Can the Washington Commanders extend the streak of a different NFC East winner for every year since 2004?
The 2025 season kicks off on Thursday with an NFC East battle as the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys. The Commanders begin their 2025 season at home on Sunday against NFC East rival, the New York Giants.
Twenty-nine analysts at NFL.com recently got together to make their 2025 predictions. The analysts voted on preseason picks for all of the NFL’s top individual awards. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels finished in a three-way tie for fifth place, as he received one vote.
Who did the 29 experts agree would win the NFC East? With 28 votes, they selected the Eagles to be the division’s first repeat winner in 21 years, since they last achieved this from 2001 to 2004. The Commanders received one vote, with the following commentary:
The NFC East’s decades-long streak without a repeat winner is officially on notice. The reigning division and league champs are forecasted to retain at least one of those crowns this season, garnering 93% of the first-place votes in their group — and our analysts expect their dominance once again to extend beyond just the East, with the Eagles being the lone NFC team to appear on all 29 ballots. That said, don’t sleep on the Commanders, who ranked third in wild-card confidence one year after a 12-win campaign earned them the conference’s No. 6 seed.
The 29 analysts agreed that Washington would once again be one of the NFC’s Wild-Card teams. The Commanders received four votes for the No. 5 seed, seven votes for the No. 6 seed, and two votes as the No. 7 seed.
In case you’re wondering if anyone picked Dallas or New York: The Giants had one vote as a No. 6 seed, while the Cowboys had one vote as a No. 7 seed.