Last to First in NFC East? Commanders' Chances Revealed

The Washington Commanders had a decent season last year despite finishing bottom of the NFC East, but in a ranking of teams who could go from last to first in their division by CBS Sports, Washington doesn't get much love.

Remember when the division was called the "NFC Least" just a few years ago? Now named the "NFC Beast" as the division that harbors the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and the Washington Commanders, the NFC East is littered with talent.

But many still think that Washington, for all the good that has happened for the organization over the offseason, will still finish towards the bottom of the division.

CBS Sports ranked the Commanders' chances of going from last to first and hinted at a few reasons why winning the division is out of reach for Ron Rivera's side this season.

"Not only will the Commanders be starting a new QB in 2023 (Sam Howell), but they also play in a division where the other THREE teams made the playoffs last year," CBS Sports writes. "The Commanders finished 5.5 games behind the Eagles in the NFC East last season and 3.5 games behind the Cowboys and it's hard to see them closing that big of a gap in one offseason, especially since the Eagles and Cowboys both got better."

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With Dallas and Philadelphia the two standouts, winning the division seems like a bit of a stretch. Washington only finished one game behind the Giants last season and was sitting pretty at 7-5 before the Week 12 clash against the Giants. After that, Washington would only win one more game for the year and lost its spot in the playoffs.

Jack Del Rio's defense was a top-10 unit last season, and has added Emmanuel Forbes to the secondary, so defensively, Washington should be there or there about as they were last season.

Offensively is where the question marks are. Howell, with just one regular season game under his belt, is being led by offensive wizard Eric Bieniemy, and he has a host of weapons at his disposal in Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Curtis Samuel, and Brian Robinson Jr.

When it comes to the NFC East, Washington fared reasonably well in each outing last season, and while they went 2-3-1 (which includes wins over the Eagles and Cowboys), they were in all games as the 24-8 loss to the Eagles in Week 3 was their biggest in the division.

Could Washington really win the NFC East?

While it might seem like a long shot, this is the NFL, so never say never.