*glances at Romo* ..... *cries* 

Meh, Cowboys will probably be better off in the long run... 

I'm aware of how Prescott played (although you're technically correct that I haven't actually seen any of Dallas' games), I'm just not quite ready to bet on a team with a rookie QB and RB winning their division, let alone making it to the conference championship game, unless they've got an amazing supporting cast. And while Bryant and Witten are great, Dallas' defense is still mediocre at best. Preseason is fine and all, but let's not forget that Tyrod Taylor looked really good in last years' preseason and wasn't quite so awe inspiring by the end of the regular season.

None of this is to trash Dallas; I think they'll probably finish 8-8 or so, and I could very easily see them doing quite well. But in the pool of eternal unpredictability that is the NFC East, I'll take an upgraded Redskins team and a Giants team that can't possibly choke any more than they did last season. Maybe I'll look silly for it by season's end, but, eh, won't be the first time.

I'll join if there's an open spot just to troll the Packers for their PED usage.

By the way.

Get fucked, Bengals.

Zeke appears to be the kind of RB that only comes about around once a decade, he checks all of the boxes :

Big

Fast

Nearly impossible to arm tackle, you've got to really get bodies in his way, big ones

Catches passes on the run with ease

Blitz pickup is A+

Prescott on the other hand is a work in progress of course. His success will depend a lot on how they build the playbook for him. Rookie QBs of extreme athleticism have succeeded in the run option style before, and he seems durable enough looking at his college record. RG3 had great success in his rookie year, but of course RG3 is a twig compared to Dak. Dak is basically a slightly smaller version of Cam, call it 85%, including the slightly weaker arm.

The Giants should improve in some ways, but I still don't trust McAdoo, I actually blame him a lot for screwing up the Giants in recent years. Their offense really stumbled hard when he got the OC gig. There are still tons of talent holes on the team, though I really don't think they'll be as bad as last year.

The Eagles are a trainwreck, plain and simple. Rebuilding. Thanks Chip!

The Redskins are the most legitimate contender, but I do think they're a year away from serious contention.

Assuming no catastrophic injuries to the elite of the team (Dak, Zeke, Dez, Tyron, Zach, Witten), I think Cowboys finish #1 at either 9-7 or 10-6 in the division, and win 1 or maybe even 2 playoff games, but fade down the stretch because the defense will not be able to go all the way.

In almost every way, this offense is superior to the 2014 team. Murray was a mediocre RB, Zach Martin was a rookie, and Travis Frederick was only in his 2nd year. What made their offense work was a balanced playbook and having the field open. Teams that doubled Dez constantly couldn't cover guys like Witten, Beasley, and Williams very well. If they did, they were leaving the running game too open.

In 2015, the running game was actually just fine without Murray, but two things utterly destroyed the offense.

#1- QBs that absolutely could not hit their targets, wouldn't stretch the field, had no mobility, and for the most part also had no real #1 WR to look to. It was an absolute shit show at QB.

#2- Dez going down meant that teams could easily cover the lower-tier receivers, and without a deep-ball threat at QB, they didn't even need to bother stretching their defenses. They essentially could play red-zone clustered defensive looks the entire time and smother everything.

And STILL almost every game was lost in the 4th quarter outside of the obvious beatdowns from NE and Carolina.

I'm not saying they are headed to the SB obviously, and I actually think too much success with a simplified playbook for Dak could hurt them (and him) in the long run. Rookie success running a college-style game is unsustainable, just look at all the burnouts in that realm. Kaep and RG3 come to mind. Long-term NFL success comes from hard work and learning. Wilson in Seattle is a good example. He is short, was built on success being a running threat, but has continually worked hard to improve his reads and his game. Dak at least seems to be in a similar mold, but time will tell, the odds aren't great for any rookie QB, a few dozen are drafted every year, and most will be out of the league in less than 3 years, and few earn starting gigs.

The NFC East as a whole was a dumpster fire last year, I think this year won't be massively different outside of Dallas, unless injuries to the guys mentioned above are a factor. Dak is a thousand times the QB that Weeden/etc are. And yet I still think the defense will be the key limitation, it would take a miracle to sustain on pure offensive effort alone. The GB game where they fell short was a sad defensive effort, but people like to forget Murray's horrendous fumble. That was more catastrophic than the controversial Dez catch thing imho. As someone who watched Dallas for decades, and all of his years on the team, Murray was a mediocre RB that had a respectable year benefitting from a system. Teams couldn't overload the box without exposing the backside to Dez/Witen/Twill/Beasley, and the O line made gigantic holes for him on the regular. And STILL he would get run down from behind constantly. I'm not saying he's bad, but look at him now. Look at all of the years prior.

C'mon amp! I returned this season just to be with you in our rage against the Packers.

And another QB down

I'll definitely be changing some of my predictions once I know the extent of Bridgewater's injury.

Updates: Jets get 2nd in the AFC East instead of the Bills

AFC North stays the same. 

Jaguars win the AFC South instead of the Colts and Texans get 2nd in the division instead of 3rd, in turn dropping the Colts to 3rd place. 

Chiefs win the AFC West instead of the Raiders, Raiders get 2nd place finish. Broncos and Chargers are now 3rd and 4th respectively. 

NFC East Stays the same

Packers get to win the NFC North instead of the Vikings

NFC South remains the same

NFC West remains the same

Jets are in the playoffs 

Giants in the playoffs instead of the Vikings.