But in the NFC East, where teams are bunched like cars on the Schuylkill Expressway at rush hour, it just might come down to who is healthiest at the end.

Despite what Eagles president Joe Banner proclaimed before the season (that Philadelphia has the best roster in the league), the talent is pretty evenly dispersed throughout the division. No one team is that much better than the other, and certainly no one is threatening to steal a first-round playoff bye away from either New Orleans or Minnesota.

If health proves to be the deciding factor, then the New York Giants will be the team to beat. On Thursday, as they prepared for their game today against Atlanta, the Giants had all 53 players on the roster practice for the first time all year. That included cornerback Aaron Ross, who hasn't played a game all season because of a nagging hamstring injury, linebacker Michael Boley, and defensive end Chris Canty.

"We haven't showered yet," New York coach Tom Coughlin said on Friday when asked if every player made it through the week healthy.

"It is good to be healthy right now," Coughlin said. "We are probably as healthy as we've been at any time right now."

The other three NFC East teams can't say the same.

As for strength of schedule, the Redskins have the toughest schedule down the stretch. Their remaining opponents are a combined 39-24. The Giants' opponents are 37-26, including 8-1 Minnesota on the road in the season finale (a game that might mean zero to the Vikings and everything to New York). The Eagles' and Cowboys' remaining opponents are 33-30.

Former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress last week signed a contract extension that will keep him in Minnesota through the 2013 season. The deal is worth a reported $4 million to $5 million per season.

It took Vikings fans a while to warm to Childress' dry sense of humor, but they've loved his results. Childress is 32-25 in 31/2 seasons.

And if nothing else, Childress should be rewarded for accomplishing what no other coach could: getting Brett Favre to protect the football.

The 40-year-old Favre has thrown only three interceptions this season. His 68.1 completion percentage is by far the highest of his career and third highest in the league behind Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (69.7) and New Orleans' Drew Brees (68.4).

In case you were wondering with Manning knocking on the door of 70 percent - Ken Anderson recorded the highest completion percentage in NFL history, 70.55 with Cincinnati in 1982. But Anderson threw only 309 times. Manning has 357 attempts in nine games, and is on pace for 635 attempts, which would shatter his career high of 591 set in 2002.

For comparison purposes. Five quarterbacks have completion rates of 70 percent or better in the fourth quarters of games this season: Manning (78.3), Favre (72.7), Brees (72.5), Houston's Matt Schaub (70.2), and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger (70.0).

Chicago's Jay Cutler has a 61.1 completion percentage in the fourth quarter, while Donovan McNabb is at 57.1. McNabb has the second highest fourth-quarter completion percentage in the NFC East, behind Washington's Jason Campbell (68.7) and ahead of the Giants' Eli Manning (56.8) and Dallas' Tony Romo (56.6).

Eagles quote of note:

"I think what happened last year by us even getting into the playoffs was a miracle. We don't really want to count on miracles too much, at least that's the way I feel." - Safety Quintin Mikell.

Did you notice? A feature on the Eagles' Web site (philadelphiaeagles.com) called Eagles Live! is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which, given the fans' feelings about the team being 5-4, is fitting.

Contact columnist Ashley Fox at 215-854-5064 or afox@phillynews.com.