The Philadelphia Eagles are hoping that all of their offseason moves will help them get past their NFC East rivals and all the way to the Super Bowl.
Those moves included trading QB Kevin Kolb for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2nd round pick, then signing DE Jason Babin, CB Nnamdi Asomugha, QB Vince Young, DT Cullen Jenkins, OT Ryan Harris, and RB Ronnie Brown.
Let’s take a look at how they stack up against their competition in the NFC East:
I expect the New York Giants to give the Eagles a run for their money in the division this year. The team from up I95 went out and re-signed most of their important free agents while adding some depth. They also have a Super Bowl winning quarterback leading them in Eli Manning and their passing game is better now than it has been in the past with their receivers having gained valuable experience. Head coach Tom Coughlin has RB Ahmad Bradshaw back in the fold for the next four years, which is a good thing.
The strength of the Giants is their defensive line. They’re talented and they’ve got great depth. Here are some of the names on the that will be lining up there: Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, Jason Pierre-Paul, Rocky Bernard, and rookie defensive tackle Marvin Austin. The only distraction could be the new contract that Umenyiora wants because he thinks he has outplayed his current one.
The Giants dominated the Eagles for most of that end of the season game a year ago, but I think the free agent signings of the Eagles have moved the Eagles further ahead of the Giants. Therefore I feel the Birds finish ahead of them in the division.
The Dallas Cowboys had to cut players just to get under the new salary cap, of which they exceeded by almost $14 million. The three most notable players that were cut were WR Roy Williams, RB Marion Barber and G Leonard Davis. They wanted to acquire prized free agent Nnamdi Asomugha, but their division rivals, the Eagles, beat them to that signing.
The Cowboys have quite a few talented players on their defense which is led by Pro Bowlers DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff. Their 
defense was amongst the best a couple of years ago, they fell off last year, so defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has been brought in to revive them.
Offensively, they’re led by Pro Bowlers, quarterback Tony Romo and tight end Jason Witten as well as big explosive wide receivers Miles Austin and Dez Bryant. Fortunately the Eagles new cornerbacks are perfect matchups for them.
Their head coach, Jason Garrett, is in his first full year; whereas, Andy Reid is entering his 13th season as Eagles coach. The experience of Andy Reid will help the Birds over the course of the season.
The thing that these teams have in common is that they both have new defensive coordinators. America’s Team hired Ryan, who is a veteran defensive coordinator and has called the Eagles the “All-Hype Team”.
Reid decided to stay in-house and hire Juan Castillo, the Eagles long-time offensive line coach, as the defensive coordinator. Jerry Jones has stayed with his defensive personnel and changed defensive coordinators. I don’t think they have enough talent in their secondary. I think the Eagles will finish ahead of the Cowboys in the division.
The Washington Redskins signed most of their unrestricted free agents to contracts, but that doesn’t mean that they are going to be better than the Eagles this year. The three quarterbacks on their roster are Rex Grossman, John Beck and Kellen Clemens. Grossman took the Bears to the Super Bowl or should I say he went along for the ride with their defense driving. He tends to throw more interceptions than touchdowns, and is expected to be their starter, if Beck doesn’t get the job.
Beck is a young quarterback, who the Shanahan’s believe in. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan says he tried to convince the Texans to draft him in the first round of the 2007 draft. That’s hard to believe. Beck has completed 60-of-107 passes for 559 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in his three years in the league. Clemens basically sat the bench last year as the New York Jets’ backup to Mark Sanchez.
The Redskins were ranked 30th last year in rush yards per game and they did nothing in free agency to improve their running game. They did trade for Cardinals running back Tim Hightower. The Skins were ranked 28th in points per game, but at least they re-signed WR Santana Moss. If Grossman can’t get him the ball then they’ll be ranked near the bottom of the league in points per game again.
The one area where they improved this offseason is at punter since they signed Sav Rocca, who can boom the ball down the field. The Redskins will wind up finishing last in the division once again this year, so the Eagles are better than the Redskins by a mile.
I definitely believe that Michael Vick will lead his team to the top spot in the NFC East division. The Giants and Manning will come in second, then the Cowboys and Romo will come in third. The Redskins and Grossman will round out the NFC East.
