Handicapping the NFC East division for the 2010 season is difficult because the division has undergone a lot of changes in the off-season. The division pretty much consists of 3 unknowns, and the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are usually the choice to win the division and the fact that they got the playoff victory “monkey” off their collective backs last season makes them stand out as the team to beat. I feel that they are good enough to finish second in the division and contend for a wild card. The Philadelphia Eagles have been undergoing a youth movement for a couple of seasons now, adding explosive new weapons like DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and LeSean McCoy to their offense while also turning over much of their defense to younger players. They made the ultimate commitment to youth this off-season by trading QB Donovan McNabb to Washington and deciding to go with Kevin Kolb. This is probably, at least for this year, going to be a boom or bust decision for the Eagles. My opinion is that despite Kolb’s obvious upside, the Eagles are going to find out just how much McNabb has meant to their success over the years by tumbling to the bottom of the division standings this year. The Redskins will go into this season with high expectations with the additions of McNabb and new coach Mike Shanahan, and they will improve enough to overtake the Eagles and finish third, showing measurable improvement as the season goes on and fueling hope for 2011. That leaves the New York Giants as my choice to win the divison. The Giants, after starting last season 5-0, did an unbelievable tank job and fell completely off the map by season’s end. The defense was atrocious and this team, only 2 years removed from winning the Super Bowl, out-and-out quit on the coaching staff in the last few games. Coach Tom Coughlin is the type of person who will right this ship, and made one major hire to help achieve this by bringing in Perry Fewell to coordinate the defense. Fewell did a great job of infusing some energy into a lifeless Buffalo team when he finished the season as their interim head coach, and is the perfect hire to run the the Giants’ defense. I see the Giants “D” being a dominant unit again, and Coughlin doing whatever he needs to do to weed out the quitters, putting the Giants back into position to be Super Bowl contenders again.
