The Philadelphia Eagles captured their fourth straight NFC East title in 2004. 

Since then, the division has not had a repeat champion, but could that change this year? The NFC East was arguably one of the best divisions in the league last year, with the Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants making the playoffs.

The Eagles enter this season with high expectations after a 14-3 finish and a Super Bowl appearance in 2022. Despite losing some key pieces in the offseason, like Javon Hargrave, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Miles Sanders, the Eagles put together a great offseason and draft and added some talents such as D’Andre Swift, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith as well as retaining Darius Slay and James Bradberry. 

As of right now, the Eagles should win the NFC East again. 

The Cowboys, who went 12-5 last year and made the divisional round, are still going to be competitive and will most likely make the postseason. With additions such as Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks, you should definitely expect them to be down the Eagles’ back in the standings, like last season.  

But are they more talented than the Eagles? 

On paper, the answer is no. But we have to wait and see how the training camp and preseason unfolds because injuries are the biggest obstacle, and that is the case for every team in the league. One injury could determine the outcome of the season. Dallas will still contend in the division and the NFC, which will be wide open for the taking. 

Per ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Eagles have a 25.5% chance of reaching the Super Bowl compared to 13% for the Cowboys. The Eagles lost both coordinators and hopefully will have a smooth transition there, and they have a very tough schedule, especially after their bye week. The gap between the Eagles and Cowboys isn’t that large, but the Eagles are the clear favorites and the better squad on paper.

Honestly, and again on paper, the only real threat right now for the Eagles in the conference are Dallas and the San Francisco 49ers. With the 49ers, their quarterback situation is sketchy. Is Brock Purdy the real deal? And he may not even start the season. That leads to Trey Lance, who hasn’t proven he can stay healthy. Yes, the 49ers have a solid defensive unit. But the Eagles, who basically have the same offense as last year, showed in the NFC Championship Game that a good defense can only go so far. And let’s not talk about Purdy getting hurt, OK? The 49ers defense was still healthy, and the Eagles racked up 31 points.

Besides Dallas and San Francisco, there may not be any other team in the conference that will stand in the Eagles’ way. The Detroit Lions are going to be very good, and will probably win the NFC North. The Seattle Seahawks could be a wild card team and, back to the NFC East, the Giants will be in the mix. The Minnesota Vikings will also contend. But are any of those teams on the same level of the Eagles?

Most likely not! 

The question shouldn’t just be if they could repeat as NFC East champions, which should happen. The question should be if the Eagles could repeat as NFC champions. Only time will tell there, but if Jalen Hurts makes another step this year, can stay healthy and continue to carry this team, the possibilities are endless.