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Arizona = confusing. They always manage to make a few moves in the off-season to make them look promising on paper, and espn always swallows the bait and hypes them up.
The nfc-w is no longer a cake division, either so I don't see things getting any easier for the Cards. I'd feel sorry for their fans if some of them weren't so obnoxious.
I've never been one who thinks that Arizona would be any good... ever.
But I have a feeling that they may have a decent shot.
Fritzgerald and Boldin are as good as any two WRs in the league. I think Lenheirt could be the next superstar QB. Edgerrin James is a good RB. Offensively, their weak spot was on the O-line... and they picked up Leonard Davis in the offseason. I don't know what other changes that they may have made on the O-line.
Their offense has potential to be very good.
Their defence is suspect though.
And none of the teams in the NFC East overly impress me.
Philly is probably the best, but I think even they are questionable this year.
McNabb is coming off an injury. They lost Darwin Walker... who I think is a very underrated player. And they lost Dante Stallworth at WR.
I think that Dallas, or Washington could give them a run this year.
I think that the Giants will really struggle without Tiki Barber.
1. They didn't pick up Leonard Davis, they let him go. He's in Dallas now.
2. Arizona is not in the NFC East, they're in the NFC West (Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks, 49ers).
As an eagle fan, you are right, we have a few questions, just like EVERY team in the league.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spank_Me_Hard
Mcnabb is the biggest, but after seeing Palmer come back and look very good, with less time to rehab and recover, I feel OK about him.
Lossing Stallworth does hurt, but he was out a lot last year, and not to downplay his talent because he is very good, but he did only have 30 something catches. Curtis, who is basically replacing him, had more catches and is almost just as fast...with more consistant hands, so i am OK with this also. Also Reggie Brown is entering his 3rd year and i believe he is going to become a big time player this year.
Now to Walker...he was a good pass rusher who brought it some games...and left it home in many others. And he may have been the biggest reason we where not very good against the run...he did not maintain his assignments in the running game and left gaping holes by not taking up blockers and allowing them to get to the second level and destroy our (at the time) undersized outside linebackers. And we did not lose him...we traded him for Takeo Spikes...a large weakside linebacker.
LOL!Quote:
Originally Posted by monroeski
Shakes head...
My bad!
The main thing here I think is that McNabb relies heavily on his scrambling where Palmer doesn't.Quote:
Mcnabb is the biggest, but after seeing Palmer come back and look very good, with less time to rehab and recover, I feel OK about him.
I think this will be a muxh beiiger factor in McNabb's game than Palmers.
Not like Stallworth is a superstar or anything... but he was more of a proven commodity than those other two players. Who knows though... maybe they won't miss a beat.Quote:
Lossing Stallworth does hurt, but he was out a lot last year, and not to downplay his talent because he is very good, but he did only have 30 something catches. Curtis, who is basically replacing him, had more catches and is almost just as fast...with more consistant hands, so i am OK with this also. Also Reggie Brown is entering his 3rd year and i believe he is going to become a big time player this year.
Maybe it was the limited games that I saw Philly play... but every game that I saw, I thought that Walker looked dominating.Quote:
Now to Walker...he was a good pass rusher who brought it some games...and left it home in many others. And he may have been the biggest reason we where not very good against the run...he did not maintain his assignments in the running game and left gaping holes by not taking up blockers and allowing them to get to the second level and destroy our (at the time) undersized outside linebackers.
He is supposed to be one of the strongest players in the league. And at least the games that I saw... he looked plenty strong against the run. A real plug in the middle.
This is true.Quote:
And we did not lose him...we traded him for Takeo Spikes...a large weakside linebacker.
And I think that Spikes is a good pickup. I think that he is a very good player.
Still though... I haven't thought this at all in recent years... I think that this very well may be the year where Philly falters and a new division champ is crowned.
Mcnabb has been much more of a pocket passer the last few years than people realize. Also, the Eagles O-line is absolutely dominate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spank_Me_Hard
He is an often injured commodity. Again i loved the guy when he played, but he has a hard time staying on the field. Also Philly is a spread the ball type offense that throws a lot of passes to tight ends and running backs.Quote:
Not like Stallworth is a superstar or anything... but he was more of a proven commodity than those other two players. Who knows though... maybe they won't miss a beat.
He makes highlight plays...but is very poor in playing within the scheme. His is out of position a lot and kinda freelances. Again, he would get some sacks/big plays, but gave up huge holes to run through. I don't know where you got the strong against the run thing...any Philly fan will tell you the exact opposite. Also he wants a lot of money in a new contract, and due to a clause in the trade we would actually get the rights to him if he does not report to camp and have to give Buffalo a 6th round pick.Quote:
Maybe it was the limited games that I saw Philly play... but every game that I saw, I thought that Walker looked dominating.
