My Steve Smith Blog

With the Eagles having a bye week, I think it's a good time to take a look into how the other teams in the NFC East are doing so far this season.

New York Giants (3-0)
Next Opponent: Kansas City

I think the Giants are where most people thought they would be right now. They started off with two division games with the Redskins and the Cowboys and only won by a combined eight points. After that, they rolled in Week Three blanking the Bucs 24-0.

Eli Manning has been very good thus far throwing for five touchdowns and only one interception with a quarterback rating of 104.1. He is completing nearly 65% of his passes and has been trying to show the league that he is worth the big money the Giants threw at him this offseason.

The Giants no longer have a three headed monster on the ground, but Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshawn are showing that they're not missing Derrick Ward too much. Bradshaw has 201 rush yards and Jacobs has 196 yards on the ground through three games. These are pretty solid numbers that will continue to be put up behind a solid offensive line.

The big question with the Giants offense this off season was who Manning would throw to. Steve Smith and Mario Manningham have stepped up big time for the offense. Both have over 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the first three games.

Despite the shutout last week against a terrible Tampa Bay team, I think the biggest question mark for this team is the defense. There are some key injuries and they showed they are vulnerable to giving up points when they played Dallas.

Dallas Cowboys (2-1)
Next Opponent: Denver

This team has not done anything yet this year to impress me (and I'm not just saying that because I hate them). They gave up 21 points to the Bucs, looked decent against the Giants (but couldn't hold on), and didn't play well at all against a Carolina team that the Eagles trounced Week One. Out of the teams in the NFC East, Dallas is the only one playing a legitimate team this week, traveling to play the 3-0 Broncos in Denver.

Tony Romo has been his same shaky self, showing signs of greatness at times but making the same stupid mistakes he has in the past. His quarterback rating is only 85.2 and his touchdown to interception ratio is 4:3.

The depth the team has at running back is what is keeping them alive. Marion Barber goes down and Felix Jones fills in great. Jones goes down and Tashard Choice fills in great. They just have a stockpile of talented running backs there which makes up for their shaky quarterback.

Roy Williams hasn't shown he's a solid replacement for Terrell Owens but at least you don't get the attitude. He only has eight catches in three games and has found the end zone only once.

Washington Redskins (1-2)
Next Opponent: Tampa Bay

To put it simply, this is not a good football team. Their only win came in an ugly 9-7 win against the Rams who are equally as bad. After this game, they go next week and lose to the Lions. Wow.

Jason Campbell threw for 340 yards against the Lions but could not lead his team to a win. In his other two games, he failed to throw for over 250 yards. He's thrown only three touchdowns in three games while throwing for two interceptions.

Clinton Portis has been held to 183 rushing yards in the first three games and has not found the end zone yet. Behind him, the next leading rusher is Campbell with 65 yards.

Their wide receiving core is still mediocre and they lack that true number one. Santana Moss leads the team with 15 receptions for 219 yards and a touchdown.

Overall, the only team I have worries about the Eagles matching up with is the Giants. However, NFC East games are always battles and I don't think they should take any team lightly. The Eagles are the only team in the division not to play a division game yet, but come Week Seven they rattle off three in a row.

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