Will the Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles Win the NFC East?

Heading into the 2020 NFL season, it appears that the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles are locked into a head-to-head battle for the NFC East division. Combined, these two teams have won the division 13 out of the last 18 years and four straight seasons.

In fact, they’ve alternated in winning the NFC East over the last four years with Dallas winning in 2016 and 2018 while Philly has won in 2017 and 2019.

The other two teams in the division, the New York Giants and Washington, are both considered longshots to win the NFC East.

Online betting sites have released their odds on who will win the NFC East in 2020. Let’s huddle up to take a close look at this NFL futures bet and see if we can score a touchdown with our predictions.

NFL Betting Odds

The following betting odds are courtesy of BetOnline:

• Dallas Cowboys (-120)
• Philadelphia Eagles (+150)
• New York Giants (+1100 )
• Washington (+1200)

Dallas Cowboys (-120)

• Over 9.5 wins (-165)
• Under 9.5 wins (+135)

The Dallas Cowboys head into the 2020 season with a new head coach and philosophy as former longtime Green Bay Packers shot caller Mike McCarthy is in and longtime Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is out.

The future of Dak Prescott in Dallas is murky at best, but they do have him locked in for the year. Dallas also added Andy Dalton to back him up, which gives the Cowboys one of the most reliable #2 options in the league.

The Cowboys added a big piece to their offense with CeeDee Lamb who they drafted in the 1^st round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s a speedy, talented receiver that was arguably the best wideout coming out of college.

One area of concern for Dallas on the offensive side of the ball is with their once vaunted offensive line. Between injuries, rookies and the retirement of Travis Frederick, Dallas has some issues in an area that used to be their biggest strength.

Most of Dallas’ offseason focus was on the defensive side of the ball. They lost Robert Quinn and Michael Bennett on the d-line, but added Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, Aldon Smith and possibly get Randy Gregory back.

The linebacker position is solid for Dallas and their biggest strength, but there are concerns with the secondary. Dallas lost Byron Jones who was one of their best corners. The Cowboys did draft Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson, but no preseason games could delay their growth.

Dallas Cowboys Season Schedule

Dallas opens up the season with games against the Rams, Falcons, Seahawks and Browns. I see this being a 2-2 or 3-1 stretch depending on how good the Browns and Rams are. Of the four games, I believe Seattle is the one loss we can count on.

The next five games are against the Giants, Cardinals, Washington, Eagles and Steelers. I see a 3-2 stretch at best, but a 2-3 record could be possible. Dallas could head into their Bye Week with a record sitting at a range of 4-5 to 6-3.

The season doesn’t get any easier for Dallas as they play Minnesota, Washington, Baltimore the Bengals, 49ers, Eagles and Giants. Dallas can go 5-2 or 3-4 in the second half of the season.

It’s hard to pin Dallas down as they could end up anywhere from 7-9 to 10-6. With an Over/Under of 9.5 wins, I say take the Under. Dallas was 8-8 last year, but I do see at least a one game improvement where they finish 9-7 on the year.

The Cowboys have won the NFC East five times with the last divisional title coming in 2018.

Philadelphia Eagles (+150)

• Over 9.5 wins (+110)
• Under 9.5 wins (-140)

The Philadelphia Eagles are the reining NFC East champs and underwent quite the roster overhaul. Yet, where teams like the Carolina Panthers’ are in a rebuild and had a massive change to their 2019 roster, the Eagles appear to have upgraded the level of talent on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, Philly lost RB Jordan Howard, WR Nelson Agholor, backup QB Josh McCown and a few offensive linemen.

The Eagles were able to replace the outgoing talent with roster depth and through the draft. Philly selected WR Jalen Reagor in the 1^st round and QB Jalen Hurts in the 2^nd round. Hurts has a massive upside while Reagor was one of the top receivers to come out of college this year.

The Eagles defense, which was a liability for them last year, saw the biggest overhaul. They lost S Malcom Jenkins, CB Ronald Darby, DE Vinny Curry, DT Timmy Jernigan and LB Nigel Bradham. Of these departures, the Jenkins loss was the biggest. The others are replaceable.

In fact, Philly upgraded their secondary by bringing in CB Darius Slay, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, and S Will Park. They also added DT Javon Hargrave, LB Jatavis Brown and drafted S K’Von Wallace from Clemson.

Philly got younger and more talented on defense, which could make a big difference in the win column. Offensively, they added some talented pieces in the draft and get back several players who missed games due to injuries like QB Carson Wentz and receivers Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson.

Philadelphia Eagles Season Schedule

Philly’s first month of the season looks promising with games against Washington, the Rams, the Bengals and the 49ers. That’s a 3-1 stretch to kick off the year.

Things get much harder over the next month as they take on Pittsburgh, Baltimore, the Giants and Dallas. That’s a 2-2 stretch at best as they head into their Bye Week.

Following the bye, the Eagles play the Giants, Browns, Seahawks and Packers. I see another 2-2 stretch that should bring their season record to 7-5 heading into the final month.

Philly finishes off the regular season with games against the Saints, Cardinals, Cowboys and Washington. Once again, that’s another 2-2 stretch.

The Eagles have an O/U of 9.5 wins just like Dallas. They finished 9-7 last year and I think they could end up doing that again this year. It’s hard to see the Eagles winning 10 games with that tough schedule. I would go with the Under.

As mentioned, the Eagles are the reigning NFC East champs and have won the division eight times since the realignment of 2002.

New York Giants (+1100)

• Over 6.5 wins (+135)
• Under 6.5 wins (-165)

The New York Giants could be one team that people are sleeping on as they did make some solid moves in the offseason to improve the overall level of talent on their roster.

