The case against and for the Cowboys winning the East

[CouchCoach]

They say records are made to be broken and the longest time without a repeat division winner is the NFC East. The Eagles were the last to repeat in 2004 when they won it for the 4th time in a row.

Since 2004, no East team has repeated and the Cowboys have won 6, the Eagles 5, the Commanders and Giants 3 each with the Giants being the most distant winner in 2011.

Since 2017, no East champ has advanced beyond the division round and the last 3 lost in the Wild Card round. There have been 2 NFL champs in this time frame, the Giants in that 2011 season and the Eagles in 2017.

So, does the NFC East Curse remain for another season with another division champ and if it does, which NFC East team wins it in 2022? Or will the Cowboys break the 17 year Curse and repeat as East champs?

This post is not about the against or for, this thread is.

 

[DonaldM]

We break the curse plus shock the world with a Superbowl win. Jmho.

 

[jazzcat22]

Dallas is favorites to win the East. In spite of what the Eagles did in FA & the draft.
We are the current NFCE champs, and it stays that way until we are not.
The Eagles slobberers will disagree I am sure. LOL.

I go by this every year. Well, pretty much every year.
Whoever the current champ is, I stay with them as the team to beat throughout the year, unless, or until the wheels fall off. Or a new team clinches.

One of the few times I did not go with the current champ, was after the 2020 season with the newly names Commodes. Dallas was injured, no Dak, and they still had a chance to win the division. As did all the teams. I knew no way Washington was going to repeat.

Dallas....current champs, and team did not change much overall, but potential to improve
Philly...depends on Hurts development, still best front 7 or it seems
Washington....depends on Wentz, they could move ahead of Philly
NYG....need a lot of work yet

 

[Flamma]

I have a hard time making an argument for any of the other teams winning the East.

Giants. A great draft. If everyone stays healthy, maybe? QB Jones is shaky. But when given a clean pocket he's not that bad.

Commies. Who are their weapons besides their rookie WR? The defense? Will they show up?

Eagles. It would be so easy to make a case for the Eagles if they had a different QB. I can see them winning the east if no other teams wins more than 9 games.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

We are just better. The better team wins right?

 

[cityochamps]

Dont see Philthy, Gnats or the Commadores improving enough to take our crown in 2022.

 

[Creeper]

Junior Jones got it all wrong when he said you don't win Super Bowls in the offseason. He should read the Art of War by Sun Tsu. "The battle is won before it is fought". And for we fans " When soldiers fail to follow orders, blame the Generals".

Anyway, I see the offseason like a golf tournament. You cannot play defense. You have to go out and play your best game because there is nothing you can do about how your opponents play. The Cowboys did not play their best game in the offseason but the Giants and Eagles played very well. There has to be consequences for having done a bad job of preparing for the next season while your opponents improved.

I think the Eagles are going to be the team that will give the Cowboys the most problems but the Giants have improved on the OL a lot this year. If they can open some holes for Barkley they can take a lot of the pressure off Jones. But the Giants have to lose their best CB, Bradberry, because they cannot afford to keep him and pay their rookie draft picks. That hurts their defense.

The Eagles season all depends on Hurts. If he improves his throwing at all, the Eagles could take the division. But remember, the Eagles won 7 of their last 10 games last year by running the football. The still have the best offensive line in the division and the best front 7 on defense. I do not count them out. I don't expect Jordan Davis to make a major contribution this year, few rookie DTs do, but the Eagle are getting Brandon Graham back and that is going to help their pass rush a lot. I am picking the Eagles to win the division in a close fought battle with the Cowboys and Giants.

As for the Cowboys, I think the losses of Cooper, Collins and Gregory are going to be greater than we are expecting. I think the loss of Gregory in particular is going to show in 2022. He is a disruptive force on defense and I have serious doubts that Fowler or Sam Williams can replicate Gregory's style of play. Sure Gregory made some mental errors but I still think he more than offset those mistakes with positive plays. I think Cooper will be missed too. I am not a great fan and was fully in favor of trading Cooper this offseason, but I expected they would fill his shoes with a comparable talent. They didn't. Finally, La'el Collins was one of the more physical offensive linemen on the Cowboys. I have doubts that Steele will be as good as Collins. I hope I am wrong. We'll see.

But getting back to Sun Tsu, hoping is not the same as preparation. The Cowboys seem to be crossing their fingers and hoping things work out when they should have shored up their biggest holes with a little more certainty. The Cowboys did nothing this offseason to convince me they are fielding a better team than the 2021 team.