Eagles are the favorite in my eyes by a wide margin in the NFC East which from top to bottom is not what it used to be…
Paulman’s Picks
#1) Eagles – 12-4 (defense will carry them 1st month of season, then offense heats up)
#2) Cowboys – 9-7 (shaky OL and a weak Def Secondary)
#3) Giants – 8-8 (team implodes, lots of issues going on here to unhappy players, injuries, a new makeshift OL and questions at TE,LB, even WR)
#4) Redksins 6-10 (will lose a lot of their games in the 4th Quarter due to poor QB play, Their Defense will be strong but QB,RB, & OL are questionable
I look at the NFC South with Saints,FAlcons,Bucs & Panthers as the class of the NFC and even the NFC North wih Packers,Bears,Lions & Vikings as a more competitive Division than the NFC East who has slipped in recent Seasons..
Redskins 6-10? Don’t see it! Lucky to win 4 games! Could be in the hunt for LUCK!
After double checking their schedule, you may be right Dixie and maybe 4-5 Wins is more like it.. Besides at 6 games vs the NFC Divisional foes
the have the Following games
Away Games – Rams, Panthers, Buffalo, Miami and Seattle (could win 2 or 3 of these with a break or two)
Home Games – 49ers, Arizona, NY Jets, NE Pats, Vikings (49ers and Arizona are not good coming to East Coast to play and playing the Vikings at the end of season probably has the Vikings playing with Rookie QB Ponder so thats a winnable game
You figure they we will 2 NFC Divisional games..so 6 Wins is in reach if they get any kind of decent play from their QB which is a big quesiton mark..
I know this article talks about the division. But in order to goto the Bowl, you have to look at the conference as well. Especially the reigning champ. Eventhough the Packers did not do much in free agency, but they picked up a lot of good players back from IR. They played with over 15 in IR last year and still won. Now they get they RB Grant back. As well as they TE Finley back amongst others. Packers is still the team to beat in NFC.
The Eagles have upgraded at secondary linebacking and defensive line.
They have upgraded the offensive line and backfield. Akers was good and Rocca OK. Special teams coverage will get better with another year under B. April.
It seems like we may have 2 young studs added to the offensive line. Maybe even our left tackle will stop jumping offsides this year.
I think the Eagles will dominate this year the way they did when TO and Jevon Kearse came on board.
They have depth at almost every position.14-2 and a berth in the SuperBowl.
If the 1st round pick pans out and the new right tackle stays healthy then it’s going to be alot of blow outs.
Since any team could be desimated by injuries I am not factoring that in.
I like your angle.F the Packers….guys coming off injuries always have a year to go. Finley is know different. They’re dominant and will be a test at some point. But im hanging my hat on Nmandi taking this d to another level.
I look at the addition of Nmandi like the way the Bears added Pepp last year. He is just dominant. Saw some clips of him riding the TE up at camp.He’s gonna open up tons of oppurtunitys for other defenders.
And he jams recievers like Jordan would jam on breaks.BOOM!!!Double hand technique with hip tracking….fundamentaly sound.Goshdamn we got an attack ninja on both sides of the ball now!!
GO BIRDS!
I cannot believe rex GROSS-man came out and said that there gonna take the east, is he even starting for them? I think its becks job to lose… But i see the birds running away with it, the cowboys will be right there with us though.If they stay healthy we ll probably be playing them sometime in the playoff which i hope isnt the case bc they know how to beat us, the giants i feel will take a step forward from last year but dont pose a threat to us like dallas does, but the giants will be in the discussion but may not even make the playoffs, they have some serious issues in ny right now… and i dont even see the redskins making the playoffs so i dont wanna waste my typing on them… smh… The key for us is keeping Vick clean and injury free and the defense and oline have to remain consistent throughout the year…
About the PAckers,
Don’t undersestimate the loss of OG Colledge and DT C Jenkins, LB N Barnett and TE D Lee and legal troubles and suspension of DT J Jolley..
They may be a little thin along the DL and but that’s about it and are stacked everywhere else..
