During the month of August, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will be breaking down every division in the league by position. This article contains a position-by-position breakdown of the NFC East defenses. The breakdown will contain “the best” at each unit followed by “the rest” in descending order.
2019 NFC East Breakdown: The Offense
2019 NFC East Breakdown by Position: The Defense and Special Teams
Defensive Line
The Best: Philadelphia Eagles
The Rest: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins
The Eagles front seven should be a huge factor for Doug Pederson‘s defense in 2019. With Fletcher Cox still ready and healthy, a return to form for Brandon Graham, and a hopeful Derek Barnett (who’s coming off shoulder surgery and missed the entire preseason) could be a core that wreaks havoc this season.
One of the key reasons for winning the Super Bowl two seasons ago was a testament to how well their front line played and made the most of their opportunities in the playoffs. Not to mention Barnett’s strip-fumble of Brady to help seal the win. That was then and this is now, but should the current crop of players find their footing, then maybe a similar road to the Super Bowl is in store.
Dallas — a common theme within this division — sport more well-known names in DeMarcus Lawrence, Taco Charlton, and Randy Gregory, but have poured in less production and playing time than their division rivals. However, it must be said that when healthy and on the field, it’s a fearsome group to match up against on any given Sunday.
New York, at one point in time, used to be the premier destination for pass rushers and run stuffers. Now? They’re just lucky to hit someone. The Giants are banking on their young players of B.J. Hill, Dexter Lawrence, RJ Mcintosh, and Olsen Pierre to contribute anything they can this season. Gone are the days of premier pass rushers that helped win Super Bowls.
However, a team to keep an eye on is the Washington Redskins group of guys upfront. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Matt Ioannidis have had very strong seasons for Washington and look to build upon their success this Sunday against the Eagles and their top-rated O-Line. Standout Payne had 56 tackles (six for a loss), five sacks, three pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 16 games. Washington could overtake Philadelphia in this department in the not-too-distant future.
Linebackers
The Best: Dallas Cowboys
The Rest: New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins
The Dallas Cowboys have had the services of one Sean Lee, and when he’s on the field, Big D’s defense flows more evenly. Throw in rookie sensation Leighton Vander Esch, and you have two of the most dynamic linebackers across the NFL. Lee has been a tackling machine since his rookie season back in 2010, offering tackles of at least 50 or more in every season except two (2010, 2018). However, injuries have been a huge issue for Lee, who only played seven games in 2018. Vander Esch filled in his absence remarkably with 140 combined tackles and two interceptions. Mimicking the ebb and flow of Lee before him, the two — plus Jaylon Smith — have excelled at their position and can do so again in 2019.
While the Eagles have an amazing front seven, their linebacking corp of Zach Brown, T. J. Edwards and Co. have yet to really distinguish themselves as a group that scares you. When you feast off pass rushers, then your linebackers can come up and finish the job. But once a player hits the second level, you wonder if Philly’s group can make that stop.
Reuben Foster, Ryan Kerrigan and rookie draft pick Montez Sweat could be another interesting piece to an interesting defense in Washington. However, much like the Eagles, you don’t know exactly what you have yet in the middle of the field. Their potential upside is there, especially if Sweat starts off strong this season.
We’re not picking on the Giants this year, but when you fail to win many games for multiple seasons, your defense is going to be very suspect against the better teams in the NFL. Tae Davis hasn’t put it together yet, Alec Ogletree hasn’t been the name Giants fan hoped he would and the rest of the bunch have huge question marks heading into the season. At least it’s a young group, right?
Cornerbacks
The Best: Washington Redskins
The Rest: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles
The Washington Redskins have quite the dynamic duo in veterans Josh Norman and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to protect the outside. Norman has amounted 380 tackles, 13 picks, and 11 forced fumbles throughout his career and will help lead DMC, Quinton Dunbar, and seventh-round draft pick Jimmy Moreland — who has been dubbed a “pick machine” by himself.
Janoris Jenkins leads the pack of unknown, young, and inexperienced cornerbacks within the Giants organization. Big Blue currently has six cornerbacks on its active roster heading into Sunday. New York hasn’t had notable names at the position for some time now and it shows in a defense that’s ranked nearly last in all statistical categories.
Doug Pederson announced his starting duo on Sunday in the form of Avonte Maddox and Ronald Darby. Maddox, drafted out of Pittsburgh last year, looks to cement his position in year two. Darby has been effective and was a member of the Super Bowl-winning team. However, both will make their cases to become shutdown corners by season’s end. If not, then it’s back to the drawing board for Philadelphia.
