NFC East coaches and players are starting to get back into the flow of organized team practices, while their front offices are scouring the league for possible trades and free agents that can shore up some weaknesses, and add players to bolster their strengths. Or if the unfortunate event arises where a player they were counting on goes down with an injury. Each of these teams is looking to ensure they can do one thing at the start of the season: win the division to get into the playoffs and secure a home game but in order to do that they need to understand where their strengths and weaknesses currently are on their rosters.
OTAs and training camps provide them the opportunity to figure those things out, but as of right now, each NFC East team is still looking to see what they are. Lucky for us we can see those strengths and weaknesses starting to show already in practices and we are going to go through them right now. Mind you these could all change depending on what their front offices are able to do before the beginning of the season.
So let’s get started.
Biggest strength and weakness for every NFC East team in 2023
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys may have one of the best-built rosters in the division and whether you want to believe that it’s the quarterback Dak Prescott that’s held this team back or insufficient play calling by their former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore this team when clicking on all cylinders can hang with any team in this league. They are able to do that thanks to this particular strength.
Strength – Pass Rush
The Cowboys have a wealth of talent when it comes to players with the ability to rush the passer no matter where they play on the defense. The most notable is linebacker Micah Parsons but it doesn’t stop there, linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and rookie DeMarvion Overshown can get to the quarterback as well. They also have the veteran defensive ends DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler, and Sam Williams who have proven they can cause problems as well. Then you have the secondary with safety Donovan Wilson and Jayron Kearse who can also be a problem. Combined this roster minus rookie Overshown accounted for 46 of the team’s 54 sacks on the season. Compare that to their opponents that were able to get just 50% of that against the Cowboys registering just 27 sacks. That’s a huge difference and a great strength to have in a league that has turned to passing the football more than running in years past.
But a pass rush can only get you so far, and the Cowboys have seen that firsthand, their defense has been able to keep them in games only to see their offense struggle at times and or give the football away. You may know where I’m going with this but it still has to be said, in order for this team to get further in the playoffs they are going to need to make changes on offense which leads me to their biggest weakness.
Weakness – Passing Game Concepts
Under Kellen Moore, the offense was one of, if not the best in the league at times, and yet they couldn’t get over the hump. Well, the reason isn’t that hard to figure out when your route tree concept relies on receivers coming back to your quarterback or turning and opening up in front of him. Those concepts made things easier for cornerbacks, safeties, and linebackers to key in on receivers and shrink the field, and forced Prescott to make more tight-window throws. Those tight window throws are really what lead to Prescott’s career high in interceptions last season with 15. To put this in perspective the Cowboys threw a total of 50 deep passes last season compared to 332 short and intermediate passes, the majority being hitch/curl routes, routes that were easier to cover.
Now the Cowboys have moved on from Moore and added receiver deep-threat receiver Brandin Cooks, but it remains to be seen how head coach Mike McCarthy and new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer will work to change the concepts Moore installed during his time with the team. They’ve talked a good game up to this point, but they’ll need to prove it on the field to get this to become an afterthought.
New York Giants
The Giants surprised everyone with their play leading up to and in the playoffs last season. They won’t be able to take teams by surprise this season and are going to need to get better if they want to unseat the defending NFC East champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. They’ve done a nice job of adding players but they’re still going to be leaning heavily on their biggest strength if they want to have any chance of returning to the playoffs and beyond.
Strength – Defensive Line
The Giants have always been a team that has prided themselves on having a tough defensive front that will make things easier for their secondary and linebacker group. That tradition continues with Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence, and now they’ve added A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Akeem Nunez-Roches in the middle of this defense. Making it clear that if you’re going to beat this defense you’re going to need to throw the football to do it. Add the fact that you have Kayvon Thibodeaux coming off the edge and this defensive line is a big and tough unit that can cause problems for any offensive line.
This group was ravaged by injuries last season and if they can stay healthy they have a chance to carry this team on another playoff run much like the defensive lines of the past have done for the Giants. But if this team really wants to make a splash this season they’re going to need a huge leap forward from their biggest weakness.
