🏈 The Most Unpredictable Division in Football

NFL Season Preview Begins with NFC East, plus MLB Props and Max Fried's Return

No division in football casts a wider spread of storylines than the NFC East. Philadelphia is chasing a third straight division crown with a remodeled offense. Dallas paired the league's most productive attack last season with a defense that couldn't stop anyone. Washington is betting on a young offense making a big leap. And the Giants handed the keys to a former Super Bowl winner and will look entirely different on both sides of the ball.

Here's a look at each NFC East team with win total projections for this season.

Philadelphia Eagles: Division Favorites

The Eagles went 11-6 last year, claimed the division title, and bowed out in the opening playoff round. The defense did the heavy lifting, finishing 7th in DVOA, holding opponents to a league-best completion rate under 57%, and surrendering only 14 touchdown passes all season. The offense slid to 19th in scoring after years near the top of the league, which cost the previous coordinator his job, opening the door for Sean Mannion to run the show.

Then came the roster shakeup. A.J. Brown was shipped to New England in June. The receiving team is now headlined by DeVonta Smith, who will have support from Hollywood Brown, Dontayvion Wicks, Elijah Moore, and first rounder Makai Lemon. Smith is surely do for a target spike, but asking a rookie and a group of secondary options to fill an alpha receiver's shoes is a gamble. Saquon Barkley remains the engine on the ground, though his efficiency dipped to just over four yards a carry, and defenses will crowd him even more with Brown gone.

The defense should stay nasty. Jonathan Greenard bolsters the rush and Tariq Woolen joins an already suffocating secondary. Their season line sits at 10.5 wins. With a new play caller, a rebuilt receiver room, and a workhorse back showing wear, caution is recommended.

Projection: Eagles likely win the division again, but take the Under 10.5 win total.

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⚾️ Pitching Matchups to Target Tonight

Two games tonight have edges worth investigating. If conditions hold, expect plenty of runs across home plate.

Nationals at Rockies

This series finale at Coors Field has everything you want in an over play. Temperatures in Denver have been hovering between 90 and 100 degrees this week, which thins the air even further at altitude and makes this the most pitcher-hostile environment in baseball right now.

Washington has scored an MLB-best 36 runs across their last four games and currently leads the league in home runs with 144, having just passed the Yankees for the top spot. Both bullpens carry identical 1.47 WHIPs, and both rotations have been brutal since the All-Star break. Colorado's staff is posting a 6.25 ERA in that stretch, Washington at 5.98, both ranking in the bottom five in baseball.

Cade Cavalli takes the ball for the Nationals. His season ERA looks reasonable at 3.78, but he's been volatile. He can be dominant in one start, and chased out after two innings in the next. He has limited experience pitching at altitude, and Coors has a way of exposing that.

Gabriel Hughes is a young arm with a small sample size and a 3.14 ERA that will be severely tested by a Washington lineup ranked third in both wRC+ and OPS. James Wood is perhaps the most dangerous bat in this series, hitting .317 with four home runs over his last ten games and clearing his hits prop in eight of his last ten.

The total is set at 11.5, which is high, but both pitching staffs have earned every bit of that number. Over is the play.

Yankees vs. Pirates (Game 2)

Max Fried making his first start since May 13 after missing more than two months with a bone bruise in his elbow. The Yankees bypassed one additional rehab start to activate him for this doubleheader. His lone rehab outing went three innings on 52 pitches with two earned runs and five hits allowed. Expect somewhere between four and five innings tonight before the bullpen takes over.

Bubba Chandler starts for Pittsburgh and brings his own complications. He has a 13% walk rate that puts runners on base at an alarming frequency, and no prior career matchup data against any current Yankees hitter. The lack of familiarity can briefly help a pitcher, but once New York gets a look at his arsenal, they'll adjust.

The Yankees have the 3rd highest home run park factor in the league. The market has this game at 9.5. Given Fried's rust, the Pittsburgh lineup's recent form, Chandler's walk issues, and the trends in New York’s stadium, it’s worth taking the over.

 🌲 The Pine Line

🏒 Robertson wants to be the highest paid player for a long time. He has one year to prove that he is worth it.

🏀 Someone in Miami jumped the gun on LeBron news. Maybe it’s an accident, or maybe it’s foreshadowing.

📺️ ESPN is making sweeping changes to the talent lineup. Fans aren’t happy with the decisions.

🔥 Batters Clearing Hit+Run+RBI Props

Jaxon helped narrow down today’s prop list to three plays worth targeting based on pitcher ERA, park factors and weather, and batter hit rates.

Valdez is the hottest hitter in Pittsburgh's lineup right now and it isn't particularly close. He's cleared this line in each of his last five games, averaging 3.6 combined hits, runs, and RBIs in that stretch. Pull back further and the rate holds up at 90% over his last ten games, including eight consecutive cashes.

Today he's at Yankee Stadium, which carries a home run factor of 117, and earlier this season in his only matchup against New York he put up four combined. The 1.5 line feels like the books haven't caught up to what he's been doing. Take him in Game 1 of the doubleheader.

Walker has been one of the most consistent hitters in the league when playing away from home, clearing 1.5 combined hits, runs, and RBIs in 80% of his last ten and twenty road games. His season average in this category sits at 2.54 per game, giving him plenty of cushion above tonight's line.

He draws Reid Detmers, against whom he's hitting .500 in their limited career sample. Detmers has the strikeout stuff but has struggled with efficiency, and Walker is well-positioned to take advantage of the mistakes that come with that.

Alvarez at home against a vulnerable pitching staff is about as reliable a prop as exists in baseball right now. He's hit this line in eight straight, averaging 3.4 combined over his last 5, and his home rate at Daikin Park sits at nearly 69% on the season.

Miami sends Peter Lambert to the mound tonight, a pitcher who has never faced this Astros roster. Alvarez has averaged five combined hits, runs, and RBIs across two games against the Marlins this year. Daikin Park's 114 home run factor does the rest.

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