| Andrew Perna. 9th September, 2008 - 4:27 pm
 The NFC East sent three teams to the playoffs in 2007, and after one week of action the division is looking like one of the strongest in the NFL once again.
The defending-champion New York Giants kicked off the 2008 season with a win against the division-rival Washington Redskins last Thursday. Eli Manning and the offense looked great in the first quarter, putting ten points on the board but were far from impressive after the opening stanza.
They managed a pair of field goals in the second quarter and then failed to put a single point on the board in the second half on their way to a closer-than-it-seemed, 16-7, season-opening victory.
Had the Redskins not struggled so much offensively – some of the credit for Washington’s issues deserves to go to the short-handed but stout New York defense – the Super Bowl champions may have opened the season with a loss at home.
With that said, what separates the good teams from the great ones is the ability to win even when not playing well. That appears to be what the Giants did against the Redskins.
The Philadelphia Eagles, the only NFC East team not to make the postseason this past winter, started the season with a bang against the St. Louis Rams.
Donovan McNabb, completely healthy for the first time in quite a while, looked like the quarterback that led the Eagles to Super Bowl XXXIX against the Patriots a few years ago as he cut apart the St. Louis secondary en route to 361 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Even without Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis, McNabb hooked up with a trio of wide receivers that topped the 100-yard mark, including dynamic rookie DeSean Jackson. The second-round pick caught six passes for 106 yards, but it was a play late in the third quarter that truly excited the city of Philadelphia.
The Rams punted on 4th-and-13 to Jackson, who promptly returned to ball sixty yards, all the way to the nine-yard line. The Eagles failed to reach the end zone, settling for a field goal four plays later, but the unfamiliar idea of good field possession will only help Philadelphia’s dynamic offense.
Rarely did the Eagles get the ball in enemy territory in 2007, but strong performances on both defense and special teams will allow the Eagles to win this season even when the opposing defenses are holding McNabb and Brian Westbrook from exploding for more than thirty points.
While we’ve only seen the Eagles play one game, every week counts when only sixteen are played per season. In fact, an extra win could have propelled Philadelphia (8-8) to the postseason instead of Washington (9-7) last year.
The Eagles played a weak team to open the season while the Cowboys were supposed to have their hands full with the Browns.
Cleveland barely missed the postseason last year, compiling a 10-6 record on their way to national attention. With playmakers like Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, and Kellen Winslow on offense, the Browns have the tools to beat any team in the NFL.
However, Dallas made Cleveland look like the Browns of old during a decisive road win on Sunday.
Tony Romo carved up the opposing defense – much like McNabb did against St. Louis – to the tune of 320 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. He wasn’t perfect, but he was more than good enough to lead the Cowboys to victory against a very good football team.
Romo was able to spread the ball around among three top targets (Jason Witten, Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton) while comfortably handing the ball off to either Marion Barber or talented rookie Felix Jones.
Dallas can’t feel great about the injured ribs of Barber, who ran sixteen times for 80 yards and two touchdowns, but they can sleep well knowing that Jones appears definitely capable of handling more than nine carries per game.
Jones, Darren McFadden’s backup at Arkansas, rushed for 62 yards and scored a touchdown in his professional debut.
Crayton, a question mark as the number-two receiver heading into the season, looked strong in the role against Cleveland’s iffy pass defense. We’ll have a much better idea of how he’ll perform this season when the tough Eagles’ pass defense rolls into Dallas on Monday night.
After one week of action, the NFC East stood tied with the AFC East and NFC South for the best record among the NFL’s eight divisions (3-1).
The entire division allowed just 36 points in Week One, an astonishing number considering that three teams allowed more than that this weekend.
This division could send three teams to the NFC playoffs once again this year, but there is a ton of football left to be played. The Eagles and Cowboys will battle on Monday night in Dallas, a game that will give one of the teams an early advantage as September wears on.
The Giants will travel to St. Louis to take on the confused Rams this weekend, which should result in another win and a chance to get the offense on track over the full sixty minutes. Meanwhile, the Redskins will host the Saints in a game that isn’t far removed from a ‘must win’, which seems like an overstatement in mid-September.
You needn’t look further than their Eastern equivalent in the AFC, which was turned upside down after a single first-quarter play this past Sunday.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM. Please feel free to contact him via e-mail with comments or questions on this piece: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. |
