Why has no NFC East team repeated as division champion in 20 years?

It's hard to argue about the success of the Eagles over the past 20 years. After losing in the Super Bowl in 2004, the Eagles have made three more trips to the Big Game, winning twice. They've also won seven NFC East titles since the start of 2005 and four of the last eight.

But for some reason, despite all this success, they have been unable to win the division in consecutive seasons during that 20-season span, and the same goes for the NFC East's three other teams. The Eagles are the last team to win the NFC East back-to-back, when they won the division four straight times from 2001-2004.

As the defending champs attempt this season to become the first NFC team to go to back-to-back Super Bowls since the 2013-2014 Seahawks, they'll also be trying to break the 20-year drought of no repeat division champs. 

Here's a look at why, and what happened, to cause a different division champion in each of the past 20 seasons:

2005

Division winner: New York Giants (11-5)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (6-10)

The spectacular Eagles implosion of 2005 began with the team banishing Terrell Owens from the roster early in the season, and continued with a flurry of season-ending injuries that left the Eagles starting games with guys like QB Mike McMahon, RBs Ryan Moats and Lamar Gordon, WRs Reggie Brown and Greg Lewis, and rookie OL Todd Herremans, among others. 

The Birds started 4-2 but won just two of their last 10 games to collapse in unimaginable fashion just one season removed from going to the Super Bowl. The Giants, in Eli Manning’s first full season as the starter, won 11 games to edge Washington for the division by one game, but got blasted by the Panthers in the Wild Card Round. The Eagles would learn a lesson from their implosion that would help them next season…

2006

Division winner:  Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Previous winner: New York Giants (8-8)

The Eagles made sure to have a better backup QB than Mike McMahon this time, and it paid off as Jeff Garcia took over after Donovan McNabb tore his ACL. Garcia lost his first start, then rattled off five consecutive wins – including road wins against NFC East teams in three consecutive weeks in December – as the Eagles reclaimed the division.

The Giants actually started the season 6-2 before losing four straight games. The Eagles and Giants were each 7-6 when they met Week 14 at Giants Stadium. The Giants led 22-21 with about seven minutes to play on a Brandon Jacobs TD run but Garcia hit Reggie Brown for a 19-yard TD followed by a 2-point conversion. Trent Cole, of all people, intercepted a dump-off from Manning to Tiki Barber and returned it for a touchdown to put the game away and put the Eagles in the driver’s seat to win the division. It would be the only interception of Cole’s 12-year career.

2007

Division winner:  Dallas Cowboys (13-3)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)

Donovan McNabb returned from his ACL injury but wasn’t the same. He threw just 19 touchdowns and didn’t have a rushing touchdown for the first time since becoming a starter in 2000. The Eagles were 5-5 through 11 weeks and then lost three straight to fall out of the race. 

Rubbing salt in their wounds, the Cowboys got a Pro Bowl season from T.O. and a 4,200-yard, 36-touchdown season from Tony Romo in Romo’s first full season as a stater before, of course, losing to a red-hot Eli Manning in the divisional round as Manning led the Giants to three consecutive road playoffs wins before finishing his dream postseason with an upset of Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. It sure looked like the Giants or Cowboys would be the lead horses to contend for the NFC East in 2008. 

2008

Division winner: New York Giants (12-4)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (9-7)

The Cowboys couldn't get it done again. While T.O. was once again wearing out his welcome in Dallas, Manning and the defending Super Bowl champion Giants were on fire. They opened the season 4-0 and were in cruise control until …  Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg. Yes, you read that correctly. The Giants’ star receiver somehow shot himself in the leg on Nov. 28 at a Manhattan nightclub, ending his season. The Giants were 10-1 at the time, looking like very viable repeat champion contenders before Burress’ incident came back to haunt the franchise. 

Meanwhile, the late-surging Eagles caught fire after Thanksgiving, as Donovan McNabb returned from a Week 12 benching against the Ravens to lead the Eagles to six wins in the next seven games. In Week 18, the Eagles needed some help from two other teams to have a chance to make the postseason, and miraculously got it. Then they trashed the Cowboys, 44-6, to send Dallas home for the postseason as they claimed the sixth and final seed in the NFC playoffs before going on the road to beat the third-seeded Vikings and knocking off the top-seeded Giants en route to the NFC Championship, where they lost to Arizona in Jim Johnson’s final game as defensive coordinator. 

So to recap: The Giants won the division but imploded, the Cowboys were trying to survive T.O., and the Eagles made it farther than both of them...

