The Giants are just the NFC East team controlling their way to the division title

NFC East may be the worst division in NFL history, but one of those four teams has to stage a playoff game. And the Giants are the team with the clearest path to first place.

The 4-7 Giants are currently in the top spot, thanks to their one-on-one sweep of the Washington 4-7 football team, meaning the Giants are the only team in control of their way to the title.

Of course, for the Giants to control their destiny, they would have to win: only if they go 9-7 can they be sure of winning the NFC East. And given their five remaining opponents (Seahawks, Cardinals, Browns, Ravens, Cowboys), the Giants are highly unlikely to win.

But it’s also unlikely that anyone else in the NFC East could win. Washington is also 4-7 but faces the Steelers, 49ers and Seahawks in the next three games. Washington could easily fall to 4-10 before finishing with the Panthers and Eagles.

The Eagles are 3-7-1 and will also be overlooked in their next three games, against the Packers, Saints and Cardinals, before ending the season with the Cowboys and the football team.

The Cowboys are in last place at 3-8 and get the Ravens, Bengals, 49ers, Eagles and Giants the rest of the way. Dallas is one game behind Washington and has been swept away by Washington, so the Cowboys will need to be two games better than Washington the rest of the time to pass the football team in the NFC East.

FootballOutsiders.com’s advanced stats give the Giants a 40% chance of winning NFC East, Washington 30%, Philadelphia 19% and Dallas 10%. (These stats assume the Giants’ offense will be a bit worse this week, with Colt McCoy likely starting off injured quarterback Daniel Jones.) The Giants have to be considered the favorites right now in a division that someone needs to be. to win.