Potential fatal flaw for every NFC East team

NFL teams can usually identify their strengths and weaknesses after five weeks of the season. No team is perfect, but some have much bigger issues than others.

Here is one potentially fatal flaw for every NFC East team.

Dallas Cowboys: Running back

Given the sorry state of their running game, the 3-2 Cowboys are fortunate to have the second-best record in the NFC East. Only the Jets have fewer rushing yards (402) than the Cowboys (410) after five games.

Rico Dowdle, the NFL’s 29th-leading rusher, leads the team with 221 yards, while Ezekiel Elliott, the third-leading rusher in franchise history, has averaged 19.6 yards per game.

The team did rush for a season-high 109 yards in a 20-17 win over the Steelers on "Sunday Night Football," but things won’t get much easier against Detroit and San Francisco, the team’s next two opponents with the league’s fourth- and ninth-ranked rushing defenses, respectively.

New York Giants: Scoring points

Quarterback Daniel Jones is passing for 227.6 yards per game this year, well above his career average and slightly more than division-rival Jayden Daniels. But while Daniels’ Commanders lead the NFL with 31 points per game, Daniels’ Giants rank 27th with only 17.8 points per contest.

According to Lineups.com , New York is tied for the league's sixth-worst red-zone offense, scoring points just 43.8 percent of the time. When asked to explain the team’s red-zone struggles after a Week 4 loss to the Cowboys, head coach Brian Daboll pointed to a lack of success on third down .

New York went 5-of-16 on third down in that game and 0-of-1 against the Seahawks in Week 5. Overall, the team is 27-of-72 on third downs in 2024, which certainly explains New York’s lack of scoring.

Philadelphia Eagles: No pass-rush effectiveness

Two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles rode their second-ranked defense and a franchise-record 70 sacks to Super Bowl LVII.

In the offseason, they traded Haason Reddick to the Jets for a conditional third-round pick. Reddick led Philadelphia with 27 sacks from 2022-23, and his absence from the team is glaring.

Philadelphia has six sacks this season, the second-fewest in the NFL with Carolina and Cincinnati. The team signed former Jet Bryce Huff to fill the void left by Reddick, but so far, the $51M defensive end has just two tackles and no sacks.

To be fair, Huff isn’t getting much help from the rest of the team’s other pass-rushers. Currently, 36-year-old Brandon Graham is the only defensive end on the team with a sack.

Eagles fans can only hope the Week 5 bye gave new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio time to make adjustments for what’s become one of the least aggressive defenses in the NFL.

Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels doing too much

The Commanders have been one of the NFL's most surprising teams, sitting atop the NFC East after finishing 2023 in last place. No team scores more points per game (31.0), and only three teams gain more yards per game (392.6). So, where’s the flaw?

It could be quarterback Jayden Daniels’ 57 rushing attempts, the most of any quarterback. Only 19 players, regardless of position, have more carries than Washington’s dynamic rookie this season, something the team should be mindful of.

With 300 yards and four touchdowns on the ground already, Daniels' performance is reminiscent of former Commanders QB Robert Griffin III, who rushed for 241 yards and four scores on 42 carries in his first five games as a rookie in 2012.

Griffin was never the same after suffering knee injuries later that season, injuries he could have avoided from the pocket. Of course, asking Daniels not to run may seem counterproductive as the team looks to win its first division title since 2020, but giving him so many carries could spell trouble down the road.