2009

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys (11-5)
Previous winner: New York Giants (8-8)

The Giants actually responded well and started 5-0, looking like a clear contender to end the repeat drought after just five seasons. But ... they lost five of their next six games and never recovered. Burress was serving two years in prison for shooting himself. The Eagles won six straight games from Weeks 11-16 while the Cowboys went 8-3 from Weeks 7-17, setting up an Eagles-Cowboys season finale for the division title. 

Dallas, which sent nine to the Pro Bowl that season, crushed the Eagles 24-0 to win the division and set up a first-round playoff rematch one week later, a 34-14 blasting infamous for Donovan McNabb playing some silly air guitar while running out of the tunnel. The game is also infamous for being Donovan McNabb’s final one in an Eagles uniform. Would the Eagles get back on top anytime soon?

MORE: The biggest threats to an Eagles Super Bowl repeat

2010

Division winner: Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (6-10)

First off, the division was trash this season. The Eagles gave up on the Kevin Kolb experiment a few weeks in, handing the starting QB job to Michael Vick. The Cowboys got off to a horrendous start. Tony Romo got hurt after six games and a 1-5 record, and head coach Wade Phillips got canned after a 45-7 loss to the Packers in Week 9 that left Dallas at 1-8. It was clear the division would have another new champion. 

The Eagles improved to 10-4 after completing a remarkable 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter against the Giants – known as the second "Miracle at the Meadowlands" –  but they clearly left it all on the turf in East Rutherford. Their next game, delayed to Tuesday because of a snowstorm, was infamous for Vikings backup QB Joe Webb leading Minnesota to a 24-14 win that started an Eagles two-game losing streak to end the season and a first-round home playoff loss to star-in-the-making Aaron Rodgers, who would lead Green Bay to a Super Bowl title. Would the Eagles pick up the pieces and repeat as division champs in 2011?

2011

Division winner: New York Giants (9-7)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)

No, the Eagles wouldn't repeat. Close, but no cigar. Another crap season for the division, except for the Giants turning a mediocre regular season into another Super Bowl upset of Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Eagles underwent wholesale coaching changes in the offseason as the pressure ratcheted up on Andy Reid to finally win "The Big One." Reid fired Sean McDermott early in the offseason and then struck out on finding the right defensive coordinator who'd want to pair with already hired DL coach Jim Washburn and his trademark Wide 9 defensive scheme. 

Reid eventually settled on longtime OL coach Juan Castillo as his defensive coordinator – you read that correctly – and then watched his team corner the market on blowing leads en route to a 1-4 start that quickly turned to 4-8. In typical Reid fashion, the Eagles won their last four games to give the appearance that they weren’t that bad, but they were that bad and would only get worse…

2012

Division winner: Washington (10-6)
Previous winner: New York Giants (9-7)

Hey, welcome to the story Washington! After four consecutive last-place finishes, Washington capitalized on another crap year for the NFC East to win the division for the first time since 1999. The Giants watched their chance to end the repeat drought fizzle when, at 8-5, they lost consecutive games in Weeks 15 and 16 to the Ravens and the Falcons by a combined score of 67-14 before ending the season with a 42-7 trouncing of an Eagles team that opened camp as “The Dream Team” thanks to several marquee additions but collapsed spectacularly with 11 losses in the final 12 games. 

An incredible season from Washington rookie and No. 2 overall pick Robert Griffin III – 20 TD passes, five INTs – seemed destined to finally get the franchise on the right track, until Griffin tore his ACL and LCL in a first-round playoff loss to the Seahawks, leaving all sorts of questions marks about which team would be best equipped to win the NFC East in 2013. As for the Eagles, Reid fired Juan Castillo and Jim Washburn before the season ended, and then he was fired after an otherwise brilliant 14-year coaching career with the organization that included six division titles, a Super Bowl appearance, and 10 playoff wins.

2013

Division winner: Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Previous winner: Washington (3-13)

So much for the Eagles being down for long. In yet another trash season for the NFC East – notice a trend here? – success was short-lived for Washington, which started off 3-10 under RG3 before turning the ball over to Kirk Cousins. Griffin threw at least one interception in all but two of his starts and Washington’s defense ranked as the NFL’s third-worst, making it all but impossible for the franchise to even come close to repeating. 

The Eagles opened the season and Chip Kelly’s pro coaching career with the “Monday Night Massacre,” a 33-27 win over Washington that was actually a 33-7 lead in the third quarter. But the Eagles lost their next three games and an injury to Vick forced Nick Foles into action. Foles led a historical season of 27 TDs and just two INTs – including a 7-TD game vs. Oakland – but the reality is the Eagles beat a truckload of crappy teams and their true colors were revealed in a 26-24 home loss to the Saints, who were infamous at that time for losing cold-weather games in the playoffs. They didn’t look like a team that would be a sure-shot in 2014 to end the repeat drought, and wouldn’t.

