The NFL pre-season is upon us and I am feeling the football fever!!! I am going to be coming out with a bounty of posts in the next couple of days discussing my predictions for each division in the NFL for the 2013-2014 season! I thought I would start off with what I believe to be one of the toughest divisions in the NFL, the NFC East.
Lets start off by looking at the results from last year for the NFC East.
Washington Redskins- 10-6 record, 5-1 in division.
New York Giants- 9-7 record, 3-3 in division.
Dallas Cowboys- 8-8 record, 3-3 in division.
Philadelphia Eagles- 4-12 record, 1-5 in division.
This was a very exciting season last year for this division, if you exempt the Eagles from the equation. It really was a three team fight for the #1 spot in the last two weeks of the regular season. The Giants actually had the hardest path going into the last game of the season as they needed the Redskins to lose and two other NFC teams to lose to make it into the playoffs. The most important game of last season was week 17 Cowboys vs Redskins. The winner of the game makes the playoffs and ultimately wins the division. If the Redskins win the hold the best record in the conference and are not in a tie for division record. If the Cowboys win then there could be a three way tie for the lead with three teams at 9-7, but the Cowboys held the tiebreaker and would have sealed the spot. The division is very closely contested every year and the same team has not won the division since 2004 when the Eagles won it for the second year in a row.
Now lets take a look at this years schedules for each of the teams.
Washington Redskins:
Tough Games: Week 2 @ Packers, Week 7 vs Bears, Week 8 @ Broncos, Week 12 vs 49ers, Week 15 @ Falcons, Week 17 @ Giants.
Toss up Games: Week 1 vs Eagles, Week 3 vs Lions, Week 6 @ Cowboys, Week 9 vs Chargers, Week 13 vs Giants, Week 14 vs Chiefs, Week 16 vs Cowboys.
Easy Games: Week 4 @ Raiders, Week 10 @ Vikings, Week 11 @ Eagles.
When you look at the Redskins schedule you are looking at arguably the toughest one in the league this year. I guess that's the results of having a successful year. They easily have 6 tough games that they are going to have to fight there way through. Then they only have 3 games that I think are easy games for the Redskins. Then you have 7 games that could go either way, it is really going to be an interesting season for the Skins.
New York Giants:
Tough Games: Week 2 vs Broncos, Week 6 @ Bears, Week 11 vs Packers, Week 15 @ Seahawks, Week 17 vs Redskins.
Toss up Games: Week 1 @ Cowboys, Week 7 vs Vikings, Week 12 vs Cowboys, Week 13 @ Redskins, Week 16 @ Lions.
Easy Games: Week 3 @ Panthers, Week 4 @ Chiefs, Week 5 vs Eagles, Week 8 @ Eagles, Week 10 vs Raiders, Week 14 @ Chargers.
The Giants schedule is a lot cleaner then the Redskins, they still have 5 really tough games, but they do have 6 games that should be very simple wins for them. Not to mention three of the five toss up games are division rival games, odds are they win a majority of those.
Dallas Cowboys:
Tough Games: Week 5 vs Broncos, Week 8 @ Lions, Week 10 @ Saints, Week 14 @ Bears, Week 15 vs Packers.
Toss up Games: Week 1 vs Giants, Week 2 @ Chiefs, Week 6 vs Redskins, Week 7 @ Eagles, Week 9 vs Vikings, Week 12 @ Giants, Week 16 @ Redskins, Week 17 @ Eagles.
Easy Games: Week 3 vs Rams, Week 4 @ Chargers, Week 13 vs Raiders.
The Cowboys schedule is interesting, which is fitting for an interesting team. They are a toss up team in themselves. Most of the games are toss up games that are going either way. I think that there tough games are going to be very tough games for the Cowboys, but they have a good shot at still doing well with the number of Toss up Games.
Philadelphia Eagles:
Tough Games: Week 1 @ Redskins, Week 4 @ Broncos, Week 10 @ Packers, Week 14 vs Lions Week 16 vs Bears, Week 17 @ Cowboys.
Toss up Game: Week 2 vs Chargers, Week 3 vs Chiefs, Week 5 @ Giants, Week 6 @ Buccaneers, Week 7 vs Cowboys, Week 8 vs Giants, Week 11 vs Redskins, Week 13 vs Cardinals, Week 15 @ Vikings.
Easy Games: Week 9 @ Raiders.
The Eagles schedule as a whole is not one that really looks that tough when you look at it but its the Eagles. To many moving parts with a whole new coaching system, not the strongest defense and offense is lacking true leadership.
Over All Team Rankings
Washington Redskins:
The Redskins are a very good team and this year they are only going to be better then last years team. With the re-additions of Pierre Garçon and Fred Davis on offense, your giving RGIII back his top two targets, which is going to create a much more dangerous air attack which helps the run game as well. Then you are also adding Brian Orakpo back into the mix which adds unreal depth and instant star quality to the pass rush and run stop! The team gained players and talent and didn't lose anything. The team still has questions in the secondary on defense, but some key young guys could step up this year.
New York Giants:
They are a little bit worse in my book. The lost some serious stuff on the defensive line with Osi Umenyiora now gone for good and Jason Pierre Paul is still injured and could be gone for a could couple of weeks. The part of the defense that was so good at one point in time for the Giants is now a main focus of work for them which could really be a hindrance. Not to mention that the team still has issues with Victor Cruz as he probably is not fully happy with only signing a 1 year tender agreement with the Giants. They will be a little more dynamic on offense however with transitioning from power back Ahmad Bradshaw to athletic speed back Davis Wilson.
Dallas Cowboys:
I think they are almost the exact same team from last year, but I cannot ignore the fact of them regaining almost all of there starting defenders last year after almost all of them were injured and then some. Overall I think that they are going to improve. It's still a question as to what type of player your goin to get out of Tony Romo this year as he is very inconsistent and has had some issues with turnovers. Dez Bryant though is in the running for having a huge year and is just a pure talent which is really gonna open up the field for the other wide outs as well. The next big question though is the defense in Dallas, you are starting completely over with a new Defensive cordanator and a bunch of players who barely or didnt even play last year. Lots of questions defensively.
Philadelphia Eagles:
When you look at this team they have a lot of issues that are goin to need to be resolved in this season. They have a struggling defense and an offense with no real STAR power. You have great, athletic players at every position but Chip Kelly is going to have to find a way to get all of the pieces working together and make them click as a unit. I think you have to start Vick especially in a Kelly offense and you have to give McCoy the ball. The need there young recievers to step up with a lot of issues there. They also need there entire defensive unit to step up as they really were nothing o special even with the talented players they did have. Overall though, the team is going to have to go through some growing pains just a part of clearing out a system and basically starting over.
Final Predictions
New York Giants: 10-6 record, 4-2 in division.
Washington Redskins: 9-7 record, 4-2 in division
Dallas Cowboys: 8-8 record, 3-3 in division
Philadelphia Eagles: 5-11 record, 2-4 in division
I think its gonna be a really close year again, coming down to the last few weeks again. The Eagles are gonna be in some rough shape, still the odd team out. I think the simpleness of the Giants schedule compared to the Redskins is gonna give them an edge this year, then I just think the Cowboys have to many questions on defense. Only time will tell though, you never really know how a team is going to perform or what injuries come into play. Let me know what you think.
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