NFL Preview: The NFC East

So, it's August, and you know what that means, don't you? If you're reading this, you probably do.  It's time for some (American) football.

Okay, granted, it's preseason football. I never minded preseason, because that is when you can go to games for much cheaper than normal, and often times, you can get great seats that normally would not be available, or would be so cost prohibitive, as to not be worth it. I remember seeing the Giants a couple of time in 2008, just a few months after they won Super Bowl XLII against the formerly undefeated Patriots. One game was a Monday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns, and the other was against the Patriots themselves, and I was only 3 rows back! The tickets were cheap (especially for the Browns, when those amazing tickets were sold to me for an amazing price! That's what the preseason usually means to me, and plus, the weather is warmer, and thus more accommodating than much of the rest of the year. You don't have to worry about freezing, or inclimate weather (although I will admit that, someday, I really would love to see a snow game, so long as I get home safely afterwards).

Anyway, the preseason is when we can catch our first glimpse at new talent, or new line ups. It gives us our first indication of how well a team will do (mostly, by seeing how crisp their play is, or, on the more sobering side, when there is a key injury or two). We find out who wins what starting jobs, and sometimes, this can be huge news. As a Giants fan, I remember the excitement surrounding the 1991 preseason, when New York were the defending Super Bowl champs (as they are entering this preseason), and there was a controversy regarding who would start as quarterback, Jeff Hostetler or Phil Simms? Simms had been the long time starting quarterback, and was widely favored to win the starting role, but Hostetler had stepped in capably when Simms got injured late the season before, and led the Giants to a rather surprising (given the circumstances) Super Bowl win. Hostetler eventually won out, but the Giants dropped off dramatically in 1991, and it would take a long time before they recovered. That same preseason, it should be noted, there was a quarterback controversy in San Fransisco, and four-time Super Bowl winner, and legendary quarterback Joe Montana lost out his starting position to Steve Young, who had replaced him in the NFC Championship Game after Montana was knocked out of the game following a vicious (but officially clean) hit by Giants end Leonard Marshall. Steve Young won that won. Thus, two long time great quarterbacks, Joe Montana and Phil Simms, were able to discuss what it was like to stand on the sidelines with a clipboard, as they watched their replacements duel it out on the field in the Monday Night Football season opener, which the Giants won on the last play off a field goal by Matt Bahr.

Sorry, I have a strong memory for these things, and I am sure no one asked for the history lesson. Mostly, I just wanted to illustrate that the preseason can be exciting, and can be a preview of the upcoming season.

But not always. The Philadelphia Eagles had a very busy off season last year, and heading into the preseason, they looked amazing, and were everyone's favorite to win the Super Bowl. They looked good in the preseason (although not great), but they looked terrible five games into the regular season. Then again, one of the main problems was that starting quarterback Michael Vick was taking some hits in the preseason, indicating problems with the offensive line, and that would in fact play a major role in the regular season. So, I am contradicting myself, yet this is further proof that sometimes the preseason really does show what a team is capable of, or on the flip side, shows some of their limitations.

One thing that you usually see around this time, before the preseason, are predictions. And so, here are my prediction. I will analyze team by team in each division, and make projections on what teams will be winners, and what teams will likely fall by the wayside. So here's the preview, division by division, starting today, with the NFC East, which boasts the Super Bowl Champions (and my personal favorite team), the New York Giants, as well as the flashiest team in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys. There is another legendary franchise that goes back a long way in the Washington Redskins, with a very rich tradition, and there are the always newsworthy (though not always consistent) Philadelphia Eagles. Can't think of a better division to start this off with, so here goes:

NFC East – Despite winning two of the last five Super Bowls, it can hardly be said that the New York Giants have dominated this division. In the first Super Bowl season, the Giants did not even win the division, although they did beat the division winners, the Cowboys, after being swept by them during the regular season. While they did win the division, and managed to sweep the Cowboys this season in the process, they were not exactly dominant. They won the division, but it was only the second time in the past four seasons, and the two times that they did not, they failed to qualify for the postseason. Plus, they got swept by the Redskins last year, and Washington was hardly an NFL powerhouse. Still, they are the champions (and my favorite team), so they deserve respect. The main question is whether or not this surprise championship season will inspire them to test just how good they can be, or if they will drag a bit, with their bellies full from two championships. Eli Manning is a bona fide elite quarterback, and the receiving corps still looks good, despite the loss of Manningham. Questions regarding the running game, after the loss of Jacobs, remain. But the offense has always seemed a bit streaky through the years, haven't they? As for the defense, it should remain a strong unit, and serve as the strength of the team. So, which Giants team will show up? Will it be the team that won six straight de facto playoff elimination games (the last two regular season games against the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys amounted to playoff games for the teams involved), and likely became the first team in NFL history to eliminate six straight opponents en route to another historical championship, or will it be the Giants that showed consistent inconsistency in between their two amazing championship runs, when they made the playoffs only once, and seemed to justify many people assuming they were a one championship wonder? Look for the Giants to be a decent team and perhaps make a run at the playoffs, but not a run through the playoffs. The end of the season is going to be extremely tough, and the Giants would do well just to survive that intact.

