The NFC East. The wild, wild east. There hasn’t been a back-to-back winner in the east since 2003-2004 when Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles reigned supreme. Since then, it’s been fair game for just about anyone not named the New York Giants.
The Dallas Cowboys were the standout team in the division in 2021, and there’s every reason to believe they’ll be contending for the crown this season, but the unpredictability of the Cowboys and the rest of the division could throw a wrench in that plan.
Dallas Cowboys:
Biggest Strength: A versatile monster
It didn’t take long for Micah Parsons to solidify himself as one of the most outstanding players in the NFL. The Cowboys drafted the former Penn State linebacker with the 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft. They knew they had something special on their hands, but even they couldn’t foresee how good Parsons would be in his rookie season.
His positional versatility is off the charts. He racked up 70 total pressures in just 319 pass-rushing snaps while splitting his time evenly between the defensive line and the box. Parsons was the runaway Defensive Rookie of the Year and there was a real buzz for him as the actual Defensive Player of the Year.
The Cowboys’ defense is, and will continue to be, built around Parsons and everything he can do on that side of the football. He’s one of the best players in the NFL and his defensive versatility is unmatched at the linebacker position. Of course, a change in defensive coordinator has heavily played into it, but it’s no coincidence that the Cowboys’ defense was a standout unit in Parsons’s first year in the NFL.
Biggest Weakness: Interior Defensive Line
It’s not the flashiest position in the world, and there aren’t too many household names at defensive tackle, but the Cowboys’ depth at the defensive tackle position is concerning. Despite the Cowboys’ rush defense being generally okay in 2021, no interior defender with more than 100 snaps (a very, very small sample size to begin with) had a PFF grade better than 62.7 – and that was Austin Faoliu who played 13 snaps. So…that’s not good.
The Cowboys’ main interior defenders in 2021 were Carlos Watkins and third-round pick Osa Odighizuwa. Their performances weren’t noteworthy, not unusual for interior linemen, but neither were particularly consistent either. Odighizuwa showed some flashes as a pass rusher, but his 35.4 grade against the run was the 12th worst in the NFL among all interior defenders.
Watkins’s grade against the run was better (58.3), but still below league-average and offered no threat as an interior rusher. You don’t need to make flashy plays or generate a ton of pressure to play as a defensive tackle in the NFL. But the Cowboys’ lack of real talent at the position, unless Odighizuwa can grow, is concerning.
New York Giants:
Biggest Strength: Pass Rushing Options
The Giants are directionless. There’s no other way to say it. The team finished with a 4-13 record in 2021, their eighth losing season in the last nine years. At some point, the only way is up, and it could be now. If the Giants are going to be good, it’s fair to suggest that their defensive line could be a reason for the success.
Azeez Ojulari, the Giants’ first-round pick in 2021, impressed off the edge in his rookie season. He led the team with 8 sacks on top of his 42 pressures – which were third on the team behind Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams, who had the 11th-most pressures out of all interior defenders in the NFL. The end result for the Giants was just 34 sacks, but having three players who can all generate pressure on the quarterback isn’t a luxury most teams have.
Not one to rest on their laurels, the Giants quadrupled down on their greatest strength in the 2022 NFL Draft by taking Kayvon Thibodeaux with the 5th overall pick. Thibodeaux could wind up as the best player in the draft class and should be able to generate pressure off the edge from day one. That’s four players, and three of them are under the age of 25. Maybe the future is bright in New York.
Biggest Weakness: Turnovers
The Daniel Jones era hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Giants, but what has? Nothing. That’s the correct answer. Nothing. Jones has had moments where he’s looked like a franchise quarterback over the last three seasons, but those fleeting moments are sandwiched in between inconsistency. The Giants’ offense has been second-last in EPA per play since 2019 when Jones stepped into the fold as the starter.
The biggest hang-up for the Giants during that time has been turnovers. The Giants led the NFL with 30 giveaways last season, and while Jones only accounted for 14 of those turnovers, his penchant for loose hands in the pocket is well-documented. Jones has 29 interceptions and 36 fumbles(!) in just 38 career games. And, as expected, the Giants led the NFL in giveaways over the last three years.
