In yet another sign of the ineptitude that is the NFC East, all four teams will play without their season-long starters Sunday afternoon, ensuring that the likes of Dwayne Haskins or Colt McCoy will hold first place in the division.
And with Jalen Hurts and Andy Dalton starting too, all four NFC East teams are turning to back-up options this week.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 19, 2020
While Jalen Hurts appears to have supplanted Carson Wentz in Philadelphia thanks to the strength of the rookie's play, the other three squads have been forced to operate with their backup options thanks to a slew of injuries and ineffectiveness.
Though Andy Dalton has retained the starting gig since the loss of Dak Prescott to a gruesome injury earlier in the year, Haskins and McCoy have been thrust into the opening rotation thanks to lingering ailments to Alex Smith and Daniel Jones, respectively. With Smith continuing to battle a calf injury, and Jones dealing with a hamstring pull, the two teams will enter Sunday's pivotal Week 15—which will determine who holds first place—simply hoping that their signal-caller avoids a crippling mistake.
Washington faces off with the Seattle Seahawks while the Giants play the Cleveland Browns as the NFC East's title race continues to unravel.
Should all four teams finish the season under .500, with only Washington having accrued fewer than eight losses already, it would cement the divisional showing as possibly the worst in NFL history. Though the league has seen past division winners enter the postseason with records of .500, only the 2010 Seahawks earned their way into the tournament with at least nine losses. Ironically, despite holding the dubious distinction, Seattle actually won a playoff game on the strength of a performance by running back Marshawn Lynch.
Somehow, it seems much harder to imagine this crop of quarterbacks pulling off a similar upset.
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