He is supposed to be one of the strongest players in the league. And at least the games that I saw... he looked plenty strong against the run. A real plug in the middle.
Outside linebacker was our bigest weakness last year, very undersized and weak at shedding blocks. This year, with Spikes at weakside, Dhani Jones gone and a very large Gocong probably starting at SAM, it should be a strength.Quote:
This is true.
And I think that Spikes is a good pickup. I think that he is a very good player.
I feel exactly the opposite, I think this team may be better than the 04 Superbowl team, but we will have to wait for the season to see.Quote:
Still though... I haven't thought this at all in recent years... I think that this very well may be the year where Philly falters and a new division champ is crowned.
Not NFL, but college football related -
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2936147
Prayers go out to him, for those of a religious inclination. Always hate to hear of this type of thing.
Like md1198p said, Darwin is overrated by his sack numbers, and played matador run D last year. And the worse news is that he will be returning to the Eagles, unless he reports to Bills camp. He is holding out for better contract, and if he doesn't report to Buffalo, his rights return to the Eagles in exchange for a 6th round draft pick. He may try to go that route because if the Eagles cut him, then he would be free to negotiate a new deal with any team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spank_Me_Hard
I wish I was that optimistic. I am taking a wait and see approach with our defense. They have fallen off greatly the last 2 years since 2004. The team has always been able to score points, but if the D isn't greatly improved, it will be another up and down season.Quote:
Originally Posted by md1198p
Quote:
Originally Posted by WolfNoob
Our 2 weaknesses the last couple years on defense have been tackle and outside linebacker.I am fine with Mike Patterson, they just need a stout run defender next to him, and a few good role players to rotate in. A lot is dependent on Bunkley becoming a good player and holding up the point of attack. They also added Reager and Scott, who should be good coming in a rotation.
The biggest upgrades have been at outside linebacker, Spikes is a huge upgrade...and just getting rid of Dhani Jones will help...he flat out sucks.
With Kearse coming back, our end rotation should be VERY good. I do hope and expect more consistency from Darren Howard with Kearse back.
Kearse is another huge question mark.
How will he play his first year back from serious injury?
Always liked The Freak, but I can picture it being all downhill from here.:(
Hah, you think the NFC west...or east whatever it may be even compares to the competition of the AFC west, I laugh at the thought. Betweeen the Broncos, Chargers, and Chiefs there cant be a better matchup in a conference between these 3 teams next year. (and the couple of past years). Bring it on motha f@#$@#$
Double post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spank_Me_Hard
Well the good thing is he did get hurt in week 2. I remember around the middle of the year people within the organization saying they kinda wished they did not put him on the reserve list because he may have actually been able to play in the playoffs. When he was healthy we rotated ends and all our linemen a lot, and the first few games we had a ton of sacks. Trent Cole had a breakout year, Juqua Thomas had 6 sacks in limited snaps, and played the run very well while he was in there.
Kearse is the key though...the line play did come down a lot when he got hurt. Its hard to replace a guy who commands a double team on every snap, even if he does not put up huge sack numbers all the time you can tell the difference when he is not in there.
We keep putting up Philly's questions, but honestly the other teams in the NFC East have much larger ones IMO, and since Philly is the returning NFC East champ, I cannot see how a logical person could say another team in the division would be the favorite.
If I'm not mistaken, Kearse had a major knee injury.
From everything that I have witnessed... players come back from them (sometimes even in the same season) but aren't nearly the dominant player that they were before the injury until about two seasons have gone by.
Never say never... but I just don't see Kearse being the same player that we have been used to seeing until next season.
Philly wouls still be my pick to win the division... but I just think that the playing field has evened out.
I think that specifically, Washington and Dallas have both made improvements. And if the Giants can replace Barber without missing a beat (and I do think that RBs are the easiest to replace... there is always some no name that comes out of no where to have a good season) then I think that they will compete as well.
One thing that I will say about Philly though... they do have excellent an player development system. I can't believe how many seemingly key guys that they lose every year and still stay good. Any other team collapses.
And I do like their philosophy with players... not overpaying anybody and not allowing any one player to be bigger than the rest of the team (i.e. TO).
yeah AFC west is the wild west....bigtime shootouts and in yo face sucka football
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spank_Me_Hard
I would say Dallas is Philly's only real threat, and that all depends on Romo, whom i am not sold on. And they have a lot of holes, O-Line is still not that good even after overpaying for Leonard Davis, aside from Newman the secondary sucks, and there biggest strength, wide receivers, are both getting old.
Washington still has Snider, so they will suck.
