PHILADELPHIA -- For the second year in a row, a team rose to the occasion at AT&T Stadium and claimed the NFC East title.
Last year, it was the Philadelphia Eagles. This year, it was the Cowboys. By blowing out the playoff-bound Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Cowboys also eliminated the Eagles from playoff contention. Of course, the Eagles made that possible by failing to rise to the occasion Saturday at Washington.
“That’s how fast it happens,” Eagles running back LeSean McCoy said Saturday night after the 27-24 loss. “I mean, just a couple weeks ago I was planning on the playoffs and who we were going to be playing and those types of things.”
The Eagles lost their past three games to fall from 9-3 to 9-6. In doing so, they surrendered control of the NFC East -- earned with a Thanksgiving Day win in Dallas -- back to the Cowboys.
After that Thanksgiving game, Eagles coach Chip Kelly talked about what his team had accomplished at that point in the season.
“We’re just getting better,” Kelly said. “Our approach is good because we’re going to play meaningful football in December.”
The Eagles are 0-3 in those “meaningful” December games. They lost to Seattle, 24-14, at home. Then came the stunning 38-27 loss to Dallas, also at the Linc. On Saturday, a 3-11 Washington team managed to beat the Eagles, 27-24.
They finish the season Sunday against the Giants at the Meadowlands. With a win, the Eagles would finish 10-6. That would match their record last season. It would make them the fifth NFC team to miss the playoffs with a 10-6 record since the current alignment of divisions was adopted in 2002.
Missing the playoffs makes this season feel like a step backward for Kelly’s team, despite the record. That’s because of the way the Eagles got to this point.
Sitting at 9-3, they had a second consecutive NFC East title in their control. All they had to do was win three games against division opponents they had already beaten this season.
Instead, they lost the first of those two divisional games. That made the third meaningless, except for the chance to get to 10 wins and garner a little useless information.
Kelly will have to decide who to start at quarterback. If Nick Foles is cleared to play, is it worth risking re-injury of his collarbone to see if he looks better behind the relatively healthy offensive line? Kelly would also have to factor in the line’s surprisingly poor play Saturday against Washington.
The easy alternative is to start Mark Sanchez, who has started the past seven games. But the Eagles have lost four of those seven starts and Kelly has a pretty clear idea of what Sanchez offers. There may be more value in seeing Matt Barkley play quarterback for a full game, if only to determine whether the second-year pro is ready to handle to primary backup role next season.
The Eagles have questions at positions other than quarterback. They have seen all they need to see from cornerbacks Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams. There might be value in letting Nolan Carroll and rookie corner Jaylen Watkins get some playing time.
Marcus Smith? The first-round pick managed to remain on the sideline for the entire game Saturday. If he can’t play, either at inside or outside linebacker, then it will be fair to wonder just what the Eagles coaching staff has been up to for the past six months with Smith.
Kelly’s approach -- basically, to win every possible game and try to get to the postseason -- justifies sacrificing a certain amount of player development and team building. Now that the postseason is beyond reach, the Eagles might as well focus on getting better. The future is coming, whether they prepare for it or not.