NFC East 2005
NFC East 2006
NFC East 2007 - OOPS! Missed it!
NFC East 2008
Discuss!
I have nothing to add at this time but GO COWBOYS!
I’ll get this thing rolling with some general highlights off the top of my head as I remember them…
DALLAS COWBOYS off-season highlights
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Roy Williams (S) cut as his request - went to Bengals
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Greg Ellis didn’t like his situation in Dallas and went to the Raiders
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T.O. cut - to the Bills, Roy Williams (WR) takes #1 WR spot
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Canty to the Giants - now injured?
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Pacman Jones cut - to CFL
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Tank Johnson gone
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Zach Thomas retires
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Keith Brooking signed from Atlanta
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Igor Olshansky signed from the Chargers (a Wade Phillips guy)
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Cowboys draft is a bunch of low picks, supposedly bolstering special teams
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Cowboys bring in Joe DeCamillis as special teams coach to replace Bruce Read
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Wade Phillips to act as head coach and defensive coordinator
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Phillips accused of being too soft on players, doesn’t coach against penalties, runs “camp cupcake” in the summer, and is on the hot seat for the continuing trend of the Cowboys burning out in December and January for the last several years. Cowboys were embarrassed to lose their last game at Texas Stadium to Baltimore when the Ravens broke out a couple of long scoring runs at the end of the game. Dallas was also throttled at the Eagles at the end of last season, 44-6.
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Cowboys last playoff win: December 28, 1996, the Cowboys beat Minnesota, 40-15, in the wild-card round at Texas Stadium
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Cowboys have a brand new stadium with a huge video board that can be hit by punts, despite the fact that JJ set the board at 90 feet after the NFL told JJ that 85 feet was acceptable
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Tony Romo dumped Jessica Simpson a day before her birthday, so she had a witch put a curse on his love life. Game impact TBD.
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Felix Jones is back from injury from last year to share the RB load with Barber and Choice
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John Kitna replaces Brad Johnson as backup QB
Dallas was predicted to take it all last year by many people; the team did well, but petered out in December, missing the playoffs by one game. Some say Dallas would have made the playoffs but for Romo being injured for 3 games and being replaced by less than competent Brad Johnson.
People are waiting to see about this whole “addition by subtraction” theory by dumping TO in favor of Roy Wi11iams and cutting Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones. Also, this years training camp was supposedly tougher than last years. Hopefully, this team will make up for some lost talent with discipline and a better team attitude.
Once again, the NFC East looks tough. Should be fun!
Everything I’ve been reading about the Boys is that they have no depth. If any starter goes down, the drastic drop in talent level will sink them. Not sure I believe that for everyone, but yes if Romo goes down, the offense suffers. If an O-lineman goes down, I think they’ll be able to handle it.
As for Roy Williams going to the Bengals. Mike Zimmer is the D-Coordinator there now. So he’s bringing in people he knows, like Tank Johnsons as well. All of this is being chronicled in the Hard Knocks HBO series.
I think they were right to shed themselves of TO. And I’m tired of all the commentators acting as though he was the only talent on the team and oh, what have they done to themselves. No matter the talent a person has, if he brings the team down, he’s no good to them.
The O-Line looked good against San Fran. Not perfect, but Romo was getting a lot more time to throw. He’s looking a little less hurried, less apt to try and force the long ball.
Tony’s love life–should have no effect on the team. Of course, I never really thought it did in the first place. If things went down as all the rag mags say, can’t blame her for being ticked, but I see no problems from THAT quarter.
We’ll see how the whole video board thing goes. The real problem I see with it is that I think some will try to hit it on purpose, to be difficult and try to affect the Cowboys’ mental game. It certainly appeared to me that the Titan’s punters were deliberately aiming for the thing during warm up time.
Kitna will be an improvement over Johnson. Of course, I think ***I ***would have been an improvement–the guy threw like he was a moose wearing mittens. Hard NOT to be better. Still prefer that Romo remain healthy.
SO glad to have Felix Jones back. I think he’d have had a big impact on our season last year. Having three good WRs can’t hurt!
Jason Witten. Not since Jay Novacek have the Cowboys had such a multitalented player. I’m sure he’ll have his usual positive impact.
I’m hoping that this is the year for DeMarcus Ware to break the single-season sack record. He came so close last year!
All-in-all, I think our starters have looked pretty good in the preseason. I have hopes for this year to be a better one!
Too bad Dallas doesn’t play Minnesota this year. 
I thought Felix Jones was a RB???