You are underestimating Tiki Barber, the guy was not just a good running back that can be replaced. He was a GREAT football player. You cannot just replace 2,000 yards from 1 guy. Manning was a below average QB with him, and the team was 8-8 with him. I can only see them being worse without him. Also there defense was pretty bad last year, I don't think they did enough to improve it much.
Lastly...Kearse's injuries where not all that bad really. here is a link explaining. I still am a little concerned, but he was at all the minicamps practicing full speed.http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2606669
Everyone is sleeping on the giants, which I like. Tiki was a huge loss, but no one is giving jacobs enough credit, he's a beast and can move. The new d coordinator is big, last year the cover no one defense and swiss cheese prevent defense sucked. 3rd and long may as well have been 3rd and 1 for the other teams.
The biggest concern for me is LT, why did they let petitgout go with no one lined up to replace him. Also if eli could show up for the 2nd half of the season that'd be nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriMaTe
People are sleeping on them because they are not that good. Even if Jacobs matched Tiki's numbers (not gonna happen), they are the same 8-8 team as last year. More likely (IMO) is Jacobs gets injured or wears out do to his high running style. But its unlikely at 8-8 they would squeak into the playoffs like last year. Them and Washington will battle it out for the basement.
I second whoever thought Arizona is always a quandary. Every year Arizona and Detroit get picked by a few national columnists as the teams who are going to turn it around. As almost everyone else, I don't know much about them other than their offensive stars, and that one stud safety they have. I believe there is much more than the talent on the roster in determining a winning team. Ownership and front office are probably more important we just don't see it.
Thats why teams like Arizona and Detroit will pick in the top 10 every year and get a competitive level of talent on the team but never actually compete in the league.
Coaching, management, and ownership are HUGE factors that people don't see.Quote:
Originally Posted by spamjedi
Dennis Green is a pretty good coach as far as I'm concerned.
The management I don't know enough ebout to make any kind of judgement.
And the Bidwell's are maybe the worst owners in the league. Perpetually underspend what they have available to them under the salary cap EVERY year.
Mind you... the Rams won a SB a few years ago and were competitive for a number of years under Georgia Frontiere... and she I would have put in the same league as the Bidwells.
Unlike a lot of years... I think that Arizona may actually have enough this years to at least compete vs. being a doormat.
I don't think that Jacobs will match Tiki's numbers... that goes without saying.Quote:
Originally Posted by md1198p
Tiki was also well known as a fumbler... so maybe that's actually one area of improvement.
And I think that Manning's development (because he is still a young QB with a lot of potential to grow... just like his brother was at his age) may help offset the loss of Barber.
Then of course the D has room to improve. Strahan, and Madison are getting old to be sure... but Arrington has something to prove after a bad season where his big contract was not justified. And he has the ability to be a bona fide superstar.
The D could get worse... but it can also get better. That's why we'll have to see when the season starts!
:)
I'm not sold on Romo either. There are a lot of Dalls fans in this area who think that Dallas is SB bound... I'm not nearly as confident. I want to see what this guy can do with a full season.Quote:
I would say Dallas is Philly's only real threat, and that all depends on Romo, whom i am not sold on.
I think that Williams is a GREAT safety.Quote:
aside from Newman the secondary sucks
Snyder is a bad owner right now. But if that guy can learn to just hire good coaches (which he has) and management and keep his hands OUT of the personel decision making process, he'll be good. One thing that I can say for the guy is that he is willing to spend the money... that's a good thing for a competitive team.Quote:
Washington still has Snider, so they will suck.
Snyder is one non interference judgement away from being a good owner.
I wouldn't call Manning a "below average" QB. I'd be perfectly happy having Manning with the 'Phins. I think that he has shown flashes of greatness... he just needs to get consistent.Quote:
Manning was a below average QB with him, and the team was 8-8 with him.
People judge him unfairly by comparing him to his brother. They are two QBs on two very diffeent teams in two very different situations. People expect him to be a mirror image of his brother and I don't think that's fair at all. He is a decnt QB with the potential to be great I think. I'd say, toss the direct comparisons aside.
Wow... that was a GREAT link. And it doesn't sound near as serious as when I first heard about it. I missed that news piece.Quote:
Lastly...Kearse's injuries where not all that bad really. here is a link explaining. I still am a little concerned, but he was at all the minicamps practicing full speed.
The posterior cruciate ligament is scary though... that one is EXTREMELY difficult to repair. I had my ACL reconstructed, and had a good discussion with my doctor about it. I found out that the PCL is a nightmare to rebuild. Even a small tear would scare the shi'ite out of me.
Better hope that the diagnosis on the PCL is correct.