The NFC East is one of the most unpredictable divisions in the NFL. The division has not seen a repeat winner since 2004. But one thing is for sure going to happen in 2021: It is not possible for the NFC East to be worse than they were last season.
The Washington Football Team won the division at 7-9 despite playing four different quarterbacks in Ron Rivera’s first season in charge. The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, who each used multiple quarterbacks, went 6-10. And the Philadelphia Eagles, who have dumped their head coach and starting quarterback, were an abysmal 4-11-1.
But some around the media thing despite all the chaos surrounding the division, a repeat will happen: Washington will win the NFC East in 2021.
How? Mainly because Washington already had the best defense in the division and a star in Chase Young. But many say they have greatly improved on offense with two offseason moves: A change at quarterback, jettisoning the disappointing Dwayne Haskins and the tough, but hobbled Alex Smtih, and signing veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Added a true No. 2 wide receiver in Curtis Samuel.
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"Over the last three years, Ryan Fitzpatrick has a higher completion percentage than Tom Brady, more yards per attempt than Russell Wilson, and a higher QBR than Deshaun Watson,” Mike Greenberg said this week on ESPN. “And you put him together with that defense… the Washington Football Team is definitively the team to beat in the NFC East. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
While not going as far as making Washington the favorites over Dallas, Kevin Sheehan is also quite bullish on Washington’s chances in 2021 because of Fitzpatrick.
“With each passing hour, I’m just more and more excited about Ryan Fitzpatrick,” Sheehan said on The Team 980 Thursday.
“[Washington has] a guy who’s played his best football in recent years,” Sheehan said. “They have a guy that’s gonna be on a team – like he was last year for one of the first times in his career – on a team with a very good defense. I’m convinced that if he plays last year the entire season for Miami that that ends up being a playoff season for Miami.”
Simply, Fitzpatrick is going to elevate the play on the field and bring “what Alex Smith brought to in terms of leadership, character, locker room guy,” Sheehan added.
“They could be significantly improved on offense this year because of the quarterback,” he said.
For Washington to be the favorites, Fitzpatrick and the addition of Samuel has to be enough to raise the level of play on offense to win the close games they lost last season.
Sheehan said former Washington tight end Chris Cooley made the point that “for the first time in a while you’re going to have to cover the entire field.”
“[Washington will] have a quarterback that is gonna throw the ball deep, but he can also check it down,” Sheehan said. “You got a guy that is gonna look deep, but can throw the medium-level passes. You’ve got a guy that will look around and then extend and make plays with his legs, off schedule, more than any quarterback that we’ve had here for a while.”
And Fitzpatrick spoke about his willingness to go deep during his introductory press conference later on Thursday.
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"My style of play, I'm gonna give my guys chances," Fitzpatrick told the media. "I'm not gonna be a guy that's gonna sit there and be afraid to throw the ball down the field. I'm gonna try to make the right plays, but if I've got a chance and I believe in my guy one-on-one, I'm gonna give him a chance.
"And I think guys like playing with me because of that. I'm able to instill confidence in guys because I give them those opportunities. And just playing with that absence of fear I think goes a long way."
All of this in Sheehan’s and Cooley’s mind will make Washington a much harder offense to game plan against than with the team’s previous quarterbacks.
“Because in many cases, one-read guys,” Sheehan said. “Ryan Fitzpatrick is a multi-read guy. He goes one, two, three, then can go off schedule. The whole field has to be defended with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback.
“Then you start putting weapons on the field, and they just added another one in Curtis Samuel, and you’ve got a chance to have a real dynamic offensive season.”
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