Uwe Blog: The NFC East

New York Giants, at the Polo Grounds

Last season, three NFC East teams made the playoffs. The fourth, the Philadelphia Eagles, finished a mere game out at 8-8.

This is pretty extraordinary considering that several divisions barely get one winning team in their division.

Not only did it have three playoff teams, but it had the Super Bowl winner.

I would expect little to change. I think the Giants and Cowboys to be pretty good, the Eagles will generally compete and the Redskins are really the only team to actually improve in the off-season. However, compared to other years, no one is talking about the Redskins.

I think we can expect the Super Bowl representative to come from the division again.

By the way, isn't it super weird that the "Redskins" still exist. Seriously.

Dallas Cowboys -- 12-4

They beat up on the AFC North and NFC West and then take care of business within the division.

Washington Redskins -- 10-6

Like their young, fast defense and the bevy of weapons they now have on offense. If Jason Campbell can turn the corner, this is a legitimate team.

New York Giants - 8-8

Man, this one's tough. Their defense is not what it has been, but the offense is still there sans the great cancer, Jeremy Shockey. But they've got some tough road games (Minnesota, Dallas, Washington, Philly, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Cleveland) and some other tough ones (Seattle, Cincy). That's nine pretty losable games not counting home division games. Somehow, some way they eke some of these games out to go .500. Just too many weapons on offense, enough on defense.

Philadelphia Eagles -- 7-9
Bigger teams will beat up on their smallish defense and at some point Donovan McNabb is going to miss time. They don't have any receivers (Reggie Brown has the talent ... he just needs to be engaged) and they don't have a running back that likes to run the ball. 'Til at least two of those issues are fixed, they'll never see the top of the division.