Weakness – Wide Receivers
The Giants have always been a team with a great receiver that had led the group and helped keep the offense on the field and make plays when they really needed one. Now the team has had to rely on running back Saquon Barkley’s legs and receiving to move the football more often than not. If teams were able to coral Barkley then it was left up to quarterback Daniel Jones to improvise on the fly which led to him running to football. By the end of the season, Jones had more rushing yards (708) than all of his receivers except for Darius Slayton (724). If you expect your offense to be successful then this receiving group is going to need to do a better job of creating space and winning off the line so Jones can deliver the football.
Teams will be more aware of Jones and his ability to run with the football and will be better prepared to stop that from happening. If this team can find a 1,000-yard receiver then they have a chance to do big things, if not then they’ll continue to be the third-best team in the division.
Philadelphia Eagles
When you get to the big game and lose it leaves you feeling unfulfilled and lighting a desire to get back and win the Super Bowl the next season. The Eagles are a team that is built to do just that thanks to their investments in the offensive and defensive lines, but they aren’t going to have an easy go of it, and with NFC East rivals Cowboys and Giants nipping at their heels they are going to need to make sure they don’t make any mistakes. Thanks to this strength they will have a good chance of doing just that.
Strength – Defensive Line
We talked about just how dangerous fellow NFC East team the Cowboys are at rushing the passer, well the Eagles are just as good if not better at getting quarterbacks on the ground amassing 70 sacks on the season and they may have made themselves even more dangerous after this year’s draft taking defensive tackle Jalen Carter and outside linebacker Nolan Smith. The Eagles are going to have to rely on that defensive line to keep offenses in check after losing so many defensive starters in free agency along with their defensive coordinator. They did a good job of signing players to help fill holes but this team will go as far as the defensive line carries them, don’t get me wrong their offense is very good but without that defense, this team wouldn’t have sniffed the Super Bowl.
It will be interesting to see how their new defensive coordinator uses the wealth of talent along that defensive line because if they aren’t good enough then it’s going to expose a glaring weakness for this team.
Weakness – Experience
No, I’m not talking about experience from a player standpoint, I’m talking about their new offensive and defensive coordinators. If this defense is unable to hold the line like they did last season it’s going to put more pressure on the offensive coordinator to keep the team in games and with their lack of experience it’s safe to assume that they may not handle it well. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson has never been a full-time offensive coordinator during his time in the NFL so there is no telling how he’d respond in pressure situations. The same goes for defensive coordinator Sean Desai though he was a defensive coordinator for the Bears in 2021. That defense ranks 23rd in the league, so if his defense is unable to slow an offense how will he respond, can he rise to the occasion? We’ll find out.
Washington Commanders
Whether it’s on the field or off the field the Commanders have been the laughingstock of the NFC East for some time now. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this franchise after the sale of the team and new ownership soon to arrive and try and revive this historic franchise. In the meantime, if this team really wants to get out of the NFC East cellar then they are going to need this strength of theirs to shine bright.
Strength – Defensive Line
This defensive front in terms of overall talent might be the second-best in the division, the problem has been their ability to stay healthy. Now with a new season ahead of them and defensive end Chase Young in a contract year this team has all the motivation in the world to go out and prove their doubters wrong. They’ve always been a tough team to run the football against and with Young and Montez Sweat on the outside they have a dynamic pass rush that can attack offensive lines on both sides of the football. Having Young back for a full season will help out a lot and see their sack total rise from where it was last season (43), and they won’t be seen as the pushover they’ve been the past few seasons.
If they can’t then they will be putting their biggest weakness in a position that it won’t be able to handle regardless of the situation.
Weakness – Quarterback Experience and Offensive Line
These two seemingly go hand in hand due to the fact that this offensive line was horrible last season and quarterback Sam Howell started only one game last season. The Commanders for some reason during the offseason decided that Howell was going to be their guy and you can rest assured that the entire NFC East is licking their chops at the opportunity to use their defensive fronts to torment and rattle Howell. Thanks to that offensive line they will have a good chance of doing it against a unit that did sign new players but still is seen as one of the worst offensive lines in the NFC East and the NFL for that matter. If this team has to rely on Howell to win games and this offensive line to give him an adequate amount of time, they aren’t going to be happy with their results.