How many wins will take the NFC East this year?

No, this isn’t a schedule prediction – I’m saving that for after the draft. However, the schedule was released this past Thursday and looking specifically at the NFC East, the entire division is ranked in the top 10 in terms of strength of schedule. In 2015, it took 9 wins to win the division, last year it took 12 wins as the Giants finished with 11 and Cowboys with 13. How many wins does it likely take to win the division in 2017?

Divisional Overview

The division faces off this season against the AFC West and NFC West this season, with the Cowboys facing the division champions in the NFC South and North respectively, while the Giants face the 2nd place teams, Redskins 3rd place, and Eagles 4th place.

Dallas Overview

Looking at the division champs, in 3 of  4 quarters of the season, they have 2 straight road games. Overall it is a balanced schedule. Just based on the opponent’s performance from last year, the most difficult opponents being a home game. The Falcons, Giants, Redskins, and Raiders will be their toughest road games. They do have to make a few west coast trips this season; however, they are in Texas, so the traveling will not be a issue for them. This is pre-draft analysis, so there is room for changes to be made, but given the teams they are going up against this season, a defense will be needed to win a few of these games, not just a strong and elite offense.

New York Overview

The Giants schedule is a tale of two halves. Their first half schedule in terms of who they play, combined 2 divisional road games in the first 3 weeks, road game to Denver, a revamped Tampa game in Tampa, to finish with Seattle at home is a tough first half. On the other hand, their second half of the season, where their last quarter of the season they play 3 of their last 4 at home, against all divisional opponents, is much easier. They will have a chance to make up for a slow start if one was to occur. The Giants, outside of the loss of Jonathan Hankins, have retained their dominant defense of the previous season and added receiver Brandon Marshall to help Eli Manning out offensively.

Washington Overview

The Redskins have a pretty favorable schedule, probably the most favorable one out of the 4 teams. They don’t play back to back home or road games until late in the season, and the Redskins’ 3 west coast trips are spread out into 3 different quarters of the season. The Redskins also don’t have any quick turnarounds, as most of the Redskins games this season are played after 4 pm this season, with 5 primetime games. Washington is heading into the season with a reloaded offense that hasn’t skipped a beat this offseason, and a defense slowly building (but indeed building).

Philadelphia Overview

Lastly, the Eagles probably have the most difficult schedule of the division. Although they play a 4th place schedule, that is still no slack of a schedule. They finish their 2017 campaign with 4 of their last 7 games on the road, with 3 straight road trips starting in week 13. The Eagles have built up their receiving core, creating a more versatile and favorable offense for 2nd year quarterback Carson Wentz. Although the receivers have improved, the defense has lost pieces and running back is an issue as well.

How Many Wins Takes The East?

It’s likely that 11 wins at most takes the NFC East this year. Outside of the fact that the teams in the division have caught up with each other, the AFC West is one of the better divisions in football and I expect the East to have fits with that division.

 

 

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