The NFC East hasn't had a repeat Division winner since 2003/04 season. Will that continue?

[aceinthehouse]

Strangely enough, there hasn't been a repeat division winner in 14 years. It also was the Eagles in that 2003/2004 seasons that did it.

Is that the longest stretch among all other Divisions?

And if so, Do you see that continuing, or will the Eagles finally snap that streak again?

And if not, What team do you believe will continue what's becoming a tradition? Somebody else's turn

Dallas Cowboys

N.Y. Giants

Washington Redskins

And why do you believe it will be the Eagles again, or somebody else's turn?

[jvmillion83]

Yes it will continue

The Eagles are still very good but consider every other NFC East team last season.  Dallas was without not only Zeke but other players through some important games.  The Giants didn't take care of some major weaknesses (which they improved this year) on top of some major injuries and the Skins just suffered major injuries all over the place.

Wentz is awesome and Foles did a hell of a job but Wentz has major catching up to do in his usual postseason workouts.  He might not even be ready for the regular season.  

IMO the Giants made major improvements and nobody is talking about their disaster LB situation last season and how they solidified that with Ogletree.  Their defense which was stout a few years ago will come close again.  Not to mention the offense with Barkley.  Even though they have a stud RB, Barkley will take a ton of pressure off a subpar offensive line that improved over the offseason.  The Skins really don't have any major weaknesses and if everyone stays healthy, they could be a surprise playoff team.  And even though Witten and Bryant are gone, Dallas will manufacture points through their run and short pass game.  The Cowboys should have their best defense in some time and always could surprise.

 

 

[Danger]

39 minutes ago, jvmillion83 said:

The Eagles are still very good but consider every other NFC East team last season.  Dallas was without not only Zeke but other players through some important games.

The Cowboys were one of the Healthiest teams in the league last season. They had 4-5 notable injuries, where decent players missed about 3 games a piece, most of which had very little overlap.

 

39 minutes ago, jvmillion83 said:

Wentz is awesome and Foles did a hell of a job but Wentz has major catching up to do in his usual postseason workouts.  He might not even be ready for the regular season.

If Wentz isn't starting Week 1, I'll eat a Carson Wentz jersey.

The team that worries me the most is the Giants. Cowboys lack weapons outside of Zeke. Stop Zeke, stop the Cowboys.

[stl4life07]

The Eagles will repeat as NFCE divisional champs. The division will be very competitive but the Eagles are one of those teams I’ve been talking about that got better during the offseason. Now I think they could start off slow because Wentz is coming back from injury and so is Jeffery. I do think once they get a full strength the Eagles are able to go on a hot streak that I can’t see the Giants, Cowboys, or Redskins matching. I think the Eagles could go (11-5) with the next closest is at (9-7) best case scenario (10-6) but still finish 1 or 2 games back of the Eagles in the NFCE.

[VanS]

Eagles have a good chance to repeat.  But if not, I think the Cowboys take the division. 

[SkippyX]

Its cute how Cowboys fans go blah blah blah about a RB who's team went 5-4 when he was playing real games (The week 17 was a preseason game with Dallas starters playing 4 quarters)

Focus on this instead. The 2016 Eagles were 5-1 with Lane Johnson and 2-8 without him. Four of the five wins were by double digits and the loss was by 1 point.

The Eagles were already on the way to dominant in 2016. They will be dominant in 2018 as well.

NY, DC, and Dallas will have 6 wins against each other and 12-14 wins against the rest of the league.

The Patriots have a 95% chance of winning their division. The Eagles have a 92% chance of winning theirs.

[RandyMossIsBoss]

I think it will be the Redskin's turn. I predict a 14-2 year, and record breaking season on the offensive end.

[Thomas5737]

2 hours ago, SkippyX said:

The Patriots have a 95% chance of winning their division. The Eagles have a 92% chance of winning theirs.

4 of the 8 teams predicted to win their division finished 3rd or worse last year and 2 other finished 2nd (Steelers/Patriots were the two that were predicted correctly, or 25%). 4 of the division winners, including the Eagles were predicted to finish 3rd or worse last year. So while the Eagles are the favorite and should be, odds isn't any kind of proof that they will.

[Shady Slim]

1 hour ago, RandyMossIsBoss said:

I think it will be the Redskin's turn. I predict a 14-2 year, and record breaking season on the offensive end.

derrius guice to go 1k/1k, smith to have another career year, josh doctson to break the record for single season touchdowns...

[CP3MVP]

The eagles are the first truly great team that division has had in a longtime 

[stl4life07]

54 minutes ago, CP3MVP said:

The eagles are the first truly great team that division has had in a longtime 

People need to take that into account rather than looking at history. The only thing that can derail the Eagles is injuries. Also when talking about teams like the Eagles usually in an parity filled league like the NFL, point differential is a key to determine how successful a team will be from one season to the next if not many big losses happen.

