Sporting Life
The NFC East is expected to be more competitive this season
The NFC East is expected to be more competitive this season

NFC East odds and predictions for 2022

By OddsCritic
NFL
Wed June 01, 2022 · 4y ago

If you believe the current NFC East betting odds, then 2022 could just be a brave new world for a once-great NFL division.

A ‘race’ that was a cakewalk for the Dallas Cowboys in 2021 has three teams all with at least some chance of claiming the division title in 2022 - and reaching the post-season.

Once the league’s best, the ‘NFC Least’ has been one of the league’s worst in recent years, but there are signs now it could finally be emerging from its slumbers.

Dallas remains the team to beat, but Philadelphia had a terrific Draft to build on a surprisingly good 2021. Washington meanwhile is taking another shot at finding a franchise QB - more on that to come.

Here is where we stand as we head at full speed towards the regular season in September.

NFC East in 2021: Flat track bullies

There is nothing worse in life than being lulled into a false sense of security. Just ask the 2021 Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys looked terrific early in the season as they blasted all comers with a high-powered offense and a surprisingly good defense thanks to the addition of superstar rookie Micah Parsons.

A 6-0 record in the East though just glossed over the fact Dallas was a flat-track bully - able to smash teams in its own division but in big trouble when it stepped outside those safe confines.

The Cowboys were humbled in the first round of the playoffs, losing to San Francisco, while the Philadelphia Eagles had a similar experience.

Philly was seen as something of a laughing stock coming in - remember that disastrous finish to 2020 and then the press conference to announce new head coach Nick Sirianni.

Well fast forward a few months and the Eagles were in the post-season on the back of a 9-8 record. They, just like Dallas, would be humbled immediately in the playoffs in a blowout loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Washington’s gamble on Ryan Fitzpatrick being able to produce a little more ‘Fitzmagic’ at QB failed miserably as he exited with injury in Week 1, while the New York Giants imploded again in what would be the final year of the Joe Judge era in East Rutherford.

If we look on the bright side, the positive for the East is we had two teams with winning records moving forward to post-season play - Washington remember had won the division at 7-9 in 2020.

Final Standings

  • 12-5 Dallas Cowboys
  • 9-8 Philadelphia Eagles
  • 7-10 Washington Commanders
  • 4-13 New York Giants

So, at least some improvement on 2020 then, but can the likes of Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington take the step to true league-wide relevance in 2022? Here’s the evidence so far:

Dallas Cowboys odds & offseason moves

It’s been a turbulent offseason in ‘Big D’ - in fact that might be an understatement. Perceived wisdom says the Dallas Cowboys got significantly weaker in recent months, but in our humble opinion they are still the class of this NFC East group.

Granted, the decision to trade Amari Cooper to Cleveland for just a fifth-round pick looked baffling given the value other high-profile WRs brought in recent weeks. The loss of Cedrick Wilson to Miami further weakened what had been a massive strength in 2021.

Dallas also made big changes on the offensive line, cutting RT La’el Collins and allowing LG Connor Williams to walk in free agency (again to Miami).

On the defensive side of the ball we had another howler from the Cowboys front office as they somehow managed to lose freakishly talented DE Randy Gregory. One minute Dallas was announcing it had agreed a new five-year deal with the free agent, the next he was heading to Denver after a row over contractual language. Go figure.

So what has Dallas done to plug this gaps? Well it started the Draft by taking Tulsa OT Tyler Smith in Round 1 - he is seen as a tackle in the long-term but will likely get a shot to replace Williams at LG in 2022.

Round 2 saw Ole Miss pass rusher Sam Williams arrive - he has had off-the-field issues in his past so it remains to be seen whether taking him is a wise move.

The best draft pick for Dallas might turn out to be third-round WR Jalen Tolbert out of South Alabama. Absolutely one to watch and he could be a real steal for the ‘Boys.

In the fourth round Dallas claimed Wisconsin TE Jake Ferguson, who will replace the departed Blake Jarwin as backup to Dalton Schultz.

In free agency Dallas did what Dallas always does - shopped prudently to plug gaps rather than making a big splash.

Former Pittsburgh WR James Washington adds deep speed to the receiving room but expecting a big impact would be a reach. Gregory’s (budget) replacement meanwhile is Dante Fowler - at one time the third overall pick in the 2015 Draft. Again, this is a low-cost gamble by Dallas.

Finally, the Cowboys always like to re-sign their own free agents when they can, and bringing back surprising safety find Jayron Kearse on a two-year deal worth $10million is excellent business.

Summary: While on the surface it looks like Dallas got a whole lot weaker, we still remain high on its chances of repeating as NFC East champions.

The main reason for that is simple - it is still the only team in the division which has a true franchise QB. Dak Prescott remains the most important player of all.

Much will depend on the growth of CeeDee Lamb now that Cooper has departed, and how quickly his fellow starting WR Michael Gallup can recover from that torn ACL sustained late in the 2021 season.

The way things are shaking out, it could be a rocky start to 2022 for the Cowboys, but we expect them to emerge and be right up there challenging for another division title.

Philadelphia Eagles odds & offseason moves

There were a lot of people laughing at the Philadelphia Eagles heading into the 2021 season - they are not laughing any more.

Some people were actually picking Philly for the worst record in the NFL under new head coach Sirianni, but all he did was lead the team to a winning record and a playoff berth.

The strength of the team was a powerful running game anchored by a terrific offensive line. QB Jalen Hurts provided a dual threat for defenses to scheme against, and the Eagles racked up some incredible rushing numbers.

The offseason has brought more improvement - don’t just believe us, this is a national consensus.

The Draft for Philly was spectacularly good - it started by picking up generational Georgia DT Jordan Davis and then traded its second first-round pick to Tennessee for superstar WR A.J. Brown.

