Washington Redskins (8-7-1)
Though the mighty Dallas Cowboys appear to have the NFC East in a stranglehold, history tells us that it’s not so simple as that. In fact you have to go all the way back to 2004 to find the last time that a team in this division won back to back titles. And while it might seem that the next best team in the NFC East is the New York Giants, all four teams have a legitimate chance almost every single year to claim the crown.
This leads us to Washington, the team that won this division in 2015 before stumbling this past season and falling short of the playoffs. This is a team that has some serious holes to fill to become a championship contender, most notably on the defensive side of the ball.
The Redskins finished this past season with the 28th-ranked overall defense and the 19th-ranked scoring defense. Especially considering the significant investment the team made to acquire cornerback Josh Norman, these numbers were startlingly bad. 
One of the reasons to believe this defense can get better is the hire of Jim tomsula to coach the defensive line. He was tremendous during his time in San Francisco at the same job and should make a significant impact for Washington.
Assuming quarterback Kirk Cousins returns to the team as expected, the offense should remain a potent unit even without former offensive coordinator Sean McVay. While Cousins was not as sharp this past season as he was in 2015, he remains one of the best pure passers in the game. The team has decisions to make in regards to the receiver position, with Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson set to become free agents. But the bottom line is this offense should remain very good.
To this point, Washington has not yet shown itself capable of playing at the highest level on a consistent basis in the Jay Gruden era. It surely is a stretch to assume that this team has the ability to take the giant leap necessary to reach Super Bowl LII. But by no means should we discount it out of hand.