NFC EAST 
Dallas Cowboys - Tony Romo has it rough. The man can’t
even bang Jessica Simpson without feeling guilty about it. Here’s
the bottom line on the Romo Era: two straight home playoff appearances;
two straight first-round exits. I wish Cowboys fans would scatter the
blame where it belongs, but it always seems to fall on Romo. No matter.
The ‘Boys enter the season with more hype than the World Champion
New York Giants.
To the defense, the Cowboys add longtime stud linebacker Zach Thomas.
I’m not sure that was absolutely necessary, but Jerry Jones sure
does love his man-jewelry, doesn’t he? He’ll dangle Zach
and Adam "Don't call me Pacman" Jones from his neck in front
of anyone who cares to be impressed. As of this writing, there is no
word on Pacman’s reinstatement, but it seems likely he’ll
be allowed to play for Dallas this year. That would make for one of
the strongest groups of cornerbacks in the league: Pacman, Terence Newman,
Anthony Henry and rookie Mike Jenkins. Speculation continues about Henry
being moved to safety and Roy Williams either being traded or moved
to linebacker. Keep speculatin’. It ain’t gonna happen.
The Cowboys are the deepest defense in the league, with backups across
the board who could be quality starters for most of the teams in the
league.
On offense, Tony Romo once again started the year looking like an All-Pro.
However, his production tailed off toward the end of the year, and in
their playoff loss to the Giants, Romo could only connect on 50% of
his passes and tossed only 1 TD. I’m not sure why Romo gets distracted
toward the end of the season, but it’s obviously something he
and his coaches need to work on. RB Marion Barber III should become
an every-down back this year, but there is some question about his stamina
(he shared the workload in college and the pros so far) and the role
of first-round pick Felix Jones. Still, Barber’s nose for the
end zone is unparalleled. Wide receivers Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton
are a fine pair, but the depth behind them is pitiful. Luckily, the
Cowboys have one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the game: Jason
Witten. If two of those three can remain healthy all year, the passing
game shouldn’t fall off track. However, the Cowboys will need
to address the wide receiver spot early in 2009. T.O. is entering his
13th season, and time ain’t on his side.
The Dallas Cowboys should once again claim this division, although
it will be more of a dogfight this year. Once the Giants get healthy,
they will battle all year long for that top spot.
Strength: cornerback
Weakness: wide receiver
2008 MVP’s: Marion Barber III & Demarcus Ware
Unsung hero: Bobby Carpenter
Record last year: 13-3 (playoffs)
Record this year: 11-5 (playoffs)
New York Giants – A friend of mine – a
lifelong Giants fan – made a lark of a bet when he was in Vegas
in August 2007: Giants to win the Super Bowl. Yeah, right! One of his
friends made that same sucker bet as a gift. So there he was, sitting
on two bets for the Giants to win the Super Bowl at incredible odds.
He watched as his team lost their first two games, then barely made
it into the playoffs. They faced non-stop road games. Then, he watched
as they reeled off three straight wins to put them into the big game
– against the can’t-miss unbeaten Patriots. He KNEW the
Giants couldn’t win, but he brought out his tickets anyway. I
brought over a bottle of champagne to watch the game with him –
not because I thought his team would win but because it seemed like
the nice thing to do. My friend won about $1000 that night. And that
popping sound? It wasn’t the gunshot to his temple we thought
it would be – it was my champagne cork launching out of the bottle,
signaling the second-biggest upset in Super Bowl history.
Eli Manning really came of age in Week 17 of the regular season. His
offense ran neck-and-neck with the greatest offense the NFL has ever
seen, and after that game, the Giants KNEW they could beat the Patriots.
