The dominance of the division is well-known, and puts all four teams in a rather unenviable position.

This year, however, may turn out to be a different story.

Of course there are a lot of "what-ifs" but if things stay the way they are now, it would appear to be a two-team race for this division.

The Eagles and Giants are obviously the class of this division. While the Giants have had their way over the past few years, the Eagles were the dominant team before that and may be looking to take back the reigns.

The Cowboys and Redskins have had their time in the past, and certainly will have their time in the future, but at the moment they simply do not stack up to the Giants and Eagles.

The Redskins, whom I believe are the worst team in this division, are a team without an identity and without a direction.

Teams without an identity as a passing team, a running team, a defensive team, or whatever else, will always suffer because they have nothing to fall back on. They have nothing that they know they can do well. They may be average everywhere, but all that creates is an average team.

The only identity that the Redskins seem to have is the fact that they'll overpay anybody. If you've ever had a sack, a touchdown, an interception, a half sack, an assisted tackle, or if you've ever called a fair catch, you can be sure Danny Snyder will overpay to have you on his team.

Prime example (and will be for years to come): Albert Haynesworth.

Before 2007, Haynesworth has been nothing better than average. Before that magical '07 season, Haynesworth never had more than three sacks in a year and had only accumulated 9.5 sacks. That's 9.5 sacks in five years. That's just under two sacks a year (1.9). To put that little gem into perspective, Dan Klecko had 2.5 sacks this season alone as a DT with the Eagles. A whole three-game stretch.

Are those numbers worth $100 million? I don't think so.

Then there was that '07 season.

All of a sudden, Haynesworth doubles his sack total in a single season to six and is voted to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team.

So what was the sudden change?

Well, Haynesworth was in a contract year in 2007 and was playing simply to get paid. But to be fair, he did repeat those number in 2008 with 8.5 sacks and a second consecutive invite to the Pro Bowl and another All-Pro nod.

But wait, 2008 was another contract year while playing under the franchise tag.

So unless Snyder found a way to sign Haynesworth to one-year contracts, don't look for him to produce any more than about three sacks.

A guy who doesn't produce outside of a contract year, and has never finished a season by the way...Now that's a guy worth $100 million!

Then there was DeAngelo Hall, a poor-man's (extremely poor) Deion Sanders, who also was severely overpaid. He's been nothing more than a career underachiever (for every pick, he'll get burned to make up for it) with a bad attitude. So, on second thought, he'll fit right in to D.C.

The Cowboys, like the Redskins, are another team (using the term loosely) that cannot live up to the potential that they seem to have on paper.

So what's the solution? Cut the only player who has lived up to his potential (with the exception of DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten) and turn your play-making duties over to a guy who showed last year that he has no motivation or desire to better himself.

Also, a guy for whom Jerry Jones severely overpaid. A first, third, sixth, and seventh is extreme for any player, but Roy Williams was a guy who had documented motivational issues and had clashed with teammates in Detroit because of his lack of a work ethic.

Tony Romo is underachieving at its best. September, October, and even November are just fine. But when it's time to buckle down and win something for your team in December and January, not only will Romo not help the cause, but he becomes a liability.

The team has no head coach. Wade Phillips wears the title but he has no real authority with the team as long as they continue to see Jerry Jones butting in every chance he gets. Phillips has proven he belongs at defensive coordinator, not head coach.

Until Jones stops trying to interfere, and they find a real head coach, the Cowboys will always be a team with the promise but never exceeding 9-7.

The Giants are a good team. There's no doubt about that. The doubt comes in at how good they really are.

It would appear as though the Giants showed their true colors last season on their 1-5 stretch without Plaxico Burress.

Without Burress, the Giants offense could go nowhere. No one feared the passing game, so the gameplan simply became to shut down Brandon Jacobs. Once a team shut down Jacobs, Derrick Ward was a non-issue because his only value came from feeding off of what Jacobs had already done.

Let me say this now: without Plaxico Burress, Eli Manning will show his true colors.

Either way, this year will show just what kind of quarterback Manning is. He will not have that security blanket to lean on and will in fact have to help out young receivers by throwing good balls and becoming a leader.

Let's just say I don't have much faith in that happening.

The biggest thing about the Giants is that defense. The defense, especially the line, looks mighty scary. They're big in the middle and quick on the edges, which will create a whole lot of problems for a whole lot of teams.

However, with the departure of Spags to the Rams, will that defense be able to operate in the same way that they have in years past?

Brandon Jacobs is predicting 13 wins, I'm saying closer to 10 or 11 because of this next team.

The Philadelphia Eagles.

As a cautious optimist, I believe that the Eagles are in fact the best team in this division and should have the upper-hand over the defending NFC East champion New York Giants.

All the problems that the Giants have are the same that they had last year when the Eagles beat them two out of three times, with both wins coming after they had lost Plax for the season, and ultimately for good.

The Giants could not move the ball at all and were outscored 43-25 in the final two games played against the Eagles, one of them a playoff game.

While the Giants have not done much to improve as a team in need areas, the Eagles have.

All of the starters and backups lost by the Eagles via free agency have been replaced and perhaps upgraded, with age being a factor. The Eagles brought in a lot of veterans who can play at an extremely high level and can provide leadership on an otherwise fairly young team.

The first three rookies drafted, Jeremy Maclin (1st), LeSean McCoy (2nd), and Cornelius Ingram (5th), are expected to contribute immediately and were all big-time talents in college. If they can contribute even half of what they contributed in college, the Eagles will be set for years to come.

The fact of the matter is simply that the Eagles have countered everything the Giants have done in the offseason.

The Giants bolstered their D-line with the return of Osi and adding Rocky Bernard, so the Eagles traded for arguably the best left tackle in football in Jason Peters. The Giants lost their best receiver, the Eagles have added more talent and depth to their secondary.

The Eagles have only been a couple bad breaks behind the Giants for the past couple years, but that should end in 2009.

If the Eagles can stay healthy overall as a team, they should be able to leapfrog the Giants and take back the first-place spot they're so accustomed to holding.

With all that said, don't discount the Giants. They won't go down easily by any means. They still have a good O-line and running game on offense to go along with a very good defense, especially that front seven.

Overall Divisional Expectations

1. YZ - Philadelphia Eagles - 12-4
2. X - New York Giants - 10-6
3. Dallas Cowboys - 8-8
4. Washington Redskins - 7-9

*X = Playoff Berth, Y = Division Winner, Z = Home-field Advantage

Look for the Eagles and Giants to split games this season and perhaps meet in the playoffs, with a sweep of the Cowboys and Redskins.

Playoffs

If the Eagles can win the division, they should be able to land the luxury of a first-round bye. The other projected division-winners around the NFC (Cardinals, Vikings, and Falcons) will not be good enough to make the Eagles play Wild Card weekend.

If the Eagles get a first-round bye heading into the playoffs, they will be the team no one wants to face. Once they earn themselves a playoff berth, they have the talent to take this thing the whole way.