By DAVID LEBLANC
Contributing Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 25, 2011
 The NFC is filled with many competitors. Of these are household names such as the New Orleans Saints, The Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons and the Dallas Cowboys. However, many of the divisions are broken into only two or three decent teams.
With the exception of one-year wonders, most divisions have the same few teams advancing to the playoffs each year. For instance the Packers, Saints and Patriots rarely ever miss playing in late January. Does this mean that these teams are just that good? Or do their divisions lack the talent that they posses? One thing is for sure, the NFC East is a division that is not short on talent.
Year after year this powerhouse division is controlled by a different team. Take this year for instance; currently the Giants have sole possession of first place, while the Philadelphia Eagles are sitting in the “cellar”.
However last year didn’t that very same team clinch a playoff berth? In fact when people look back on the past few years, wild cards that were given to the NFC, many of them went to teams in the East.
In fact, as we all remember the 2007-08 New England Patriots’ near perfect season came to a close with a super bowl loss to the New York Giants. The very next year, the team to knock out the returning super bowl champions came from their own division. Events like these continue year after year.
If you spend the time to actually consider who makes the playoffs and where they come from, many years you will see multiple teams from the NFC East. With quarterbacks like Michael Vick, Tony Romo and Eli Manning, it is easy to see why this division is such a tossup.
Today’s average football team is made or broken by one player, the quarterback. When you look around the league there are mixtures of both good and bad quarterbacks with the few elite Quarterbacks thrown in there. When an outsider looks at the NFC East they see one thing, strength at the QB position.
All most half way through the season now, fans are beginning to see what teams will make the play-offs. Only few divisions are still left for the taking. With both Dallas and the “Dream team” Philadelphia sitting low in the standings, many analysts still believe either of these teams could be strong contenders for a playoff spot.