Players to watch out for who they Drafted the last couple of seasons and will now have a chance to play more..2nd Year Safety Morgan Burnett (injured and missed most of last Season) 2nd Year TE A Quarless, 2nd Year OT B Bulaga and this years Draft Picks WR/Returnman Randall Cobb who may be the most exciting,athletic player on the entire Packer Roster and will make an impact his Rookie Season and Top Pick OT D Sherrod…
The Pack are loaded
I see the NFC only getting the Divisional Winner (Eagles) in the Playoffs like last year. Teams in the NFC South (Saints/Falcons/Bucs) will all compete for playoff spots as well as the NFC North with Packers/Bears)
I think the team that is most improved from Top to Bottom is the Seattle Seahawks, I don’t think QB T Jackson can lead them far, but they have improved thier OL/WR/Defense a great deal
Erock, i wouldnt say that. Remember they won the championship without those 14 guys on IR, we cant view them as just last yrs champions, they have a great great team, i have respect for there entire team and organization, they have one of the best in the league from top to bottom, lets not view them as yesterdays news lol… They still have the best qb in the league in A Rodgers, one of the best defenses in the league, and theyre extremely consistent on both sides of the ball, I actually hope the birds are like them and or better than them because the packers are a championship ready built team…
The key to this Eagles Offense is the ablility to run the ball in Short-yardage/Red-Zone and to establish a physicality in the running game that hasn’t been seen in Philly since the 3 Headed Monster days which is a attribute to how COach R Mudd has him OL Play..If Teams Defensive Secondaries are going to be playing 8-10-15 yards off from D-Jax’s side, then the Running game of the Eagles has to take advantage of this.. I do not believe the Eagles will be slinging the ball all over the field as in past Seasons and especially if Maclin has issues..It would be a real mistake and loss opportunity not to utlize back-up RB R Brown a lot more than the back-up RB’s of past seasons, I would suggest a scheme of running the ball 35 times a game between between McCoy/R Brown would have this New OL humming and in a rhythm and only have Vick pass 20-25 Times a game.. If the Eagles Coaches committed to the Run and especailly early in games and early in the Season, they would have the entire NFL Defense’s and DC back on their heels and have a real difficult time adjusting to stop them
The Eagles are the best team in the NFC.
Green Bay is the team to beat.
Giants and Cowboys are not as good as the public thinks they are/or will be.
Redskins are terrible. Shanahan made a mockery of an NFL team just when I thought his presence would make our division powerful.
Philly is an elite team in a division with former elite teams.
We are ahead of the Falcons, who are just catching up to us, GB, and NO.
Everyone will be monitoring the Packers, but don’t forget about the Champs before them.
Sean Payton and Drew Brees will actually have a running game this year, although their defense is mediocre.
Atlanta will still be making strides, but PHI, GB, and NO are the men amongst boys.
Dissecting the 3 NFC elite teams (imo), this is an unusual situation for GB.
I don’t think they fall into the odds game of not returning to the Playoffs/Superbowl.
Simply because they have some starters back from injuries (that we’re well aware of).
But…I don’t feel they have a good o-line, above average at best. Could be the same with us, but I’ll put it at a tie for now.
The Saints have the best o-line of the 3, but the worst defense and special teams.
I like our special teams better than GB, and expect us to improve as well (Bobby April, Higgins, maybe even S. Moss).
I do agree that GB has lost some key players, and they need Tramond Williams and Sam Shields to hold up/improve.
Their LBs are only better than ours because of Clay Matthews.
All our young LB core needs to do is play their lanes and gaps, they are sandwiched between a great d-line and secondary.
I favor our secondary and d-line over GBs, but Dom Capers over Juan Castillo.
I just feel that we will average 27+ again this season, especially with Vick being in shape, with a starter’s mentality and reps, Howard Mudd and our o-line additions.
We will be able to stop other team’s offenses, more than they can stop ours.
Even if Vick runs less, I say we finish in the top 10 in rushing for the 2nd year in a row.
I’m speaking in terms of contending for a Superbowl.
I think the Bears will be tough and on the map again, and it’s “unbearable” that people overlook them.
They won their division and hosted the NFC Championship Game, improved their o-line, and signed Roy Williams who had his best season under Mike Martz.
All Cutler needs is a big WR and he got it. Not to mention their tough run game with Forte and now Marion Barber.
What I’m saying is, The Bears will be a good season team with the 9th easiest schedule in the league.
Speaking of schedules, Atlanta has the 11th easiest, and they will also be a great season team. They are probably better than the Bears, but they don’t have that experience, staff, and disrespected taste that the Bears have year in and year out (when it comes to playing the elite NFC teams).
Remember, the Bears have the Packers number for the most part, GB got the important win in the 3rd game to rep the NFC.
So, in the season those will be the 5 teams in the playoffs, along with the winner of the NFC West division (which is a complete toss up, and a topic of its own).