The Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East division title after handing the Dallas Cowboys a humiliating 41-7 defeat, while the Buffalo Bills secured the second seed in the AFC with a 40-14 crushing of the New York Jets.

The Cowboys were already eliminated from playoff contention and without top receiver CeeDee Lamb with a shoulder injury, but it was their defence that struggled.

Eagles starting quarter-back Jalen Hurts missed the game due to concussion. Kenny Pickett got the start but had to leave the game in the third quarter with a rib injury with Philadelphia 24-7 up.

That meant third-choice Tanner McKee took over under the centre and two of his four passes were for touchdowns.

The real damage to the Cowboys, who gave up four turnovers, was done by the Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley who put up 167 yards on 31 carries to pass the 2,000 yard mark for the season.

Barkley, who has 2,005 yards needs to put up 101 yards next week to break Eric Dickerson's record for the most rushing yards in a season, set for the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.

"It’s cool, I’m not going to downplay it," Barkley said of the division crown. “At the end of the day, you’re not getting remembered for being a 2024 NFC East division champ.”

The win means the Eagles are guaranteed at least the number two seed in the NFC.

Meanwhile, the Bills took the second seed in the AFC behind defending champions Kansas City Chiefs, after taking care of business against the New York Jets.

The Bills led 12-0 at the half before their quarterback Josh Allen took total control of the game with touchdown passes to Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman either side of a rushing score from James Cook.

Allen, who threw for 182 yards, had opened the scoring with a one-yard rush.

Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw two interceptions and was sacked four times.

“It speaks to the staff that we’ve got here, the guys that we’ve got in this locker room, how this team is put together and the culture that we have,” Allen said.

“We didn’t really pay attention to the preseason notions, but we heard them and we saw them and we knew what people were saying," he added. "But it had no effect on us.” (AFP/AP)