By Matthew Kaplan
The Eagles would lose in horrible fashion in a game that quickly turned into a blowout where we simply looked outmatched on both sides of the ball. They did not gain or lose any ground when it comes to the playoff race and remain two games behind.
Despite wins from both the Cowboys and the Giants, the headline was in Washington for all the wrong reasons. In football, no matter how much we dislike a team or dislike a player, we never want to see someone get seriously hurt. Sadly, on Sunday, Redskins quarterback Alex Smith suffered an injury like that of the injury that ended former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann’s career. Smith would have to be carted off the field and sent for emergency surgery to fix a fractured Tibia and Fibula in his right leg.
Alex’s leg is exactly like mine 33 yrs ago
— Joe Theismann (@Theismann7) November 18, 2018
While, for a moment, the game didn’t seem to matter, it did go on. In Smith’s absence, Deshaun Watson, in a sloppy game, would lead his team to a 23-21 victory. Watson would get a lot of help from his defense and Justin Reid in particular. In the second quarter, Reid would run back an Alex Smith interception 101 yards for a touchdown to turn the tide of the game.
At the same time, in Atlanta, Georgia, the Falcons took on the Cowboys. As of late, the Cowboys have found their stride, coming off a victory over the Eagles and looking like a much better team since they acquired Amari Cooper from Oakland. The Cowboys would be led by a clean game for Dak Prescott, who had a 68% completion rate that would gain his team 208 yards. Prescott would also join Ezekiel Elliot and rush for a touchdown. Elliot would rush for 122 yards and help lead this team to a 22-19 win. The Cowboys will hope to carry this momentum into next week’s game against the Redskins; who will feature Colt McCoy at quarterback.
The Falcons would struggle to take advantage of the Cowboys early in what was a field goal fest for the first three quarters. Regardless of that, Julio Jones would still be a star performer as he would catch six balls for 118 yards and even find the end zone for only the third time this season. Jones would manage the only touchdown trip of the day for Atlanta as they would watch Brett Maher kick a game winning 42-yard field goal on the very next drive of the game.
In the final NFC East game before the depression of the Eagles game would set in, the Giants would take on the Buccaneers in the Meadowlands. The Giants would be super efficient on offense in a game that severely lacked defense from both sides. In this 38 to 35 win, Eli Manning would throw 18 passes with only one incompletion. Two of those passes would be for touchdowns. The star man for the Giants would be Saquon Barkley, who would almost literally carry this team to victory. Barkley would not only run for 142 yards, he would also have three touchdowns (one of them on a reception). The Giants and Barkley now find themselves only three games off the top spot in the east with a trip to Philadelphia coming up next.
The Buccaneers would suffer more bad quarterback play, allowing four interceptions and yet another attempt at a change as both Winston and Fitzpatrick would play in this game. While neither was impressive, Winston was the better of the two as he only threw one interception and would have a higher completion percentage. In some good news though, running-back Peyton Barber would have his best game all season as he ended the game with 106 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
Next week will tell a lot about the division as it is featuring both the Cowboys-Redskins on Thanksgiving Day and the Giants-Eagles on Sunday afternoon. The season is far from over and there are still opportunities for anyone in this division to make the playoffs.