            The Philadelphia Eagles had an amazing offseason last year, remember? Everyone assumed that they were football's equivalent to the Dream Team, and many predicted success at the Super Bowl level. Yes, expectations were high. So, to see their division rival New York Giants, who were not expected to do much, not only win the division, but win the Super Bow must have been painful. But the Eagles just never seemed to get it in gear last year. They got a win in week one against the Rams on the road, but the Rams proved horrible last season. After that, Philly lost four in a row, and that largely derailed their season. They did managed to recover enough to salvage an 8-8 record, but it is safe to assume they were not aiming for .500. Looking forward to the upcoming season, there are things that the Eagles certainly need to improve on. It should help that expectations are not so sky high this season. They are flying under the radar, relatively speaking, and that should help. But they need to keep Michael Vick healthy, as that was a big concern last season, and could be a major limitation in this one, as he is a huge part of that offense. He cannot take the hits that he took last year. If he stays healthy, the offense will possess that strong measure of unpredictability, and that should serve them well. The defense should be solid, as it usually is for Philadelphia. Luck was not on their side last season, but if it is this year, the Eagles have the capacity to perhaps run away with this division. They just seem to have the Giants number, and they swept the Cowboys last season. If they stay healthy and focused, there is no reason why they cannot win the division, and depending on how strong a regular season they have, they could even contend for a playoff bye, which would surely help if they have designs on the Super Bowl, like they did this time last year. I see them returning to form and winning this division, at least. Let's see if they get the breaks to fulfill more, perhaps even much more, in the postseason, finally.

            The Dallas Cowboys seem to have up and down seasons. In 2006 and 2007, Tony Romo seemed to clearly be the quarterback for the future. He was the model of success, complete with a beautiful girlfriend cheering him on in the stands. They seemed like an emerging powerhouse. Since then, they have enjoyed only one playoff season in 2009, after missing the playoffs in 2008. They were strong and even snapped their playoff losing streak, so many predicted great things for them. But they had a horrible season in 2010, never recovering from a 1-7 start. They hoped to bounce back last season, but had a consistently inconsistent season. They were atop, or near the top, of the NFC East for much of the season, and seemed a shoe in for the playoffs, at least. Yet, they lost a key home game to the Giants late in the season, and then faced another showdown with the Giants in the final week, a winner takes all showdown that they lost. Another season, another missed opportunity. Many are now very critical of Tony Romo, and feel he is the quarterback of the past, and not that great of a recent past, at that. Yet, many still feel he is on the verge of being an elite quarterback, and he got a ringing endorsement from Brett Favre, who claimed that Romo reminded him of himself. The offense seems to have strong potential, but there have been too many mistakes, too many turnovers for this team. The defense has shown some holes, but overall, this is a team that could, and perhaps should, contend for the playoffs. Whether they will or not, and whether this will be one of their up, or down, seasons, really depends. Jones promised that the Cowboys would beat the Giants asses, but now they'll need to deliver on that promise, and it isn't jerry Jones that will actually be on the field. Even if they do beat the Giants, can they beat them twice? Can they manage to break through against the Eagles, who also swept this team last season? A lot of question marks seems to always surround this talented team, and they need to prove that the doubts are unfounded. I'll predict a winning season with a team that contends for the playoffs, but misses out in the last minute, which is a somewhat familiar script for this team.

            Many scoffed when quarterback Rex Grossman, a former Super Bowl quarterback, predicted that his Washington Redskins would win the division last year. It hardly seemed a laughable notion after a 3-1 start, including a victory over the Giants to open the season. But the Redskins were not able to maintain that level of play for long, and the season spun completely out of their control. Grossman was proven wrong, perhaps predictably, as the Redskins completely fell apart after that hot start. True, they swept the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants, but that was about the only team they managed to beat, their only really notable accomplishment in an otherwise horrendous season, as they finished the season with a 5-11 record. In a division where several teams seemed to have disappointing regular seasons filled with missed and squandered opportunities (although the Giants made up for it in the postseason), the Redskins bottomed out the worst, as they were far and away the worst in the division, not even close to contending for a playoff spot, let alone a division title. But they have Griffin at quarterback now, having managed to engineer a trade to acquire the versatile and athletic quarterback. Many predict he could be better than Luck, so it should be interesting to see if he can breathe new life to a lame offense, like Newton did in Carolina. The Redskins need a lot of work, however, and good or not, it should take Griffin a bit of time to get the offense going. They took an enormous gamble in giving up so many draft picks for Griffith, and so they need this to work. But they will have to be patient, I think, because it will take some time for him to create the kind of offense that they are hoping for. In the meantime, he will gain valuable experience, but don't look for the Redskins to be overpowering or high flying just yet, although they may show glimpses from time to time (just please, not against the Giants, like last year!). Look for another last place finish for the Redskins.