First, the Giants fired their head coach Pat Shurmur and made Joe Judge the new shot caller. However, they also added former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett as their offensive coordinator. I see the team being in much better hands now than the last few years.

The #NYGiants’ offense is full of playmakers, and it should not be slept on ⬇️https://t.co/qju1l9e1q8

— NFL Analysis Network (@NFLAnalysisNet) August 24, 2020

This offense is clearly all about Daniel Jones’ now that Eli Manning is gone. The second year QB is projected to have a strong year. They added RB Dion Lewis to complement Saquon Barkley, which gives the team a solid 1-2 combo.

The receivers and tight ends remained relatively unchanged, but the offensive line lost a key piece as OT Nate Solder opted out of the season. Although the Giants improved other positions along the o-line, the loss of Solder is cause for concern.

Last year, the defense was a big liability and definitely cost the Giants a handful of games. In the offseason, New York improved the d-line by adding Leonard Williams, but hope that a few young players will be able to mature on the field this year.

The Giants spent a lot of resources on their linebacker position by signing Kyler Fackrell and Blake Martinez along with drafting four LBs.

Unfortunately, the New York secondary is still going to be ugly. Last year they were one of the worst secondaries in the league.

This year, they will be slightly better, but nothing to brag about. They lost 2019 1^st round draft pick DeAndre Baker due to legal issues. The Giants signed James Bradberry from Carolina to be their #1 corner, but he’s not an elite shutdown corner. Sam Beal also opted out of the season.

Where they’re weak at the corner position, the Giants are strong at the Safety position. They drafted Xavier McKinney who joins the duo of Jabril Peppers and Julian Love to provide this secondary with plenty of versatility. They may get beat on the outside, but they will have the middle on lockdown.

New York Giants Season Schedule

The Giants open up their season against the Steelers, Bears, 49ers, Rams and Cowboys. That could easily end up being a 0-5 start. Yet, we’ll give them some credit and say that New York goes 1-4.

From there, the Giants play against Washington and Philly twice along with Tampa sandwiched in-between. I see a 2-3 record over that stretch and a 3-7 record heading into their Bye Week.

Following the bye, the Giants play Cincy, Seattle, Arizona, Cleveland, Baltimore and Dallas. At best they go 3-3 in their remaining six games. More than likely, the Giants go 2-4.

New York should be able to improve on their 4-12 record from last year as I see them going 5-11 or 6-10. The Over/Under is set at 6.5 wins and I believe they will come in under that mark.

The Giants have won this division three times, but haven’t taken the NFC East crown since 2011 when they last won the Super Bowl.

Washington Football Team (+1200)

• Over 5.5 wins (-115)
• Under 5.5 wins (-115)

In addition to changing their team’s name, Washington also made a lot of changes to their roster including bringing in Ron Rivera as the new head coach.

At QB, the team parted ways with Case Keenum and Colt McCoy. They brought in Kyle Allen and are getting Alex Smith back. Although Washington seems fixated on Dwayne Haskins as the starter, they do have a reliable backup in Smith who will steady this team if needed.

Washington loves running backs, they seem to draft and sign RBs every offseason. This year, they added Peyton Barber, J.D. McKissic and drafted Antonio Gibson to go along with Adrian Peterson and Bryce Love. Derrius Guice was let go due to legal issues.

There’s not much beyond McLaurin at wide receiver, but they did add some younger pieces at TE after parting ways with Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis.

A big concern on the offense is with the o-line. Gone are veterans Trent Williams, Donald Penn and Ereck Flowers. Washington will most likely turn to two rookies to become starters on a line that was not even that good last year.

Defensively, I expect Washington to be solid. They added talented players at each level of the defense starting with drafting a generational talent in DE Chase Young. He joins a front seven that includes Kerrigan, Sweat, and the recently signed Thomas Davis Sr. at middle linebacker.

The secondary saw a slight upgrade as well after they traded Quinton Dunbar and said goodbye to Josh Norman. Washington brought in Kendall Fuller and Ronal Darby to help improve a porous secondary last season.

Washington Football Team Season Schedule

The first month seems like a tough way to open a season as they play Philly, Arizona, Cleveland and Baltimore. That’s a 1-3 stretch at best and most likely a 0-4 start to the regular season.

Washington then plays the Rams, Giants and Cowboys before heading into their Bye Week. I can see a 2-5 record at best and a 0-7 record at worse.

Following the bye, Washington plays the Giants, Lions, Bengals, Cowboys and Steelers. I see potential for one or two wins in this stretch as I’m not confident in the Bengals or the Lions. Plus, Washington and the Giants are divisional rivals and anything can happen in their two head to head games on the year.

At best, I see Washington heading into the final month of the regular season with 4-8 record, but most likely 3-9. Their final four games are against the 49ers, Seahawks, Panthers and Eagles. That’s a 1-3 stretch at best. The game vs Carolina could determine the #1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Washington has an O/U of 5.5 wins and I just don’t see them getting to the six win mark. It was hard even giving them five wins on the season. I think it’s safe to say this team will have one of the worst records in the NFL this year.

Washington has won the NFC East title on two occasions since the realignment with the last divisional crown coming in 2015.

Who Wins the NFC East in 2020?

With Washington and the Giants being at least one or two years away from contending for the NFC East crown, the division will come down to Dallas versus Philly once again.

I think Dallas has a lot of potential this year, but with a new head coach, QB drama and concerns in both the secondary and o-line, I’m giving the edge to Philly to win the division for the second straight season.

I really like the moves the Eagles made on the defensive side of the ball especially in their secondary. Additionally, I think this offense can be potent with the weapons they have in the passing game and Miles Sanders coming out of the backfield.