The Philadelphia Eagles came out of nowhere last season to dominate the NFC during the regular season with a league best record of 13-3. Many figured that this success would not carry over to the postseason, and the Eagles became the first top-seeded team to be underdogs in their divisional round playoff game, despite enjoying home field. But Philly won. Then, many expected the Vikings to make short work of the Eagles in the NFC title game. Instead, Philly won again, and by a blowout. Then, they were underdogs against the Patriots, the dynasty of this era. Most figured that superior experience, and some incredible talent on New England's part, would tip the scales in their favor. But Philly won again, earning their first ever Super Bowl championship, and their first NFL title since 1960 - well over half a century ago. Meanwhile, two other teams in this division - Dallas and the New York Giants - hoped to make the playoffs for a second straight season, but fell short. The Cowboys fell a bit short, but the Giants fell way short, finishing with the second worst record in the league. Washington was in the mix there somewhere, but their 7-9 record meant that they were well out of the playoff hunt, as well. That means that the glaringly obvious favorite in this division would be the Eagles, although if recent trends continue, Dallas's up one season, down the next season tendencies would have them bouncing back this year. Washington may step up, too. And let's face it, the Giants really have nowhere to go but up. One thing that Philadelphia's win secured is that this division becomes the first, and so far only, division in the NFL in which every team has won at least one Super Bowl. And right now, even though these are not the glory days of the early nineties, when this division usually boasted at least three or four teams who could conceivably win it all, it is not unrealistic to think that they have at least two teams who, if everything goes right for them, could wind up playing on Super Bowl Sunday once again. This will be an interesting year for the NFC East, to say the least.
So, how does the NFC East shape up? Let me take a shot at it:
1. Philadelphia Eagles (projected first place) - The Eagles were one of the few teams in league history to go from a losing season one year (7-9 in 2016) to an astonishing Super Bowl championship the next, finishing 13-3 and taking the title. And they stayed hot after losing their starting quarterback, winning the title with a backup, becoming the first team since the 1990-91 New York Giants to manage that feat. So, how did that happen, anyway? Well, it helped that everything seemed to come together at the same time. The Eagles offense suddenly looked as explosive as many had believed they might become. They scored 20 points or more in all but three regular season games, and one of those was the regular season finale, which meant nothing to them, and where they rested their starters. And on defense, they proved very tough, as well. They held opponents to 10 points or less six times during the regular season, and their explosive offense kept them well ahead in most games. In the playoffs, Philly's offense scored a whopping 94 points, averaging over 31 points per game, which made them obviously tough to beat. The Falcons did not manage it, the Vikings did not even come close, and the mighty Patriots even fell short in the end. So, hail to the champions, but now what? Will last season's championship challenge them to see how good they can truly be? Or will they begin to feel the pressure of having the target on their chests now, or perhaps be overly self-satisfied? I figure that they will likely have a bit of a slowdown, although they looked so good last season, even while man doubted them, that they probably still feel they have something to prove. That does not necessarily mean that they will win another title, although that is not out of the realm of possibility. But I like them to win this division, at the very least.
1. Dallas Cowboys (projected second place) - The Dallas Cowboys have become a difficult team to make predictions for. They finished last season with a 9-7 record, failing to make the playoffs just one year after finishing 13-3, and seemingly being on the verge of having a powerhouse. The season prior to that, they had gone 4-12, but they had finished 12-4 in 2014, and only narrowly missed out on an opportunity to play in the NFC Championship Game with a controversial loss at Green Bay. Yet the year before that, they had gone 8-8, and had not made the playoffs for years prior. Let's face it, the days of dynasties in Dallas appears to be over, at least for now. This, despite the fact that they seem to have strong talent in every major position, from QB to running back to wide receivers, and a strong offensive line to protect them all. Their defense was not an elite unit, yet they are not that bad, either. This is a team that, if all goes well, could not only win this division, but make a serious run in the playoffs, and possibly find themselves in the Super Bowl. Yet, so wildly inconsistent have the Cowboys been in the Jerry Jones years since their last Super Bowl title well over two decades ago, that it would not be surprising if they have yet another disappointing season where they fall short of the playoffs again. There just is no telling where this team will be, or how they wind up. They could be among the very best, or they could be seriously disappointing. But figure that they have enough talent to at least make the playoffs, and so I will be going with that.
3. Washington (projected third place) - Washington, like Dallas, is one of those teams where it is difficult to tell just how good, or how bad, they will be. Several times, I have expected them to be bad, and they wind up in the playoffs, or even winning the division. Then, several times, I expected them to be a potentially serious factor, and they sank closer to the bottom of the league. Hard to tell where they will wind up this season, especially after the departure of their starting QB. Washington's offense was middle of the pack last season, while their defense was closer to being one of the worst units in the league. In literally half of their games, they allowed 29 points or more. Without an explosive, elite offense, they were destined to lose the majority of those games, and that was simply too costly. In fact, Washington went 0-8 in those games when they allowed 29 points or more, literally not winning a single of those games. clearly, they need to work on strengthening their defense, to give the offense a chance. But how will the offense respond to a new quarterback situation? There just seems to be far too many questions, and not enough answers, for this franchise, and the only weak team in this division at this moment would be the Giants. Washington cannot rely on wins against either Dallas or Philly, and remember that they went 1-5 in divisional play last season. Hard to see how they can be a factor in the playoffs if they do not significantly improve some of those weaknesses, and right now, I just do not see it. If it were not for the Giants being in this division, I would place this team for a last place finish.
2. New York Giants (projected last place) - The Giants were terrible - just absolutely horrific - last season. I have been a fan since 1981, and it is telling that they never quite sank to the level of depths that they reached consistently last season. Coming off an impressive 11-5 playoff season in 2016, some had the Giants going not only back to the playoffs, but even to the Super Bowl. Many figured that then coach McAdoo would open up the offense, and have this team as a virtual powerhouse. But the Giants got off to a horrendous 0-5 start, and never recovered. Everything went wrong. The offense sputtered, and despite some enormous talent, with a two time Super Bowl MVP and an elite set of receivers, the Giants never looked like they could get anything going with any consistency on offense. Six times, they were held to 10 points or less, and they were held to 20 points or less 10 times. For a second consecutive season, the Giants failed to score 30 points or more in a single game. Their defense was nowhere near good enough to save them, for that matter, ranking near the bottom of the league, as well. But it was really the offense which highlighted how spectacular a failure last season was, given the talent and the overly high, and frankly unrealistic, expectations placed on them. On top of it, you could see it coming, because they had strong offensive talent for years, but did not have the offensive line to give Manning and the offense time, not to mention protection. That had been the case the previous season. So what did the Giants do? They obtained still another high profile receiver, and largely ignored the glaring problems with the O-line. Sure enough, that came to be their downfall. Personally, I am still not quite sure that they did enough to improve the offensive line, although their draft should improve both the running game, as well as the defense. But this team literally had the second worst record in the league last season. Only the 0-16 Cleveland Browns had a worse record. The Giants entered the regular season finale with a 2-13 mark overall, before winning their one and only game against an NFC opponent. With the level of talent, this team really should be better, but right now, I just do not see them making a miraculous turnaround to get out of the basement.
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