Across all the divisions in the National Football League, there is always a renowned number one team that sits atop the division but that’s not the case for the 2020 NFC East division. The NFC East consists of the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Football Team.
Each team in the division has struggled to perform as the losses keep piling up each week and the division is on route to finish below .500 or a less than 50% win percentage.
New York Giants
The Giants are continuing to struggle without star running back Saquon Barkley, and quarterback Daniel Jones still has room to grow his talent but a struggling passing offense is starting to hurt the Giants as they rank 28th overall in passing offense.
The rushing offense isn’t much better since Barkley went out with a season ending knee injury. The Giants picked up Devonta Freeman in free agency but that hasn’t helped increase their running game as the team still continues to struggle. Their next game against the Eagles will prove if they are able to change things offensively and pick another win.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles won the Super Bowl against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots a few years ago but that success hasn’t followed them in the last few years as they continue to struggle offensively. The offensive line continues to struggle to protect quarterback Carson Wentz as he is continuously hurried and fighting for his life. Big changes on the offensive line are needed if the Eagles want to build up a solid passing offense.
The running game with running back Miles Sanders has proved to be efficient as Sanders has had big running games the past few weeks. Focusing more on the run game and bringing in rookie Jalen Hurts seems to be the best alternative to improving this team. The defense has overall done well but with the offense continually struggling to keep drives alive, the defense has struggled to keep other team’s outside of the end zone.
Washington Football Team
After many different sources revealed the bad nature of things occurring in the organization, the Washington Football Team has struggled to keep a good eye in the media even after agreeing to change the name of their team. The offense is struggling this season as the quarterback situation has been changing as quarterback Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen have both been used as Allen looks to be the starter going forward, but the situation is still posed to change. The offense began to click more this week during their game with the Giants.
The Washington Football Team plays against a defensively challenged Cowboys this week as they look to take advantage and push their offense to perform better. Rookie edge rusher Chase Young has been a dominant factor on the defense all season and with the Cowboys’ offensive line struggling to protect the quarterback, Washington’s defense will look to take advantage. For the rest of the season, the team looks to continue the rebuilding phase as they build their team for next season.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have struggled all season long with keeping the opposing team from scoring. The defense is talented, but they have not performed well and struggle in preventing other teams from making big plays. With the loss of quarterback Dak Prescott due to a broken ankle, back-up Andy Dalton struggled against the Arizona Cardinals and will continue to struggle unless the offensive line can help him out. The Cowboys have a lot of talent in the receiving core and running back Ezekial Elliott is a playmaker, but the offensive line will need to play better in order for the Cowboys to utilize their offensive weapons.
No matter how things go in the NFC East, it doesn’t look promising as the best team in the division will most likely end with a negative record. This is a team that will get an automatic playoff berth no matter how bad they are compared to other teams in the conference. The NFC East has been a pretty sloppy division the last few years but it’s even worse now.
There has even been speculation on whether or not the eventual winner of the division even deserves a playoff spot. A team that goes 5-11 or 6-10 should not be considered a legitimate contender for a championship. The NFC East needs the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants and Washington to win a combined 23 games to prevent them from being the worst division of all time. The NFC East is full of professional athletes that are just not playing up to par, whether it’s poor coaching or it’s athletes unmotivated to play during a pandemic, teams in the NFC East just aren’t playing at an NFL level.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.