{mosimage}

Who will emerge as the division champion within the NFC East? Review and predictions of each team.

So what’s the next chapter for the NFC East? Who will be the team to wear the division crown and make a real push for the super bowl?

Dallas Cowboys

“Americas Team” has a new head coach and a quarterback who will be starting his 1^st full season. The Cowboys have handed the keys to Tony Romo and hope that he can bring stability to the quarterback position. He stills has Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, and Jason Witten who are huge threats in the passing game. However, the Cowboys will need more production out of Julius Jones and Marion Barber if they want to keep a balanced offensive attack. Their defensive line also needs to step up and generate a solid pass rush. Many of the players felt restricted under Bill Parcells last season and welcome the defensive minded and laid back Wade Phillips from San Diego.

Prediction: There are just too many experts who believe that Dallas will be the NFC East champs in 2007, maybe even the NFC representatives in the Super Bowl. Sorry, I don’t see it. There are still a few holes on defense and in the running game that needs to be address. Eight or nine wins is about what to expect from Dallas in 2007.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles success will be based on how well Donovan McNabb can bounce back from his torn ACL injury last season. The offensive line will remain intact as long as William Thomas and John Runyan and starters. Brian Westbrook wants the ball more and may get his wish now that offensive coordinator Marty Morninweg will be the play-caller. On defense, the Eagles will be much stronger with the addition of Takeo Spikes. Their secondary is one of the best in the league led by Brian Dawkins.

Prediction: Since 2000, the Eagles have won the division six times. I don’t see that trend breaking this season as well. McNabb will be healthy and Westbrook will rack up more than 1,500 rushing yards. Twelve or Thirteen wins are what to expect from the Eagles this upcoming season.

Washington Redskins

Hall-of-Fame head coach Joe Gibbs enters the fourth year of the second era with fairly young and inexperienced quarterback. Don’t be fooled by Campbell’s short resume. Eventually, he will be top QB in the NFL. For now, he will have to count on Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts to keep opposing defenders from crowding the line-of-scrimmage. Brandon Lloyd and Antwaan Randle El will need to step up and help take the load off of Santana Moss and Chris Cooley in the passing game. On defense, the addition of tackle machine London Fletcher-Baker should benefit the Skins up front while rookie safety LaRon Landry will complement the ferocious style of Sean Taylor. The defensive line has yet to be addressed and could be a major problem once again. The front four will have to create a pass rush to take pressure off of Carlos Rogers and the secondary.

Prediction: The Skins will be entering year two under Al Saunders offensive scheme and we should see a big difference from last season. The team’s success will be based on how well Campbell has developed from last season. The defense cannot afford to have the type of season they had last year. D-Coordinator Gregg Williams will have to come up with some innovative blitz packages to help out the front four. Seven to eight wins seems like a fair prediction for Jason Campbell’s first full year at quarterback.

New York Giants

The Giants were pretty lucky to limp into the playoffs last season with an 8-8 record. A late season collapse had most of the star players turning on each other as well as their head coach. Tom Coughlin will probably have one more chance to salvage his job. In order for him to stay, he will need Eli Manning to step up and produce big plays on a consistent basis. The departure of Tiki Barber to television gives the big and powerful Brandon Jacobs a shot as the starting tailback. There is plenty of potential for him to be a surprise player this season if he can get help from a makeshift offensive line. Defensively, the Giants have some holes that may cause problems during the season. Michael Strahan, who turns 36 soon, will have to produce a solid pass rush to take pressure off the secondary that struggled last year.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment