Week 10 early pics in bold:
Wash @ TB
Min @ NYG
DALLAS @ Phil
I like your picks, they look right. I will be rooting for Philly as it helps the Giants more.
Just a joke: All Manning SuperBowl.
Maybe I’m just being a pessimistic they-always-seem-to-find-a-way-to-lose Giants fan (tell me I don’t have a reason to be after the past few years), but the Vikes sort of looked a little non-sucky yesterday. The Giants are winning, but they’re not showing the consistancy needed to make me feel comfortable.
Consistancy of play seems to be the bugbear of the entire division, actually.
The Skins ought to be able to take down the Bucs next week, but it all depends on which team shows up - the guys who lost to the Giants or the ones who beat the Eagles. Brunnel and Arrington had a big day yesterday, and when those guys lead the team follows. If they’re flat look to the Bucs for a win.
The Eagles don’t seem to be suffering from a lack of T.O., but that doesn’t mean they’re any good. I’m amazed how shaky this team got in one year. They’re always tough at home, though, and I’m pulling for them to give the boys in blue a little more room over the Cowboys.
I was a little surprised at how long the Giants let SF stay in the game yesterday but, like the aforementioned inconsistency within the division, it’s also usually one void of killer instinct as well.
Strange watching that Redskin/Eagle matchup and actually having to cheer for one of the two. Heh, that was a bizarre sensation indeed.
Thoughts now go to Philly and what they’ll decide about T.O. for the Dallas game. It was one reason I was kinda hoping for a grimace Philly win.
What a good weekend for football overall though. Plus, with the Indy/NE game tonite, it ain’t near over yet.
Don’t get me wrong by my Giants pick over the Vikes. I’ll be rooting for the Vikes to rip the Giants a new one. I just don’t expect it to happen.
Also, if you extend the wins and losses to date in the NFC out for 16 games, it looks like two potential 10-6 teams will miss the playoffs. It will be interetsing to see what happens when the NFC East teams really start playing each other more.
as a long-time Philly inhabitant and fan, I lost all confidence in the Iggles last year. I know Andy Reid is a competent and successful coach, but I never liked him or his arrogant style. Now, after many years of success, his football world is falling apart.
I knew they would lose last night, with or without Owens, as McNabb is a shell of a QB, as he has no consistency other than being consistently inaccurate. No running game in the NFC East equals no success, except when the rest of the Division sucks. Well, the rest of the division no longer sucks and the Eagles are going nowhere. It pains me to say this, but here goes:
- Giants -Division Champs
- Cowboys -Wildcard
- Redskins -out of playoffs
- Eagles -out of playoffs in a few weeks
Boy do I hope you’re right.
I was kind of hoping for a Philly win, too – even though that just feels so… WRONG. But not so much because of T.O. as because the Cowboys already beat Philly head-to-head, so being tied with Philly is better right now than being tied with Washington, in win-loss record.
But as for T.O., if you’re worried about him for next week… I just sit here and smile to myself at how T.O. only had 50 yards in receptions in the Phil. at Dallas game several weeks back. And then I just envision the star in the center of the field dancing on him. 
Speaking of TO, what team will take him at this point? Is there any fan base that would welcome him and a coach that would actually want to deal with him?
He has got to be the most disruptive player in football. I know I would be extremely unhappy if he came to the Giants.
Jim
Terrell makes Keyshawn and Randy seem like team players. But he will play again. There is always some owner willing to inflict a T.O. on his team if he thinks it can lead to a bigger payday.
He might play again… but not in Philly.
Hopefully, that asshole, TO, will go the way of Ryan Leaf.
(I mean out of the NFL… not starting for the Cowboys).
I think even Parcell’s will pass on TO. I am guessing it will have to be a desperate team and hopefully he will get less than he was due in the contract. All he cares about is money, so that would be a great instant Karma.
Jium
Only 8 more versions of I like It, I Love It to endure.
Owens will definitely find a home next year; he’s too good. The talking heads are saying he won’t get a big multi-year contract, which sounds about right. My guess is that he gets a kinda-sorta multi-year deal, structured so that the team can cut him after the first year without taking a cap hit, but with a decent bonus due before Year 2 should he behave and play well.
In the meantime, I’m glad the Eagles kicked him out. Not because he’s an egotist and an asshole, but because they’re suddenly a lot less dangerous. Remember how bad their WRs were before Owens got there? Well, now they’re even worse, and McNabb can’t run like he did back then to make up for his receivers never getting open. Teams will just put a spy (or two) on Westbrook, and that’ll be good enough.
