The Newark Star-Ledger’s Paul Nedell on the NFL’s once and future power division.
Just think: Teams from the NFC East have won 10 of the 39 Super Bowls, but none of the past nine. No other division, however, has won more than six.
The 1995 Cowboys were the last NFC East team to turn the trick. Dallas, the Giants and Redskins have floundered, up and down, since — the Giants lost the Super Bowl to the Ravens in the 2000 season — while the Eagles have risen to be the only consistent power of late.
This season already has a different feel. Maybe the Eagles (3-2), after four straight trips to the NFC title game and a Super Bowl loss, have slipped a bit. Maybe not. More importantly, the Giants (3-1), Redskins (3-1) and Cowboys (3-2) have the look of being the real deal once again.
Which means Giants vs. Cowboys at Texas Stadium on Sunday is an old-time matchup worth getting stoked over.
“Is the NFC East back?” Jerry Jones said the other day from his office in Irving, Texas. “Let me just say this: ‘Yes.’ The NFC East is back in vogue.”
Perhaps some of the euphoria by Jones stems from the 33-10 shellacking the Cowboys put on the Eagles last Sunday. But it’s more than that.
There is real evidence that the division that gave us Roger Staubach and Emmitt Smith, Lawrence Taylor (above) and Phil Simms, Joe Theismann and John Riggins — and all those championships — is rising up again.
Who didn’t expect Parcells to put together a winning program, especially now that he has seemingly rejuvenated quarterback Drew Bledsoe? Are the Redskins, behind three-time Super Bowl winner Joe Gibbs, that much of a shock?
Giants coach Tom Coughlin may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the man can coach, and has been supplied with a potential star quarterback in Eli Manning. Add those three coaches to Philadelphia’s Andy Reid and you’ve got a fearsome foursome Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen would admire.
How strong any of the above would look if they had to play New England or Pittsburgh twice a year, is of course, not mentioned. And yeah, Dallas’ early success is a bit of a surprise given Bledsoe’s poor finale in Buffalo. And no one who saw the Redskins’ offense struggle through their first 117 minutes of regular season football would’ve called them a contender for anything other than a threat to Joe Gibbs’ health.