Week 5 left the NFC East in a strange place: nobody got the result they wanted, and every head coach walked away with some level of headache. The Cowboys stumbled on Thursday night, the Eagles crumbled in London, and the Giants and Commanders played a tie that felt like a missed opportunity from Washington’s side and a rescue job from New York’s.
For Dan Quinn, the damage came without an actual loss on the schedule. Washington had control of the game for most of the afternoon, building a 14-point lead before the Giants stormed back to force overtime. Then the Commanders had the game in front of them again in the extra period, only to botch the final play and let the clock run out before they could even try for the winning field goal.
“Leaving tonight with a tie feels like a loss,” Quinn said after the game. “The right call is to clock it early and don't put ourselves in that spot, and that's my responsibility and nobody else's,”
That outcome only adds to the pressure around Quinn. Washington is now 1-3-1 in the division and sitting in last place, so letting that one slip away makes the result sting even more. A win over New York would have mattered a lot in that race, and instead the Commanders are left sorting through a tie that landed like a defeat.
Nick Sirianni’s Sunday was uglier. In London, the Eagles took a one-point lead with eight seconds left, then watched the Jaguars rip off a kickoff return that set up the winning Jacksonville field goal. It was the kind of ending that can turn a routine postgame into a full-blown reckoning.
“One of the craziest endings of the year. https://t.co/Wm9hwOjk1U”
Sirianni put the blame on himself and said the kicking team should have sent the ball out of the endzone.
"I didn't make the right decision, and I lost us that game. And that's what I said to our guys," he said.
"I [didn't] make the decision that I should make at the end of that game, and I cost us that one. And I put that fully on me."
The late-game collapse was the loudest part of the story, but it wasn’t the only issue hanging over Philadelphia. The offense still didn’t do enough, and that has already been a source of frustration. Sirianni probably isn’t headed for a midseason firing, but he does need a turnaround to quiet the noise that keeps building around the Eagles.
Dallas at least got to watch the rest of the division make a mess of Sunday and take some of the attention off its own Thursday-night loss. Brian Schottenheimer’s team fell at home on a short week to the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers and undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, dropping to 2-3.
Schottenheimer entered the year hoping Christian Parker would help repair a defense that was broken in 2025, but the unit still hasn’t looked much better. That has left Dallas in the familiar position of asking its offense to cover for the defense’s mistakes.
Even so, Schottenheimer’s job security doesn’t appear to be in the same danger as some of his division peers. Jerry Jones last fired a head coach midseason in 2010, and every Cowboys head coach since 2000 has lasted at least three seasons.
That doesn’t mean everything is comfortable in Dallas. Schottenheimer still needs to make the playoffs to ease any concerns, but compared with the heat surrounding Quinn and Sirianni, his seat is not as hot. And with nobody in the division winning on Sunday, the Cowboys probably took the best emotional break of the bunch.
John Harbaugh’s situation is the calmest of all four. The Giants are in first place in his first season, and their fan base has plenty to feel good about simply because the team is competing at a high level.
The tie with Washington fit that broader picture. New York rallied from two touchdowns down to get to overtime, then leaned on its defense late to stay alive. The Giants left some points on the field in the extra period, but they still dug out a result on the road against a division rival.
Harbaugh has had a few decisions in these first weeks that he probably wants back, but Sunday still ended in a way that left Giants fans relieved more than disappointed. They didn’t win, but they also didn’t lose, and in this kind of week, that counted for something.
In Other News...
Commanders Enter Giants Showdown With One Huge Question Under Center
Washington is back home for a familiar kind of NFC East test, facing the Giants in its third division game in three weeks as it tries to keep pace in the standings. The Commanders also spent the week sorting through a long injury list, with six players ruled out, leaving little margin for error as they turn the page on another important game in the division.
Under center, the plan has been set for Sunday. Jayden Daniels will start at quarterback, with rookie Athan Kaliakmanis behind him on the depth chart, after Marcus Mariotas latest knee setback forced the team to adjust again at the game's most scrutinized position. For a Commanders team trying to improve its place in the NFC East, how long it can stay on that track is still the question hanging over the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Let A Wild Chance Slip Away In Frustrating Giants Tie
The Commanders spent Sunday in a game that kept swinging between opportunity and frustration, and it ended right back where it started: in a 27-27 tie with the Giants after overtime. Washington had chances to leave with a much cleaner result, especially in a game where New York handed the door open late, but the visitors could never quite turn those moments into a finish that counted.
For a team still searching for traction, the tie lands like a missed opening more than a consolation prize. Washington is now 1-3-1, a record that reflects how thin the margin has been in several of these early games, while the Giants moved to 3-1-1. The Commanders will be left sorting through how a game with so much in play still slipped through their hands when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Passing Game Suddenly Rests On Terry McLaurins Hamstring
Terry McLaurins hamstring has turned into one of the most important subplots of the Commanders Week 5 prep, with the receiver listed as questionable for Sundays game against the Giants. Washington also is already without Stefon Diggs, which leaves the passing game thinner than it would like at a time when every available target matters.
There is at least some optimism McLaurin will suit up after missing the Week 4 loss to Indianapolis, but even that does not come with a full workload expectation. If he is active, the Commanders appear likely to ease him back in with limited snaps, leaving his availability and effectiveness as separate questions heading into a division game that could use all the help it can get. [Read more 🡒]