#3Â Washington ‘Skins
There has not been a repeat champion of the NFC East since the Philadelphia Eagles did it four straight times between the years of 2001-2004 and it will not happen this year. This Washington team just gives me a weird vibe. They have put their trust in quarterback Kirk Cousins and I don’t think that is a smart move. He had a decent season, that is still a small sample size to me. They don’t really have a legit run game, so they are putting all of their faith into Cousins. That is not the smartest move I have seen. I think a record between 6-10 and 8-8 is reasonable mark for this Washington team.
The ‘Skins overrated Cousins and they overrated another player, cornerback Josh Norman. He is a good cornerback, but I think they put too much money into these two players. If they want Norman to play bump and run and follow the top receiver wherever he goes, they have the wrong corner. He showed that when he played Odell. Norman can’t run with him. In that matchup, Odell just dropped open balls. That has more to do with Odell’s focus than Norman’s ability as a corner. And if they just want to use Norman as a zone corner that will not work because of the secondary around Norman. Teams will just not throw to Norman and choose to torch his other defensive backs. A part of Norman’s game was because of the scheme and players around him last year with Carolina. The Panthers had better defensive backs, better linebackers, and created more pressure than the ‘Skins did last year.