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Eli Manning's horrendous game makes NFC East even murkier

Eric Edholm

The New York Giants enjoyed their two-week break, watching the rest of the NFC East hand them the division on a silver platter.

The Giants took that platter — like a drunk, unwanted Thanksgiving guest — and dropped it down a flight of stairs.

Your first-place Washington Redskins? That's the result after Sunday's Giants loss (let's be honest: that's what this was) to the Redskins, 20-14, in a game the Redskins controlled for the first 48 minutes.

Eli Manning was picked three times behind a slaughtered offensive line, fully earning his closed-captioning-gifted nickname of "Penguin Boy" in the process. He fumbled twice, was sacked three times and misfired on 25 of his 51 pass attempts.

The NFC is officially a mess. You like that?!

Yes, we had to work in a Kirk Cousins reference, and honestly after a poor start — almost getting pick-sixed — he completed 20 of 29 passes to 10 different receivers for 302 yards and a 63-yard TD bomb to DeSean Jackson, who do-si-doed along the the goal line in typically DeSean fashion.

It was the Redskins who had the swag early as the Giants failed to find themselves until the final quarter. A furious rush saw Manning hit Odell Beckham Jr. for an insane touchdown catch that might rival his world-famous effort from his rookie season. But it was too little too late, as the clock ran out with the Giants unable to get into scoring range one more time.

This means your updated NFC East standings are as follows:

Team

Record

Division games remaining

Division record

Washington Redskins

5-6

3

2-1

New York Giants

5-6

1

2-3

Philadelphia Eagles

4-7

1

2-3

Dallas Cowboys

3-8

3

2-2

Yes, the Redskins and Giants split their two games this season so the second tiebreaker — division record — goes to the Redskins for now. This is a Redskins team that is 0-5 on the road and has been outscored by 26 points this season. Nothing screams first place more than those two statistics, eh?

The Giants have only one more division game, Week 17 vs. the Eagles, and pretty much have to win it to have a chance. They have three games remaining out of their final five against teams with winning records, including a Christmas week that includes a road trip to face the Minnesota Vikings and a home game against the 11-0 Carolina Panthers.

The Redskins, meanwhile, have two games left against the Tony Romo-less Cowboys, one against the floundering Eagles and a home game against the Buffalo Bills, who could be out of the playoff race by the time they meet in Week 15.

This would be one of the most unlikely division champs in recent NFL history.

 

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!