Second-round C Cam Jurgens from Nebraska should be a mainstay on the offensive line for years to come - remember that while Jason Kelce is back he is only on a one-year deal for 2022.

The best move of all though for Philly might have been grabbing the falling Georgia LB Nakobe Dean in Round 3. That could turn out to be THE STEAL of the 2022 Draft.

Philly also made a smart move trading with New Orleans to acquire an extra first-round pick in 2023, which positions the team to load up for a new QB if Hurts doesn’t prove the real deal this season.

While the Eagles did move significantly closer to Dallas in terms of talent in the offseason, it could not fill all of its needs. It did though bolster some areas through free agency.

The signing of former Giants CB James Bradberry (1-year deal for $10million) was a good move while the acquisition of former Panthers LB Haason Reddick (3 years, $45million) should significantly improve an anaemic pass rush.

Summary: The Eagles are loaded up and ready to challenge Dallas for the NFC East, but their chances of success still likely come back to one man.

Despite that playoff berth in 2021, the jury remains out on Hurts and the move to acquire that second first-rounder in 2023 suggests the Eagles are not convinced either.

The trade for Brown means Hurts has no real excuses now - it’s time for Philly to find out whether he can be the answer, throwing the ball as well as running it.

We love the offseason, but now we need to see it on the football field. In Jalen we trust?

Right now, we wouldn’t be taking 7/4.

Washington Commanders odds & offseason moves

After the Ryan Fitzpatrick experiment ended, disastrously, after less than an hour in 2021, Washington was back in the QB market. Taylor Heinicke, unsurprisingly was not the answer.

The Commanders’ solution was to hand over a third-rounder and a conditional third-rounder to Indianapolis for Carson Wentz. We didn’t love the move and we loved the compensation even less.

Washington gave up good draft capital for a guy Indy was clearly out of love with after just one season - what does that tell you? This was the ultimate buyer’s market and the Commanders gave up too much. They also took on the entirety of Wentz’s $28.3million cap hit for 2022.

If that was enough to make us worry for Washington, the Draft also gave us a little more heartburn - we didn’t like the selection of WR Jahan Dotson at #16 overall. We are also not sure why the team spent a third-round pick on another RB in the shape of Alabama’s Brian Robinson.

The pick that may yet save Washington’s 2022 Draft might be one which came in Round 5. A few months ago North Carolina QB Sam Howell was seen as a potential #1 overall pick, so grabbing him at #144 could turn out to be a masterstroke.

Despite those aforementioned concerns, the Commanders actually have a pretty good roster. The defense will hopefully be improved with DE Chase Young back in 2022 - the front seven has elite potential.

Wentz meanwhile has some excellent weapons to go to war with including WR Terry McLaurin and RB Antonio Gibson. The offensive line is good, this is a team built to win in most areas.

Free agency saw a notable loss in the shape of guard Brandon Scherff to Jacksonville, while the Commanders cut another guard in the shape of Ereck Flowers. The signing of Andrew Norwell is expected to at least partially plug those gaps. All in all though, pretty underwhelming stuff.

Summary: Okay, so here’s the deal. If you truly believe Washington can magically transform Wentz back to the version we saw in Philly up to 2019, then 5/1 could be terrific value.

If you believe however that Carson is always going to shatter our dreams, then that trade could become just another failure by the Commanders to find the next answer at the game’s most important position.

Sadly it is that simple for Ron Rivera and his coaching staff. If Wentz is good then Washington can and likely will challenge Dallas and Philly. If not, expect more futility in the nation’s capital.

New York Giants odds & offseason moves

Ah, (yet) another new era begins in the Big Apple.

The Joe Judge experiment is over and former Buffalo OC Brian Daboll comes in to become the new head coach of the New York Football Giants.

Daboll’s first move was to buy in (for now at least) to the notion that Daniel Jones is still the starting QB for Big Blue. We are three seasons in, and astonishingly - down to injury and potentially to bad coaching - the Giants still don’t know what they have in the #6 overall pick from 2019.

New York had two top-10 picks in the 2022 Draft and the consensus was that new GM Joe Schoen aced it by acquiring two future franchise cornerstones up front.

Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux was one of the most talented players to come out in 2022 and has huge potential. Alabama OT Evan Neal meanwhile should be the cornerstone of the offensive line for a decade.

After day 1 the Draft wasn’t quite as good for Big Blue - the Round 2 selection of undersized Kentucky WR Wan’Dale Robinson was something of a head scratcher.

In Round 3 the Giants again loaded up on OL to try and beef up its front by taking guard Joshua Ezeudu out of North Carolina.

There are no more excuses for Daniel Jones or for superstar RB Saquon Barkley in 2022 - this is a make-or-break year for both.

New York did lose some key pieces in free agency with TE Evan Engram heading for Jacksonville while DT Austin Johnson bolted to the Los Angeles Chargers. CB James Bradberry is now a Philadelphia Eagle.

In terms of free-agent acquisitions for the Giants, it was mostly bargain basement stuff, though we really like the move to acquire backup QB Tyrod Taylor for just $11million over two years. The O-line should be further strengthened by the signing of former Colts guard Mark Glowinski (3 years, $18.5million).

Summary: Daboll’s first year at the helm in New York will answer a lot of questions, but it is highly unlikely to result in either a division title or a playoff berth.

We love the fact Big Blue spent significant resources beefing up its offensive line, and the selection of Thibodeaux should really bolster the pass rush.

We expect to see the team really feature the run game this year, and we’ll know by the end of it whether Barkley has a future in the Big Apple. Ditto Daniel Jones.

Right now it feels like a good start to a new era, but still at least a year away from contention. That 7/1 feels awfully skinny.