NFC beast

Is it too early to predict a Super Bowl champion?

Because I believe there are four teams that have a shot at winning the championship.

Scratch that. I know it's going to be one of these four teams that will win the Lombardi Trophy.

Did I forget to mention that these four teams are in the same division? And sorry Bills fans, it's not the AFC East, but their counterparts in the other conference.

The NFC East is by far the best division in football. The Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins have reigned supreme in the NFL three games into this season after putting 75 percent of their teams in the playoffs last year.

The Giants are coming off their miraculous run to the Super Bowl. Yet, despite the world-shocking victory, attention was geared to shift to their cross-town rival Jets with the acquisition of Brett Favre. Now the reigning champions are eager to gain everyone's respect, again, after starting 3-0 while Favre's Jets continue to struggle at 1-2.

Dallas boasts a team that is arguably the most talented in football. After a loss in the playoffs to the Giants last year, Dallas opened up the checkbook, reloading with the likes of Zach Thomas and Pacman Jones.

They have knocked off three good teams by big margins and have become everyone's favorite to reach the big game out of the NFC.

Meanwhile, the pain of a mediocre 8-8 2007 season has energized the Philadelphia Eagles to succeed in '08. A healthy Donovan McNabb makes all the difference in the world. Add a talented offense around him and a defense that just recently sacked Ben Roethlisberger seven times, and the Eagles look primed for another playoff appearance.

And let's not forget the Washington Redskins, a team led by new coach Ron Zorn. Though probably the worst team in the division, they were a playoff team last year and have also beaten two teams this year that have a good chance at winning their respective divisions (New Orleans and Arizona).

Furthermore, the NFL lacks a true power outside of the NFC East. The balance of power has shifted from the AFC to the NFC, where the only likely title contenders are the four teams from the East.

Sure, the NFC North has a good team in Green Bay, but the Cowboys just went into Lambeau and took care of them. The NFC South is full of inconsistent teams and has not produced a Super Bowl team since the 2003 Carolina Panthers.

Oh, and forget about the West, which is easily the worst division in football. They might as well be in the CFL.

On the AFC side, the favorites all have problems. The Patriots are out of the Super Bowl picture, while the AFC's best team, the Broncos, have impressed as of late but are notorious for disappointing come playoff time.

The Indianapolis Colts has gotten off to a rough start, while San Diego has been both extremely fortunate to play the Jets and grab an easy win and extremely unfortunate thanks to the "FumbleGate incident" that occurred against the Broncos.

At the end of the day, it's easy to see that the NFC East contains the best teams. All four teams have nasty defenses that put opposing offenses in uncomfortable situations. They also have the quarterback play necessary to reach the big game.

Playing each other over the course of the season will get each teams in the East ready for the playoffs, a "hidden tool" that proved to be vital to the Giants success at the end of last season.

Each NFC East team has gotten off to a good start, which sets them all up for successful seasons. Combined, the NFC East is 10-2.

And those two losses came in divisional match-ups.