The NFC East is wide open. The Cowboys, Giants and Redskins are all plus $2.00 to win the division with the Eagles at plus $2.85, according to current odds at thegreek.com.
This is a very flawed division. But I believe the Giants are the best of a bad lot.
Tom Coughlin damaged his Hall of Fame chances by hanging around too long. The Giants haven’t made the playoffs the past four seasons. They haven’t had a winning season during the last three years.
The combination of new leadership under Ben McAdoo, impressive as an offensive coordinator, and spending $200 million free agent dollars on defensive players to shore up a weak defensive line and secondary should push the Giants up to the top of the division.
The Giants gave up the most yards of any NFL team and the third-most points. Yet they could have finished 11-5 instead of 6-10 if they didn’t blow an NFL-record five fourth-quarter leads.
The combination of McAdoo’s philosophy of a short-throw, quick read passing offense and Odell Beckham Jr. hauling in 25 touchdown passes the past two seasons, keyed Eli Manning in putting together the best back-to-back seasons of his career.
The Giants ranked in the top eight in points scored, passing yards and total yards. The offense is there and the defense should be much improved. Special teams are solid. Put it all together and the Giants are the team to beat in the NFC East.
