PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 22: Lane Johnson #65 of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on October 22, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
No team in the division managed a winning record in 2020. All four members of the NFC East have their work cut out for them before opening weekend.
The last time a team in this division won at least 10 games was in 2018, when the Dallas Cowboys captured the top spot with a 10-6 mark. All told, it’s been pretty rough going for the NFC East as of late. If you include Washington’s wild card loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Buccaneers in the wild card playoffs, each of the teams lost at least 10 games in 2020.
Can any or all of these clubs make significant improvement over the next two months? Or will there be a third consecutive year of a quartet that can’t reach double digits in the win column?
Philadelphia Eagles: Offensive line prepared to rebound after a troubling 2020
How did things come apart so quickly for a team that had reached the playoffs the previous three seasons, winning a pair of NFC East titles and a Super Bowl (LII) in 2017? From poor quarterback play to a slumping defense. And perhaps a forgettable 2020 offseason in terms of the offensive line was the most damning issue overall.
Even before the Eagles took the field last September in Week 1 at Washington, left tackle Andre Dillard and right guard Brandon Brooks would be lost for the season. The franchise had not planned on bringing back veteran Jason Peters but when Brooks went down, the thought was he could line up inside. When Dillard was lost, he wound up playing at tackle once again (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com) and started eight games but also serving two stints on injured reserve.
The bottom line here is that the Birds wound up allowing a stunning 65 sacks. Dillard and Brooks appear to be ready to go. They will rejoin Pro Bowl center Jason Kelce, who did start all 16 games this past season, as well as left guard Isaac Seumalo (who missed 7 contests) and right tackle Lane Johnson (missed 9 games) – both which missed significant time. Can this group rebound this summer and be ready for the opener at Atlanta?