2014

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys (12-4)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

The Eagles were 6-2 when Nick Foles got hurt against the Texans, giving way to Mark Sanchez, who won his debut over the Panthers and then partied in South Philly afterward. The party was just starting – but for Dallas. Sanchez came crashing back to Earth the very next week, as the Eagles lost 53-20 to the Packers at Lambeau Field. 

The Eagles and Cowboys were both 8-3 when they met on Thanksgiving. Sanchez once again rose to the occasion in a 33-10 win, but perhaps partied too much again as the Eagles dropped their next three, including a 38-27 loss to Dallas in Week 15 that put Dallas in the driver’s seat for the division. An Eagles loss to Washington in Week 16, coupled with a Cowboys win over the Colts handed the division to Dallas for the first time since 2009. Dallas won its first-round game against the Lions before falling to the Packers in the divisional round. Could Dallas be the franchise to end the streak in 2015 after the drought extended to 10 years?

MORE: Eagles 2025 opponent injury/suspension/holdout tracker

2015

Division winner: Washington (9-7)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (4-12)

Well, only one team finished above .500, and it wasn't Dallas. Amazingly, it was a Kirk Cousins-led Washington team that really wasn’t very good but won its last four games of the season – all against teams that didn’t make the playoffs – to rebound from a 5-7 start. Washington won the NFC East despite fielding the 17th-ranked offense and 30th-ranked defense. Washington felt very much like a one-season wonder, which is exactly what they were. 

What happened to Dallas? Tony Romo broke his left collarbone in a Week 2 win against the Eagles and missed the next eight games. Dallas went 0-and-7 in those games. Romo beat Miami in his first game to end the losing skid but struggled the next week against the Panthers and then re-injured his left shoulder getting sacked to miss the rest of the season. The Eagles fired Chip Kelly before his third season even ended. The door was literally open for any team in 2016.

2016

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys (13-3)
Previous winner: Washington (8-7-1)

A new star was born in the division. A back injury suffered by Tony Romo in the preseason gave way to rookie Dak Prescott, who lost the opener but then reeled off 11 straight wins, not suffering his second loss until Dec. 11 against the Giants as the Cowboys seized control of the division. Washington’s back-to-back losses to the Cowboys and Cardinals in Weeks 12 and 13 respectively lowered their record to 6-5-1 while the Eagles, in Season 1 of new QB and No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz, looked good at 3-0 but then lost four of their next five and then five straight losses from Weeks 11-18 to fall way out of contention. 

The Giants were responsible for two of Dallas’ three losses and won 11 total games, but got tattooed by the Packers in a first-round playoff game in Ben McAdoo’s first season as head coach. At that point, the Cowboys looked like strong contenders to repeat in 2017.

2017

Division winner: Philadelphia Eagles (13-3)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (9-7)

Carson Wentz’s second season couldn’t have gone any better, until he tore his ACL in a Week 14 game against the Rams. Nick Foles, in his second go-around with the Eagles, took over and we all know what happened. The Cowboys hovered around .500 all season, underperforming as they typically did under Jason Garrett, while the Giants and Washington just toiled. 

The Eagles’ breakout season, with Wentz playing at an MVP level, gave some hope that 2018 would finally be the season of a repeat NFC East champion. Except …

2018

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys (10-6)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)

Wentz came back from his surgery and was not the same, and then sustained a back injury that would force Foles back into action. The Eagles won six of their last seven games to make the playoffs and then pulled off a first-round upset of the Bears thanks to a double-doinked missed field goal (that was actually partially blocked) before advancing to the divisional round, where they lost to the Saints. 

The Cowboys started 3-5 but caught fire in November, winning five straight, including an OT win over the Eagles that ended on an Amari Cooper TD catch from Prescott, and won seven of their last eight to win the division and play the NFC East leapfrog game with the Eagles…

2019

Division winner: Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (8-8)

Annnnnd the Eagles leaped right back in front this season, and the NFC went back to being lousy. By 2019, Carson Wentz was a shell of his 2017 self, but he mustered up just enough magic at 5-7 to lead the Eagles to four consecutive NFC East wins from Weeks 14-17 to win the division. But winning a bad division matched the Eagles against the Seahawks in the first round, a game known for Jadaveon Clowney spearing Wentz in the back and concussing the Eagles’ QB, who never reentered the game. 

