NY Giants are NFC East favorites

The hottest topic in the NFL the past couple of weeks has been Vince Young's comment that the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles are a "Dream Team".

What is lost in all of the hype surrounding that quote is that, as stocked as Philadelphia's roster is, there are multiple reasons to think they might not even be the best team in the NFC East.

That honor could very well belong to the New York Giants.

The Giants as NFC East favorites? The team that lost Steve Smith and Kevin Boss in free agency (with Smith adding insult to injury by signing with the Eagles), lost Plaxico Burress to their cross-town rivals and had first-round draft pick Prince Amukamara go out with a foot injury should be considered a favorite to win this division?

In a word, yes.

Here are eight items that show why the Giants shouldn't be written off as second-place contenders in the NFC East.

Michael Vick wasn't anywhere near as good as his 2010 numbers suggest

One of the reasons Philadelphia won the NFC East in 2010 is that Vick had a near-MVP campaign, but the fact is he benefitted from more luck than maybe any other quarterback in the league.

To read more about why the New York Giants -- and not the Philadelphia Eagles -- are favorites in the NFC East, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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KC Joyner

NFL Insider

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• NFL and CFB analyst for ESPN Insider
• Known as "The Football Scientist"
• Uses proprietary metrics from game tape study