NFC EAST PROJECTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Cowboys
2. Giants
3. Eagles
4. Redskins
DALLAS: ULTIMATE HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE
The Cowboys won their first playoff game since 1996. For the last three seasons the Cowboys have been at the top of the NFC. This season expectations are higher because the Super Bowl is taking place at Cowboys Stadium this coming February. Can the Cowboys become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in their home stadium?
Quarterback Tony Romo posted his second 4,000 yard season since becoming the Cowboys starter. He threw his lowest interception total last season showing that he can take better control of the football. It is expected that he will pass Don Merideth on the Cowboys franchise passing yards list.
The Cowboys rushing game ranked #7 in the NFL. There are a lot of good choices for the Cowboys to run the ball. First there is power back Marion Barber…
Then there is Felix Jones who is used for speed…
And a good choice to run the ball, Tashard Choice.
Even though this clip is from 2007, this shows the toughness of tight end Jason Witten and why he is both Romo’s favorite target and a fan favorite.
In 2009, Witten led all tight ends with 1,030 yards. He was the only tight end in the NFL to go over 1,000 yards receiving in 2009. His 94 receptions were third best in the NFC and ninth best in the NFL.
Last season Miles Austin had a breakout season. At Kansas City, Austin caught 10 passes for 250 yards (a single game record for a Dallas receiver) and 2 touchdowns. 60 of those yards came on the game winning score in overtime. Austin’s 2009 season ended with him being #1 NFC in receiving yards, tied for fourth in the league for receiving touchdowns, and his first trip to the Pro Bowl held annually in Hawaii in Miami.
Linebacker DeMarcus Ware has been compared to another Cowboys pass rusher who wore #94: Charles Haley. Ware provided the Cowboys a spark in their upset at New Orleans last season. After suffering a neck injury and being carted off the field at home against the Chargers, Ware came back to play 6 days later. Ware made the game ending sack of Drew Brees to secure the win for Dallas.
Owner Jones regrets passing on Randy Moss which is why Dallas drafted receiver Dez Bryant with their first round pick. The Vikings drafted Moss with the 20th pick in the 1998 draft after several teams including Dallas passed up on the receiver in part due to some concerns about his character at Marshall. On Thanksgiving Day the Vikings traveled to Dallas in a showdown between NFC powers. Moss caught only three passes that day… Catch number one. Catch number two. And catch number three. There is already buzz that Bryant could be a rookie of the year candidate and replace receiver Roy Williams as a starter in part due to the veteran not living up to expectations when he traded from the Lions in 2008.
If there is one thing that concerns Dallas, it is the play of the offensive line. Even though the Cowboys have depth on the line, they are facing injuries and replacing players with experience to protect Romo.
Dallas’s schedule is in the top five in terms of difficulty. Dallas opens the season at Washington followed by back-to-back games against quarterbacks that like to throw the ball in a home game against the Bears, followed by a road game down I-45 against the Texans. October 17 is circled on the Cowboys’ schedule to avenge their 34-3 trouncing by the Vikings. That game starts one of two key stretches in Dallas’s schedule that starts with back-to-back home games against the Giants and Jaguars, followed by back-to-back road games in Green Bay on a Sunday Night (again… doubt it will be -13F) and their first visit to Meadowlands Stadium (maybe Tony can carve the final score into THEIR stadium…)
The second key stretch comes from Thanksgiving until the end of the season starting with Thanksgiving against the Saints followed by a road game against the Colts. Within the final month of the season, the Cowboys play the Eagles twice, first at home, then in the season finale.
Possible the Cowboys will be on their homefield for the Super Bowl…
Well… you wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time decorating the end zone…
NEW YORK: NEW PLACE, SAME TEAM
The problem with the Giants last season was they got off to a great start at 5-0. Then they followed their winning streak with losing four straight games before the bye week. Heading into the final two games, the Giants were still in playoff contention until being eliminated from contention with a loss to the Panthers in the Giants’ Giants Stadium finale (41-9) and thrashed by the Vikings 44-7 to finish the season at 8-8.
Eli Manning posted his highest passing yard total and quarterback rating in his career last season. Since being the Giants starter in mid-season of 2004 his stats have improved season to season. This is in part due to the receiving combo of Mario Manningham and Steve Smith.
Steve Smith caught 107 passes (second in the NFL) for 1220 yards and 7 touchdowns. Mario Manningham was second on the team with 57 receptions.
Defensive end Osi Umenyiora recorded 7.0 sacks to rank in the top 7% of players with at least half a sack (385 players last season recorded at least a half a sack). Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka are an offensive line’s nightmare. Keith Bulluck replaces the recently retired Antonio Pierce as a leader in the linebacker corps.
The success of the Giants in 2007 was their rushing game which ranked #4 in the NFL in their Super Bowl season. Last year the Giants ranked #17 in rushing yards. Running backs Ahmad Bradshaw scampered for 778 yards and 7 touchdowns while battering ram Brandon Jacobs powered his way to 835 yards and 5 touchdowns. Having a 4,000 yard quarterback is great, but being able to grind out a win in December at Meadowlands Stadium is what will get the Giants back to the post-season in 2010.
The Giants open the season at home with the regular season opening of Meadowlands Stadium with the Panthers.
Then in Week 2, Eli Manning and Peyton Manning will get the chance to toss the ball around and keep the ball away from Cooper the other defense.
The Giants make two trips to Texas in October, first to Houston on October 10, followed by a Monday Night matchup in Dallas in Week 7. Three weeks later, the Cowboys will get their chance to do what Eli Manning did in the visitor’s locker room of Cowboys Stadium arrive for showdown of NFC East powers.
