LogFAQs > #968604347

NFC East

1. Washington
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Philadelphia Eagles
4. New York Giants

I had a very hard time choosing the winner of this division, but I settled on a repeat for Washington. I probably shouldn't have so much faith in the first season that QBs Nick Mullens and James Curtis threw passes, but they blew away my expectations to where I feel inclined to believe in them even if they won't play at the same level as last season. They poured a lot of 1st round picks on this OL and several 2nd rounders that have risen to the occasion. Combined with the return of HB Ezekiel Elliot and their great receiving corps, this could be one of the better offenses in the league. The defense has also made great strides and feels close to completion. Second-year DT Christian Covington in particular looks like a star in the making. With offensive uncertainty surrounding the division, I'm very bullish on the Washington defense. If you want a sneaky pick for top seed in the NFC, Washington might be it, though the schedule doesn't help. At least they face the Orcas, Rams, Express, and Broncos at home.

The Cowboys failed to make the playoffs for the first time since S6. They took the humbling and had a great offseason with player acquisitions. Will it be enough to reclaim the division or at least get back into the playoffs? The front seven on defense is fantastic, but the pass D slipped hard, so they went out and got a new starting safety tandem. They might have minimal or no starting experience, but the talent is there and will get an opportunity to showcase it. The offense will have to step up. QB Cam Newton remains one of the best QBs in the league, and they finally got a higher-end backup, albeit in the form of rookie Drew Lock. No longer will the middling Jay Cutler be asked to come on in relief. The WR corps is very good. Sammy Watkins hasn't been the same under Newton as he was with Vince Young, but he's still very good. Had he had a few more receptions to qualify, Davone Bess would have led the league in receiving YPC with a figure north of 18. The OL looks a bit different, and they once again lost starting RT Jason Boone to a season-ending injury. If they can improve on their disappointing play last season and subsequently see HB Devonta Freeman become more healthy and effective, the offense could be good enough to get them closer to the level of play they had from S7 to S15. Even a modest improvement in the running game and pass defense should put them in divisional and wild card territory.

The Eagles have the best defense and the worst offense in the division, making it a bit hard to predict where they will land. QB Taysom Hill's efficiency is good, but his impact in the passing game seems to be pretty minimal. Former HB Tevin Coleman had a career 3.7 YPC, so former first round pick Leonard Fournette ascends to the top spot. This isn't exactly an elite OL, and Fournette's first two seasons as a backup saw him have sub-4 YPCs in each, so I'm not confident that he will be an immediate improvement over his predecessor, but I feel it would be difficult to not match a 3.7 YPC. It feels like the offense as a whole just has one of the lower ceilings in the league, meaning to remain in the wild card hunt (or division, who knows), the defense will really have to be special. They have no weaknesses there and plenty of playmakers, so it's possible, but I will need to see them take the next step.

The Giants have started out hot and fizzled soon after in each of the previous two or three seasons. It's not hard to figure out why. The offense and defense has just performed ugly. It's easier to point out what has gone wrong on offense. Poor interior OL and merely adequate OT play, a lack of a true receiving threat as well as secondary threat, and in the case of last season, injuries and inconsistency at QB. The Giants went out and got the best C from the past two seasons in Frank Ragnow and MVP finalist/runner-up HB Isaiah Pead returns. Nothing else was really addressed, but perhaps a healthy season from QB Ryan Perrilloux will at least help out the remaining OL problems even if just a little. The defense is more of a confusion as to why they have played poorly. I have suspected it was mostly due to coaching strategy and bad luck, but the Giants elected to switch to a 3-4, a move that I think is ill-suited for the personnel that they have. Reducing the DL total to three requires you have have a line full strong players who are great against the run given this is a running league/game. Now that is basically me projecting their strengths and weaknesses based on ratings and past performance. With the release of DT Rob Armstrong, who ironically was probably the second-best fit for a DT among all players in the league (DT Red Bryant the first), the DL features plenty of players with 90+ strength but 0 players with an 80+ tackle rating (Rob Armstrong is a 97 and always had a bunch of tackles each season). Perhaps this is an okay time to try this experiment given the stable of HB opponents they will be facing this season, but I don't like their chances.