The NFC East has been an extremely volatile division in recent memory. The New York Giants winners of Super Bowls XLII and XLVI have been plagued by turnovers and lack of a viable running game while the once mighty Giants defense has lost significant talent. The Dallas Cowboys, winners of the NFC East division last season have been riddled with injury and many wonder if their backups will be able to play well enough to give stars Tony Romo and Dez Bryant a chance to play for a playoff spot when they return from their respective injuries.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been completely turned over with regard to personnel and have gotten off to a very slow start in each of their three games after an electric preseason. The very underwhelming Eagles team were favored to win the NFC East and some experts even had them playing for the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50. Only time will tell if the high powered offense known to be head coach Chip Kelly’s signature since entering the league will finally kick into gear. Finally, the Washington Redskins which I have no idea how to make heads or tails of. The Redskins have effectively ended the RG3 experiment by benching him for Kirk Cousins. Beyond benching the former No. 2 overall selection in the NFL draft, the Redskins have revamped their offensive line which manhandled what is considered the best defensive line in football in the St. Louis Rams. There are promising points with the Redskins but as recent years have shown something is destined to go wrong.

Philadelphia Eagles

As an Eagles fan, this hurts to write but the Eagles have been terrible up to this point in the season. Quarterback Sam Bradford, who was traded for in the offseason for quarterback Nick Foles and a draft pick, has shown glimpses of greatness but has not been able to put together a full game. This is also a product of the lack of productivity in the running game as star running back Demarco Murray has only 11 yards and the Eagles leading rusher is third-stringer Darren Sproles. The bright spot for the Eagles this season has been the defense. The offense struggling mightily and at times having long streaks of three and outs leaves the defense on the field for a longer than normal or necessary time. The depth at linebacker has helped the Eagles with injuries to newly acquired Kiko Alonso and recently resigned Mychal Kendricks. Rookie Jordan Hicks has been a bright spot and is excelling in his role with the Eagles. The play of the special teams has been essential for the Eagles in recent years and proves true this season as well as a returned punt for a touchdown was likely the difference between a win and overtime in the Eagles win over the Jets. Going forward, the offense must give their defense some help if they aim to live up to expectations of winning the division and even a first Lombardi Trophy going to the city of brotherly love. We know how explosive this team is capable of being, but they just haven’t shown it up to this point.

Washington Redskins

Arguably the biggest question mark in the NFC East. This team is just as capable of winning this division as is any other team, but they just have to show that they can finish games. The loss of wide receiver and big time playmaker Desean Jackson may prove harmful as the Redskins look to get quarterback Kirk Cousins comfortable as the starter. If you’ve followed football for the past couple seasons you know that the Redskins offensive line has been subpar at best. They addressed this with their first pack of the draft this year where they selected Brandon Scherff. Scherff was regarded as the best offensive lineman in the draft this year being dubbed a “mean and nasty” run blocking guard. His addition has surely bolstered this line and it has been apparent as the Redskins manhandled the St. Louis Rams stellar defensive line on their way to a victory.

The one-two punch of Matt Jones and Alfred Morris has also been a great change of pace for the Redskins and allows them to run the ball at a greater volume and with better effectiveness especially on early downs. This is essential because I doubt the Redskins want to get into long distance third downs where they place the fate of a game in the hands of a newly named starting quarterback. Not to diminish the quality of Kirk Cousins by any means but his strength is being a game manager, not necessarily putting the full force of the offense on his shoulders to win a game. The defense has been inconsistent at times and the loss of starting corner Deangelo Hall certainly doesn’t help their cause. Young players are being asked to step up and take a bigger role in this offense and that may spell trouble for Washington moving forward.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys, coming off a heartbreaking loss in the playoffs last year after the decision that Dez Bryant, in fact did not catch a disputed ball, find themselves without an array of key players that were key to that playoff run. League-leading rusher Demarco Murray, quarterback Tony Romo, and wide receiver Dez Bryant were all key in making the Cowboys playoff run possible. Murray, now with Philadelphia, has been replaced by Joseph Randle who has shown that he is capable of being an every down back for Dallas behind what is regarded as the NFL’s best offensive line. Tony Romo was a name some experts brought up when discussing last year’s MVP. His production and the intangibles that he also brings to that team are big shoes to fill. This void is up to Brandon Weeden to fill. It is no mystery that Weeden has the arm to do it but Romo does so many other things for that team to will them to wins that a backup quarterback just may not be able to do.

Weeden is also without star receiver Dez Bryant who injured his foot earlier this season and is expected to be out for an extended period of time. Bryant is a physical gift who can go up and over defenders as well as past them with his speed. It’s almost impossible to replace such a physical talent and coach Jason Garrett knows this and has tailored his offensive gameplan more towards running the ball behind that stellar offensive line that they have assembled. The Cowboys have also gained steady play from linebacker Sean Lee who is regarded by some as one of the best interior linebackers in the league. Lee has struggled staying on the field as he has been hampered by significant season ending injuries in recent memory and his return has proven helpful for a Cowboys team that finds themselves atop a struggling NFC East division.

New York Giants

It almost pains me to describe the difficulties of the New York Giants through the first three weeks. The Giants have blown significant fourth quarter leads in the first two weeks largely due to defensive lapses and ineffective clock management. Against Dallas, quarterback Eli Manning decided to throw a ball out of the back of the end zone instead of going down and taking a sack which allowed the Cowboys enough time to drive down the field and get the game winning score. Odell Beckham Jr. has been the Giants shining point up to this point breaking all kinds of records for receivers through his first 16 games. Everyone remembers the seemingly impossible catch Beckham Jr. made last year as he brought the ball in with what appeared to only be three fingers from behind his head. This sort of receiving threat is rare and few have found a way to stop the young talent. The Giants hope to get former breakout receiver, Victor Cruz, back from injury soon and that could prove to be a deadly receiving duo for the Giants. The Giants have also been plagued by injury on defense. Defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul injured his hand in a fireworks incident on July 4^th which led to the amputation of his index finger. He has been a wrecking ball for the Giants who have not been able to generate a substantive pass rush up to this point this season. Also, inside linebacker Jon Beason, has yet to return to action after his injury issues which has led to the playing of rookie Uani Unga who was caught playing too deep in coverage against Jason Witten of the Cowboys late in the game of their opening game.

The NFC East is anyone’s division to win at this point. Riddled by injury and lack of productivity these teams had high hopes coming into the season. Maybe this is my personal bias speaking, but I see the Philadelphia Eagles being able to turn this season around and winning the division. I say that because their injury situation is not as bad and they have too big of an upside to not succeed. If this isn’t the case and the Eagles falter for an extended period of time, the Giants then have the best chance to win the division in my mind. The Cowboys have a long road in front of them to get their key players back and I believe that will prove to be too big of a task.

For the Redskins, although they have shown glimpses, I just haven’t seen enough out of them talent wise that leads me to believe they have what it takes to win this division. It will be interesting going forward to see what this division turns out to look like and what changes coaches will make to try and take control of a struggling division.