The NFC East figures to be a wide-open division this season as three teams ( Washington Redskins, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys) have legitimate shots at taking the division title. We'll get a good look at two of those teams in Week 1 as the Giants travel down to Texas to take on the Cowboys. The teams split their annual showdowns last year. While Hakeem Nicks wasn't much of a factor in either game, Dez Bryant had no problem making his presence known in both contests.
Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants
The former Tar Heel is looking for a bounce back effort this season after a forgettable campaign in 2012 as he battled a series of injuries. After two straight seasons of accumulating more than 1,000 yards, Nicks struggled in 13 games and tallied 692 yards, the lowest total of his four-year career. He also set career-lows in touchdowns and yards per catch.
Nicks was dealing with a groin issue early in training camp, but he is not on the injury report for Sunday's game. As long as he's healthy, Nicks has the talent to reclaim his status as an elite receiver.
Last season, Nicks caught only eight passes for just 84 yards in two games against the Cowboys. Not the most encouraging numbers to be sure, but the Cowboys were relatively average against the pass last year and a healthy Nicks absolutely torched the Dallas secondary in 2011. With Victor Cruz limited in practice this week, Nicks could get a nice number of targets on Sunday. Nicks is a borderline fantasy starter at this point, but a good game moves him right back into the "must start" category.
Projection: Seven catches for 95 yards and one touchdown.
Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys
The fourth-year wideout really came into his own last season, posting career highs in catches (92), yards (1,382), yards per catch (15) and touchdowns (12). He also played in all 16 games for the first time in his career. Interestingly, he did all that despite his 138 targets not even cracking the top 10 among wideouts. His numbers should only continue to go up as the Cowboys continue to look his way more often.
This will be the year where Bryant cements his status as one of the top pass catchers in the game. It's not a stretch to say that when the season is done, Bryant could be the most productive receiver in the league not named Calvin Johnson.
Bryant has played very well against the G-Men in his young career, racking up 473 yards and four touchdowns on 23 catches in six contests. The Giants had no shortage of trouble stopping the pass last year as they were 28th in yards allowed, and it doesn't look like it's going to be much different this season either. You have to believe Bryant and Tony Romo are licking their chops in anticipation of Sunday's game. Expect big games from both. No matter who the Cowboys play, Bryant should be an automatic lock on your starting roster.
Projection: 9 catches, 125 yards, 1 TD