Eagles, Commanders have reasons to regress in 2025, opening door for Cowboys if ready

With training camps entering their second week, the focus will more and more turn towards the goals for the coming regular season. For the Dallas Cowboys, winning the NFC East and keeping the streak of no back-to-back victors intact is paramount. To reclaim the crown, they'll have to hurdle not one, but two teams that did great things last season.

The Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commandersfought in the NFC Championship game last season, with Philadelphia going on to win the Super Bowl. The Eagles' roster is consistently one of the best every year, and the Commanders have a Jayden Daniels on a rookie contractwith money to spend around him.

Both seem set up to be contenders for the next few seasons, but could each be in line for a 2025 setback? Several factors suggest that it is a possibility.

The Eagles were led by a tremendous defensive line rotation, but lost Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, and Milton Williams; their two best edge-setting defensive ends and one of their top interior pass rushers. Their secondary lost top corner Darius Slay Jr and playmaker CJ Gardner-Johnson. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean had excellent rookie seasons, but neither was the key to the secondary.

The offense stayed together minus a change at right guard, losing Mekhi Becton. After going to the Super Bowl in 2022, the 2023 collapsed after beginning 10-1 when a higher reliance on quarterback Jalen Hurts' passing derailed the team. Hurts has never thrown for 4,000 yards nor 25 touchdowns in a single season. He isn’t a high-volume passer.

If the defense isn’t great, and Philadelphia has to rely more on Hurts throwing to score, the team won’t see the success it has been used to over the last few years.

The Commanders could regress like many other teams that have had success with rookie quarterbacks. Dak Prescott, C.J. Stroud, and Robert Griffin III all had terrific rookie seasons that shocked most of the league, but then they all took a step back in their second season.

The Commanders played in 12 one-score games and went 9-3 in those contests, including a Hail Mary to beat the Chicago Bears. Tried and true regression to the mean has seen many a team go in the opposite direction.

The Commanders also lost some veteran defensive linemen and have minimal depth at linebacker, with both of their starters playing over 1,000 snaps last year. Bobby Wagner is 35, while Frankie Luvu will be 29. Both wore down as last season progressed. Free agent signing Javon Kinlaw isn’t the caliber of player that Jonathan Allen is, and Dante Fowler Jr. had double-digit sacks last year with Washington. Von Miller, who is unlikely to replicate that, was just signed.

In other words, while both teams had extraordinary campaigns in 2024, there are plenty of potential reasons why a repeat effort will be difficult, opening the window for the Cowboys to climb through if they are ready.

You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Could both NFC Championship teams be looking at a down year in 2025?