 

[links18]

It will come down to injuries, like it usually does. If we stay healthy, we will win the East. If not, we won't.

 

[fivetwos]

I have a hard time making an argument for any of the other teams winning the East.

Giants. A great draft. If everyone stays healthy, maybe? QB Jones is shaky. But when given a clean pocket he's not that bad.

Commies. Who are their weapons besides their rookie WR? The defense? Will they show up?

Eagles. It would be so easy to make a case for the Eagles if they had a different QB. I can see them winning the east if no other teams wins more than 9 games.

Exactly. If Prescott plays 17 games we win the division.

Unless we get swept by Philly, then it may be close.

 

[CouchCoach]

Dallas is favorites to win the East. In spite of what the Eagles did in FA & the draft.
We are the current NFCE champs, and it stays that way until we are not.
The Eagles slobberers will disagree I am sure. LOL.

I go by this every year. Well, pretty much every year.
Whoever the current champ is, I stay with them as the team to beat throughout the year, unless, or until the wheels fall off. Or a new team clinches.

One of the few times I did not go with the current champ, was after the 2020 season with the newly names Commodes. Dallas was injured, no Dak, and they still had a chance to win the division. As did all the teams. I knew no way Washington was going to repeat.

Dallas....current champs, and team did not change much overall, but potential to improve
Philly...depends on Hurts development, still best front 7 or it seems
Washington....depends on Wentz, they could move ahead of Philly
NYG....need a lot of work yet

Bold, usually logical unless you consider you would have been wrong for the last 17 years in a row. jazzy, that's the "Cicada Syndrome".

 

[CouchCoach]

Junior Jones got it all wrong when he said you don't win Super Bowls in the offseason. He should read the Art of War by Sun Tsu. "The battle is won before it is fought". And for we fans " When soldiers fail to follow orders, blame the Generals".

Anyway, I see the offseason like a golf tournament. You cannot play defense. You have to go out and play your best game because there is nothing you can do about how your opponents play. The Cowboys did not play their best game in the offseason but the Giants and Eagles played very well. There has to be consequences for having done a bad job of preparing for the next season while your opponents improved.

I think the Eagles are going to be the team that will give the Cowboys the most problems but the Giants have improved on the OL a lot this year. If they can open some holes for Barkley they can take a lot of the pressure off Jones. But the Giants have to lose their best CB, Bradberry, because they cannot afford to keep him and pay their rookie draft picks. That hurts their defense.

The Eagles season all depends on Hurts. If he improves his throwing at all, the Eagles could take the division. But remember, the Eagles won 7 of their last 10 games last year by running the football. The still have the best offensive line in the division and the best front 7 on defense. I do not count them out. I don't expect Jordan Davis to make a major contribution this year, few rookie DTs do, but the Eagle are getting Brandon Graham back and that is going to help their pass rush a lot. I am picking the Eagles to win the division in a close fought battle with the Cowboys and Giants.

As for the Cowboys, I think the losses of Cooper, Collins and Gregory are going to be greater than we are expecting. I think the loss of Gregory in particular is going to show in 2022. He is a disruptive force on defense and I have serious doubts that Fowler or Sam Williams can replicate Gregory's style of play. Sure Gregory made some mental errors but I still think he more than offset those mistakes with positive plays. I think Cooper will be missed too. I am not a great fan and was fully in favor of trading Cooper this offseason, but I expected they would fill his shoes with a comparable talent. They didn't. Finally, La'el Collins was one of the more physical offensive linemen on the Cowboys. I have doubts that Steele will be as good as Collins. I hope I am wrong. We'll see.

But getting back to Sun Tsu, hoping is not the same as preparation. The Cowboys seem to be crossing their fingers and hoping things work out when they should have shored up their biggest holes with a little more certainty. The Cowboys did nothing this offseason to convince me they are fielding a better team than the 2021 team.

This off season was approached as arrogance against the East since they swept them by a hell of a margin and they do have the best QB.

The one thing the Joneses should have looked at was the response the Eagles players gave their coaches and they don't know Hurts isn't better than Prescott. The Eagles played much more like a team down the stretch and can they build on that? They are going to be dependent on rookies for some improvement but who is to say they won't have the Rookie D Player of the Year? They could have the best run D and O this season.

 

[Diehardblues]

Washington interest me the most. They’ve added their best QB since Cousins left , a 1st round pick WR and if their defense can rebound to 2021 level could be a threat. Wentz is the key.

