Week 5 of the 2021 NFL Season is in the books with the NFC compiling a record 2-2. In the early games, the Washington Football Team fell to the 3-2 New Orleans Saints, 33-22, while the Philadelphia Eagles eeked out a 21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers. The late game saw the Dallas Cowboys take on their divisional rival, New York Giants, in a game that was close through halftime but ended in a 44-20 blowout in favor of the Cowboys.
The Cowboys now enjoy a two-game lead within the division over Washington and Philadelphia and have a three-game cushion over the Giants. With head-to-head victories over the latter two, the race has a clear leader through the first stanza of the season. How much is real and how much is circumstance? The advanced stats give additional insight than records alone.