They just KNEW it! All they had to do was beat the Bucs, the Cowboys
and the Packers on the road. Oh boy. But Eli somehow managed to ignore
his mediocre regular season, and he reached a new level. To maintain
that level, he’ll need his stud WR back. Plaxico Burress is still
nursing various injuries, and he’ll need to be a big part of the
Giants defense of their title. Running backs Brandon Jacobs, Derrick
Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw all excelled when called upon. If the Giants
are able to stash away promising RB Danny Ware on their practice squad,
they’ll have an even deeper corps. And strangely, the Giants have
one of the least talked about offensive lines… yet they’re
one of the best units in the NFL. Undrafted Rich Seubert and former
5th-round draft pick David Diehl probably won’t be making Pro
Bowls any time soon; all they do is protect their quarterback and make
gaping holes for their running backs. Isn’t that enough? Add rising
star guard Chris Snee, and you’ve got the basis of a great, great
line – albeit unheralded.
The defense lost the charismatic and tenacious Michael Strahan to retirement,
but don’t expect the pass rush to lose a step. Justin Tuck joins
Osi Umenyiora to terrorize quarterbacks, with tackles Barry Cofield
and Fred Robbins perfectly capable of collapsing a line. Reserve Reynaldo
Wynn is a veteran run-stopping DE, and Matthias Kiwanuka – who
was converted to OLB last year – could easily be called back up
to the D-line if necessary. The other linebackers are a mixed bag. MLB
Antonio Pierce is a smart player and a strong leader. The other spot
will come down to Danny Clark, free agent pickup from the Texans, and
Gerris Wilkinson, who missed time during the pre-season to injury. The
defensive backfield is undergoing a change as well. Gone is standout
safety Gibril Wilson. Enter rookie Kenny Phillips, who started for the
Miami Hurricanes as a rookie. Phillips has been a dynamo in camp, and
he’s likely to start most of the year. Cornerbacks Aaron Ross,
Corey Webster, Sam Madison, R.W. McQuarters and rookie Terrell Thomas
may rotate according to who has the hot hand.
The 2008 New York Giants don’t seem like the sort of team that
opponents will get fired up about. Usually, when you play the reigning
Super Bowl champions, you get a special rush. I think most teams feel
pretty good about rooting for these Giants (except the Pats, of course).
Strength: defensive line
Weakness: tight end
2008 MVP’s: Eli Manning & Justin Tuck
Unsung hero: Steve Smith
Record last year: 10-6 (playoffs)
Record this year: 11-5 (playoffs)
Philadelphia Eagles – A lot of the luster is
gone from this team. Once the unquestioned powerhouse of the NFC, the
Eagles endured a slow decline this past season. They seem far removed
from their NFC Championship days. The explosion just isn’t there
at many positions other than running back. It’s going to take
another losing season before the team truly commits to a youth infusion
and starts to rebuild again.
As mentioned, the running back position is solid and remarkable. Brian
Westbrook deserves every penny he can wrench from the tight fists of
Jeffrey Lurie. His new doppelganger is Lorenzo Booker. A draft-day trade
with the Dolphins brought this Westbrook Look-a-Like Contest winner
to the team, and he’s likely to be used more often than Correll
Buckhalter. At quarterback, the team will once again turn the driver’s
seat over to Donovan McNabb, who will most assuredly give way to Kevin
Kolb at some point during the season, whether it be to injury or poor
play. Kolb will never give it back. The Eagles wide receivers are unreliable,
although capable of turning in the occasional strong performance. Reggie
Brown and Kevin Curtis will continue to torment fantasy owners. Rookie
DeSean Jackson has shown promise in more than just the kick return game;
perhaps he will work the underneath routes with Brian Westbrook and
TE L.J. Smith to chip away at defenses… and lure the safeties
up. It’s their only hope.