Egirls look like they have added the most talent. And we lost the most talent . The division looks to be more balanced this year. I don’t think anyone will run away with it.

The bigger issue than Repeating is we’ve never won this era with a 1st place schedule . Any key injuries to our OL in Smith or Martin and we could be done . Without proper pass protection or running game our QB will struggle .

 

[Praxit]

....we lost few good players via trades and contracts. But drafted some good replacements.

Probably a dogfight for the East. I usually don't see the picture until 4-5 game. So.............hoping for the best.

 

[Flamma]

This off season was approached as arrogance against the East since they swept them by a hell of a margin and they do have the best QB.

The one thing the Joneses should have looked at was the response the Eagles players gave their coaches and they don't know Hurts isn't better than Prescott. The Eagles played much more like a team down the stretch and can they build on that? They are going to be dependent on rookies for some improvement but who is to say they won't have the Rookie D Player of the Year? They could have the best run D and O this season.

None of that had anything to do with the arm of Jalen Hurts. I have the opportunity to listen to Philly sports radio, and just about anyone with a voice anticipated that Eagles late season run due to the easy opponents they had. They went like 5-2 I believe. This didn't come as a shock. They didn't all of a sudden get better, or play better.

It also came with a change in tactics as they became a run heavy offense that included runs by Jalen Hurts. So yeah, they could have a great run D and a good running attack. But if you stop their running attack the game is usually over.

 

[Cowboyny]

I have a hard time making an argument for any of the other teams winning the East.

Giants. A great draft. If everyone stays healthy, maybe? QB Jones is shaky. But when given a clean pocket he's not that bad.

Commies. Who are their weapons besides their rookie WR? The defense? Will they show up?

Eagles. It would be so easy to make a case for the Eagles if they had a different QB. I can see them winning the east if no other teams wins more than 9 games.

Giants had a great draft? Maybe a good 1st rd, but they later picks didn't make much sense. Daniel Jones isn't scaring anyone nor the other 2 QB's in the division. Washington could have a strong defense, Eagles could have a dominate rushing attack, but they are incomplete teams. If the Cowboys can find more balance, they have the most complete team in the division and it's not even close.

 

[Havic]

Daniel Jones, Carson Wentz, and Jalen Hurts is why the Cowboys will win the division

 

[TequilaCowboy]

They say records are made to be broken and the longest time without a repeat division winner is the NFC East. The Eagles were the last to repeat in 2004 when they won it for the 4th time in a row.

Since 2004, no East team has repeated and the Cowboys have won 6, the Eagles 5, the Commanders and Giants 3 each with the Giants being the most distant winner in 2011.

Since 2017, no East champ has advanced beyond the division round and the last 3 lost in the Wild Card round. There have been 2 NFL champs in this time frame, the Giants in that 2011 season and the Eagles in 2017.

So, does the NFC East Curse remain for another season with another division champ and if it does, which NFC East team wins it in 2022? Or will the Cowboys break the 17 year Curse and repeat as East champs?

This post is not about the against or for, this thread is.

The Cowboys may win the NFCE by default since i don't see the Eagles improving as much as the "experts" say they will. They still have Hurts at QB if I remember correctly. And even if the Cowboys are the same type of team as last year, which is questionable in itself, that is not a good thing, going up against playoff teams or teams outside the division . Those are the teams i would be concerned with and developing my team to beat. Not the NFCE foes. Low bar.....savvy.

 

[nightrain]

Better QB usually gives you the best chance, particularly when you have a good roster on both sides of the ball. It's Dak's to lose.

 

[CouchCoach]

None of that had anything to do with the arm of Jalen Hurts. I have the opportunity to listen to Philly sports radio, and just about anyone with a voice anticipated that Eagles late season run due to the easy opponents they had. They went like 5-2 I believe. This didn't come as a shock. They didn't all of a sudden get better, or play better.

It also came with a change in tactics as they became a run heavy offense that included runs by Jalen Hurts. So yeah, they could have a great run D and a good running attack. But if you stop their running attack the game is usually over.

That is the rap on Hurts, he is very much like Prescott was in his second year. The key is the run game and not forcing the game on him, just like the Cowboys need to do. Same with the other East teams as well. They all need to get back to basic East ball.

 

[Jimbo69]

Dallas win the East. Only threat is an on song Wentz. Luckily it's been a long time since we saw that.