| The NFC East has been taking a beating lately.
It’s been called the "NFC Least," because most football people believe
it’s the worst division in the NFL. No arguments from me on that one.
Considering the sorry state of most of its teams, it’s a good bet that just one
team from the division will qualify for the playoffs. At this point, it’s hard to
imagine a wild-card coming from the NFC East. Heck, it’s hard to even imagine a team
worthy of being in the postseason considering how these teams are playing.
It’s been suggested that an 8-8 division winner will emerge from the NFC East.
While I suppose that is possible, I don’t see it happening. But then again,
considering the Eagles are currently in first place with a .500 record, it is plausible
that the division champ finishes with an even record.
Not being a patient man, I decided to play out the rest of the season in my mind. I
want to know now how this whole mess is going to play out. So, let’s take a
team-by-team, game-by-game look at the remainder of the NFC East schedule. You might be
surprised by how things turn out.
We start with the division leading Eagles (3-3).
At Arizona — W (4-3)
Vs. Minnesota — W (5-3)
At Dallas — W (6-3)
Vs. Washington — W (7-3)
At Kansas City — W (8-3)
Vs. San Diego — W (9-3)
At Washington — L (9-4)
At San Francisco — L (9-5)
Vs. N.Y. Giants — L (9-6)
At Tampa Bay — L (9-7)
You’ ve got to be wondering about the four-game collapse at the end of the season.
I think that Washington could be playing much better ball by the end of the season, and
going to San Francisco is not an easy task. I can’t remember when the Giants lost
twice in the same year to the Eagles. The Buccaneers should have righted their ship
completely by the end of the regular season. The Eagles end up a disappointing 9-7.
Now, let’s look at those slumping Giants (3-4), who are in the midst of a
three-game losing streak.
Vs. Dallas — W (4-4)
At Arizona — W (5-4)
At Minnesota — L (5-5)
Vs. Oakland — L (5-6)
At Dallas — W (6-6)
Vs. Arizona — W (7-6)
Vs. Seattle — W (8-6)
At Philadelphia — W (9-6)
Vs. Green Bay — W (10-6)
Wow! The Giants close the season with a five-game winning streak. They are fortunate to
get three below-average teams — the Cardinals, Cowboys and Seahakws — in a row.
They should get revenge vs. the Eagles and then win a gutty game against a playoff-bound
Packers teams to finish 10-6.
Next up is Arizona (2-4).
Vs. Philadelphia — L (2-5)
Vs. N.Y. Giants — L (2-6)
Vs. Detroit — W (3-6)
At San Diego — L (3-7)
At Oakland — L (3-8)
Vs. Washington — L (3-9)
At N.Y. Giants — L (3-10)
Vs. Dallas — W (4-10)
At Carolina — W (5-10)
At Washington — L (5-11)
This is an improvement over last year’s 3-13 record. There aren’t a lot of
patsies left on the Cardinals’ schedule. Yes, the Lions and Panthers should be wins.
And they could take the Cowboys in Arizona. But I doubt the Cardinals can sweep the Eagles
this year. There is little chance of them knocking off an angry Giants team. They could
get a win against the Redskins, but at this point, I’m predicting they don’t. Do
they have a shot of knocking off the Raiders or Chargers on the road? No. They used their
"road-upset" in Philadelphia earlier this year.
The Cowboys (2-4) are also sitting just one game behind the current first-place Eagles.
At N.Y. Giants — L (2-5)
At Atlanta — L (2-6)
Vs. Philadelphia — L (2-7)
Vs. Denver — L (2-8)
At Washington — L (2-9)
Vs. N.Y. Giants — L (2-10)
At Seattle — L (2-11)
At Arizona — L (2-12)
Vs. San Francisco — L (2-13)
At Detroit — W (3-13)
What can be said, really? It’s going to be a long rest of the season in Dallas.
Maybe Jerry Jones will get some good player evaluations down the stretch. He’s not
going to get a lot of wins.
And finally, the last-place Redskins (2-5). They have won two in a row, and there is a
bit of trust beginning to form between Marty Schottenheimer and his players.
Vs. Seattle — L (3-5)
At Denver — L (3-6)
At Philadelphia — L (3-7)
Vs. Dallas — W (4-7)
At Arizona — W (5-7)
Vs. Philadelphia — W (6-7)
Vs. Chicago — W (7-7)
At New Orleans — L (7-8)
Vs. Arizona — W (8-8)
By the end of the year, the Redskins could be playing decent football. I see them
getting quality wins over opponents like the Eagles and the Bears. And I also see owner
Daniel Snyder seeing just enough hope to keep Schottenheimer around for another season.
So there you go. If you believe my predictions, the Giants will win the division. The
Eagles will finish in second place but miss out on the postseason. The Redskins wind up
.500. The Cardinals continue their never-ending rebuilding program and the Cowboys wind up
with one of the rest records in football.
Only time will tell. |
