NFC East

After taking a look at the Eagles earlier this week, we can do the same with the other two teams in the division. It seems to me that the Redskins are the better team right now and are the bigger threat to the Giants winning the division this year. I think we also may be looking at the next several years of Redskins being the top rivals of the Giants in the division instead of the Cowboys and Eagles. It's not only because the Redskins beat the Cowboys last week on the road in Dallas, after crushing the Eagles the week before, though that is certainly a part of it. It's also how strong the Redskins looked doing it, forcing the Cowboys to put on a big rally just to come close and make the game respectable. Eagles the week before were never even in the game. It's also about the remaining schedule the Redskins and Cowboys have and the slight advantage the Redskins have in their remaining opponents. Redskins and Cowboys play each other in the last game of the season in Washington (advantage being at home) and have a common opponent in the fast-falling Eagles. In the other 3 games on each team's schedule, the Cowboys have 3 difficult games: Bengals, Steelers (difficult if Big Ben comes back) and the Saints. By comparison, the Redskins have two tough games in the Giants and the Ravens, but have one realtively easier game against the Browns.

Cowboys keep getting key injuries, losing another player this week in their DB-field and there is just an aura about them that they are on the decline. The Redskins conversely, definitely have the feel of a team on the rise with their young dynamic QB leading the way. Jimmy Johnson, on the Fox studio show called RG III the best player in the league. Johnson is not really prone to hyperbole and is a great talent evaluator, so we can't summarily dismiss his opinions. Maybe he wanted to tweak Jerry Jones a little bit, someone he was once close with but one with whom his relationship has disintegrated, specifically over personnel matters. He wanted to send a message to Jerry Jones that the Cowboys are on the decline and not only are the Giants better than his Cowboys, but the window on their current roster is closing fast, because there's now another team in the division that has a better team and a more exciting player.

Whether Johnson is right or not, there's no doubt that until defenses figure out how to neutralize RG III's speed and the fake run, he will be tough to handle.

The Redskins offense looks very formidable and more balanced than what the Giants faced with the Packers last week. Leaving the QB out of the discussion for a minute, the Packers probably have better WRs that the Redskins, but the Redskins have a better OL and a much better running game. Rookie RB Morris looks like a star for them. He ran all over the Giants in the first game and Giants need a big game from their DL this week to stop them. The Redskins defense is not great, but a few tweaks in the offseason to upgrade the defense, add a little more to the offense and with that QB, they could be a force to deal with in the NFC East for the next several years.