The off-season is over, so why is it way too early?I've got to say it's:1. Philadelphia Eagles2. Dallas Cowboys3. New York Giants4. Washington RedskinsI think the Giants and Redskins will have under .500 years...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dmoney @ Jun 21 2007, 12:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>IT's way to early for all this stuff.</div>so what, just go with your gut feelings on this.
Eagles- Donovan returns after having off-season surgery on his ACL. Before McNabb went down last season, he was having an MVP type year in which he threw for 18 TDs and 2,600+ yards. if he can stay healthy all year, the Eagles will be the team to beat in the NFC East. If worst comes to worst and McNabb is unable to stay healthy, the Eagles have a handful of backups who can get the job done. Their offense got a huge upgrade with the addition of WR Kevin Curtis, so look for this offense to score some points each game. 12-4Cowboys- T.O. will return, which means that the production of Tony Romo should continue in '07. The biggest obstacle for Romo this season will be playing consistent throughout the entire year, the team has a tough schedule, so it will be difficult to keep up with Philly in the division race. The defensive unit is about the same, so this team is ready to make a playoff run. 10-6Redskins- With two running backs that are capable of rushing for 1,000 yards, the Redskins offense should play decent all season, even with a young QB like Jason Cambell leading the way. if the defense can bounce back into their '05 form, the offense should have no problem leading the way under coordinator Al Saunders. The success of this team relies heavily on Cambell's play, but don't expect him to crumble. Cambell should put up big numbers and step into the leadership role by mid-season. 8-8Giants- Eli Manning doesn't have a HOF RB behind him anymore, so it looks like he'll have to step up and put this offense on his shoulders. The Giants did bring in a nice veteran Reuben Droughns to help share the load with Brandon Jacobs, but even the two of them combined may not equal the retired Tiki Barber. The defense will also need to step up, even if Michael Strahan returns. With the way things look, the Giants will not sneak into the playoffs with an 8-8 record. Expect Eli to have another disappointing year. 6-10
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (808Hornetsfan @ Jun 21 2007, 07:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Giants- Eli Manning doesn't have a HOF RB behind him anymore, so it looks like he'll have to step up and put this offense on his shoulders. The Giants did bring in a nice veteran Reuben Droughns to help share the load with Brandon Jacobs, but even the two of them combined may not equal the retired Tiki Barber. The defense will also need to step up, even if Michael Strahan returns. With the way things look, the Giants will not sneak into the playoffs with an 8-8 record. Expect Eli to have another disappointing year. 6-10</div>I don't think Tiki is a hall of fame running back. Just my opinion.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Jun 22 2007, 08:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't think Tiki is a hall of fame running back. Just my opinion.</div>He's most likely going to get in because of his last three seasons. But rushing for 10,000+ yards and 55 TDs is pretty dang good.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (808Hornetsfan @ Jun 21 2007, 06:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Eagles- Donovan returns after having off-season surgery on his ACL. Before McNabb went down last season, he was having an MVP type year in which he threw for 18 TDs and 2,600+ yards. if he can stay healthy all year, the Eagles will be the team to beat in the NFC East. If worst comes to worst and McNabb is unable to stay healthy, the Eagles have a handful of backups who can get the job done. Their offense got a huge upgrade with the addition of WR Kevin Curtis, so look for this offense to score some points each game. 12-4</div>First off, I don't know if Kevin Curtis was a huge up grade over Dante Stallworth, right now I would say Dante Stallworth is better than Curtis. I think they completely over payed on someone, that has question marks about how good he can perform as the 1st or 2nd option in the NFL. Sure he looked nice in St. Louis, but lets not forget that he had Torry Holt, and Isaac Bruce on the field with him as well as Steven Jackson in the backfield. He got to face the other teams nickel backs most times when is on the field, and not starter quality corners. I am sceptacle of how well he can be when he starts getting more pressure.As for the division here is how I see it coming outallas: 10-6Philadelphia: 9-7New York: 7-9Washington: 5-11
I can see your point that Stallworth is the better reciever, but Curtis has experience as the #2 option. Isaac Bruce missed some games last season and Curtis filled in nicely, I believe he finished the year with 60 catches, 800+ yards and six TDs.. and don't forget that he was catching passes from Jamie Martin, not Marc Bulger. Curtis proved he can be a downfield threat, and he can be a more reliable catcher than Stallworth... I shouldn't have said upgrade, that was a bad choice of words.
While it is true in 2005 he got to play in Bruce's place because of injury a few games, and he did perform well, there have been plenty of times that a number 3 receiver has stepped up and played well during a season, then got payed 1st or 2nd option money, and didn't perform. Nate Burleson a few years ago is a perfect example of that. When Moss went down, in a few games Burleson looked like he could be a good number one option, so the Vikings traded Moss. The next year he showed it was just a few good games, because opponents were not well prepared for Burleson, because they didn't expect much from him. I think the same could have happened in 2005 with Curtis.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (valo35 @ Jun 22 2007, 09:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>First off, I don't know if Kevin Curtis was a huge up grade over Dante Stallworth, right now I would say Dante Stallworth is better than Curtis. I think they completely over payed on someone, that has question marks about how good he can perform as the 1st or 2nd option in the NFL. Sure he looked nice in St. Louis, but lets not forget that he had Torry Holt, and Isaac Bruce on the field with him as well as Steven Jackson in the backfield. He got to face the other teams nickel backs most times when is on the field, and not starter quality corners. I am sceptacle of how well he can be when he starts getting more pressure.As for the division here is how I see it coming outallas: 10-6Philadelphia: 9-7New York: 7-9Washington: 5-11</div>I really don't see the Eagles going 9-7...They're better than last year.
