Struggling NFC East could crown first single-digit champ

PHILADELPHIA >> At no time in the proud history of the NFC East, which has produced 13 Super Bowl champions, has a team claimed the pennant with fewer than 10 wins.

But that could change this year, a season after the Eagles became the fourth member of the division to join the Super Bowl club.

Injuries and performance, or lack thereof, have taken their toll in the division that was supposed to be one of the tougher ones in the NFL this season. The Redskins (5-3) are the only team in the circuit with a winning record, and that could change rapidly as they’re playing without threefifths of their starting offensive line due to injuries.

The only real question is whether a .500 record or even worse could produce the division winner. In the 2010 season, the Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7-9 record. Eagles defensive end Chris Long played on the St. Louis Rams, who also finished 7-9 in the West but lost a tiebreaker.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins appreciated the numbers but said he and his teammates are focused on the big picture.

“We’re right in the thick of it,” Jenkins said. “We won’t go beyond this week but to be honest, when you look up, everything is right in front of us. Everybody is banged up, including us. But that doesn’t change the opportunity. We feel like we have all the opportunity in the world to snatch the division, and it starts this week against Dallas.”

The Eagles oppose the Cowboys Sunday night at the Linc.

Here’s how the division shapes up for the second half of the season:

Redskins (5-3)

GAMES REMAINING >> at Buccaneers (3-5), Texans (6-3), at Cowboys (3-5), Eagles (4-4), Giants (17), at Jaguars (3-5), at Titans (44), Eagles (4-4).

THE SKINNY >> How far can you get running 33-year-old Adrian Peterson behind that starting line?

Eagles (4-4)

GAMES REMAINING >> Dallas (3-5), at Saints (7-1), Giants (1-7), Redskins (5-3), at Cowboys (3-5), at Rams (7-1), Texans (6-3), at Redskins (5-3).

THE SKINNY >> The Eagles have made the playoffs just five of 34 times after starting 4-4 or worse per Stats LLC (14.7 percent).

Cowboys (3-5)

GAMES REMAINING >> at Eagles (44), at Falcons (4-4), Redskins (5-3), Saints (7-1), Eagles (4-4), at Colts

(3-5), Buccaneers (3-5).

THE SKINNY >> No Cowboys team has made the playoffs after a 3-5 start.

Giants (1-7)

GAMES REMAINING >> at Niners (27), Buccaneers (3-6), at Eagles (44), Bears (5-3), at Redskins (5-3), Titans (4-4), at Colts (3-5), Cowboys (3-5).

THE SKINNY >> If the Giants win six of their last eight games, and everybody else in the division falters … never mind.

The bottom line for the Eagles is that there’s plenty of time to turn the season around.

“We’ve got eight games left, we’re trying to make a playoff push,” receiver Alshon Jeffrey said. “And we hope, for sure, to win the division. And (Sunday is) a division opponent. This one is definitely important.”