The NFC East marks our TV schedules as our first game this season as “America’s Team” the Dallas Cowboys travel down to Tampa Bay to face the defending Super Bowl Champions in the Thursday night opener on September 9th. This game will feature the return of Dak Prescott who will be returning from a season-ending injury last season.
The NFC East made an argument of being the most competitive division last season, but that is not always a good thing. No team from the division finished with a record over .500 and the Washington Football Team ended up winning the division with a 7-9 record. Each team from the division is looking to prove that they are better than what they showed last season, though Washington is looking to repeat as division champions.
There is no frontrunner in the division early on, so let’s take an early preview at potentially the most competitive division in the NFL in the new 17-game format—the NFC East.
Washington Football Team: The division winners from last season take the field this season looking to be the first repeat champion out of the NFC East sincethe Eagles in a run from 2001-2004—yes, it’s been that long. If they are going to have any shot at that then they will need to excel in what got them there last year, stopping the opponent’s offense. The Washington defense was a force last season and that all started up front.
Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Montez Sweat created havoc for offensive lines last season and there is almost no doubt that they will be able to do that again. The defense ranked fourth overall last season (points allowed) and in the pass game they were just as good, ranking second. The area they did struggle at was defending the run where they finished 13th, but even that is not a huge issue as long as they remain where they are or get slightly better.
In all seven of their wins Washington allowed less than 20 points, overall they put together 10 games where they allowed 20 or less. However, this is partly where the problem lies because if the defense is holding opponents to under 20 points and you’re still losing that means the offense is not scoring. Like the defense, in 10 of their games they were held to 20 or fewer points, which is something that needs to change for this year.
They are hoping that change comes with a switch at quarterback where Ryan Fitzpatrick is now in as the top guy. Washington has the weapons for Fitzpatrick, now the offensive line needs to show they can hold up to give the offense time to develop plays. Fitzpatrick, Antonio Gibson, and Terry McLaurin should be a fun trio to watch over the course of the year and if this offense can gel together then Washington will be the team to beat this year.
With the strength of this defense, the offense does not need to be great to win games, they just have to do enough. Of course, they don’t want to just be good enough but if the situation comes down to it they can be. The defense should once again carry the weight for the team this season, but if the offense comes to play as well then watch out for Washington to repeat as champions.
Prediction: 10-7
New York Giants: There is no question that this is a make-or-break year for third-year quarterback Daniel Jones. Looking at certain metrics, Jones did improve last season slightly while others say he may have regressed, but no matter what happened the jump was not what was hoped for entering his sophomore season. Mediocrity can no longer be tolerated from Jones, this is when he needs to prove whether or not he is the guy in the long run. While we can’t expect to always play above a bad offensive line, he will need to prove he can be more consistent to lead his team to victories. In their first eight games last season they went 1-7 and it was the exact opposite reason as the Cowboys’ struggles—the offense.
Over the course of the entire season they only scored over 25 points twice, in those games they went 1-1 which is a problem. Their defense did their job, they allowed 20 or less points in nine of their 16 games including all six of their victories. The defense remains very similar to last season, but the offense will need a ton of work and it all starts up front with the line.
Sure, does getting one of the top running backs in the league in Saquon Barkley back and healthy help, of course but if there is no one to block for him it won’t make a difference. In passing last season the Giants ranked tied for second worst in the league in sacks allowed with 50. Jones can only do so much when he is constantly under pressure, give him more time to work and let him show what he can really do. The run game ranked around the middle of the pack last season and with Barkley back they should be much better, but the same issue arises, if they can’t block for him they won’t do anything.
On the offensive end they did make major upgrades in wide receiver, grabbing Kenny Golladay and drafting Kadarius Toney while also adding tight end Kyle Rudolph, but they might have failed to address their biggest need in the line. They may have added some depth in guard Zach Fulton but at this point they are really counting on the development of their young line.
While adding to their offense they also invested a good amount of capital in their defense, picking up two edge rushers and two corners in the draft while adding cornerback Adoree Jackson in free agency. They were also able to lock up Leonard Williams on a long term deal which could see a huge payoff, so the defense looks to be better this season.
This season is all going to boil down to how the offensive line and Daniel Jones perform. The defense is good enough to lead them to low scoring games, now the offense needs to be able to get points on the board. If they can do this they can once again be NFC East champions.
Prediction:8-9
Dallas Cowboys: Through five games last season, the Cowboys had the number one offense in both yards and points per game. Then Prescott went down and the offense was never the same. However, even with that top offense in the league they only managed a record 2-3 in their first five with their second win coming after a late fourth-quarter comeback led by Andy Dalton. While the offense may have been great the defense was not, all but one of those games finished in a one score game meaning that with a little turn of the luck they could have been 4-1 or even 0-5.
Prescott is now back and it might take a little bit for him to return to full form but overall the offense should be fine, the concern yet again is the defense.
Last season the defense ranked 28th in points allowed per game and entering week 14 they were 3-9 with the defense allowing 32.75 points per game. Over the final four weeks the defense tightened up as they attempted to win the division, only allowing 20 points per game which helped lead them to three victories in their final four for a season record of 6-10.
The defense from the final four weeks is closer to what we will need to see for a chance at the division championship. Dan Quinn has entered the equation to help this defense, one who spent their first six picks in the draft on that side, including their first-round draft pick Micah Parsons. Their biggest additions on that side of the ball in the free agent process include safety Keanu Neal, defensive end Tarell Basham, and defensive tackle Brent Urban.
All of these additions as well as players returning from injury make the Cowboys one of the most feared offenses in the league to go along with a defense that if they do their job should be enough to come out on top of the division.
Prediction: 8-9
Philadelphia Eagles: Philadelphia has officially moved on from Carson Wentz and now it is Jalen Hurts team. In 12 games last season Wentz put together his worst season as a professional with less than 60% completion to go along with 15 interceptions compared to only 16 touchdowns. Hurts then started the final four games and things were not much better. There were some bright spots but for the most part the offense was stagnant with both Wentz and Hurts. One large reason for that was the injury situation, the entire offense was injury ridden including the offensive line who ended up worst in the league at allowing sacks with 65. The offensive line health will be vital for a team looking to improve on its 28th ranked pass offense with a second year quarterback.
The run game performed pretty well last season, now if they can put that and the pass game together they could cause some damage, but the biggest concern is the health and the age of the offense. The Eagles offense (skill wise) is one of the youngest in the game and could potentially be a force for years to come but like any team will struggle at the beginning. Their biggest offseason addition on the offensive side was first round draft pick DeVonta Smith, adding another playmaker for Hurts to throw to, now he will just need the time from the once again healthy line.
On the defensive side the Eagles have an extremely talented interior led by Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave but outside of that the positional depth is lacking. Sure, they have a top playmaking corner in Darius Slay but that’s about it in the early looking. There are no doubt players who are going to break out for them this season, but they will have to help give their offense a fighting chance this season.
As of now, this is not an offense who is built to make a comeback from far behind so that means the defense will need to help and keep the score close. They ranked middle of the pack in pass defense and run defense last season but middle of the pack will not be good enough this season. They will need that defensive front to cause some major disruptions this season to help out the rest of the defense and hopefully force some turnovers.
All signs right now point to this being another tough season for Philadelphia with them being in the middle of a rebuild, but that is why they could surprise people. They are relatively young and teams do not know what to look for in the early run, if they can stay healthy they could shock people with pulling out a few close victories. In this division anything can happen, if the offensive line can protect Hurts this season we could see Philly back in the playoffs.
Prediction: 5-12