The Giants close out 2010 with three of their final four games on the road including against a team that Eli Manning has not had much success in defeating: the Minnesota Vikings. The day after Christmas the Giants play at Lambeau, their first meeting since the 2007 NFC Championship Game.
The Giants have the pieces in place to make the NFC East once again one of the most watched races in the NFL.
PHILADELPHIA: A NEW ERA
Fifty years ago the Eagles won the 1960 NFL Title by defeating the Green Bay Packers coached by Vince Lombardi. It was Coach Lombardi’s only loss in the post-season. Chuck Bednarik made the game saving tackle to preserve the 17-13 win. It was the last Eagles championship.
The Eagles enter 2010 with a new starting quarterback. The Eagles drafted University of Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb in 2008 with the intent of eventually starting him. That era is now.
Donovan McNabb was the Eagles all time leader in completions, attempts, touchdowns, and wins. He also ranks second among rushing yards and rushing touchdowns for an Eagles quarterback. In his tenure as the Eagles starting quarterback, McNabb led the Eagles to playoffs eight times and five NFC East division titles. The most glaring record in this resume: the Eagles 1-5 record in NFC Championship games with McNabb.
Kolb was drafted because in recent years McNabb has been hurt and the team has wondered if they can win the Super Bowl with him. The Eagles have the talent on offense to put up points with receiver DeSean Jackson.
On defense, cornerback Asante Samuel was among three other players that led the league in interceptions in 2009 with 9. The ability to create turnovers will bring the offense back onto the field which will help with Kolb’s familiarity with the offense in a regular season situation.
The Eagles open the season against the Packers followed by back-to-back road games against the Lions and Jaguars. October 3 is circled as McNabb returns to Philadelphia in a Redskins uniform.
After the bye week is where the Eagles season becomes difficult. Games against the Colts at home, followed by a rematch in DC against the Redskins, and at home against the Giants. Even though three of their final five games are at home, they face teams that finished the season .500 or better including Dallas twice in the final four weeks.
Short term, the Redskins will get the better end of the deal by having McNabb under center for a couple of seasons. Long term, the Eagles make the adjustment to Kolb and they will be a better team because of it. Similar to what happened with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. The Packers in their first season with Rodgers as the starter struggled but in the seasons since, Rodgers has made the Packers into a possible contender for a Super Bowl championship.
At the end of the season, Philadelphia will not party like it is 1960. However, with this version of the Eagles, I see a small regression with Kolb but not that bad. Their surrounding talent will keep them above .500.
WASHINGTON: NEW ADMINISTRATION IN CHARGE
“Dallas owned Philadelphia. The Eagles owned New York. The Giants owned the Cowboys. And the Redskins… well, everyone owned the Redskins.”- Al Michaels commenting on the NFC East in 2009
This video pretty much sums up the Redskins 2009 season:
The reasoning for that play by the coaching staff:
“Well… We’re going to get fired anyways at the end of the season! It’s fourth down before the half in a game where we’re getting our asses kicked. So… F it! Hmmm… I’m just going to close my eye and pick a play… Fake field goal.”
Talk about mailing it in…
Hence, two-time Super Bowl winning coach Mike Shanahan was hired.
As I described in a post back in April 2010, Donovan McNabb was shipped south on I-95 from Philadelphia to our nation’s capitol.
Hmmm…. This sounds a little bit of déjà vu. I think Sonny Jurgensen started his career as an Eagle and then got traded to Washington where he had an outstanding Hall of Fame career. Now, it’s the other way around.
I am not certain that McNabb is going to make the Redskins all that much better. Since Daniel Snyder became the owner of the team in 1999, he has tried to build the team through free agency.
Results: a record of 80-96, three seasons greater than .500, one division title, 2-3 playoff record, six different head coaches, and countless number of free agents paid millions of dollars that were brought in to bring a title to DC but have not panned out.
Case in point: the current dispute between the front office and nose tackle Albert Haynesworth. There are rumors that the Redskins are trying to trade him back to the Titans.
You want to know what made the Redskins not suck so bad great in the 1980s? Two NFL Strikes and a really bad NFL season in 1991 They built their team, specifically The Hogs, through the NFL Draft. The draft is where you get that one player where you can build a franchise around. With the Colts it was Peyton Manning in the 1998 Draft. The Eagles built around Donovan McNabb when they drafted him in 1999. The purpose of free agency is to get those one or two players that can turn your team into a contender for that window of opportunity.
In the Redskins case, it was their 1981 draft class which brought them their offensive line. If you look at their Super Bowl teams, what was one thing that was consistent in the championship season of 1982, 1987, and 1991? Definitely not the quarterbacks, nor the running backs, but it was their offensive line.
Washington opens up their season against the Cowboys at home. Week 4 is McNabb’s return to Philadelphia in a Redskins uniform. It is going to be interesting what kind of reception he will receive from the hostile passionate Philadelphia crowd. After the Eagles, the Redskins play back-to-back games against the Packers and Colts.
After the bye week could be a critical stretch for the Redskins IF they are in playoff contention. A home game against the Eagles followed by a road game in Nashville, home against Brett Favre the Vikings and a road game against division rival New York.
Even though Donovan McNabb led Eagles teams that has less talent at the wide receiver positions to NFC Championship game appearances from 2001-03, it will take a miracle for the Redskins to make the playoffs. I do expect that as the season progresses McNabb will become comfortable in Mike Shanahan’s system. However, for the Redskins to not suck become a competitive team again, there needs to be a complete personnel overhaul.
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