Mark Cannizzaro previews the NFC East as The Post gives division-by-division breakdowns ahead of the 2023 NFL season.
Coach: Nick Sirianni
2022 record: 14-3
O/U wins: 11.5
Key additions: QB Marcus Mariota, RB D’Andre Swift, RB Rashaad Penny, WR Olamide Zaccheaus, TE Dan Arnold, QB Tanner McKee
Key departures: RB Miles Sanders, QB Gardner Minshew, WR Zach Pascal
First-and-goal: The Eagles remain not only the favorites to win the NFC East again, but also to return to the Super Bowl with star QB Jalen Hurts, who gets better every year. He improved his completion percentage to 66.5 in 2022 from 61.3 in 2021, his yards to 3,701 from 3,144 and his TD passes to 22 from 16. He, too, rushed for 760 yards and 13 TDs, five more than any other NFL QB. Hurts, in his third year as the starter, has most of his key weapons returning, including WRs DeVonta Smith (95 catches for 1,196 yards and seven TDs in 2022) and A.J. Brown (88/1,496/11).
Fourth-and-long: The Eagles must make up for lost running back production. Sanders, now in Carolina, accounted for career highs in carries (259), rushing yards (1,269) and total touchdowns (11) in 2022. Swift averaged just 560 yards and six TDs in three seasons in Detroit and Penny has had a history of injuries.
Cann’s Call: 12-5. The Eagles remain the class of the division and likely the entire conference, but the Giants and Commanders have gotten better, which should add some parity to the NFC East.
Coach: Brian Daboll
2022 record: 9-7-1
O/U wins: 7.5
Key additions: TE Darren Waller, WR Jamison Crowder, WR Parris Campbell, WR Jalin Hyatt, C John Michael Schmitz, CB Deonte Banks
Key departures: WR Kenny Golladay, WR Marcus Johnson, TE Nick Vannett
First-and-goal: The Giants spent much of the offseason rewarding their own top players with new contracts, beginning with QB Daniel Jones and including LT Andrew Thomas and DT Dexter Lawrence, all cornerstones of the team’s core. They, too, brought RB Saquon Barkley back on a one-year deal. How much better Jones is in Year 2 under Daboll will determine how far the team progresses on its playoff season of 2022. Jones did a great job reducing his turnovers last season from the year before, with only five INTs, the fewest among quarterbacks with more than 10 starts. Barkley had 295 carries for 1,312 rushing yards and 10 TDs in 2022 to go along with 57 catches, tied for the team lead.
Fourth-and-long: As good as Jones was last season, the Giants will need more than the 15 TD passes he threw, and he needs to improve on his 6.8 yards per attempt, which ranked 24th in the league. For safety purposes, the coaches would like him to rely on his arms more than his legs (he rushed for 708 yards and seven TDs last season). With a deeper and better receiving corps, that should happen in 2023. But the Giants don’t have a clear-cut WR1 yet. Maybe Campbell, who had a career-high 63 catches for the Colts last season, will grow into that role. The Giants’ schedule, particularly early in the season, is potentially problematic. They play seven of the first 11 games on the road, and they play three games in the first 11 days of the season.
Cann’s Call: 10-7. The schedule will be difficult to navigate, but Daboll will have his team prepared and the Giants should be better than they were last season. Look for a wild-card playoff entry again.
Coach: Mike McCarthy
2022 record: 12-5
O/U wins: 9.5
Key additions: WR Brandin Cooks, RB Ronald Jones, TE Luke Schoonmaker
Key departures: RB Ezekiel Elliott, TE Dalton Schultz, WR T.Y. Hilton
First-and-goal: There is offensive continuity with QB Dak Prescott back, and now Cooks has been added to his receiving arsenal, which includes the return of CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup. The thing to look for on offense is how it operates with McCarthy calling plays, rather than former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Fourth-and-long: Injuries have cost Prescott significant time in two of the last three years, and he’s coming off a season in which he had a career-high 15 INTs. Another question is how returning RB Tony Pollard will handle the load with Elliott gone. Pollard, who averaged 5.0 yards per carry last year, had 200 touches for the first time in his career last season. Elliott averaged more than 300 touches in his seven years as the Cowboys’ lead back. On the offensive line, outside of guard Zack Martin, none of the Dallas linemen is ranked in the top 20 at his position according to Pro Football Focus.
Cann’s Call: 10-7. For a second season in a row, the NFC East gets three teams into the postseason. The division will be tighter this season than last.
Coach: Ron Rivera
2022 record: 8-8-1
O/U wins: 6.5
Key additions: OT Andrew Wylie, C Nick Gates, WR Byron Pringle, QB Jacoby Brissett, LB Cody Barton, CB Emmanuel Forbes, S Jartavius Martin
Key departures: QB Carson Wentz, QB Taylor Heinicke, WR Cam Sims
First-and-goal: Washington is banking on newly hired offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and second-year QB Sam Howell to improve an offense that ranked 20th or worse in both points and yards in each of the past five years. The Commanders return skill-position players such as WRs Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson and RBs Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson and hope Bieniemy can bring his magic touch from Kansas City despite not having Patrick Mahomes at QB. Defensively, the Commanders were seventh in points allowed and third in yards allowed last season due, in part, to a strong front with Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen and Chase Young leading the way.
Fourth-and-long: Washington is asking a lot of Howell, a 2022 fifth-round pick who played in only one game last season, Week 18. The backup plan is Brissett, a journeyman who never has been able to solidify himself as a regular starter in Indianapolis, Miami or Cleveland. As good as the defense was in 2022, the Commanders created only 18 takeaways, 26th in the NFL. This century, Washington has qualified for the playoffs just five times, with only one win (in 2005). The franchise has failed to win more than 10 games in a season since 1991, the longest drought in the NFL by 17 years.
Cann’s Call: 7-10. The QB situation is a concern. The Commanders clearly are the fourth-best team in the division.