Your a fan of their team, of course you don't see them going 9-7. There are alot of things I want to see first before I say that they are going to be better than 9-7. Last year when Mcnabb got injured, they was playing .500 ball. Then he got hurt, and they started actually running he ball, and that's what caused them to go on their big run. Actually having offensive balance back on the field. This year with Mcnabb back, are they going to go back to throwing the ball more and not actually using the ground game like they used to? If they do, they are going to be a 9-7 team, if they don't, then they might get better.The other thing I want to see, is how much better their run defense gets. They didn't get any new people for their line this year and they couldn't stop the run very well last season, and I want to see if it happens again this year. If teams are consistently able to run the ball against the Eagles, they are going to be in for trouble this year. Especially with them having to face teams with good backs, or that will like to run the ball alot like the Cowboys, Washington, New England, New York Jets, Chicago, Minnesota, Miami and Seattle all on their schedule.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (valo35 @ Jun 23 2007, 12:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Your a fan of their team, of course you don't see them going 9-7. There are alot of things I want to see first before I say that they are going to be better than 9-7. Last year when Mcnabb got injured, they was playing .500 ball. Then he got hurt, and they started actually running he ball, and that's what caused them to go on their big run. Actually having offensive balance back on the field. This year with Mcnabb back, are they going to go back to throwing the ball more and not actually using the ground game like they used to? If they do, they are going to be a 9-7 team, if they don't, then they might get better.The other thing I want to see, is how much better their run defense gets. They didn't get any new people for their line this year and they couldn't stop the run very well last season, and I want to see if it happens again this year. If teams are consistently able to run the ball against the Eagles, they are going to be in for trouble this year. Especially with them having to face teams with good backs, or that will like to run the ball alot like the Cowboys, Washington, New England, New York Jets, Chicago, Minnesota, Miami and Seattle all on their schedule.</div>They were only at .500, but you have to realize that alot of the games they lost were flukes that they should have won. They had alot of unlucky 4th quarters to say the least. First of all, the Giants came back when the Eagles had a huge lead to win..that was ridiculous, and they would have started 5-0 if it weren't for that. Also, there was the game when the Buccaneers kicker kicked it 57 yards to win the game when the Eagles were up by 1, I think it was...At the point when McNabb went down, all of their losses except one were by 7 or less points...so do you see my point? Alot of those games could have gone either way...and before McNabb went down they could easily have been at 7-3 or 8-2, instead of 6-4, or 6-5 AFTER the game...and they ended up making the playoffs anyway that year because the defense really stepped up after McNabb went down, and yeah, Jeff Garcia also quarterbacked well...Wow, I didn't know that you were a fortune teller! Great, thanks for telling me exactly how they'll do if they pass the ball often! All joking aside, I think we'll probably run the ball more often to ease the pressure off of McNabb and that leg...Their line was not the problem last year...Actually, early on their line was actually great. Javon Kearse will be back, Darren Howard had a nice year...He didn't get a ton of sacks, but he rushed the QB alot, forced fumbles and had alot of pass tips as well. He was very active...Trent Cole got 8 sacks last year in a backup role, and Jequa Thomas had 6...so obviously we have one of the best defensive end cores in football. Mike Patterson was solid at DT...I'm not sure about Bunkley, but our defensive line will be very solid next year.It was actually our LB crew that was the problem. The only good Linebacker that we had was Jeremiah Trotter, but now we finally got some help at LB. We got Takeo Spikes who had a solid 70 tackles last year. Our other outside linebacker spot could be a problem, but atleast we improved in that area. We should be better at stopping the run this year. I realize that we were probably below average in that area last season.Brian Westbrook was an absolute spark plug last year...He should be ready to go, and I think he'll be a pro bowler this year with Tiki retiring (actually, he should have made it over Tiki last season...). Reggie Brown will get better, and hopefully he'll mature into the #1 WR spot...and Kevin Curtis will be out Dante Stallworth this year as well. I realize that our WR crew isn't that good, but it never was in the days before TO when we were still posting 11-5 and 12-4 years...And we didn't even have a good Brian Westbrook back then either...McNabb is a top 5 QB, and he'll make use out of the guys he has. Our offensive line is pretty good, and obviously our secondary is probably our defensive strong point along with our D-Line...I know that besides Dawkins, we don't have another good safety, but we are very solid in corners, and obviously Dawkins is a complete stud, and a nightmare at safety for opposing players...And with the fall of the Giants, and the Redskins, we should pick up some relatively easy wins inside our division. And yeah, I think we're better than the Cowboys for sure.
ahh Its nice to see that some people will say the Giants go under .500 Im not going to deny this but it feels good to be the underdog you know... hahaAnyways I think they may be better just because of three people they will have on the field on defense. Strahan, Umenyiora, and Kiawanuka... These guys are fast physical and can definately get by any line. I think they are going to keep the big two on the line and drop back Kiawanuka to the LB posistion. One thing that will need to step up is the secondary, Sam Madison is old and done for but R.W. McQuarters looks promising... I also want to see guys such as Corey Webster, Aaron Ross and Gibril Wilson step up their game...As for the offense I keep on waiting for Eli to have his "break out" season and he never does it, so once again I will hope but I doubt he will do any better, I see alot of potential in Jacobs and Droughns is a ex pro bowler himself. As for the WR's we are sset with Toomer and Plax and with Shockey at the TE posistion the line will be the big question mark once again for the Giants...Anyways my predictionEagles- 11-5Cowboys- 10-6Giants- 10-6Redskins- 8-8
