McNabb, Eagles flying high in NFC East
McNabb, Eagles flying high in NFC East
It's the strongest division in the NFL the past 40+ seasons, and Donovan McNabb is out to lead the Eagles to the top of the NFC East in the upcoming 2009 season. With the Cowboys and Giants the darlings of the media and the public, Philadelphia is slowly moving up the betting odds chart with training camps set to open in about five weeks. The Eagles open their preseason slate Aug 13 at home against the Patriots.
Welcome to the best division in the NFL.
The NFC East has been the center of the football universe since 1967, when the NFL first breathed life into what was then known as the Capitol Division. They’ve been represented at 19 of the 43 Super Bowls and hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy 11 times – five for the Dallas Cowboys, three each for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, and none yet for the Philadelphia Eagles. Is this their year?
The betting odds suggest the marketplace is warming up to the idea. Here’s what the Super Bowl futures had in store for all four teams at the open and at press time:
Giants 8/1 ... 9/1
Eagles 12/1 ... 11/1
Cowboys 9/1 ... 11/1
Redskins 25/1 ... 25/1
Only the Redskins appear to be out of the championship picture at this point. The other three teams are also the top three favorites to win the NFC, where once again the lines have been moving in Philly’s direction since the open.
Giants 4/1 ... 9/2
Eagles 6/1 ... 11/2
Cowboys 5/1 ... 6/1
Redskins 12/1 ... 12/1
You can’t blame the market for taking a shine to the Eagles. They were the best team in the league last year in terms of efficiency, according to the leading NFL stat junkies at Football Outsiders. The Giants moved up from No. 15 in 2007 to No. 3 in 2008, carrying the momentum from the late-season surge that netted them Super Bowl XLII and saved coach Tom Coughlin from the unemployment line.
Gazing into my crystal ball (I keep one in the beer fridge for such occasions), I see the Eagles continuing to rise up the charts and capturing the division title from the Giants. Dallas is going to have a hard time keeping up after falling from No. 3 to No. 15 in league efficiency and shedding the considerable talents of wideout Terrell Owens. And Washington seems destined for mediocrity after slipping from No. 12 in efficiency to No. 18, spoiling a promising 6-2 start (5-3 ATS) to the 2008 campaign.
The Eagles (9-6-1 SU, 10-6 ATS last year) are already one of the top defensive teams in the league. The health of the offense always seems to be in doubt; this year’s draft was focused on surrounding QB Donovan McNabb (23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions) with some fresh talent. Enter WR Jeremy Maclin, RB LeSean McCoy and TE Cornelius Ingram with Philadelphia’s first three picks. Maclin is in the best position to step in immediately and provide McNabb with a legitimate target to complement DeSean Jackson and oft-injured Kevin Curtis, who told the Philadelphia Daily News that he’s completely healthy for 2009 following surgery for a sports hernia.
The offseason wasn’t nearly as positive for the Giants (12-4 SU and ATS). Wideout Plaxico Burress was sent packing after accidentally shooting himself in the leg; more importantly from a football perspective, heralded defensive co-ordinator Steve Spagnuolo was finally lured away by a lucrative offer to coach the St. Louis Rams. His replacement, former linebackers coach Bill Sheridan, inherits a defense with an outstanding front seven, but also with too many questions in the secondary to inspire confidence.
The Giants’ front seven includes free-agent signing Chris Canty, who joins the Dallas exodus along with Owens, SS Roy Williams, LB Zach Thomas, LB Kevin Burnett, CB Adam Jones, CB Anthony Henry, DE Greg Ellis and DT Tank Johnson. The Cowboys (9-7 SU, 7-9 ATS) went from top Super Bowl contenders to missing the playoffs in 2008; the hands-on behavior of owner Jerry Jones has to be of concern to fans in Big D.
Ask long-suffering fans of the Redskins (8-8 SU, 6-8-2 ATS). They thought they were out of the woods in 2004 when owner Daniel Snyder stepped into the background while local legend Joe Gibbs took the reins. Gibbs lasted four years before handing the coach’s whistle to untested Jim Zorn. Now Snyder is up to his old tricks, spending big bucks on DT Albert Haynesworth but losing LB Jason Taylor and failing to improve an offense that finished No. 15 in the league in efficiency. If the Redskins were a bank, they’d be allowed to fail.
