they could sneak into the playoffs by simply winning their final two games. Let's break down the NFC East's playoff hopes.
The Redskins could win the NFC East in one of two ways. The simplest way to stake a claim as the division champions would be to simply win out. The Redskins would need to beat the Eagles this weekend and beat the Cowboys in week 17. By doing that, the Redskins win the division. Washington could also win the division by losing this weekend, beating the Cowboys and having the Giants drop one of their final two games.
The Cowboys, like the Redskins have a clear path to win the division. The Cowboys would win the division by beating the Saints and the Redskins to round out their schedule. Their secondary situation of winning the division is virtually identical to to Washington's. They could drop this weekend's game, win in week 17 but they'd need the Giants to drop one of their final two games.
The Giants have a very straightforward scenario. They need to win their final two games and have the Redskins and Cowboys both drop one of their final two games. It's that simply for the Giants.
As it stands, there are seven NFC teams that could realistically end their season as one of the conference's two wildcard teams, making an attempt to detail all those scenarios too convoluted right now. After next weekend's games, we'll likely spell out those scenarios.
The NFC East is in for a wild finish, and it's entirely possible that two of these teams could make the playoffs. Still, playing a home game is a big advantage in the playoffs, and the team that can execute their scenario above perfectly will have the edge against their divisional rivals in the playoffs.
