NFC East winners & losers Week 8: Cowboys flirting with last place

Who stood out as winners and losers in the NFC East during Week 8?

Dallas Cowboys / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

This wasn’t a good weekend for the Dallas Cowboys. They had to watch as both the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders won early on Sunday and they followed that up with another dreadful performance.

While the final score was 30-24, Dallas was bullied throughout the night by the San Francisco 49ers as they continued their free fall. Things have gotten so bad that it’s hard to see them winning too many more games this year.

The only thing keeping them from last place in the NFC East, is the abysmal play of the New York Giants. They put a cap on the weekend by losing to Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football.

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With all the dust settled, let’s look back at the weekend with the winners and losers in the NFC East.

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Winner: Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Eagles are now 5-2 after knocking off the Cincinnati Bengals. They started slow but, in the second half, dropped 27 points en route to a 37-17 win. Jalen Hurts led the way with a surgical performance. He was 16-of-20 for 236 yards with a touchdown. He added another three scores on the ground as well.

JALEN HURTS TO DEVONTA SMITH OMG 🚀 pic.twitter.com/NiMGdJalxn

— PFF (@PFF) October 27, 2024

Hurts has been heavily criticized this year but he delivered one of his best performances and kept his team in the race for the NFC East title.

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Loser: Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The one thing keeping the Cowboys from falling into last place in the NFC East is the New York Giants. They fell to 2-6 with another loss in Week 8. This time, it was a 26-18 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

What has to be frustrating for the team is the way things fell apart at the end, and it was all on Daniel Jones.

New York pulled to within eight points late in the fourth and the defense forced a fumble. Gifted the ball in Pittsburgh territory, Jones coughed it up and turned the ball over on a fumble. The defense held, giving him one more shot.

Jones teased the fans by getting the ball to the Steelers’ 35 before his second turnover of the quarter ended the game. This time, he was picked off by Beanie Bishop, putting the game on ice.

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Winner: Noah Brown, WR, Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Former Cowboys wideout Noah Brown had a weekend to remember. The Washington Commanders were down 15-12 with enough time remaining for one last play. Jayden Daniels threw a Hail Mary into the end zone and the ball was batted in the air by a crowd of players. It then floated into the hands of Brown, who caught it for a 52-yard touchdown.

HAIL NOAH!!!!!!!!!!

📺 #CHIvsWAS CBS pic.twitter.com/nRr3sIF17K

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) October 27, 2024

Brown finished with 73 yards on three receptions and helped his team improve to 6-2.

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Loser: Dak Prescott, QB

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Dak Prescott was the runner-up for the MVP award in 2023 and signed the most lucrative extension in NFL history this offseason. He’s responded by throwing eight picks in seven games — after having nine total last year.

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He had two in the first half against San Francisco and should have had a third on the final drive. With a chance to take the lead, Prescott threw the ball right into the hands of Fred Warner, who dropped an easy pick. Prescott failed to take advantage of the mulligan, throwing three incompletions in a row, ending the game.

His defenders will point to KaVontae Turpin not being able to haul in a dime from Prescott but as is often the case, the QB put his team behind due to turnovers and poor decisions. He’s playing like anything but a $60 million per year quarterback and it’s impacting the entire team. We can’t blame Turpin for one gaffe and ignore the ones from Prescott that put them in the “do-or-die” bind at the end of the game.

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Winner: Dan Quinn, HC, Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

When Dan Quinn joined the Dallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator in 2021, he needed to rehab his reputation. He did that so well that he became the hottest name in coaching searches over the past two years.

He decided to take the job in Washington and there was a belief the Cowboys could improve without him. Their awful performance in the playoffs was attributed to him but after eight games, it's clear that he was never the problem.

Quinn took over a franchise that was 4-13 last year and turned it around in a hurry. They already have more wins than last year as they're in first place with a record of 6-2. Their last-second win over the Bears proves that the head coach has his team playing with a ton of confidence and poise, something his old team is still trying to figure out.

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Loser: Mike McCarthy, HC, Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

It’s tempting to put Jerry Jones here since he’s the main reason the Cowboys are 3-4, but he’s still winning. Jones admitted when there was negative attention regarding fan tours that he didn’t care since it would lead to more money for him.

That calls all his decisions, including forcing McCarthy into a lame duck season, into question. Jones is more interested in creating stories than wins at this point.

Sadly, McCarthy is the one suffering most. To be fair, he’s not doing enough to get his team ready and it’s hard to imagine they did any work at all during the bye considering how flat they were in Week 8. He’s been set up for failure, but McCarthy isn’t doing anything to help himself and could be out of work before long.

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