In preparation of that, I’ve decided to start a season preview series discussing different aspects of each team in relation to their respective divisions.
So without further ado, let’s get started.
NFC East
The NFC East is one of the most popular divisions in football as it consists of four big market teams. The Dallas Cowboys are ‘America’s team’, the New York Giants play in the largest city in the country, the Philadelphia Eagles have had a historical offseason, and the Washington Redskins–well, they’ve had their moments.
4. Washington Redskins
This is one of the worst teams in the NFL and the fact that head coach Mike Shanahan has agreed to stick with either John Beck or Rex Grossman just goes to prove that they’re in rebuilding mode. I will admit that the Redskins were surprisingly efficient in their Week 1 preseason game against the Steelers, but they’ve still got a long way to go especially in this division.
3. New York Giants
The Giants are now three years removed from their Super Bowl upset victory over the Patriots, and a lot has changed since then. Michael Strahan, Plaxico Burress, and Steve Smith are all gone. Meanwhile, Osi Umenyiora is injured and undergoing a contract holdout at the same time. Eli Manning says he’s in the same class as Tom Brady, but I find that hard to believe. They do have some solid pieces in place, but they’re undoubtedly on the decline.
2. Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys didn’t make a ton of flashy moves, but I liked their selection of Tyron Smith and their re-signing of Doug Free to solidify the offensive line. Tony Romo returns with weapons on offense, and they’re an underrated defense which should get after the quarterback under Rob Ryan. As long as everyone stays healthy, they should be right back in the hunt for a playoff spot.
1. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles were the headline of the offseason after making countless moves ranging from Nnamdi Asomugha to Vince Young to undermined ones like Cullen Jenkins and Steve Smith. All in all, the organization demonstrated their aggressive win-now mentality which is what you want to see out of a team. I’m not 100% sold that this is my Super Bowl favorite yet though, especially because Michael Vick has yet to win a playoff game since 2004. But they’ll certainly be in contention.
