Which team is going to win the NFC East? Seriously, which team? When I made my NFC preseason predictions, I picked the New York Giants to win the division and the Philadelphia Eagles as one of the wild cards in the NFC. I didn’t think either the Dallas Cowboys or the Washington Redskins would contend for the division crown or playoffs. With each team having played two games, the Cowboys are atop the NFC East at 2-0, Washington is 1-1, and both the Giants and Eagles are 0-2. There is real reason to believe that a team will win the division with a record of 8-8 or 9-7, and that the division winner will be the only team the NFC East sends to the postseason this season. But no team looks ready to be the NFC East division winner.
Dallas is lucky to be 2-0 after the Giants, and Eli Manning, helped aid the Cowboys’ Week 1 comeback win with some incredibly poor clock management. The Cowboys entered Week 2 without stellar wide receiver Dez Bryant, who is currently sidelined with a broken foot. There are varying reports as to how long Bryant will be out, but he will most likely miss substantial time. Then on Sunday, in Dallas’ Week 2 matchup against Philadelphia where neither team played well, their quarterback Tony Romo went down with 9 minutes and 44 seconds left in the third quarter. It was reported shortly thereafter that Romo had once again broken his left collarbone. He will have more tests on Monday, including a CT scan, but he is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.
That means the Cowboys, with running back DeMarco Murray now in Philadelphia, will have to play a significant chunk of the season without Romo and Bryant. Head coach Jason Garrett will turn to backup quarterback Brandon Weeden, and hopefully a decent running game, to help keep the team in playoff contention while his star quarterback and wide receiver are out with injuries. Prior to the start of the season I didn’t believe the Cowboys had enough pop in the backfield to get the same production they did from Murray last season. I also thought that it was extremely important that their ground game was productive because Romo is better when he throws about 25-30 times a game. Without a solid running game, I figured he would be asked to do too much, and that’s when Romo is much less effective and efficient. I know Dallas’ offensive line is one of the best in the league, but the Cowboys will now be relying on a less than stellar ground game and Weeden (who actually played well in relief on Sunday) to play well enough to keep the team atop the division. It is difficult to bet that the running backs and Weeden step up enough.
Washington has had some turmoil this offseason, particularly with their quarterback situation, and them losing to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 was pretty much expected. What was a surprise was the Redskins defeating the St. Louis Rams (who took down the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1) in Week 2. Yes, Washington was at home, but most fans figured the Rams would take care of the Redskins and end Week 2 at 2-0, while Washington would enter Week 3 at 0-2. That didn’t happen, and Washington took care of business behind a solid performance by quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins, who seems to be the quarterback of choice (over Robert Griffin III) for head coach Jay Gruden, completed 23 of 27 passes for 203 yards and one touchdown.
What was more impressive was the fact that Washington actually seemed to find an identity on offense. Over the first two weeks of the season Gruden’s team has rushed for a combined 343 yards, and against St. Louis, Matt Jones (19 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns) and Alfred Morris (18 carries for 59 yards) combined for 182 rushing yards. This is all well and good, but can Washington’s defense (playing well so far) and the ground game really carry them to the division title? I have my doubts. This is a passing league, and a running game and good defense can help steal some games on the road, but to win divisions, and to make postseason runs, it helps if a team has a really good, or great, quarterback. Cousins just doesn’t seem like he is ready to lead the Redskins to a division crown.
The Eagles were talked about a lot this offseason due to all of the moves head coach Chip Kelly made. If they worked, he was going to look like a genius. I know it’s only two games into the season, but so far things are not working Philadelphia. The defense has looked OK at times, but far from great, and the offense can’t move the ball to save their lives. Quarterback Sam Bradford was acquired via trade this offseason, and he has stayed healthy, but he hasn’t performed up to expectations. Some of that is due to him possibly not being the correct quarterback for the system that Kelly wants to run. But it’s probably mostly due to poor play from the offensive line.
The offense the Eagles want to run probably calls for a shifty running back, one that can juke and move East and West. Unfortunately they picked up DeMarco Murray this offseason. Murray led the league in rushing last season, behind a great offensive line in Dallas. But he is a North-South runner, and he is struggling in Philly, particularly because they insist on having him run out of the shotgun formation. But, like with Bradford, their offensive line shoulders much of the blame as well. There is talent on the Eagles’ roster, but so far nothing looks like it is working in Philadelphia.
The Giants have actually played well for the majority of their first two games, but they continue to shoot themselves in the foot and they currently sit at 0-2. They blew a fourth quarter lead in Week 1 against the Cowboys and turned around and did it again in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Now head coach Tom Coughlin’s team has to get ready to take on Washington on a short week since they take on the Redskins at home on Thursday.
The G-Men entered the season without star wide receiver Victor Cruz and defensive end Jason Pierre Paul due to injuries. They now are likely to also be without cornerback Dominique Rodgers Cromartie (has to go through concussion protocol) and left tackle Ereck Flowers (aggravated his ankle injury in the game on Sunday) as they enter as much of a must win game as there can be in Week 3.
If the Giants can play to their potential and stop getting in their own way, they could win this division. The NFC title is there for the taking, but it’s really difficult to say any of the four teams in this division are really the favorite. I know we’re only two weeks into the season, but none of the NFC East teams really instill much confidence right now.
