Feb. 2, 2026, 6:16 a.m. ET

It’s been an offseason of change for the NFC East. The New York Giants landed John Harbaugh as the new head coach, the Washington Commanders have two new coordinators, while the Philadelphia Eagles have a new offensive coordinator and the Dallas Cowboys have a new defensive coordinator.

It was a down year for the division after seeing two teams compete in the 2024 NFC Championship Game. Only the Eagles made the playoffs, and they weren’t particularly impressive down the stretch. The Cowboys were average, while the Commanders tumbled to 5-12 after last season’s 12-5 campaign. The Giants finished last again, leading to a new coaching search that landed them Harbaugh.

The Eagles, who were the 2024 Super Bowl champions, won the NFC East in 2025, becoming the first team in 21 years to win the division in back-to-back years. That’s how competitive the division has been in recent years.

So, for Harbaugh, he’s clear about what he must do with New York.

“It starts with the Eagles. I mean, let’s just be honest about it. The Eagles are defending champs,” he said in an appearance on The Howard Eskin Show, via Giants Wire. “I remember when my dad would tell us that when Bo Schembechler took the job at Michigan in 1969, when Michigan was down and Ohio State was the reigning national champion. It was like, we have to beat Ohio State. Everything we do, every decision we make, is with his Ohio State in mind. And they ended up building a team like Ohio State. And they beat them the very first year.”

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Harbaugh wasn’t disrespecting the Commanders or Cowboys. What he said was the truth. He explained in a bit more detail.

“So, you gotta build a team to beat the Eagles. Yeah, you gotta beat the Commanders and you gotta beat the Cowboys, but the Eagles are the champs. So we have to build a team to beat the Eagles. And everything we do, every practice we have, every film session will be with that in mind.”

Washington GM Adam Peters had a similar strategy last offseason. After splitting the regular-season meetings, the Eagles defeated the Commanders to head to the Super Bowl. Philadelphia, known for its outstanding line play on both sides of the ball, often won games at the line of scrimmage. So, Peters focused last offseason on improving Washington in the trenches. Unfortunately, the Commanders couldn’t overcome their injuries to compete with the Eagles again.

Until another team can dethrone the Eagles, the NFC East remains Philly’s division. And the goal of the other three teams should be to do whatever it takes to overtake them.