There has not been a division in football that has had more turnover than the NFC East in the last 20 years. The talk of the summer has been how bad the Cowboys front office is, the contract situations with CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, followed by Micah Parsons’ comments on Twitter.
I know I have talked about each of those enough over the last few months, so with training camp right around the corner, I think it is fair to ask ourselves if the Dallas Cowboys will finally break the NFC East curse.
The Philadelphia Eagles were the last team to repeat as back-to-back division champions in 03′-04′.
Will the Cowboys repeat, or will the streak continue in the NFC East? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/g817rPZNoX
— NFL (@NFL) May 31, 2024
Over the last 19 seasons, the division winners have changed constantly.
Dallas has won the division title 7 times since then, followed by the Eagles at 6, while the Giants and Commanders each have 3.
Let’s see if you agree with why this team could and could not repeat as division champs in 2024.
Let me note that I could add 15 more reasons to both sides of the coin, but I am not. So drop me your reasons why or why not Dallas will repeat as NFC champs.
Why The Cowboys Won’t
Let’s get the negative out of the way first.
As things stand on July 9th, this could change going forward, but the first reason is that it feels like this team has a lot of tension right now.
The team’s three best players are in line for contract extensions.
CeeDee Lamb should be at the top of the list to be paid, yet it seems no progress has been made. Justin Jefferson got his deal done, which drove the price for Lamb through the roof. We have even heard reports that Lamb could be TRADED if a deal does not get done.
It seems Dak Prescott will be playing out his final year without a new deal, while Micah Parsons has two years left, but is pushing for a new contract as well.
A lot of people want a bite of the apple.
The BEST player in the NFC East right now is…. pic.twitter.com/SMjLadN5eu
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) June 12, 2024
The next reason goes hand in hand. Both the Cowboys’ ability to run the football and stop the run may be near the bottom in the NFL.
The running backs on this team are as advertised, the worst in football. You don’t need a dominant back anymore, as we’ve seen around the league the last few years, but you still need one to be productive.
Dallas will be riding a running back-by-committee approach in 2024.
As for the other side, the defensive tackles are not very good. The Cowboys are banking on Mazi Smith to take a second-year leap and for some unproven young guys to do the job well enough.
The Eagles added Saquon Barkley and Dallas still has to stop Jalen Hurts from running the ball.
The Cowboys or Eagles will win this division, and if I am Mike Zimmer, I am doing everything I can to figure out a way to slow them down when they play.
Why The Cowboys Will Win The NFC East
They still have the best trio in the division. I will take Prescott, Lamb, and Parsons over Hurts, Barkely, and whomever, but will that be enough?
The Eagles added Kellen Moore as the new offensive coordinator. There is a reason he is now with his third team; he is overrated. Who do you trust more as a new coordinator, Mike Zimmer or Moore?
I will take the guy who has been doing his job at the highest level for over 40 years.
A move that will go unnoticed by most is the fact the Eagles traded Haason Reddick. This is a guy who totaled 27 sacks in two years for Philly. It is hard to replace that kind of production.
Dak Prescott, against the division, is better than anyone else; he is 32-8. He hasn’t even lost 10 total times inside the NFC East.
We are going to start our annual rankings of all the NFC East positions heading into the 2024 season.
Up first… QB.
1. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
2. Jalen Hurts, Eagles
3. Daniel Jones, Giants
4. Jayden Daniels, Commanders (R)
5. Trey Lance, Cowboys
6. Kenny Pickett, Eagles
7.…— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) May 13, 2024
He only has one loss to the Eagles since 2020.
The Commanders and Giants have no shot at winning the division, so it will come down to the Cowboys and Eagles, despite people jumping on the Washington bandwagon. They will be out of the mix by the middle of the year.
This team is either going to make a lot of us look dumb, or this season could be over by Thanksgiving. Please just win in January.
