Valentine's Views: How good is the NFC East?

How good will the NFC East be in 2013? Let's kick that around for a bit on a July Sunday less than three weeks from the opening of training camp for the New York Giants.

CBS Sports recently released its Division Power Rankings, and placed the NFC East fifth among the NFL's eight divisions. The top four, per CBS, are: NFC West, AFC North, NFC North, NFC South. Of the NFC East, CBS says:

The NFC East was exactly average against other divisions last season. The Redskins, Eagles, Giants and Cowboys combined to go 8-8 versus the NFC South and 8-8 against the AFC North in 2012, although it should probably be noted that four of the eight wins against the AFC North came against Cleveland.

ESPN's John Clayton also recently expressed his belief that this would be another season during which the NFC East winner would emerge with only a pedestrian nine of 10 victories. They key, though, is the final part of what Clayton wrote:

Nevertheless, don't discount the chances of these teams if they make the playoffs. The Giants won two recent Super Bowls even though no one considered them great teams. The Redskins have Robert Griffin III coming back at quarterback. If he's healthy, anything can happen.

Making the playoffs is what matters, not how many victories you get there with. The Giants have been the NFL poster child for that fact during the Tom Coughlin era. I doubt Giants' fans would mind if they proved it again.

New Blood

In case you haven't been paying attention, several new writers have joined Big Blue View in the past couple of months. Let me quickly introduce each, and what they bring to the table.

'UptownMurf'. Murf Baldwin comes to us from NFLs Future and Canal Street Chronicles. Murf's specialty is breaking down film, something I'm not really good at and, honestly, doesn't really appeal to me. Murf's debut post for BBV was an excellent analysis of Prince Amukamara. Follow @uptownmurf

Dennis Esser. 'CoachEsser' is a Fantasy Football guru who also happens to love the Giants -- which brings the best of two worlds to Big Blue View. 'Coach' has been posting on Fridays for the past few weeks. You can catch up with his work in our 'Fantasy Football' section. Follow @CoachEsser

Sam Spiegelman. Sam is a graduate of the journalism program at my alma mater, University of Maryland, and is here mainly to help me keep up with news updates and interesting posts involving the Giants that you should be aware of. Sam writes high school sports for NOLA.com. Follow @samspiegs

Jon Lane. Jon is a veteran New York area and Mixed Martial Arts writer. His work has appeared at YESNetwork.com, and he is currently also writing some baseball for SB Nation's New York Yankees blog, Pinstriped Bible. Jon also worked for me previously at SB Nation New York, and his features will appear occasionally.

Shop BBV

The season is approaching, and we know you need some new Giants' gear. Get that at the Big Blue View New York Giants store. If you access the store via that link yours truly gets a small percentage of the money you spend.

If you want to get a Big Blue View t-shirt (yes, they exist) you can purchase one at the SB Nation Big Blue View Store. Again, yours truly gets a small percentage of what you spend. Also, if you have some ideas for t-shirts you might like (provided they are clean) we might be able to get those designed. E-mail bigblueview@gmail.com with your t-shirt ideas.

In Case You Missed Them

Here are a few of the better stories from Big Blue View during the past week:

Spencer Paysinger: 'You don't have to have the big names'

Fourth of July Open Thread: Let's talk bad purchases

David Wilson no longer a secret in Fantasy Football circles

New York Giants' Prince Amukamara ... Heir to the throne in 2013?

Non-Football Thoughts

• Is anyone else buying the whole 'I feel bad for my mom' routine from Alex Rodriguez? The next genuine, truthful, word the New York Yankees rehabbing third baseman utters to the media might be the first non-self serving, carefully planned comment of his career in New York. He won't quit, but I wish he would.
  
• Speaking of the Yankees, Raul Ibanez, last season's playoff hero, is making the offensively challenged used to be Bombers look foolish for not keeping him. He is the first 40-year-old to have more than 20 homers and 40 RBIs before the All-Star break.
• Thank God Dwight Howard has made a decision. Now we wait to see how long before the Houston Rockets and their fans wish Superman had made a different choice.