Last Season:
Philadelphia Eagles: 13-3
Dallas Cowboys: 9-7
Washington Redskins: 7-9
New York Giants: 3-13
2018 Season Outlook:
Philadelphia Eagles: The Super Bowl champions look to compete once again for the top spot in the NFC East. Although the NFC East is one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL, expect the Eagles to once again dominate and for Carson Wentz to have MVP-type numbers. Essentially, the Eagles check all the boxes: a great pass rush and run defense, a dynamic secondary with young talent across the board, a prolific intermediate and vertical passing game, a stout offensive line, and a capable backfield that can run and catch passes. Their schedule, while relatively difficult, should be manageable since they’ve proven they can will ball games in opponents’ stadiums, evident in their record on the road of 6-2 last year.
New York Giants: Even though the Giants were an abysmal 3-13 last year, there was clearly a blossoming, young roster. With players like Evan Engram, Landon Collins, and rookie Saquon Barkley, the Giants are a potential Super Bowl dark horse. In addition to key skill positions, the Giants have a great run defense(disregard their 27th ranked run defense last year) led by Damon “Snacks” Harrison and Olivier Vernon which should clog up the middle and limit opponents’ offenses. All that said, the Giants will make a deep playoff run this postseason.
Dallas Cowboys: The Dallas Cowboys, coming off a 9-7 year, should have similar results by the end of the 2018 season. Dak Prescott, frankly, is a C+ quarterback that has an A+ offensive line and one of the best running backs in the league, Ezekiel Elliott. I can’t put that much faith in a team that I don’t 100% believe in the quarterback. On the other side of the ball, the defense has some stars such as DeMarcus Lawrence on the front line, but with an injury prone team in addition a lack of perimeter threats, expect the Cowboys to have a mediocre season.
Washington Redskins: The Skins made some big time offseason acquisitions trading for Alex Smith and recently signing an aging but still somewhat valuable, Adrian Peterson. In addition, I like Gruden’s offensive play style and I think it will mesh well with some of their dynamic perimeter threats. Yet, it seems like Washington always has all the pieces but they are never able to create a great team; with talented players like Ryan Kerrigan, Josh Norman, and Brandon Scherff, they should be rated higher, but they aren’t. This is due in part to their extremely difficult schedule and their inability to find an effective replacement for former offensive coordinator, Sean McVey. Therefore, the Skins will finish with a mediocre record this season.
2018 Predicted Standings:
Philadelphia Eagles: 12-4
New York Giants: 10-6
Dallas Cowboys: 9-7
Washington Redskins: 7-9
Just The Phacts 