NFC East Week 14 Wrapup: Eagles Clinch, Giants Fall, Commanders Rise
The Philadelphia Eagles clinched a playoff berth by humiliating the New York Giants 48-22. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys narrowly avoided an embarrassment of their own by holding off the league's worst team, the Houston Texans, who gave the Cowboys quite the scare in their meeting.
And the Washington Commanders, who had a bye, actually gained ground in the standings without playing a snap.
Here is the full recap of the Week 14 action in the division.
Philadelphia 48, Giants 22
Eagles (12-1), 1st Place; Playoff berth clinched; Giants (7-5-1), 4th Place
The New York Giants were completely dominated by the Philadelphia Eagles, who imposed their will in a 48-22 division game blowout.
The Eagles racked up 438 yards, including 254 on the ground, and their defense sacked Giants quarterbacks six times, four of them against starter Daniel Jones.
Jones played decently, completing 18 of 27 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 26 yards and another score. Regardless, Jones was relieved by backup Tyrod Taylor when the game got completely out of hand.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts established himself as the MVP frontrunner with a dominant performance. He completed 21 of his 31 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 77 yards and another score. Running back Miles Sanders also had a huge game, rushing for 144 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
Philadelphia stormed to a 21-0 lead with touchdowns on their first three drives. Sanders opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Hurts threw touchdown passes for 41 and 33 yards to DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, respectively. The 41-yarder to Smith notably came on a 4th down conversion attempt.
The Giants got on the board when Jones found Isaiah Hodgins for a 2-yard score, but a 29-yard field goal by Jake Elliott made it 24-7 Eagles at halftime.
After a 39-yard field goal by Elliott, the Giants’ offense inspired some hope with an impressive touchdown drive that Jones finished with a 1-yard touchdown run.
However, the Eagles dominated the rest of the game. Hurts’ 10-yard score immediately countered Jones’s touchdown, and a failed fourth down conversion ended any hope for the Giants.
Philadelphia added two more touchdowns on a 40-yard run by Sanders and a 3-yard run by Boston Scott, while the Giants scored a meaningless touchdown when Taylor connected with Richie James with just 39 seconds left.
Dallas (10-3), 2nd Place
Dallas 27, Houston 23
The Dallas Cowboys narrowly avoided a humiliating defeat to the Houston Texans, who currently have the worst record in the NFL at 1-11-1.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw what seemed to be a back-breaking interception at his own 4-yard line with Houston ahead 23-20. However, the Dallas defense forced a turnover on downs, and Prescott redeemed himself for his earlier miscue by engineering an 11-play, 98-yard touchdown drive to win the game, 27-23.
Prescott completed 24 of 39 passes for 284 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice. Running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard scored a touchdown, with Pollard scoring both a rushing and receiving touchdown, while Elliott’s was the eventual game-winner.
Dallas scored on their opening drive with Pollard’s 11-yard touchdown run, but the Texans got a second chance when they recovered a muffed punt after a three-and-out. Six plays later, Texans running back Dameon Pierce scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
Houston took a 10-7 lead on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 43-yard field goal, although Dallas struck right back when Prescott’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Pollard finished a 7-play, 75-yard drive. But after a turnover on downs by Houston and a punt from each team, Prescott was intercepted by Tremon Smith, which set up a 28-yard touchdown pass from Texans backup quarterback Jeff Driskel to Amari Rodgers.
Dallas tied it back up on a 33-yard field goal by Brett Maher, but Houston took a 20-17 lead on Fairbairn’s 50-yard field goal on the last play of the first half. The second half started with a Texans losing a fumble and a Cowboys turnover on downs before both teams traded field goals again.
With Houston leading 23-20 in the fourth quarter, Prescott threw another interception to Smith, who returned it to the Dallas 4-yard line. The Texans looked poised to put the game away with a touchdown, but Driskel failed to score on 4th and Goal at the 3-yard line.
Given new life thanks to the huge defensive stand, the Cowboys marched 98 yards in 11 plays. Prescott completed six of seven passes on the drive, with tight end Daulton Schultz catching three for 52 yards. Elliott gave the Cowboys a 27-23 lead with a 2-yard touchdown run.
The Texans put in regular starting quarterback Davis Mills in hopes of a miracle, but his desperate Hail Mary pass to the end zone was intercepted by Dallas safety Israel Mukuamu to win the game for the Cowboys.
Washington (7-5-1), Bye
The Washington Commanders moved up in the NFC East standings despite being on a bye week thanks to the Giants' loss to the Eagles. Washington and the Giants will square off next week on Sunday Night Football at FedExField in a game that could potentially impact the final seeding at the bottom of the NFC playoff picture.
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