By Matthew Kaplan, Sports Talk Philly Staff
With the Redskins on their bye week, only three of the four NFC east teams played in week four. The biggest story from week four was the lack of defense as there was 83 points scored against NFC east teams. While the Eagles were sabotaging a 17-3 lead in Tennessee and would wind up losing in overtime, the Cowboys were having problems of their own in Dallas.
Much like the Eagles, the Cowboys would show an inability to stop the pass as they took on the Detroit Lions. Matthew Stafford had a big day as he went 24 for 36 with 307 yards and two touchdowns. Stafford’s partner in crime in this day was Golden Tate who found himself on the end of two long touchdowns and would catch everything thrown his way as he had eight receptions on eight targets for 132 yards. The only problem the Lions had was Ezekiel Elliot.
Despite struggling the first two weeks of the season Elliot found his form in week three in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He would carry that over against the Lions as on 25 carries he would rush for 152 yards while also grabbing four passes for 88 yards and one touchdown. Overall the Cowboys would win this game on a last second field goal, 26-24. The win makes them two and two, ties them with the Eagles and makes them only a half game out of the division lead.
Next week the NFC east will own the night games as the Cowboys will take on the Houston Texans on Sunday night in Houston (the Texans will go in to this game one and three as they somehow pulled off a win in Indianapolis). While the next night the Washington Redskins will go in to the Super Dome to face the New Orleans Saints.
Since were on the topic of the Saints, they took on the Giants on Sunday and won 33 to 18. The Saints Alvin Kamara would dominate the game with 183 total yards and three touchdowns. The Giants looked mostly ineffective on the ground as Barkley only had 44 yards. They would find some success in the air as Eli Manning would connect with seven different receivers on 31 of 41 passing for 255 yards and one touchdown. Biggest issue for the Giants was the inability to sustain drives as they would end up with four punts and two fumbles lost. The next game for the Giants is in Carolina taking on a fresh Panthers team with emerging star running back Christian McCaffrey.
As for the Eagles they have the Minnesota Vikings coming to town. The Vikings, coming off a shootout loss to the L.A Rams on Thursday have an explosive offense anchored by former Redskin Kirk Cousins and a deep receiving core. This is probably the worst possible time for this match-up as the Eagles secondary has been getting roughed up the past couple weeks.