Eagles +10.8

Pats +9.4

Jags +8.2

Rams +8.0

Last year those were the teams that were beating their opponents by 2 scores. The Eagles were beating their opponents by double digit points on average. We look at that list outside of the Pats (and they still have Belichick and Brady), all those teams got better during the offseason. So just think about it, those teams were already beating their opponents on average by over a touchdown per game, now they got better during the offseason. So in the case of the Eagles, as I mentioned in my other post, the health of Wentz in particular will be key. If he shows he is back healthy and being himself, along with Jeffery, I dont see the NFCE team overtaking the Eagles in the division. Again I think they will make it more competitive and I dont think the Eagles will win the division by 4 games. I think they will win it by at best 1 but I honestly and thinking 2 games they win it by.

[PFM18]

No it won't continue.

Too many questions about the other teams in the division. I believe they'll be better and maybe get closer to the Eagles but Philly has an extremely talented team right now and they'll be the team in the NFC East again this season. 

[Crickett]

Yes they will repeat. 

 

The Cowboys also took a big step back in the caliber of receiving target they have compared to when they were a playoff contender in 2016.  They also have a huge question mark in their secondary.  Byron Jones has the speed and athleticism to play corner, but after playing free safety for so long, I wonder how well he can switch back to corner.  Opposite him, they have Awuzie and Lewis.  Neither of whom really stood out as rookies, but I expect more from them in 2017.  However, having moved Byron Jones from safety to corner, this leaves Dallas with the worst pair of safeties in the league outside of Carolina.  Now mind you, I think Dallas will actually be improved this year.  They're a team built around the strength of their offensive line.  But in 2017, they let Ron Leary and Doug Free walk without adequately replacing them.  On top of that, alll-pro left tackle Tyron Smith was injured leaving Byron Bell of all people as the Cowboys starting left tackle.  Without that dominant OL Dallas had enjoyed for so many years, Zeke who was already distracted most of the season with his on again off again suspension was far less effective and consequently so was Dallas' offense as a whole.  But now Smith is back, Zeke's suspension is behind him and Dallas got a steal in the second round with Connor Williams to help fill whichever gap the Cowboys don't put La'el Collins in.  Just from that alone I expect Dallas to be significantly improved.

 

The Giants are being held together with duct tape and prayer.  With a few exceptions, their team can not handle losing much of anyone.  If they lose either corner, they're looking at supplemental rookie Sam Beal being pressed into starting service.  If the Giants lose Landon Collins, they lose their best playmaker on defense with no one even half as good to take his place.  The Giants have no depth at linebacker whatsoever.  If they lose either outside linebacker, their ability to generate a pass rush is done for.  That's assuming they can generate one in the first place with Olivia Vernon moving to outside linebacker.  If they lose Ogletree, they're back to being completely susceptible to any kind of competent TE play.  But it's not just the defense. 

The Giants have no OL depth.  Lose either tackle (even Flowers) or either guard and suddenly that line the Giants spent so much on in draft picks and money has a rather glaring hole in a division experiencing a proverbial arms race at the defensive line position.  But that's fine, if the Giants lose Barkley, they don't have anyone who can effectively run the ball behind that line anyway.  Because lets be honest, 31 year old Jonathan Stewart and Wayne Gallman are no better than the running backs the Giants have had over the past few years.  We've also already seen what happens to the Giants passing game when they don't have OBJ propping them up.  It would be one thing if the Giants had brought in lets say anyone to be their other outside receiver opposite Beckham, but they really didn't.  They replaced Roger Lewis, who would be in the running for worst starting wide receiver in the NFL with former second round bust Cody Latimer.  Someone with under 300 yards receiving during his four year career in Denver.  Now, this lack of depth wouldn't be so bad if the Giants didn't have a long and storied history of endless soup, breadsticks and injuries over the last five plus years.  But they do.  2016 and its lack of injuries was the outlier for them, not 2017. 

 

And that leaves Washington.  I actually really like what Washington has done along their defensive line and at running back.  I think the trio of Jonathan Allen, Da'Ron Payne and Tim Settle* (who apparently gets no respect on this board) is one the rest of the NFC East should be rightly afraid of.  I think Washington's cornerbacks are better than people are giving them credit for after trading Kendall Fuller.  They drafted Fabian Moreau last year and I expect a big step forward after limited playing time as a rookie.  And of course as I mentioned before, they finally got a decent running back to hand the ball to in draft steal Derrius Guice after the colossal disappointment that was college single game rushing record holder and Oklahoma Sooners all time rushing leader Samaje Perine. 

If there's one thing I'm still worried about in Washington, it's their passing game.  As much as Washington fans might not like that, Alex Smith is a downgrade from Kirk Cousins.  I'm still not sold on Washington's receivers either.  Jordan Reed will never be able to stay healthy, Vernon Davis is yet another year older and while the group isn't as lacking as lets say Dallas' receivers are, no one really stands out between Richardson, Doctson and Crowder.  Maybe Richardson will have a career year now that he's out of Seattle like Jermaine Kearse did last year? 

*There are certain players I tend to lend the moniker of day three (Insert player drafted in the first round) to.  An example of this was I referred to Dede Westbrook as day three John Ross or George Kittle as day three O.J. Howard.  Well, I gave Settle the nickname of day three Vita Vea. 

[RBreezy]

There’s no reason why the Eagles shouldn’t repeat as division champs. They’re the most talented, they have the best depth, and they have the best coaching. I think the division will be more competitive then people think, but when the dust settles the Birds should be sitting at #1.

[EaglesPeteC]

No