NFC East: Our advice for NY Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins entering NFL Week 10

There’s long been a running discussion in the NFL about when is the best time for teams to enjoy their bye weeks. 

Some teams prefer early-season breaks so they can continue the educations of its younger players.

Others favor timeouts at the midway point in the 16-game season.

Still others like their breaks later in the season, serving as physical and mental recharging for the playoffs. 

The NFC East teams have their byes shoehorned into a three-week period. Dallas came out of its break with its 37-18 victory over the Giants on Monday night, and now hosts Minnesota on Sunday night; Philadelphia and Washington are off this weekend, and the Giants, after 10 games, will sit out after it plays the Jets on Sunday. 

At 5-3, the Cowboys have a half-game lead over the 5-4 Eagles. The Giants, at 2-7 and a five-game losing streak, and the Redskins, at 1-8, bring up the rear. 

But before Week 10 begins, here’s our weekly “advice” to the four NFC East coaches: 

Philadelphia Eagles 

Philly is feeling good going into its bye after wins over Buffalo and Chicago, which boosted its record to 5-4. 

Now that he knows DeSean Jackson will be out at least six weeks following surgery for a torn abdominal muscle, Eagles coach Doug Pederson can fine-tune his passing game and work on his red zone offense, not always a strength of his team. 

The Eagles may have found its offensive model: they ran for 146 yards, and tight end Zach Ertz caught nine passes for 103 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s win over the Bears. 

Enjoy your time off, Eagles, but be ready to go right away: home games against the Patriots and Seahawks await you. 

Dallas Cowboys 

The Cowboys came out flat against the Giants on Monday night, but they had time to recover because the G-Men lack the talent to beat them (Dallas has won the last six games against the Giants). The Cowboys need to play better against the Vikings and the tougher part of their schedule, which is coming up. 

Jason Garrett needs to get on his kickoff coverage team after two long returns by the Giants, and he might want to demand his team cut down on its penalties. 

So far this season has started for Dallas like so many in the past. A team that flashes its talent early, but then either doesn’t make the playoffs or doesn’t advance very far.

Garrett needs to reverse that trend to hold on to his job. 

New York Giants 

If misery loves company, Sunday's Giants-Jets matchup should be a lovefest. And the Giants should be glad to get away from divisional play, where they’ve lost 12 of their last 15 games. 

Pat Shurmur’s long list of things to fix should include an emphasis on ball control to mistake-prone quarterback Daniel Jones; finding more ways to get Saquon Barkley involved in the offense, and improvement, maybe some lineup changes, for his overmatched defense. 

The fumbles and interceptions by Jones shouldn’t be shrugged off as a rookie learning his craft. He needs to clean this up, or his first season won’t be considered as promising as it seemed a month ago. 

Giants:5 takeaways from Monday's defeat to Cowboys as losing streak hits 5

Washington Redskins 

Interim coach Bill Callahan will be a busy man during Washington’s bye week. On the top of his list is deciding who’ll start at quarterback when the Redskins resume against the Jets. 

If Case Keenum is out of concussion protocol, he’ll probably return as the starter. If not, top draft choice Dwayne Haskins could start again. 

Callahan would prefer not to expose Haskins to a second start after he completed 15 of 22 passes for 144 yards, with no interceptions and no TD passes, in Sunday’s loss at Buffalo. 

The 1-8 Redskins are in dire need of a better passing game, to go with the surprising running game supplied by future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson. As for the bye week, Callahan has announced an extra day of practice on Wednesday, something former coach Jay Gruden didn’t. “We need the work,” said Callahan. 

Keep an eye on... 

Leonard Williams:After a so-so Giants debut on Monday night, let’s see how the former Jet controls his emotions and plays against his former team on Sunday. 

Michael Bennett: Judging by how he played against the Giants in his debut, Bennett gives Dallas another pure pass rusher who can help defend against the run.