NFC East Roundtable: The Biggest Stories of the 2020 Season
The NFC East made history in 2020.
History as in historically bad football. For the first time since the division went through realignment in 2002, none of the four NFC East teams had a record above .500, earning the division once nicknamed the "Beast of the East" the more unflattering moniker, "NFC Least."
How bad has the division been? None of the four NFC East teams--Cowboys, Eagles, Washington Football Team, and Giants--have repeated as division champions since the Eagles in 2001-04. That makes the 16+-year stretch of no back-to-back divisions the longest current streak in both the division and the league.
Regardless, there were still several interesting developments to hit all four teams in 2020. And from the keyboards of the four Fan Nation NFC East team writers—Tomer Barazani of Cowboys Maven, Chris Russell of Washington Football Maven, Ed Kracz of Eagles Country, and Patricia Traina of Giants Country—here are the three biggest storylines that developed in 2020 for each NFC East team.
Washington Football Team (Chris Russell)
1. Who Will Be the Quarterback? The Washington Football Team thought they had their franchise quarterback for the next decade-plus when they snagged Dwayne Haskins out of Ohio State with the 15th overall pick in the draft.
Unfortunately, after investing significant time and resources into Haskins, his tenure with the Football Team ended after just 18 months when he failed to show the growth and progress expected of him.
Haskins has since signed with the Steelers, while Washington is left at a crossroads at the quarterback position, where the Football Team is expected to explore all avenues for their next long-term answer.
- Read more about the Washington Football Team on WFT Maven.
2. Alex Smith's Future. Speaking of quarterbacks, Alex Smith's triumphant return from a gruesome compound fracture of his leg, which necessitated 17 surgeries and near amputation of his right leg, was one of the NFL's most inspiring and heart-warming storylines in 2020.
The NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award winner's return to the field two years after his injury was nothing short of inspiring, but after making it back to start six games for the Football Team--he missed the playoff game against the Bucs--Smith is now weighing his options regarding whether he wants to continue playing or call it a career.
3. A New Era. Ever since the head coach Ron Rivera's hiring, the WFT has significantly transformed from being a laughingstock in the league to being thought of in higher regard. But winning the NFC East in 2020 was only the beginning as the Football Team looks to continue repairing its image.
The WFT hired Martin Mayhew, who won a Super Bowl championship with Washington (XXVI), to be their new general manager. Mayhew will pair with Marty Hurney, who worked with WFT head coach Ron Rivera in Carolina, as the Football Team's new executive vice president of football of player personnel.
New York Giants (Patricia Traina)
1. Judge and Jury. Head coach Joe Judge was everything he promised to be and then some. From his old-school drills to having players and coaches run penalty laps if they screwed up, Judge got this Giants team playing hard every week and kept them in a weak NFC East division race right down to the final bell.
2. Saquon Barkley's Injury. In 2018 the Giants plucked running back Saquon Barkley out of Penn State with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, the visions of Barkley solving their running game woes for the next decade running rampant.
A season-ending torn ACL suffered after just five quarters of play brought that dream to a screeching halt.
Although there is optimism that Barkley will be able to make a complete recovery like Adrian Peterson did after experiencing a similar injury, the Giants will soon have to decide whether to extend Barkley's contract and make him among the highest-paid running backs or lessen their past dependence on him in their offense.
- Read more about the New York Giants on Giants Country.
3. The Daniel Dilemma. For those hoping quarterback Daniel Jones would take a massive step forward in his second season, he didn't. In fact, his second season was pretty much a carbon copy of his rookie season, from his statistics to the turnovers to him throwing on over 70% of his first reads to even him missing two games due to injury.
Despite everything that transpired--or in this case didn't transpire--Giants head coach Joe Judge insisted that Jones is still his guy at quarterback. While no doubt reassuring to Jones, that declaration also puts a heap of pressure on the third-year signal-caller to justify his head coach's support.
Dallas Cowboys (Tomer Barazani)
1. Dak's Contract. Entering the 2021 NFL season, the Cowboys once again must decide whether or not to extend Prescott. If America's Team doesn't offer Prescott a deal (likely $37-40 million), its future will be very uncertain, and it may have to draft a quarterback or look elsewhere.
This intersection could be the turning point that the franchise has been looking for if Jones takes the right turn.
2. The Blame Game. While his inaugural season with Dallas was not as successful as anticipated, head coach Mike McCarthy had some legitimate excuses to justify the 6-10 season.
The Cowboys lost some key players, including Tyron Smith, Blake Jarwin, La'El Collins, and most notably, Dak Prescott. Like every other coach, McCarthy has his flaws and deserves some of the blame, but he deserves another shot to prove himself.
- Read more about the Dallas Cowboys on Cowboys Maven.
3. 2021 Draft Dilemma. The last time the Dallas Cowboys had a draft pick in the top 10 was in 2016, the year they plucked running back Ezekiel Elliott out of Ohio State with the fourth-overall pick.
This year, the Cowboys are back in the top third of the NFL draft order, holding the tenth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and Jerry Jones, who will make the call regarding who the Cowboys draft, needs to make a decision. Will he fill a team need in the defense, or will he aim to trade back in this draft and acquire more future assets?
Philadelphia Eagles (Ed Kracz)
1. Doug's Done. No one in the NFC East saw his star fall further than now-former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, who didn't even last a full three calendar years after leading the franchise to its first Super Bowl title.
One reason was the team's 4-11-1 record, but another and bigger part might have been the on-going perception that he and franchise quarterback Carson Wentz (who, per a Philadelphia Inquirer report, could be on his way out of Philly as well) did not get along
2. The Carson Conundrum. Although Pederson was relieved of his duties, that doesn't appear to be the end of the saga with Wentz, who is still believed to want out of Philadelphia.
He had the worst year of his career in 2020 and one of the worst by any quarterback in the league last season. Now, less than two years after being given a $128 million contract extension, his unhappiness reportedly has him hoping for a fresh start somewhere else.
- Read more about the Philadelphia Eagles on Eagles Maven.
3. Blast from the Past. Nick Sirianni and his staff. The Eagles hired a Frank Reich assistant, Nick Sirianni, to replace Pederson as the head coach. Reich was the Eagles offensive coordinator from 2016-17 before accepting the Colts head coaching job.
Meanwhile, Sirianni, 39, is an interesting hire that might have been made to appease Wentz since he and Reich had a great relationship during their time in Philly.
Sirianni is young, but so are some of the key names he's reportedly hired for his staff, including offensive coordinator Shane Steichen (35), defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon (37), quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson (33), and special teams coordinator Michael Clay (29).
Is this staff better than Pederson's? Only time will tell.
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