DE Trent Cole once again put up double-digit sacks, but the rest of
the squad couldn’t seem to put much pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
2007 draft pick Victor Abiramiri will need to rotate with Juqua Thomas/Parker
(he changed his last name), Jerome McDougle and Chris Clemons to keep
the pass rush fresh – that is, assuming all of these guys make
the squad. The linebacking corps features a bunch of no-names: Chris
Gocong, Omar Gaither, Joe Mays, Rocky Boiman. However, one is about
to become a BIG name. MLB Stewart Bradley only got to start one game
last year, but in that game, he notched 5 solo tackles, one sack, one
interception, and one pass defensed. The Eagles have high hopes for
the second-year man out of Nebraska, and I think he could be the strength
of this defense. That’s saying a lot, considering how strong the
defensive backfield is. Sheldon Brown and big-ticket free agent Asante
Samuel will start at cornerback – and as long as Lito Sheppard
is on the team, he’ll show he’s still worthy of being considered
a top-tier cover corner. Old man Brian Dawkins still has some pop at
free safety. Sean Considine and Quintin Mikell man the other side.
The success of the Arena League’s Philadelphia Soul might have
to satisfy the City of Brotherly Love for a little while. The Eagles
will continue to frustrate this easily-frustrated bunch another year.
Strength: cornerback
Weakness: wide receiver
2008 MVP’s: Brian Westbrook & Stewart Bradley
Unsung hero: Lorenzo Booker
Record last year: 8-8
Record this year: 7-9
Washington Redskins – Jim Zorn? Seriously? C’mon.
The Redskins of 2008 will be eerily familiar. They have retained the
defensive scheme and the running offensive scheme of the now-departed
Gregg Williams and Joe Gibbs. The only change will be a couple of players
and the West Coast passing game. And since the WCO is basically what
Jason Campbell ran his senior year at Auburn, the transition shouldn’t
be too difficult for him. As a matter of fact, it plays to his strengths.
The wide receivers should benefit, as Santana Moss is custom made for
this offense. Antwaan Randle El will likely cede some time to rookies
Devin Thomas and especially Malcolm Kelly, once they both recover from
injury. The offensive line has shown its age the last two years. Chris
Samuels, Jon Jansen, Randy Thomas and Pete Kendall have already been
penciled in to the I.R. list. The backups have shown great promise in
the pre-season though, knocking through big enough holes that even unheralded
RB Marcus Mason can lead the NFL in pre-season rushing. The Redskins
will try to find room on the roster for Mason, along with Clinton Portis,
Ladell Betts, Rock Cartwright and fullback Mike Sellers. Look for a
big year from Portis, maybe rivaling his Denver years in the stat columns.
The big addition to the defense came when DE Phillip Daniels was lost
for the year with a knee injury, and the Redskins got on the phone with
Miami and quickly closed a deal for Jason Taylor. With little help from
his teammates, Taylor grabbed 11 sacks last year, so he’s obviously
got some life in him. Across from fellow double-digit sack master Andre
Carter, it could be a bloodbath. MLB London Fletcher is another old
man who just doesn’t pay much attention to Father Time. He finished
in the NFL’s top ten in tackles once again at the age of 32. The
cornerbacking trio of Shawn Springs (another oldie), Fred Smoot and
Carlos Rogers could become one of the league’s finest. The team
has an infusion of outh at safety, with incumbent LaRon Landry joined
by big-hitting rookie Kareem Moore and scrappy third-year man Reed Doughty.
If defensive coordinator Greg Blache can focus this crowd the way Gregg
Williams did, the Redskins could be a top ten squad.
Even in an election year, the leadership of Jim Zorn will likely be
the big question in the nation’s capital. Can Zorn – who
has never been a head coach at any level – also be responsible
for calling the offensive plays and still run this team adequately?
It seems unlikely. But will he have the foresight to give up the play
calling when his team needs him to? That’s the big question. Expect
a down year for Washington despite strong play.
Strength: defensive backs
Weakness: wide receiver
2008 MVP’s: Clinton Portis & Jason Taylor
Unsung hero: H.B. Blades
Record last year: 9-7 (playoffs)
Record this year: 7-9
- Uncle Scurvy - RotoKingdom Staff Writer
