In the Philadelphia Eagles locker room, it was the same old same old. The losing streak had reached six games, accelerating the countdown toward the possible end of Andy Reid's 14-year tenure as coach.

 

"I don't know how it can get much worse," tight end Brent Celek said.

 

Sunday's meeting for last place in the NFC East left a thick line between the Redskins and Eagles. The 31-6 victory allows Washington (4-6) to feel like a playoff contender for at least a few more days, while Philadelphia (3-7) is doomed to spending six more weeks enduring endless questions about the future of the franchise.

 

"We knew this game right here was going to be make or break for either one of our teams," Washington linebacker London Fletcher said.

 

The Redskins' hopes remain intact largely because of Griffin, who completed 14 of 15 passes for 200 yards, including touchdown passes of 6, 49, 61 and 17 -- one in each quarter. He also ran 12 times for 84 yards and was again serenaded with chants of "RG3."

 

"I'm tired of talking about Robert," said Santana Moss, who leaped between two defenders and fought his way into the end zone for the 61-yard score in the third quarter. "Nothing's going to change; Robert's going to go out there and be special. That's the gift that he has, he's a special guy. He brings that kind of `specialness.' I don't know if that's a word, but he brings it to our offense."

 

There was another chant in the final minutes, the familiar "We want Dallas!" The Redskins have a short week before heading to Texas for a Thanksgiving visit to the Cowboys (5-5), who, by the way, pulled out the win in overtime against the Browns.

 

"If we had lost today, we're going into this next week with a whole different mindset of, hey, `spoiler' -- maybe fight to see if the stars align just right," Lichtensteiger said. "But now we have a legitimate shot with the way this division is right now. There's definitely a belief right now."

 

That's a long way from the statement Mike Shanahan made after a loss to Carolina, when the coach pretty much gave up on the postseason and talked about evaluating talent for next year. Shanahan has since changed his tune and says every game the rest of the way is like a playoff game.

 

"It was a game we had to have," Shanahan said Sunday. "We knew that."