Dallas Cowboys
Another year, the same Dallas Cowboys. I’m officially out on thinking the Cowboys will ever get over the hump with this current team and coaching staff. Last year was the year they would’ve done something in the playoffs if they were ever going to. The Cowboys had everything going for them including Dak Prescott playing the quarterback position at an extremely high level. Prescott almost had his best season ever as a Cowboy as he was one passing touchdown away from tying a career-high and around 300 passing yards away from another career-high.
On top of that, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb undoubtedly played his best season since being in the NFL. Lamb broke his career-high in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. The Cowboys had a very solid defense last season, forcing 33 turnovers (second most in the league) and were top-five in sacks. With all this said the Cowboys got embarrassed in the wildcard round, at home, by a first year starter in Jordan Love.
Now, you might be asking why this prediction is just a recap of last year. The answer to that is because I expect nothing different in this upcoming season. The Cowboys have done absolutely nothing to improve this roster in the off-season. After losing running back Tony Pollard, you would think Dallas would have went out and got a guy that could fill that role nicely right? The Cowboys resigned Ezekiel Elliott, who lost the job to Pollard in the first place. The Cowboys are the best team in the division and will win the division. I predict the Cowboys to go 11-6 (5-1 in division) and lose in the first or second round of the playoffs...again.
Philadelphia Eagles
How the mightly Philadephia Eagles have fallen. Just one year after going to the Super Bowl and narrowly losing to the Kansas CIty Chiefs, the Eagles looked like a disaster to end last season. The Eagles were a confusing team as one week they would come out and beat the Chiefs, then they would lose to the Arizona Cardinals. The season ended very fitting for them when they got blown out 32-9 by Tampa Bay in the wild card round.
I’m just not seeing where this team will be any different than last years. Frankly, the Eagles off-season additions were very sub par. The most notable addition was running back Saquon Barkley. I think Barkley will have a solid season much like D’Andre Swift did last season. Swift actually had his best season of his career last year on the Eagles. Here’s my problem with adding Barkley, if you are Philadephia you know your run game is going to be solid regardless of who is back there. I’ve seen the Eagles be successful with Boston Scott, Miles Sanders, and D’Andre Swift.
Again, sure Barkley may have a good year but the Eagles really didn’t need to address the running back position to this magnitude. What the Eagles needed to address was their defense, specifically their ability to stop the pass.
The Eagles were 30th worst at stopping the pass last season, only ahead of the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders. Philadelphia added linebacker Devin White, who has had a rough go at times stopping the pass and they added back safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who hasn’t been able to stay healthy (also played for a worse team at stopping the pass). The Eagles are by far the second best team in the division, but it’s more because of how bad the other two teams are. I predict Philadephia to go 10-7 (4-2 in division) and finish second in the division.
New York Giants
The New York Giants are closer than people might think. All things considered, I actually don’t mind their roster. The Giants had a very solid off-season drafting wide receiver Malik Nabers out of LSU in the first round. Also adding guys like running back Devin SIngletary, who had a pretty solid season with the Houston Texans and was just a 100 yards away from breaking a 1,000. New York also added linebacker Brian Burns, who I think can play some meaningful snaps for the Giants. On top of that, the Giants have a very underrated wide receiver room with guys like Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt.
Some of their draft picks panned out and they have guys like Evan Neal (OT) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (LB). The Giants have a lot of things going for them right now, I’m just not sure if it’ll translate to winning this season.
The Daniel Jones argument always seems to come up with the Giants' struggles. While I don’t think Jones is the ultimate problem, he is just not going to be the reason you win games. The Giants patience with Jones should be admired and respected, especially in a league that seems to give up on guys too soon. However, I think we have seen enough of what Jones’ ceiling is and it’s just not anything special.
This may be a bit of a bold take but I think Drew Lock would be a better starter for the Giants than Jones. Jones is a hesitant and at times scared passer, he does not give his guys a chance to go make a play. We have seen many times before Lock willing to throw up a 50/50 ball to one of his guys and letting them make a play.
Just go watch the game Lock started for Seattle when they play the Eagles this past season. I think Lock could add a bit of excitement to this offense and give guys like Nabers and Hyatt chances to show how great they are. All this being said I think regardless of who starts for the Giants, they'll most likely finish third. If Lock starts, I strongly think the Giants would be more competitive and win more than this prediction. With Jones as the most likely starter, I’ll predict a 6-11 season (3-3 in division) and a third place finish.
Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders have the chance to be the worst team in the NFL. Drafting Jayden Daniels in the first round is fine, while Daniels isn’t necessarily one of my favorite picks, there is totally a world where he succeeds. I just don’t see it happening with this roster nor with these coaches. Hiring Dan Quinn as your head coach and Kliff Kingsbury as you offensive coordinator doesn’t give me any more confidence in this team. Quinn is a very defensive-minded head coach and Kingsbury really hasn't shown that he can be successful in the NFL.
Its not Washington’s fault but getting Ben Johnson would’ve made all the difference in my confidence of Daniels being able to succeed. The positive is their receiver room where you still have Terry McLaurin (who is still criminally underrated) and Jahan Dotson, who could still breakout. It's still very unclear if Daniels is going to get the start or not but if he does I could very much see a similar rookie season to the one Bryce Young just had.
Other than that the additions to this team are dreadful. Bringing in Austin Ekeler makes no sense, it’s clear he has run out of juice and his best football seasons are behind him. Then you also grab Bobby Wagner who is definitely out of his prime. There isn’t much else to say about this team, I’m not high on them at all and really believe they could be the worst team in the NFL. I predict Washington going 3-14 (0-6 in division) and finishing last in the division.
