The NFC East was supposed to be a battle between Hall of Fame coaches, with Joe Gibbs returning to Washington and Bill Parcells entering his second year in Dallas. Instead it is Andy Reid, a pimply-faced teenager compared to Gibbs and Parcells, who has his Philadelphia Eagles clearly dominating not just the division but the entire conference. Here’s a look at where the NFC East stands halfway through the season.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (7-1)

Philadelphia’s loss to Pittsburgh this past weekend ruined the Eagles’ impossible dream of a perfect season. But it didn’t change the fact that mediocrity in the NFC gives this team a clear path to the Super Bowl.

Only one other team in the conference has six wins (pending the result of last night’s Minnesota-Indianapolis contest) and only one team remaining on Philadelphia’s schedule currently has a winning record. According Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average metric, which breaks down each play of the season and compares it to the NFL average based on the situation and opponent, the Eagles are still the top team in the league, and teams two through nine below them are all AFC squads.

Nevertheless, the loss to the Steelers should worry Philadelphia fans a bit because it exposed the Eagles’ clear weakness: run defense. The 2003 Eagles allowed 4.5 yards per carry, one of the worst totals in the league. Before this week, it seemed like the Eagles had improved their rush defense, but opposing ground games had been somewhat limited by the fact that they were always playing from behind.

That wasn’t a problem for Pittsburgh, and the Eagles let aged back Jerome Bettis run up his biggest yardage total in three years. After that performance, the Eagles are now worse than last season, allowing 4.7 yards per carry.

Philadelphia fans believe this is the year, and they won’t accept another playoff run that doesn’t end in a trip to the Super Bowl. But in the playoffs the Eagles will have to tangle with numerous successful running games, possibly including the explosive Tiki Barber of the Giants, the relentless Shawn Alexander of the Seahawks, or the three-headed monster in Atlanta made up of quarterback Michael Vick and running backs Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett. Now that Pittsburgh has laid out the blueprint, beating the Eagles won’t seem quite so daunting a task.

NEW YORK GIANTS (5-3)

The good news is that the Giants have already topped last season’s win total. The bad news is that a winning record masks a team that is not only mediocre but trending downwards.

The Giants did have a great game against Minnesota, but their recent success at the Metrodome, it seems they match up better with the Vikings than any other opponent. That win was sandwiched by home losses to Detroit and Chicago, both characterized by turnovers and an inability to stop the run.

Projections based on midseason trends from the past few seasons predict that the Giants will face a steep second-half decline, particularly on defense.

First, an inconsistent defense over the first half of the season usually translates into a decline in the second half; second, the Giants have had poor defense in the red zone; and, third, there’s been so much improvement over last season that some regression is likely. And that doesn’t even take into account yesterday’s news that both starting defensive ends, Michael Strahan and Keith Washington, will be lost for the rest of the season due to injury.

On offense, while there is no doubt that Barber has been one of the best running backs in football this season, he’s on pace for a career high in carries, and his newfound ability to avoid fumbles is probably nothing more than random chance. The passing game, meanwhile, has fallen off substantially since budding star wideout Tim Carter was lost for the season in early October.

At least one NFC wild card playoff entry this season will not require double-digit wins, and there’s even a chance that somebody will sneak into the playoffs at 8-8. Sunday’s injuries, however, make it more likely that team will be Detroit, Tampa Bay, or St. Louis, rather than the Giants.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS (3-5)

Bipartisanship will be difficult to muster over the next four years but there is one thing that unites Democrats and Republicans in our nation’s capital: disappointment in the Redskins. Gibbs returned to cleanse the franchise of the alleged stench left by former coach Steve Spurrier, but the Redskins lost four straight after an opening win against Tampa Bay, and only the nuclear meltdown called the Miami Dolphins has kept the Redskins from ranking as the NFL’s worst offense.

The Washington defense has been as strong in 2004 as the offense has been feeble. They’ve allowed the fewest yards per game and yards per play in the NFL, and DVOA ranks them third against the rush and fourth against the pass.

The trade of cornerback Champ Bailey to Denver was supposed to weaken the Washington secondary, but this year’s Redskins field a more balanced defense. Cornerback Shawn Springs, the ex-Seahawk who replaced Bailey, has reinvigorated his career, while rookie safety Sean Taylor, considered the most NFL-ready player of the 2004 draft, has been as good as advertised. In 2003, Washington was one of the best defenses against passes intended for “number one” receivers, but the worst defense in the league on passes to all other receivers. In 2004, however, the Redskins have improved their all-around pass defense, and in fact are now the best defense in the league on passes to “number two” receivers.

But the defense can only take Washington to the playoffs if the offense improves. Mark Brunell is among the NFL’s worst QBs this season, and it is clear that a late-career resurgence isn’t coming. With a difficult schedule remaining, the Redskins need to gamble on backup Patrick Ramsey. A QB change is always a hard decision, but the road to 6-10 is paved with easy decisions.

DALLAS COWBOYS (3-5)

Every preseason report about the Dallas Cowboys boiled down to the same synopsis: great coach, great defense, but an offense of over-the-hill veterans that would probably prevent a return to the playoffs. In fact, the Cowboys have followed the exact opposite storyline. Their attempt to build an offense around the 1998 Pro Bowl roster has actually proved moderately successful, but the regression of the defense is the most surprising backwards movement since Michael Jackson debuted the moonwalk.

The Cowboys topped the NFL last year by allowing only 254 yards per game; they were second with only 4.3 yards allowed per play. This year they’ve allowed 5.8 yards per play, 29th in the NFL, and have caused only five turnovers, worst in the league.

There’s no easy answer for what happened, and there are no major injuries to blame, other than safety Darren Woodson. Cornerback Terence Newman, so great as a rookie, has been mediocre, and the revolving cast of cornerbacks opposite him performed terribly. The defensive linemen have aged in dog years, unable to get a good pass rush and ineffectual against the run.

With no positive trends to speak of and a difficult late-season schedule that features Seattle, Baltimore, and Philadelphia twice, the Dallas season is effectively over. It’s time for the Cowboys to sit down the veterans and get some experience for young players like quarterback Drew Henson and running back ReShard Lee, while Parcells decides whether he wants to build this team from scratch again or return to an easy, stress-free life on the Jersey Shore.

Mr. Schatz is the editor in chief of FootballOutsiders.com