It's the strongest division in the NFL the past 40+ seasons, and Donovan McNabb is out to lead the Eagles to the top of the NFC East in the upcoming 2009 season. With the Cowboys and Giants the darlings of the media and the public, Philadelphia is slowly moving up the betting odds chart with training camps set to open in about five weeks. The Eagles open their preseason slate Aug 13 at home against the Patriots.
Welcome to the best division in the NFL.
The NFC East has been the center of the football universe since 1967, when the NFL first breathed life into what was then known as the Capitol Division. They’ve been represented at 19 of the 43 Super Bowls and hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy 11 times – five for the Dallas Cowboys, three each for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, and none yet for the Philadelphia Eagles. Is this their year?
The betting odds suggest the marketplace is warming up to the idea. Here’s what the Super Bowl futures had in store for all four teams at the open and at press time:
Giants 8/1 ... 9/1
Eagles 12/1 ... 11/1
Cowboys 9/1 ... 11/1
Redskins 25/1 ... 25/1
Only the Redskins appear to be out of the championship picture at this point. The other three teams are also the top three favorites to win the NFC, where once again the lines have been moving in Philly’s direction since the open.
Giants 4/1 ... 9/2
Eagles 6/1 ... 11/2
Cowboys 5/1 ... 6/1
Redskins 12/1 ... 12/1
You can’t blame the market for taking a shine to the Eagles. They were the best team in the league last year in terms of efficiency, according to the leading NFL stat junkies at Football Outsiders. The Giants moved up from No. 15 in 2007 to No. 3 in 2008, carrying the momentum from the late-season surge that netted them Super Bowl XLII and saved coach Tom Coughlin from the unemployment line.
Gazing into my crystal ball (I keep one in the beer fridge for such occasions), I see the Eagles continuing to rise up the charts and capturing the division title from the Giants. Dallas is going to have a hard time keeping up after falling from No. 3 to No. 15 in league efficiency and shedding the considerable talents of wideout Terrell Owens. And Washington seems destined for mediocrity after slipping from No. 12 in efficiency to No. 18, spoiling a promising 6-2 start (5-3 ATS) to the 2008 campaign.
The Eagles (9-6-1 SU, 10-6 ATS last year) are already one of the top defensive teams in the league. The health of the offense always seems to be in doubt; this year’s draft was focused on surrounding QB Donovan McNabb (23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions) with some fresh talent. Enter WR Jeremy Maclin, RB LeSean McCoy and TE Cornelius Ingram with Philadelphia’s first three picks. Maclin is in the best position to step in immediately and provide McNabb with a legitimate target to complement DeSean Jackson and oft-injured Kevin Curtis, who told the Philadelphia Daily News that he’s completely healthy for 2009 following surgery for a sports hernia.
The offseason wasn’t nearly as positive for the Giants (12-4 SU and ATS). Wideout Plaxico Burress was sent packing after accidentally shooting himself in the leg; more importantly from a football perspective, heralded defensive co-ordinator Steve Spagnuolo was finally lured away by a lucrative offer to coach the St. Louis Rams. His replacement, former linebackers coach Bill Sheridan, inherits a defense with an outstanding front seven, but also with too many questions in the secondary to inspire confidence.
The Giants’ front seven includes free-agent signing Chris Canty, who joins the Dallas exodus along with Owens, SS Roy Williams, LB Zach Thomas, LB Kevin Burnett, CB Adam Jones, CB Anthony Henry, DE Greg Ellis and DT Tank Johnson. The Cowboys (9-7 SU, 7-9 ATS) went from top Super Bowl contenders to missing the playoffs in 2008; the hands-on behavior of owner Jerry Jones has to be of concern to fans in Big D.
Ask long-suffering fans of the Redskins (8-8 SU, 6-8-2 ATS). They thought they were out of the woods in 2004 when owner Daniel Snyder stepped into the background while local legend Joe Gibbs took the reins. Gibbs lasted four years before handing the coach’s whistle to untested Jim Zorn. Now Snyder is up to his old tricks, spending big bucks on DT Albert Haynesworth but losing LB Jason Taylor and failing to improve an offense that finished No. 15 in the league in efficiency. If the Redskins were a bank, they’d be allowed to fail.