Almost impossibly, the NFC East Division has gone 17 straight seasons without a repeat champion. The Dallas Cowboys'won the East last year at 12-5, three games ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys had been favored all offseason at Caesars Sportsbook to break that repeat curse but with heavy recent action, Philadelphia is now the slight +130 favorite with Dallas at +135.
We told you last week that the Eagles had taken more money than any other team at Caesars Sportsbook to finish with th e most regular-season wins in the league in 2022. They also have gotten more money to win the division than the Cowboys, Giants and Commanders combined. We have exact numbers from BetMGM:'65% of tickets and 73% of that site's handle is on Philadelphia to win the East for the first time since 2019.
Philadelphia has a good chance to start at least 4-0 as the Eagles are -4 for Week 1 in Detroit (and routed the Lions there last year); -3 at home for Week 2 vs. Minnesota on Monday night (Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has a terrible MNF record in his career); -1.5 Week 3 at Washington; and -7 Week 4 vs. Jacksonville. Their first game as a likely dog would be Week 5 in Arizona (which will still be without suspended Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins then).
The Eagles were 0-7 vs. teams that made playoffs last season and 9-2 in all other games. Quarterback Jalen Hurts will have the same offensive play caller (Nick Sirianni) in consecutive seasons for the first time in his col lege/pro career. Philadelphia's offensive line is ranked No. 1 in the league by Pro Football Focus entering the 2022 season.