The Eagles fell 17-9. The Cowboys produced the No. 1 offense and ninth-ranked defense but were still streaky and underwhelming. December losses to the Bears and Eagles dropped them under .500, and their 8-8 record finally got Jason Garrett fired. The door appeared open for the Eagles to finally repeat or for the Cowboys to get their act together and keep the leapfrog going.

MORE: Can the Eagles repeat as Super Bowl champions? History says it will be tough

2020

Division winner: Washington Football Team (7-9)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (4-11-1)

Well, this season ended the leapfrog game, as the Eagles and Cowboys both stunk and the NFC East was an absolute snooze fest. Behind a decimated offensive line, Carson Wentz struggled miserably and eventually lost his job to rookie Jalen Hurts, which foreshadowed the end of Wentz's Eagles tenure. Dak Prescott suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 against the Giants and was carted off the field. He missed the rest of the season, and Dallas lost four straight from Weeks 6-9 and went 4-3 over the final seven games to finish 6-10. 

Washington got a spark that season from Alex Smith, who went 5-1 as a starter, to surprisingly win the crappy division. A bone bruise kept Smith out of the playoffs and the Football Team, behind Taylor Heinicke, lost 31-23 to eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay with Tom Brady at QB. Once again, Washington’s division win wasn’t viewed as the start of an uprising – and for good reason.

2021

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys (12-5)
Previous winner: Washington Football Team (7-10)

Washington went back to being Washington. Taylor Heinecke started 15 games but threw too many interceptions and Washington’s defense wasn’t very good. The Cowboys, with a healthy Dak Prescott, opened the season at 6-1 and won five of their last six games to easily win the division over the 9-win Eagles, who in Jalen Hurts’ first full season as starter and Nick Sirianni’s first season as head coach got off to a 2-5 start before winning six of seven going into the season finale and clinching the seven seed. They got blown out in the first round by the Bucs. 

Prescott’s 37 touchdowns were the most of his career and his 104.2 QB rating was the highest since his rookie season. In his second season, Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb went over 1,100 receiving yards. The notion that Dallas could repeat in 2021 and finally break the streak seemed very realistic.

2022

Division winner: Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (12-5)

The Cowboys actually were a good team worthy of breaking the repeat streak in 2022. They won 12 games again, the first time they’d done that in consecutive seasons since 1994-1995. They produced the fourth-ranked offense and fifth-ranked defense. But … they couldn’t hang with an Eagles team that was on a freight train to the Super Bowl. With newly added WR A.J. Brown, the Eagles’ offense looked unstoppable and the defense came together quickly. 

The Eagles opened the season with eight straight wins to take early command of the division and after a Week 10 loss to Washington, they didn’t lose again until Week 16. They waltzed through the NFC playoffs, beating the Giants and 49ers, before losing 38-35 to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. But even with the loss, the Eagles looked like the strongest contenders yet to break the division repeat streak in 2023.

2023

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys (12-5)
Previous winner: Philadelphia Eagles (11-6)

It's still a mystery how the Eagles didn't break the streak this season. They started 10-1 – 10-1!!! – before collapsing spectacularly down the stretch, going 1-5 in their final six games. Nick Sirianni goofed up trying to replace DC Jonathan Gannon with Sean Desai instead of promoting Dennard Wilson, then made it worse by hiring Matt Patricia as an assistant to Desai despite no familiarity with Desai's scheme, then made it even worse by neutering Desai after a few bad games in December and making Patricia the DC. 

Dallas was two games behind the Eagles after 11 games but went 4-2 down the stretch to leapfrog Philadelphia into first place. Both teams were crushed in their first-round playoff games. Can't blame injuries or lack of talent for this one, just an organizational mess that the Eagles – to their credit – cleaned up very quickly.

2024

Division winner: Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
Previous winner: Dallas Cowboys (7-10)

Dallas had won 12 games for three consecutive seasons, so you had to expect something bad would keep the Cowboys from repeating, which is exactly what happened. After being made the highest paid player in the sport before the season, Dak Prescott got off to a rocky start with eight INTs in eight games before sustaining a major hamstring injury that would require surgery and sideline him for the rest of the season, opening the door for a resurgent Eagles team with newly added RB Saquon Barkley to find its stride by Week 6 and coast to its fourth NFC East title in eight years, edging the upstart Commanders by two games in the division. 

The Eagles capped the remarkable season by dethroning the dynastic Chiefs in the Super Bowl and now look very poised to finally end the repeat drought in 2025.

... Or do they?

Here's a cheat sheet, a look at the division for the last two decades:

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