Thoughts On the NFC East After Week 1 Of The Preseason

Redskins

Football is back! Yay! In order for our Redskins to reach the Superbowl a good step would be to win the NFC East. After watching the opener against the Falcons I’m kinda meh. Squarely Neutral. It’s hard to gauge the completeness of a team when starters are pulled after a series but what I saw from the Redskins in limited action gives me no reason to believe they will improve much upon their 9-7 mark (10-6 is a great goal) from a year ago, especially considering the tougher schedule.

I look for Cousins to remain consistent but perhaps not as stellar as his last 8 games. I wrote a post on why Matt Jones will have a breakout season but as we saw in the preseason opener a line without Trent Williams is not much of a line at all. We need that guy. The run blocking looked unspectacular and if Matt Jones cares about me at all he will have to work on breaking a lot more tackles and make space for himself. Care about me Matt!

I’m more than confident in our core of receivers. All of them. Even Ryan Grant.

Our secondary looks to be in good shape although Bruton and Hall looked like they could use some more time together. Sure a couple of our young corners got exploited but we want that to happen as early as possible so Perry Fewell will have a chance to coach em up. I have confidence guys like Dunbar and Phillips can improve and quite frankly there aren’t many teams in the league that can say they have better 4th and 5th options at the cornerback spot.

The Defensive line was fine. I desperately want Murphy to be a defensive end and stick to it. I know Baker is going to bring it come the regular season but I am not a fan of Kedric Golston. The old timer has been a good Redskin but should not be a starter under any circumstances.

I think the linebacker core is solid. I know Smith and Kerrigan will do their jobs and despite me calling Will Compton average with a limited ceiling I know he’ll do his best to be the best player he possibly can. A player I was impressed with is Martrell Spaight. I really hope he can remain healthy. I have a feeling we may be relying on him a lot this season.

Oh yeah, Su’a Cravens is a stud. I said he would be a star, here’s proof.

Here’s to the rest of the Rookies getting on the field / having a better showing this week.

The Redskins will make another run at a division title but they don’t look likely to run away with it.

Giants

I think the best chance to dash the Redskins division title dreams goes to the Giants. Sure we make fun of Eli’s face, Jerry Reese, and defensive lineman contracts that make your eyes water, but the Giants still have a solid group of players. Manning is a good quarterback. They need him badly because Ryan Nassib looked terrible. The Giants have a good rotation of running backs in Jennings, Darkwa, Williams, and Perkins.

They have a good offensive line anchored by Weston Richburg and Justin Pugh, they also believe they have their LT of the future in Brandon Flowers and have serviceable backups in John Jerry and Marshall Newhouse.

They have a solid receiving core even without Victor Cruz. Odell Beckham is a matchup nightmare and quite frankly a star. Sterling Shepherd bailed out Ryan Nassib a couple times in their preseason opener and looks to be a solid addition. Dwayne Harris was fine for them last year as well.

The area the Giants have set themselves up for success in is the drafting of Landon Collins and Darian Thompson. If both players live up to their draft positions / positive reviews coming out of camp the Giants have a starting tandem of safeties for the next 8 years. I personally was not a fan of Eli Apple but the Giants think they have upgraded their cornerbacks as well.

Where the Giants can be exploited is their LB unit. It’s not impressive and the Redskins are in a better position in that regard.

I think the Giants can match the 9-7 mark and give the Redskins a run for their money.

Dallas

Dallas opened up against the LA Rams and have been anointed de facto NFCE Champions by several talking heads, at least until Tony breaks another collarbone (not a wish just playing the odds). But lets get serious. Romo is a good QB as long as he’s healthy the Cowboys should manage .500 or close to it. A lot was made of Dak Prescott’s debut. He was good but Dez Bryant makes even better catches on the sidelines. Outside of Bryant their aren’t too many bonafide receiving threats. Terrence Williams is mediocre, Cole Beasley is a fan favorite but far from a top slot WR, and an aging Jason Witten can’t be counted on to match the production he put up in previous years.

Dallas has the best offensive line in the NFL yadda yadda yadda. Zeke Elliott and former Redskin Alfred Morris should do well.

Where the Cowboys lose it for me is on defense. Oh my god. So much marijuana and purple drink. Am I in New Orleans? Bullet points needed:

• They basically have no defensive line.
• They are a Sean Lee injury away from have a LB core made of wet paper.
• Morris Claiborne is a bust.
• Barry Church is overpaid.
• Byron Jones is your only hope.

Count me is as someone who believes the Cowboys are overrated and will struggle to get to .500 this year. The defense isn’t that good and the reserves probably shouldn’t even be in the NFL.

Eagles

It’s so hard for me to talk about the Eagles objectively. Chip Kelly is gone now so I’ll try.

. . . . .

Man Chip Kelly really ruined that team. Doug Peterson is trying to tape it all back up together. Sam Bradford just isn’t good and Carson Wentz looks to miss valuable reps in the preseason with a hairline rib fracture. Eagles fans will have to put their faith in Chase Daniel before the season is over. That’s a lot of uncertainly for 30 million dollars.

The offensive line is a mess. Jason Peters hasn’t been good since like 2012. Allen Barbre is terrible and is likely to be replaced by rookie Issac Seumalo who I actually like. Jason Kelce is the only one who can be counted on in that unit. Lane Johnson likes PEDs.

The RB situation is far from settled as well. When was the last time Ryan Matthews wasn’t hurt? Darren Sproles is a fine receiving back even in the tail end of his career but when you are impressed by Kenjon Barner during the preseason - it’s going to be a long season.

Zack Ertz is a good TE and bailed his QB out a few times in the opener. The Redskins need to keep him on lock this season. Jordan Matthews would be so much better if he didn’t drop the ball. Regardless he is one of the best slot WRs in the NFL. Outside of him the Eagles are pretty bare at WR and are looking for Nelson Agholor to get it together.

The Eagles have a solid defensive front as well. Curry, Cox, Logan, and Barwin should all be solid. People may praise the Eagles linebacker core but we all know who wins the matchups there.

If Kirk Cousins remains accurate the Eagles have a secondary that can be exploited all day and not just by Jordan Reed. They are going to be cellar dwellers this year.