Philly will still score some points – they have a good pass-blocking O-line, the best receiving RB in football, and an excellent QB – but having one of the worst WR corps in the league will really hurt an offense that relies almost solely on the pass.
Man, I hate the fuggin’ Eagles. Now can Brian Dawkins punch a cop or something so that he can get suspended, please?
He probably will find a home somewhere but I’m struggling to imagine where. Teams in need of WRs all seem like bad fits. No way Green Bay takes on his attitude, as an organization they favor character too much. The Bears have a #1 and don’t expect to have cap room for a guy like TO, plus Chicago would bury him alive. Denver could be a possibility if Rod Smith retires, but Shanahan is is a control freak who’d probably shy away. Atlanta is maxed out and is feeling optomistic about it’s crew right now. Dallas and Washington might work from a personel standpoint, but I don’t see either coach greenlighting it. Oakland is the knee-jerk pick but I’m not sure they’d put him and Moss together, especially with Porter in a long term deal as well. In any case they are maxed out too. Baltimore seems like a likely candidate, but the lack of a QB and the baggage from his fight against going there probably kills it.
Lets face it, he wasn’t that heavily competed for when he left SF for Philly and he’s got way more baggage now. The only advantage is the you’ll get him at a discount.
Well first off none of the Eagles’ wide outs are the same now from when T.O. joined. Pinkston will probably be back next year, currently recovering from injury. Brown looks pretty good.
People seemt ot foget the team made the NFC championship game without TO 4 years running. The only playoff game they ever had him for was the Super Bowl, and they should’ve won. He was right that McNabb fell apart in that one.
The Eagles’ problems have very little to do with TO.
Reid is out of offensive ideas, McNabb has struggled at best, the defensive line has no push (Kearse appears to be past his prime already). It’s possible the team still squeazes into the playoffs, but they have to get a lot of ducks in order. I don’t see Dallas winning here, that’d be a good start.
Compounding the generally sucky play of the Birds last Sunday was a miserable officiating job. I think the Skins picked up a big sideline reception that wasn’t and Greg Lewis got robbed of a catch that would’ve given the Eagles a first and goal. Bad as the Eagles played - and they sucked - it was still only a one TD game, which tells me the Skins aren’t stellar either.
Anyone notice the horsecollar tackle of McNabb last Sunday? (Not at all suggesting this contributed to the loss.) That’s about the 4th time this year I’ve seen no call on that tackle on some player or another. Is this a rule or what?
I didn’t see that particular tackle but wonder if McNabb possibly might have been grabbed by the back of his jersey and not his shoulder pads? If I’m not mistaken, the former is still legal, it’s grabbing a player by the pads from behind the neck and pulling down that was recently disallowed.
Also, in order to be illegal, the tackle must occur outside the “tackle box,” and the defender must bring the ball-carrier down solely by grabbing the collar. So it would be ok if the defender grabbed the collar to slow down the runner, then wrapped his other arm around the midsection before bringing down the runner.
While the Redskins / Eagles game was a close one, I have to say that Brunell looked good at QB in this game for the 'Skins. The numbers weren’t through the roof (21 for 29, 224 0 TD, 0 INT) but he made a lot of very nice ‘touch’ passes where he lofted the ball over a defender and right into the hands of a receiver in the flat.
Ok, so there was the fumble at Eagles’ 20 the end of the 2nd quarter that took a Washington FG off the board and should have put 3 up for the Eagles, had McNabb spiked it on the 25 instead of running a bone-head play, but I blame that fumble on a bad coaching decision. (3rd and 2 on the 20 and you drop back to pass? BZZZT. Wrong! Run for the first down, if you make it, take some end zone shots before kicking. If you don’t make it, run down the clock before kicking or at least make your enemy burn a timeout.)
BTW, what accounts for the Redskins defense playing solid for 90% of the game, and then choking at the end of each half? After the fumble Philly just whooshed into field goal position with a couple quick passes, and in their final drive they moved 70 yards in under a minute. I don’t get it. I see this phenomenon a lot in closing seconds drives-- why does it seem that offenses get more successful when they’re desperate? Or am I just employing selective memory?
Unjustified division predictions:
NYG: 11-5, div champs
Washington: 10-6, wildcard
Dallas: 9-7, miss playoffs
Eagles: 7-9, miss playoffs