2023 NFC East Prediction

By: Garret Kryzanowski

Today I will be discussing and predicting the winner of the NFC East or as some have refered to it, the "NFC Beast". Now for those of you that need a refresher, the NFC East consists of four teams; the Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys and the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

To keep this blog a quicker read I will just briefly say the Commanders, who are under new ownership (finally), will once again be dead last. Sam Howell is not the guy at quarterback for them and they still have to many missing pieces everywhere but wide receiver.

While the New York Giants, in my opinion, were "One Hit Wonders" last season. Even with Saquon Barkley back for at least another season, Daniel Jones overperformed last year and leaned on his defence to help them win games they shouldn't. This won't happen again as the Giants will fight and claw for a record of 8-9 at best.

Now, this is where the division gets tricky. It is top heavy with two teams who have loaded rosters fighting for top stop in the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

I'll start with the Cowboys who have a tremendous amount of talent on both sides of the ball. On offence the Cowboys have a franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott who is looking to build on earning his second playoff win last season. At running back it will finally be Tony Pollard's time to shine with Ezekiel Elliot now a New England Patriot. They also have a three headed monster at receiver consisting of CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Brandin Cooks; with Lamb arguably being one of the best in the NFL.

On defence they are lead by my pick for NFL defensive player of the year, Micah Parsons. They also added depth at cornerback to help former All-Pro Trevon Diggs in Stephen Gillmore, who is also a former All-Pro. Finally, they have Dexter Lawrence leading a strong defensive line for the Cowboys. The Cowboys are a very good team who should only lose four maybe five gamers all year. But is it enough to win the division? No.

In almost if not any other division losing four to five games means your division champions. But this is the "NFC Beast" and it is nicknamed that for a reason, depth. This division has depth and that starts and feels like it ends with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles are loaded on both sides of the ball. On offence they have former MVP finalist Jalen Hurts at quarterback, who will only improve in year four. Improvements were also made at the running back position for the defending NFC champions as they replaced Miles Sanders, who left for Carolina, with D'Andre Swift. At receiver you have arguably the best one-two combo in the NFL with Aj Brown and former Heisman winner Devonta Smith. With a very underrated tight end in Dallas Goedert, who should get a lot more action this coming season.

On defence the Eagles are loaded. Especially at defensive tackle where they'll be starting former All-Pro Fletcher Cox and 2023 first round pick, Jalen Carter, who was the steal of the draft at ninth overall. ROunding out the defensive line is Brandon Graham who is coming off an 11 sack season last year. While Haason Reddick, who had 16 sacks last season, will be a terror at the linebacker position once again in 2023. Lastly, the Eagles have Darius Slay making quarterbacks and receivers life hell in the secondary. The Eagles are loaded.

The Eagles should only lose three to four games this season and while I think they will split the season series 1-1 with the Cowboys, the Eagles will have a better record or the tiebreaker in the division. The Eagles are planning to run Hurts less which should translate to him being healthier then he was last season. Which hopefully means he plays all 17 or at least 16 games this coming season. While I believe the missing piece is D'Andre Swift. Having a true number one back, who is younger with less miles on him is what will push the Eagles over the hump this coming season.

In the 2023 season it will be the Philadelphia Eagles who win the "NFC Beast".