Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-19**Lead**
For the second consecutive week, the NFC East is staring at the possibility of going winless across the league's weekly slate. That reality took shape Sunday night, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-21 at Lambeau Field, handing Dallas its third straight loss and pushing the NFC East to an 0-3 mark through Sunday's games. With the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders also losing earlier in the day, the division can only avoid a second straight winless week if the New York Giants, who had a bye, somehow contribute — they cannot. The NFC East, once the most decorated division in modern NFL history, is now the league's clearest symbol of mediocrity.
**Context**
The Packers entered Sunday night's prime-time matchup as the healthier, more disciplined team, and it showed. Green Bay's offense moved the ball with balance, controlling the clock and exploiting a Dallas defense that has regressed dramatically since its dominant 2021-2022 seasons. The Cowboys, meanwhile, looked disjointed on both sides of the ball. Their offensive line, long considered a strength, has allowed consistent pressure, and the defense has struggled to generate the turnovers that once masked underlying inefficiencies.
Dallas's loss came just hours after the Commanders fell on the road and the Eagles dropped a divisional matchup, completing a miserable afternoon for the NFC East. The previous week, all four NFC East teams lost as well, marking the first time since 2001 that the division went winless in consecutive weeks — and the first time the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, and Commanders all lost in the same week twice in a row.
The Cowboys' struggles are particularly striking given the preseason expectations. Head coach Mike McCarthy, in the final year of his contract, has overseen a team that many analysts projected to compete for the NFC East title. Instead, Dallas has been undone by the same issues that plagued them in recent postseasons: a lack of physicality in the trenches, poor situational football, and an over-reliance on big plays that have not arrived with enough consistency.
Green Bay, by contrast, continues to validate the decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers. Quarterback Jordan Love, while not spectacular, managed the game efficiently and took what the Dallas defense gave him. The Packers' defense, coordinated by Joe Barry, forced key stops in the second half and capitalized on Dallas's mistakes, including a critical interception and a fourth-down conversion that swung momentum firmly in Green Bay's favor.
**Analise**
The NFC East's collapse is not just an issue of individual underperformance; it reflects a broader structural problem across the division. All four teams entered the season with serious roster questions, but none has shown the ability to correct course. Dallas remains dependent on a top-heavy roster that lacks depth at receiver and along the defensive front. The Eagles, who went to the Super Bowl last season, have been exposed by injuries and poor tackling. Washington is in the first year of a rebuild under a new ownership group, and the Giants, despite winning a playoff game two years ago, have regressed into one of the league's least watchable offenses.
What makes this stretch particularly damning is the context of the modern NFL. Parity usually ensures that even bad teams win a few games. Going winless for two straight weeks requires not just bad luck, but consistent incompetence. The NFC East's combined record after six weeks is among the worst in the league, and the division winner may finish with fewer than nine wins, which would be the lowest total for a division champion since the 2010 Seahawks won the NFC West at 7-9.
There is also a quiet urgency for Dallas. McCarthy's job security has been a topic of discussion since last season's playoff exit, and a third consecutive loss, especially at home in prime time, will only amplify the noise. The Cowboys have a talented quarterback in Dak Prescott, but Prescott's best seasons have been undermined by injuries and questionable decisions in critical moments. Sunday night, he threw an interception late in the first half that gave Green Bay excellent field position and shifted the game's trajectory.
**Fontes**
Este artigo foi produzido com base em informacoes publicas das seguintes fontes: transmissao oficial da NBC Sports para 'Sunday Night Football', estatisticas e resultados da NFL divulgados pela liga e pela ESPN, reportagens da Associated Press sobre os jogos da semana na NFL, e analises publicadas por veiculos como The Athletic, NFL.com e Pro Football Talk.
**Opiniao**
A NFC East esta vivendo um dos momentos mais constrangedores de sua historia recente, e o que se ve em campo nao e apenas uma fase ruim. E o resultado de anos de ma gestao, elencos desequilibrados e uma cultura de mediocridade que parece ter sido aceita por algumas franquias. O Cowboys, em particular, precisam de uma resposta imediata sob pena de ver a temporada escapar antes mesmo do meio do campeonato. Mas a verdade e que nenhum time da divisao, com excecao talvez dos Commanders em fase de reconstrucao, apresentou um plano de jogo convincente. Na NFL, constroem-se dinastias com disciplina e profundidade. A NFC East, hoje, nao tem nenhuma das duas coisas. Para o torcedor, resta o desconforto de assistir a um produto inferior em uma das ligas mais competitivas do mundo. Para os dirigentes, fica o alerta: o tempo da tolerancia acabou, e a paciencia da torcida tem limite.