2014
NFC East
Betting Preview
Odds and Predictions
Most divisions in the NFL have a hands down favorite. The NFC East is not one of those. To back up that statement, all Four teams have won the East in the last five seasons. All Four teams have a viable shot to win the division this year and mainly because as a group, they have Four solid, respectable quarterbacks. The Eagles are the favorites with a season-win total over/under of nine, but you’d be crazy to think they’ll have an easy route.
Odds to win NFC East
courtesy of Sportsbook.ag
Philadelphia Eagles +115
New York Giants +350
Washington Redskins +400
Dallas Cowboys +500
The Philadelphia Eagles came out last year with a new type of offense implemented by first-year head coach Chip Kelly. Needless to say, it worked en route to one of the best scoring offenses in the league. Now this year, there are zero questions to who the starting quarterback is with Nick Foles leading the way after his 27 TD, 2 INT performance from 2013. While speedy DeSean Jackson is gone, they picked up Darren Sproles, get Jeremy MAClin back from injury and drafted stud college WR Jordan Matthews. The offense still has plenty of options and Kelly has said that they expect to pick up the pace of play even more this season. The Eagles defense had decent success last year, which was a main reason for their 10-6 record, but they added a couple more pieces like safety Malcolm Jenkins to improve even more. Maybe they have the best overall team, but winning this division in back-to-back seasons hasn’t been done since the Eagles did it back in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
No matter what happens with the New York Giants, it seems like they always have a legitimate shot to win the division. After an ugly season from their offense, a lot of people still have hope in Eli Manning and crew to make a rebound. There’s no reason to expect any less either from the two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. Hakeem Nicks is gone, but that shouldn’t change much. They’ll also be using a quicker offense that should result in fewer sacks for Manning. The addition of Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams to the backfield hopes to stabilize a committee that struggled all of last season due to injuries. The Giants always seems to have a solid defense, but they went out and bulked up their secondary with Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Walter Thurmond and Quintin Demps, which can only help. Can Manning lead them to a division title? Why not.
Even after last year’s three-win season, the Washington Redskins have the next best chances to win the NFC East. Robert Griffin III is now healthy and has a full offseason under his belt to go with new receivers DeSean Jackson and Andre Roberts. This offense has the chance to be a real threat with all of their options. Defensively, it didn’t work out for them last year, but they shored up multiple positions that will help out immediately. They picked up DeAngelo Hall, Tracy Porter and Ryan Clark for the secondary and playmaker Jason Hatcher on the end. There’s no reason to count this team out.
After a couple major injuries, the Dallas Cowboys have fallen down to the least likely team to win this division. They could have the worst defense and Tony Romo is coming off a back surgery. But again, you know they will be sitting around the eight-win mark because that’s what they do, and that’s an area where they can still hunt for the division crown.
Due to the diversity of the NFC East, the smart money probably won’t be on the Eagles as anything can happen throughout the season. All teams have high hopes for this season and it’s truly up for grabs. If the Giants can get back to normal on offense, they have the type of team that can win this division.