NFC East Preview by Bill Milton of Triple Threat Sports
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| Triple Threat Sports - 7/26/2006 4:51 PM |
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NFC EAST PREVIEW Last season I called the NFC East the Cradle Of Coaches, and three teams finishing with a winning record last year, two of those making the playoffs, did nothing to tarnish the image of the division. Bill Parcells of Dallas, Tom Coughlin of New York, Andy Reid of Philadelphia and Joe Gibbs of Washington have made a combined fifteen appearances in conference championship games. This quartet has won seven of those conference championship games and five Super Bowls. Gibbs has three Super Bowl wins and The Tuna has two. Reid's Eagles have won this division four of the last five years in a row and last year Big Blue bagged it first division title since 2000. As with all of the divisions, I will take a look at each team’s schedule individually, pointing out some noteworthy items, and will also give the reasons for the Predicted Order of Finish that you see on the bottom of the page. Dallas– The Cowboys are America's Team again, as they play six nationally televised prime time games and two others in which they will be beamed to over 75% of the nation in the later afternoon Sunday game. The first two games of the preseason are at home, and coupled with an early bye week, these Pokes will leave the stable only one time from August 22nd through October 1st. October 8th is a day just about every football fan, regardless of team affiliation, has circled, as that is the day Dallas, and Terrell Owens, travels to Philly. All in all Dallas plays eight games against teams that were in the playoffs last year as well as trips to Atlanta and Arizona, hardly pushovers. There is a mid season stretch of six games in seven weeks against 2005 playoff foes, with a trip to Arizona the only "respite" in that span. Once that stretch is over the Cowboys will be favored in at least three of their final four games, so if everyone is healthy at that point the team should be in position to make a late run. NY Giants – While there is no doubting that the Giants benefited from a nine game home slate last year, on paper the 2005 was the toughest of any division team, making the division crown Big Blue won all the more impressive. This year, like three of the four teams in the NFC East, the Giants play eight games against teams that were in the post season last year. Also, the Giants catch five more games against 2006 playoff caliber foes, as they play Atlanta once and both Dallas and Philadelphia twice. The early season slate is just brutal, and even though the G-men are the reigning division champs, an 0-7 start is absolutely not out of the question. Consider that the opener is the Manning Bowl against the Colts, and then the Giants travel to face the Eagles and then face the Seahawks in Seattle. A bye follows, then Washington comes to town, then back to back roadies at Atlanta and Dallas are next before the team finishes its seven layers of hell opening schedule by hosting the Bucs. Exactly zero of those games are sure fire wins, and while 0-7 is unlikely 2-5 certainly is not, and that would be quite a hole to climb out of. Philadelphia – This is a very interesting schedule that could see the Eagles start off 6-0 but then struggle mightily down the stretch. The first six games of the season feature three home games, two of which are against teams that were not in the playoffs last year. The team's first three road games are at Houston, San Francisco, and New Orleans, hardly a murderer's row of road trips. After that things get much tougher, as while on the season the Eagles play eight games against 2005 playoff foes seven of them come in the final ten weeks of the year. A midseason bye could help recharge batteries, and those batteries are going to need to be at full power to get the club through the final weeks of the season that feature three straight December away games as part of a four road games in five week span. They do finish at home against a dome team in Atlanta, so the team will be hoping for cold weather in that one. Washington – This season Dallas, Philadelphia and New York each play eight games against 2005 playoff foes. On the other hand, Washington plays just six. That alone gives the Redskins a nice edge over their division brethren. A look at the week by week projections for this team shows just one sure fire loss, at Indy on October 22nd. Every other game is in the sure fire win or the tossup category, meaning that if this team stays healthy and plays to its talent level this could be a special season. One of the more interesting games on the docket comes October 1st, as the Jaguars pay a visit, marking the first time Mark Brunell will play his former team. Finally, the Skins seem to have the attention of the schedule maker, at least for the early part of the season, as both of the first two games are on national TV. Before getting to the predictions here, it must be noted in the interest of full disclosure that I have tabbed exactly one team in the right finishing position in this division over the last two years. As such, maybe it is a good thing I have no clue which team is going to prevail this season, as each of the four clubs can make a legitimate claim to being the best of this class. The predictions you see below are based almost purely on the schedule and on the premise that everyone will stay healthy all season. That latter statement is very likely to not come true, meaning that in reality the team with the fewest players listed on IR is the most likely to win. With that said, the Giants get the call to bring up the rear, as the schedule is incredibly demanding and the team just will not be able to overcome that. Dallas gets the call as the third place team, and with some luck could grab the final Wild Card spot. There is a span of seven weeks in the middle of the season that I see only one sure fire win, but if Dallas can come out of that period 4-3 then the playoffs would almost certainly be in the offing. A look below shows that I have both the Eagles and the Redskins finishing 10-6. I give the overall nod to Washington to win the division since I project the Redskins to win out on conference record tiebreakers, mainly because the schedule is easier than that of the Eagles. Predicted Order of Finish: Washington 10-6 Philadelphia 10-6 Dallas 9-7 NY Giants 7-9 I will be back soon with the next installment in this series, and remember that you can get the entire magazine - FREE FOR THE ASKING - by emaiing us at billmilton@adelphia.net or calling 888-228-6110. ALSO, IF YOU WANT A FREE COPY OF OUR INSIDE THE HUDDLE NEWSLETTER, CALL OR DROP US AN EMAIL!!! Have a Great Day! |
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