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2. Philadelphia Eagles (8-2)
3. Arizona Cardinals (6-4)
5. Minnesota Vikings (8-2)
6. Green Bay Packers (7-3)
7. Washington Commanders (7-4)
8. Los Angeles Rams (5-5)
9. Seattle Seahawks (5-5)
10. San Francisco 49ers (5-5)
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6)
13. New Orleans Saints (4-7)
14. Carolina Panthers (3-7)
16. New York Giants (2-8)
This might not be entirely fair to teams such as the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers that are still within striking distance after their respective wins over the Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears, but it’s starting to feel like the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles are separating themselves from the rest of the NFC.
Philadelphia’s win over the Washington Commanders on Thursday was arguably the conference’s biggest result of the week, as it now has a two-game lead in the loss column and a head-to-head win to fall back on ahead of the Week 16 rematch.
The Commanders had the game’s only touchdown and held a 10-6 lead entering the fourth quarter, but the Eagles then shifted into takeover mode. Jalen Hurts scored on the team’s famous tush-push play, and Saquon Barkley then broke free for touchdown runs of 23 yards and 39 yards to all but clinch the win with a dominant fourth quarter.
Washington did score to cut into the deficit and had one more chance at an onside kick but failed to recover in the final minute.
As for the Lions, they overwhelmed the Jacksonville Jaguars on the way to a 52-6 win that looked more like the lopsided score of an SEC team playing an FCS team in November than an NFL battle.
But it was more of the same for a Lions team with a 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys and 52-14 win over the Titans on its resume.
While Detroit is still just one game ahead of the Vikings and two games up on the Packers in the daunting NFC North, it also has head-to-head wins over both of them on the road. That means it can take care of business at home and potentially clinch the division and a No. 1 seed as the season progresses.
And doing so would be ideal for the Lions considering they lost last season’s NFC Championship Game to the San Francisco 49ers on the road.
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