Turnovers don’t guarantee points for the opposition, but it’s damaging to any offense. The Giants averaged just 15.2 points per game in 2021, the second-lowest points per game in the league. Until the Giants finally squash the turnover bug, they’ll be one of the worst offenses in the NFL.
Philadelphia Eagles:
Biggest Strength: Offensive Firepower
The 2021 season was a stark improvement for the Eagles. A 4-11-1 season a year prior was a low point for a team that had won the Super Bowl three years earlier, but it did open the door for Jalen Hurts to take over from Carson Wentz towards the end of the year. More on Hurts later, but the Eagles are putting an offensive juggernaut around him in hopes of taking control of the NFC East.
A core of talented players at the skill positions isn’t paramount to team success, but the last three Super Bowl champions all had some of the best receiving talents in the league. It’s certainly more than a coincidence. The Eagles’ pursuit of A.J. Brown proves they agree with that theory.
Brown is a dominant X receiver that can win in any way he wants. He meshes perfectly with the Eagles’ 2021 first-round pick, Devonta Smith. Smith is the perfect Z receiver. He can move around the offense, be used on jet sweeps and end arounds, and is blessed with field-stretching speed. The Eagles are able to pair Brown and Smith with an excellent inside presence in Dallas Goedert. The tight end had a career year in 2021 and should look to become an even bigger presence on the Eagles’ offense.
With those three receiving options and one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks, the Eagles are in an excellent position to challenge the Cowboys for the NFC East crown next season.
Biggest Weakness: Quarterback Expectations
Now isn’t this a double-edged sword?
Hurts’ improvement from his first year to his second year was seriously impressive. He upped his completion percentage by close to 10 percentage points to 61.3 percent and led the Eagles to an 8-7 record and a playoff berth in his first season as a starter. With a stellar supporting cast around him in 2022, there’s every reason to believe Hurts should continue his development. But, there’s a lot of expectation and it could set the Eagles up to fail.
Progress isn’t always linear, and Hurts still has a long way to go before he’s an established passer in the NFL. His rushing ability is in the same tier as Lamar Jackson – he’s probably the second-best rushing quarterback in the NFL – but his passing prowess is still low-end for starting quarterbacks. A quick glance at his heat map will show that Hurts has problems targeting the middle of the field and tends to work one side of the field. Hopefully, Brown can help open up the offense a little more but Hurts’ development as a passer could make or break the Eagles’ season.
Washington Commanders:
Biggest Strength: Defensive Line
The Commander’s defense was one of the more disappointing stories in 2021. After a dominant 2020 where the unit ranked third in EPA per play and third in DVOA, the expectation was that the defense would continue from strength to strength and assert its authority once again. The addition of Jamin Davis in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft would solidify the defense further. Or so we thought. Midway through the season, the Commanders’ defense was one of the leakiest in the NFL and 31st in EPA per play.
It didn’t take long for the defense to begin to find its footing. They were middle of the pack in EPA over the last six weeks of the season, and that was without star pass rusher Chase Young. Overall, it’s hard to imagine another down year for the Commanders’ defense, purely because of the talent they possess on the defensive line.
The interior duo of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne is, probably, the best in the NFL. They combined for 114 pressures and 13.5 sacks, while Montez Sweat added another five sacks in 10 games. Both Young and Sweat missed significant time in 2021, and that clearly had a negative impact on the team. Should both be fully healthy in 2022, expect big things from the Commanders’ defensive line.
Biggest Weakness: Secondary
A little more on the Commanders’ struggles in 2021. It’s fairly easy to see where things went awry. The Commanders secondary was torched on a weekly basis, allowing the fourth-most passing yards per game in the NFL and finishing 28th in pass DVOA, per Football Outsiders. Without much change during the offseason, it’s hard to see much improvement in the secondary.
The team parted ways with Landon Collins in the offseason, and it’s likely his snaps will be taken by Kamren Curl, but the depth chart doesn’t scream greatness. Kendall Fuller has been a standout cornerback for the Commanders for the last two seasons, but William Jackson’s first season with the team was a huge disappointment after signing a three-year deal with the team in the previous offseason.
Jackson could feasibly bounce back in his second year with the team, but right now, the Commanders’ secondary is the weak link of what could be an excellent defense. Losing a great run defender like Collins will hurt, and the Commanders just don’t have a lot of depth in the secondary. Pass yards are coming.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport