Believe it or not, Week 5 ended on a positive note for the Dallas Cowboys. That isn’t because of anything they did against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Their performance was disastrous, and the Cowboys have a long list of things to fix on their own.

The NFC East standings look a little friendlier for Dallas, though. Outside of their own game, the Cowboys couldn’t have asked for better results around the division. The Philadelphia Eagles lost in London, and the New York Giants and Washington Commanders played to a tie.

Of course, none of it will matter unless the Cowboys make it matter.

Eagles make costly mistakes in London loss to Jaguars

The first piece of good news came from overseas. The Eagles fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in a mistake-filled game for Philadelphia, particularly on offense and game management.

The Eagles are dealing with injuries and a shakeup along the offensive line following Lane Johnson’s retirement and the trade of Cam Jurgens. The Jaguars made them pay for it.

Philly had several opportunities to win the game on the field. Head coach Nick Sirianni also made some questionable coaching decisions down the stretch. For starters, the Eagles didn’t let the clock drain a little more before they kicked a field goal.

Additionally, Philadelphia chose to kick the ball inbounds when Jacksonville had no timeouts remaining and no way to stop the clock. Jacksonville made them regret it with a solid return that put the Jaguars in position to win the game.

If you’re a Cowboys fan, that tough loss abroad might spark some memories of the Rio game back in Week 3. But watching the biggest threat in the division go through the same thing might provide some solace. Not a lot, but some. 

Giants and Commanders play to a 27-27 tie

On the other side of the division, the Giants and the Commanders squared off, and nobody won. The game ended in a 27-27 tie. And honestly, both deserved a loss.

To be fair, Dallas would have benefited more from Washington winning, in my opinion. A Commanders victory would have taken down the current NFC East leader. But at least New York didn’t get the win.

That matters because it could be the beginning of a series of struggles for the Giants. They’re now without quarterback Jaxson Dart, who is out for the season, and a big part of the expectation for New York is that it will struggle as the season goes on.

This was a game the Giants could have won. It’s a game the Commanders should have won, too. Instead, both teams played what looked like a who-wants-it-less contest, making mistake after mistake. It culminated in Giants running back Cam Skattebo fumbling the ball in what should have been the game winning drive and in the Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels freezing and taking a sack in a play that should have never been snapped. 

Quite frankly, it was an awful display of football that will surely earn the NFC East a lot of mockery over the next few days. 

Why the tie could matter for the Cowboys

Neither the Giants nor the Commanders got a win, and that could be significant down the road. A tie counts as only half a win.

If the NFC East comes down to tiebreakers, the division will look at win percentage, and that tie will count as a half win for both teams. The Cowboys know this better than anyone after a tie happened to them in 2025.

It’s a small thing in Week 5, but small things add up over the course of a season. Dallas has plenty of work ahead of it after the Tampa Bay game.

For now, the results around the division favor the Cowboys. Now it’s up to them to take advantage.