The NFC East: How bout dem Caywboyz? This division plays the NFC West and the AFC North which I would call a Medium. The Bengals still have a huge uphill climb, the Browns are the Browns and the Steelers have regressed a bit. The NFC West is obviously hard with their lowest win total at 7.5 for the Cardinals. This was clearly the worst division in football last year and one must assume that just one team comes out into the playoffs again. The big question for me is if this is the year that Dak Prescott proves his worth.
1. Philadelphia Eagles – Vegas win total 9.5 juiced to the over -125
Schedule – Medium – At large games vs Green Bay and New Orleans
Key losses: G Halapoulivaati Vaitai, FS Malcomb Jenkins, RB Jordan Howard, CB Ronald Darby, WR Nelson Agholor, OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill, QB Josh McCown, LT Jason Peters???
Key additions: DT Javon Hargrave, S Will Parks, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman,
Whom they drafted: WR Jalen Raegar, QB Jalen Hurts, CB K’Von Wallace, OT Jack Driscoll
Summary: This Eagles team really lost a lot in my opinion and their draft was really a head-scratcher. After the Cowboys cock-blocked them by drafting Cee Dee Lamb, they went with a guy projected to go late second early third in Jalen Raegar. The Eagles really needed defense and offensive line depth but instead they went with a QB project in Jalen Hurts for their second round pick. I do understand the play because of an injury prone Carson Wentz, but it sure didn’t help fill some much needed holes in the secondary and the Offensive line. Their at large games are obviously tough, but it is worse to me that they play the tougher of those teams in the Saints at home and then have to go to Green Bay. I usually like it more when the easier team is at home because then you have a shot at winning at least 1 game and may get lucky on the other. This Eagles team has lost a lot in my opinion and I have them at 7.4 wins for 2020.
Action – Under 9.5 wins – 2 star premium shared
2. Dallas Cowboys – Vegas win total 9.5 juiced to the over -145 so 9.85 is the real number
Schedule: Medium Easy – At large games vs Minnesota and Atlanta
Key losses: Coach Jason Garrett CB Byron Jones, OLB Robert Quinn, DT Maliek Collins, WR Randall Cobb, SS Jeff Heath, TE Jason Witten, WR Tavon Austin
Key additions: Coach Mike McCarthey, DT Gerald McCoy, K Greg Zuerline, FS Haha Clinton Dix, QB Andy Dalton, CB Daryl Worthy, T Cameron Irving,
Whom they drafted: WR CeeDee Lamb, CB Travon Diggs, DL Neville Gallimore, C/G Tyler Biadasz
Summary: Big D made a ton of moves this year and one of them was their coach. Jerry Jones used to defend Jason Garrett like he was his only son, but he finally had to move on and hire another coach who will also due his bidding in Michael McCarthy. I am actually not quite sure if it is much of an upgrade. Ask any Packer fan and they would say that it sure isn’t. One thing that this team did is revamp a ton of positions here, but what I am most concerned about is if Dak Prescott can put together a full football game instead of just a great second half. I am also questioning the fact that they really didn’t address their pass rush after losing Robert Quinn. Dallas decided to be flashy instead by drafting Ceedee Lamb instead of trading down and taking an Edge and a skill position later. One big thing that sticks out to me is that Dallas’s Pythagorean wins last year was 10.9 compared to the 8 actual wins that they had. I think that even though Dallas could have done better in the off-season, I still have them slated to win the division and most likely exceed their win total by achieving at least 10 wins. Dallas has a great at large set up at Minnesota and home against Atlanta. This is a contract year for Dak and I expect a very good performance on both sides of the ball.
Action: No Play
3. New York Giants – Vegas Win total is 6.5 juiced to the under -130
Schedule – Hard – At large vs Tampa Bay and Chicago
Key losses: WR Cody Lattimer, DT Michael Thomas, LB Alec Ogletree, FS Antoine Bethea
Key additions: CB James Bradbury, ILB Blake Martinez, LB Kyler Fackrel, LB Levine Toilolo, FS Nate Ebner, RB Dion Lewis, DT Austin Johnson and a lot more
Whom they drafted: T Andrew Thomas, S Xavier McKinney,
Summary: This Giants team is looking to improve on those 4 wins from last year and it looks like a pretty large rebuild. The Giants had a terrible defense last year and suffered some key injuries to guys like Evan Engram, Golden Tate and Saquon Barkley. The major moves start right in the defense with a few linebackers picked up from Green Bay and a bunch of other average Joes from other teams. Nothing too exciting for me and I couldn’t give them a huge bump for free agency. I do like 2 of their draft picks but if it will be enough to make much of a difference remains to be seen. Unfortunately, for this Giants team, they get difficult at large opponents hosting Tampa Bay at home and going to Chicago. This could be another rough year for the G-men! Their schedule ranks second hardest in football and I think that I am being pretty generous giving them 5.7 wins.
Action – No Play
4. Washington Redskins – Vegas Win total is 5.5 juiced to the under -130
Schedule – Medium Hard – At large vs Detroit and Carolina
Key losses: G Ereck Flowers, QB Case Keenum, CB Josh Norman
Key additions: CB Kendall Fuller, G Wes Schweitzer, FS Sean Davis, CB Ronald Darby, RB Peyton Barber, ILB Kevin Pierre-Lewis
Whom they drafted: Edge Chase Young, and a bunch of garbage
Summary: I am very concerned that the past success of Dwayne Haskins is just a product of Ohio State football schemes and playbook rather than any translation to the NFL level. We have seen the same thing in the past from Ohio State with Cardale Jones, Braxton Miller, and JT Barrett. The good news is that they may have secured the best player in the draft in Chase Young, but that certainly isn’t enough to turn this team around. Washington went with a running back with their next pick which was a big head-scratcher to me. The Redskins didn’t lose much in the off-season but they also didn’t have much to lose anyways. Their key additions doesn’t exactly light up the board either. The Redskins had a lower Pythagorean total than even the Bengals and I do not expect much improvement this year. If there is any good news it is that their at large games look to be pretty easy. Looking at the additions to this team I can’t see how they get 6 wins this year and my number is 3.9
Action – Under 5.5 wins
