The NFC East hasn’t had a repeat division winner since the Philadelphia Eagles won four consecutive years from 2001-04 under the legendary Andy Reid.
Since then, the Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, and New York Giants have all taken turns atop the division. Dallas won the division last season and, along with the Eagles, entered 2024 as heavy favorites again.
The Washington Commanders have other plans.
Washington won its third consecutive game on Sunday, improving to 3-1, as the Eagles and Giants lost. Dallas won a close game over New York in last week’s edition of Thursday Night Football.
Ahead of the season, no one gave the Commanders or Giants a chance to win the NFC East, even with serious questions about Dallas and Philadelphia. Through four weeks, the Cowboys and Eagles have shown major flaws, while rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has Washington humming along with the NFL’s most dangerous offense.
Could the Commanders win the NFC East in year one of their “recalibration” (don’t call it a rebuild)?
CBS Sports listed seven items from Week 4 as either an overreaction or reality. One of those questions was if the “Commanders are going to win the NFC East.”
CBS says that’s an overreaction and gave the following reasoning:
The Commanders even being in the conversation through four games is impressive, especially since they have a first-year head coach in Dan Quinn and a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels. Washington continues to get excellent quarterback play out of Daniels, who has led the offense to consecutive games scoring 38+ points (first time since 1991). The Commanders are also the only team with multiple games of 200+ rushing yards this season, a transformative offense with Kliff Kingsbury.
While Washington may not be the most complete team, they do lead the NFC East after four weeks with a 3-1 record. The Commanders are going to be a problem in the NFC East, but we’ll have to wait and see what they do against Philadelphia and Dallas. The rebuild is going faster than anticipated.
We mostly agree here. It is impressive what the Commanders are doing, and they’ve found their quarterback. Daniels is phenomenal. But Washington still has far too many questions defensively. Can the Commanders defend the run better? What happens against better passing offenses than the Cardinals?
Washington’s defense took a big step forward Sunday after a horrendous start to the season. The offense will slow down as more film is shared, but that doesn’t mean it will not remain potent. Daniels is a special talent, and he and Kingsbury are an ideal pairing.
For now, it may be an overreaction because there is a long way to go. However, the Cowboys and Eagles have serious questions and both teams feel like they could implode. Meanwhile, things couldn’t be going any better in Washington — for now.
Whether it’s 2024 or somewhere down the line, the Washington Commanders look like contenders. How long has it been since anyone could say that?
