The NFC East has long been one of the most respected divisions in the National Football League.

Known for its high quality of players, nose grinding games, and immensely loyal fans, the NFC East has always produced at least two or three playoff caliber teams per year.

But in the NFL times change like the tides, and this year the NFC East looks like it will only be sending one team to the playoffs this year. And that team will be the division champion.

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However, similar to what happened to the Carolina Panthers of the 2014 season, for the first time in conference history the division champion could go into the playoffs with a losing record.

At the time of this article three teams, the  Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants , and the Washington Redskins are all tied for first place in the division at 5-7 with the Dallas Cowboys one game behind at 4 - 8.

Each team has had their fair share of ups and downs with player injuries and sub-par performance marring the season.

Now the question is who wins the NFC East?

Let's take a quick look at each team.

Philadelphia Eagles (5 - 7)

ESPN predicted that the Eagles will take back the division crown back from Dallas this season. however the team has underperformed after letting go of several key players for basically nothing.

However, the Eagles have the three of the last four games at home with each of the games winnable. Currently they are still the favorite to win the division.

New York Giants (5 - 7)

According to NFL.com the Giants have the hardest schedule for the rest of the season, having to face the Carolina Panthers (12-0), Minnesota Vikings (8-4) and then ending the season at home against the Eagles on week 18.

The Giants will have to play almost perfectly down the stretch to have a chance at winning the divison. The good thing is that they have been in a similar situation before with Eli Manning, eventually winning the Super Bowl back in 2008.

Washington Redskins (5-7)

While Washington's record clearly isn't a surprise to most, as a lot of experts had them having a losing season, the surprise is that they are very much in the race for the playoffs this late in the season.

However, the team is currently plagued by injuries and quarterback Kirk Cousins has been average at best this season showing signs of greatness. The good thing is that they currently have the tie breaker against both New York and Philadelphia, which could matter when the season ends.

Dallas (4-8)

Dallas is the reigning division champion and was expected to make another playoff run this year. However, those dreams ended when quarterback Tony Romo broke his collar bone week two against the Eagles and again two weeks ago in Carolina.

While the team is only one game behind the other three, the lack of a stable quarterback plus the teams they are up against in the next two weeks (Green Bay and the New York Jets) are both playoff potential teams it seems that Dallas will have to wait until next season.

TagsNFL, NFC East, Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, new york giants, Washington Redskins