The NFC East: This division plays the NFC North and the AFC East which most likely favors these teams and their schedules. The Patriots are the Patriots but older, the Jets and Bills should be better but the Dolphins should be worse. The Packers, Lions and Vikings all missed the playoffs last year. Gonna be interesting for sure.
- Dallas Cowboys – Vegas win total 8.5
Schedule: Medium Easy – At large games vs New Orleans and the LA Rams.
Key losses: WR Cole Beasley, DT David Irving, TE Geoff Swaim, LB Damien Wilson
Key additions: WR Randall Cobb, DE Robert Quinn, TE Jason Witten, DT Christian Covington, S George Iloka
Whom they drafted: DT Trysten Hill, G Connor McGovern, RB Tony Pollard, CB Michael Jackson, DE Joe Jackson, S Donovan Wilson, RB Mike Weber, DE Jalen Jelks
Summary: Big D really hasn’t lost a lot from their 10 win team last year but I also didn’t really see them gain a lot either. Highlights are Cole Beasley will be replaced by Randall Cobb and Jason Witten is back but pretty old. Dallas did have a fantastic defense last year led by rookie Leighton Vander Esch who proved to be maybe the best or second best linebacker from the 2018 draft with Roquon Smith. The Cowboys suddenly have legitimate weapons around Dak Prescott with Cobb coming and Witten un-retiring to support Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. The Cowboys started late in the draft because of the Amari Cooper trade but they really didn’t fill any gaps in their secondary. The Cowboys kinda ignored their immediate needs at secondary in the draft and started with depth instead. Their schedule isn’t too hard but a lot depends on Dak. This team had only 8.5 Pythagorean win total from last year so we must factor that in. I have this team at 9.55 wins this year but not enough for me to bet the over.
Action: No Play
2. Philadelphia Eagles – Vegas win total 9.5
Schedule – Medium Easy – At large games vs Atlanta and Seattle
Key losses: QB Nick Foles, ILB Jordan Hicks, WR Golden Tate, DE Michael Bennett, WR Mike Wallace, DT Haloti Ngata, WR Jordan Matthews
Key additions: DT Malik Jackson, WR DeSean Jackson, ILB L.J. Fort, DE Vinny Curry, S Andrew Sendejo
Whom they drafted: OT Andre Dillard, RB Miles Sanders, WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, DE Shareef Miller, QB Clayton Thorson
Summary: This sneaky Eagles team had an amazing finish to the season last year to get back into the playoffs. I think this was due to how well Nick Foles plays in the clutch. Now Doug Peterson should know that the pressure is on Carson Wentz and right now he looks fragile. The Eagles Pass defense was terrible last year partially due to bad injuries of Darby and McCloud but hopefully they will be healed and the Sendejo pick up will help this year’s secondary. Let’s face it, losing Haloti Ngata and Jordan Hicks may hurt the run and I do not love their replacements. I also do not think that this team did quite enough on defense in the draft but I do like what they did offensively. The Eagles have a medium easy schedule in my opinion and could make the playoffs if everything falls into place. Pressure is on Carson Wentz. Vegas has them favored to win the division. My number is 8.8 wins. No Play
Action – No Play
- Washington Redskins – Vegas Win total is 6
Schedule – Medium – At large vs San Francisco and Carolina
Key losses: OLB Preston Smith, S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (borrowed), WR Jamison Crowder, OT Ty Nsekhe, ILB Zach Brown
Key additions: ILB Reuben Foster, S Landon Collins, QB Case Keenum, LT Ereck Flowers
Whom they drafted: QB Dwayne Haskins, OLB Montez Sweat, WR Terry McLaurin, RB Bryce Love, G Wes Martin, C Ross Pierschbacher, OLB Cole Holcomb, WR Kelvin Harmon, CB Jimmy Moreland, OLB Jordan Brailford
Summary: The Redskins mustered up 7 wins last year getting most of them when healthy. This team pretty much lost their whole offensive line to injury as well as 3 quarterbacks. They were competing for the division until the Alex Smith’s gruesome injury and he most likely is out again this year. Daniel Snyder and Bruce Allen succeeded in getting the best overall draft in the league and that is unanimous among most of the NFL analysts. They didn’t need to move to land franchise quarterback Dwayne Haskins, and they got him two key targets in Terry McLaurin – a former Buckeyes teammate of Haskins and the underrated Kelvin Harmon. Drafting Haskins at pick 15 was steal in my opinion as he was the top of my QB draft board. Edge rusher Montez Sweat was a great pick with a trade up and back into the first round. Fantastic Draft overall! I love their pickup in Landon Collins but they are still a little weak on offensive line, wide receivers, and linebackers. The Redskins Pythagorean was pretty low last year at 5.29. I also do not like their coach but you can’t argue with what they did last year before injuries. This could be a very sneaky team.
My number is a whopping 8.6 wins for this team but I can only count 6 wins on their schedule when I look at it so I am kinda torn. I have to take this over at 2.6 game difference but I don’t love it at all. Going small
Action – Over 6 wins
4. New York Giants – Vegas Win total is 6
Schedule – Easy – At large vs Tampa Bay and Arizona
Key losses: WR Odell Beckham Jr., S Landon Collins, DE Olivier Vernon, G Jamon Brown, CB B.W. Webb, DE Mario Edwards
Key additions: G Kevin Zeitler, WR Golden Tate, S Antone Bethea, DE Markus Golden
Whom they drafted: QB Daniel Jones, DT Dexter Lawrence, CB Deandre Baker, DE/OLB Oshane Ximines, CB Julian Love, ILB Ryan Connelly, WR Darius Slayton, CB Corey Ballentine, OT George Asafo-Adjei, DT Christopher Slayton
Summary: What the hell are you doing??? I can go on a rant forever about them signing O’dell Beckham only to trade him and take a 20 million dollar cap hit. At last O’dell was a headcase and they somewhat recouped with Golden Tate but all at what cost. Dave Gettleman may be the worst GM in this league. I can like everyone else complain about them selecting Daniel Jones rather than trading down or getting Josh Allen but that is now water under the bridge. Even though they did the draft wrong, they still had a lot of picks and I love the Dexter Laurence and Deandre Baker picks. I really liked the value that they received with late pick WR Darius Slayton. One has to remember not to overreact on some dumb decisions because overall their draft was still better than most teams even though they did a bad job and could have been better. I must admit that I hated them losing Landon Collins but at least they replaced him with less expensive Antone Bethea. Where the Giants missed out on was improving their offensive line and edge rusher. Daniel Jones could be better than Eli by mid-season and possibly start. The good news for the Giants is that they have the easiest at large schedule. I have them at 6.3 wins.
Action – No Play
