National Football League

Slow-starting Eagles making their move in NFC East

Published Nov. 1, 2011 8:54 p.m. ET

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The NFL's most successful division is a jumbled mess.

Nearly halfway through the season, only one team in the NFC East has a winning record. The New York Giants are 5-2 while Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington each are 3-4.

No other division has produced more Super Bowl winners (11) or conference champions (19), but there's no beast in the East this season.

''I think there's more parity throughout the league,'' Eagles coach Andy Reid said. ''And that's what the league is striving for with the (salary) cap and so on. So I think we're there. I thought we were there the last couple of years and you start talking about the percentage of games that are determined by seven points or less and it's getting over that 50 percent mark.

''There's some parity going on.''

Parity could be considered a synonym for mediocrity. Regardless, first place is certainly up for grabs in the East. The team that was supposed to be there all along just might end up on top.

The Eagles have rebounded nicely from a dreadful 1-4 start and are finally playing like, dare we say, a Dream Team. They've won two in a row, including a convincing 34-7 rout of the Cowboys in front of a national audience on Sunday night.

''The Eagles are back. The Eagles are back and we're ready to play Eagle Football,'' cornerback Asante Samuel boasted. ''We did that on primetime, so everybody could see. Hopefully we can use this as a motivation factor and keep going.''

Turnovers and sloppy mistakes cost the Eagles in each of their losses. They also lost two games they were leading before Michael Vick was injured and couldn't finish.

Reid took a lot of criticism and plenty of fans and media called for his firing. To a man, every player stood by their coach. They've seemingly turned things around and are a confident bunch these days.

''The games we've lost, we've done it to ourselves,'' said defensive end Jason Babin, one of six former Pro Bowl players the Eagles added in the offseason. ''And when we do the right things, beautiful things happen.''

With Vick and LeSean McCoy leading the way, the offense is ranked No. 1 in the league. The pass-happy Eagles even have the top rushing attack.

The defense has improved under offensive-line-coach-turned-defensive-coordinator Juan Castillo. Nnamdi Asomugha, the All-Pro cornerback and prized free-agent signing, is finally fitting in after a so-so first month. Overall, the unit has allowed just two touchdowns in the last two games.

''We know how good we are and it's about time we started executing, playing a full game and not doing halves out there like before,'' guard Evan Mathis said. ''We're 3-4 and that's not great. We have a lot of work to do. We still have improvements to make and we still have a long way ahead of us.''

The Eagles and Giants could be headed for a first-place showdown on Nov. 20 at the Meadowlands. Philadelphia has home games against Chicago (4-3) next Monday and Arizona (1-6) before its rematch with the Giants.

New York has a brutal schedule coming up. The Giants visit New England (5-2) and San Francisco (6-1) the next two weeks. After facing the Eagles, they'll play at New Orleans (5-3) and host Green Bay (7-0).

That's not a favorable situation for a team that's fortunate to be leading its division. The Giants have been far from dominant in their wins with three coming by four points or less. They needed a 21-point fourth-quarter rally to beat the lowly Cardinals, lost at home to struggling Seattle (2-5), and had to overcome a 14-3 deficit to avoid losing at home to winless Miami on Sunday.

Injuries have been a problem for the Giants. Even more worrisome is the fact they suddenly can't run the ball or stop teams from doing it. The Giants have the third-worst rushing attack in the league, and are ranked 28th against the run.

''We all know how important it is down the stretch to run the ball when the weather starts changing and all of that stuff,'' offensive tackle David Diehl said. ''We all understand how important it is to get that going.''

The Redskins started 3-1, but have lost three straight since returning from a bye. They've regressed in each game, and were downright awful in a 23-0 loss against Buffalo in Toronto on Sunday.

''I think everybody is frustrated,'' linebacker London Fletcher said. ''We've lost three consecutive games. I think we can bounce back from it, but it's going to take effort from everybody. Any time you lose ball games, you just look within to see what you can do better.''

Before the trip to Philadelphia, the Cowboys may have been the most impressive team in the East. They had one victory over a first-place team (San Francisco) and their three losses were by four points or less against teams with a combined record of 15-7.

But Dallas was completely overmatched against the Eagles. They were outplayed in every phase and hardly looked like a contender.

''We have to improve, we have to get better, we have to execute better,'' quarterback Tony Romo said.

Every team in the NFC East could say the same.