Byron Jones is the longest-tenured player amongst cornerbacks currently on the Cowboys’ roster. Dallas does have a lot of bright spots on defense, but — you saw this coming — cornerback is not one of them. The hiring of Kris Richard should have a positive impact on the core group of corners for Dallas as it did pretty much everywhere else in 2018. Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown could be the pair that takes that next step in playing time and reps, as well. If a positive process continues in 2019, Dallas’ group of players could turn out to be a strong suit to a playoff push.
Safety
The Best: Philadelphia Eagles
The Rest: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins
Malcolm Jenkins has been a ballhawk since joining the Eagles in 2014 with 12 interceptions, and, more importantly, starting every game and never missing one. The two-time Super Bowl champion knows how to survey the field with his athletic instincts. Even at age 31, Jenkins can roam with the best of them. His partner Rodney McLeod is no slouch himself at age 29. Almost as durable as Jenkins, McLeod has proven to be just as capable of making the big hit in open space. Unfortunately, McLeod is coming off an MCL tear that he sustained during the 2018 season. Will it hinder his performance in 2019?
In a weird sort of way, the rest of the NFC East teams don’t really have a tandem of safeties that you’d trust entering the 2019 season. Each team does have at least one, but not the kind of tandem the Eagles have.
Jeff Heath in Dallas has shown the ability to be a good safety but the flashes are few to sustain it. Washington did get a perennial player in Landon Collins from the Giants, but asking Collins to cover everything — especially after D. J. Swearinger‘s departure — could be asking a lot. It’s basically what New York did with his final season, but the Giants find themselves in a similar situation with Jabrill Peppers — who they traded Odell Beckham Jr. for.
Actually, the trade should help Big Blue’s last line of defense as Peppers flaunted his talent with the Cleveland Browns in years prior. But the concern will be wear and tear with a defense that’s going to be on the field a lot in 2019.
Special Teams
The Best: Philadelphia Eagles
The Rest: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins
The kickers of the NFC East aren’t exactly known for their high-pressure, game-winning kicks, but it’s mostly a solid group that’s going to get their fair share of kicks in 2019.
If you’re looking for the most opportune kicker of the bunch, then look no further than Eagles kicker Jake Elliott. Of the four kickers, Elliot should get a good chunk of kicking attempts as the Eagles boast an offense that will get plenty of red zone looks.
Elliot was 26-31 in FGM, hit a 56-yarder for his longest made field goal, 33-35 on XP and racked in 111 points total in 2018. However, you shouldn’t sleep on Giants kicker, Aldrick Rosas, who had 127 points total while only missing one field goal (32-33) and kicking one yard further than Elliot at 57.
Brett Maher was also stellar with 119 total points but missed seven field goals during the season while his longest was 62 yards. Meanwhile, Dustin Hopkins suffered in 2018 with only 26-29 FGM, a long of 56 and just 103 total points.
You know enough about kickers that they’re going to get their shots no matter how good or bad the team is. Maher’s missed field goals should be a concern in 2019 while looking for the Eagles to rely on young Elliott to kick it through the uprights.
Coaching
The Best: Philadelphia Eagles
The Rest: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins
Sometimes throwing out Super Bowl championships isn’t a fair assessment of a head coach, but in the NFC East, it absolutely is. Doug Pederson’s Eagles bested a really, really good New England Patriots team in Super Bowl LII. Not to mention Pederson had to rely on Nick Foles instead of Wentz because of his injury. And if you remember Foles start before the playoffs began … it didn’t look good at all.
But that’s what great coaches do. They adjust and fine-tune their players to get the best out of them and when the confetti landed, it was Pederson hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Back-to-back playoff appearances with a regular-season win-loss record of 29-19 (4-1 in the playoffs) should help his talented team have another strong season in 2019.
With the three remaining head coaches, you can play the what-if game of how short their leash is depending on the outcome of the 2019 season. One of the knocks against Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is his lack of playoff success. Whether with Tony Romo or Dak Prescott, Garrett’s playoff record is a mere 2-3 — with two of those losses coming at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers — it wasn’t a catch. Move on.
Still, Garrett has had some impressive teams since taking over but failing to win the division or playoff games looms large, no matter who you are. Will Garrett be on the hot seat if the Cowboys don’t play well this season?
Going further down the rabbit hole you’ll find both Jay Gruden and Pat Shurmur. Gruden hasn’t done anything notable for Washington in five years with a record of 35-45-1 and Shurmur was given a pretty bad team from the get-go and amounted just five wins in a season that was poised to go nowhere.
Three of the four coaches (Shurmur) have Super Bowl championships on their resume as either a player or head coach, but the only one you don’t feel who’s on the hot seat in 2019 is Pederson. His peers could all be part of a new organization this time next year, but the Eagles will still have Pederson calling the shots.
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