And replacing TO’s numbers are going to be hard for Roy Williams to do. I hate TO and everything he represents in this “new era of primadonna wideouts”, but you can’t argue with his production nor his gumption in playing hurt. Yah, he’s getting older now, but I think he’s still got a couple elite years left in him.
Yes, he’s an RB, that’s what I meant–brain fart. sigh Happens more the older I get.
I don’t think Roy or anyone else alone has to replace TO’s numbers. Romo will be much better able now to share the wealth without the consequences of that whiny little turd having a tantrum. Total production, not single-player stats, is what has a chance to improve now.
As for TO’s talent, I cannot deny it. I said in another thread how talented and charismatic he is. If only he wasn’t such a baby–I could’ve really gotten behind him if he didn’t have to be such a prima donna.
snort
They can go straight to the cellar, battling the Iggles all the way.
BIG BLUE!
I’m hoping someone can chime in here about the other division teams with a little summary of what they’ve been up to in the off season. I don’t follow too closely and would appreciate a bit of context heading into the season.
I can do a bit of that from the redskins side of things.
They made some upgrades along the defensive side of the ball. With Haynesworth and Griffin in the middle, they should have a solid line. Drafting Orakpo and utilizing him well in passing situations, the pass rush should hopefully improve. Orakpo was a DE in college but is being used more a DE/LB mix, sorta like Demarcus Ware. He’s looked really good in pre-season, but needs to work on his TE coverage abilities. Considering it was a top 5 defense last year, that should be good for them. They are a little thin in terms of depth when it comes to linebackers. Decent corners (Hall, Rodgers, Smoot) and safeties (Landry, Horton, Doughty) should be able to capitalize if the d-line can get consistent pressure.
Offensively… no major changes. Portis is still in the backfield and will get the majority of the carries. He’s a physical runner who does exceptionally well in pass blocking. The word on the street is that Betts will start getting all of the 3rd down carries this year in order to reduce the load on Portis. Cooley and Moss will probably still get the majority of the receptions. 2nd rounders from last year Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are fighting for the 2nd WR position. Right now, I give the edge to Thomas, but not by much. Randle El will take over in the slot, which is a better fit for him anyway. The o-line is still a weak point. Thought they made some upgrades, and had vets return to health, they still don’t have much depth, particularly on the right side of the line.
The main cog of the offense, QB Jason Campbell is OK. Not great. Not exceptional. OK. When his line began to fall apart last year, it really showed up in his stats. He’s dealt with the Redskins making a lot of effort to try upgrade his position, and been very good about the whole situation.
Special teams hasn’t been very special this year so far. A new punter joins the team and seems to get much better hang time then we had last year. The kicker is the same shlub last year who was iffy at best beyond 40, and had a hard time getting length on his kickoffs. On top of that, the coverage teams have looked really bad, so I’m not expecting a lot of good stuff there.
All and all, they look mediocre with flashes of crap and brilliance. In most other divisions, I’d say they make the playoffs. But unlikely in the NFC East. I’ll be a homer and say 9-7 based on a relatively easy first half of the schedule.
Anyway, that’s the 2009 Skins preview from my position in the redskin nation.
Giants fan offering up a two-line look at Big Blue’s preseason:
Eli looks pretty good, but the receivers have got to work on their catching skills.
The D looks…not as good as I had hoped. I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll get things in gear for the regular season, but they’re looking sloppier than I had expected.
That said, they’ll still take the division in a walk.
Thanks! Eagles wanna check in?
No Eagles fans here? Oh, I forgot … SDMB is for intelligent people. 
[Of course, to be followed up with, “Then what are YOU doing here?”]
Anyway, it looks like Tampa Bay is having trouble, firing their offensive coordinator just 10 days before the Cowboys go play them in Week 1.
Notably, all NFC East teams play TB early…
NYG @ TB: Week 3
TB @ Was: Week 4
TB @ Phi: Week 5
No reason given, but I don’t think it makes much difference. Our gameplan this season was going to be “run, run, run, and hopefully run some more” anyway.
The Cowboys getting rid of Roy Williams (S) will at least mean fewer 15-yard personal foul penalties.
I like the running game. Marion Barber is a beast. A healthy Jones gives them another dimension in the running game. If they can get a couple of receivers to step up for the long threat I predict many good things. Dumping off to Witten is a good alternative, but it won’t work too well if he is in essence the primary receiver for the offense.
IIRC, he tore a knee ligament. Takes a running back about a year to fully recover.
I like Barber, but in my opinion her is really more of a 15 carry a game guy. When he is fresh he is a viscious runner, but when he wears down a little he becomes pretty mediocre. If Jones is healthy this year, you guys should have a good mix.
Redskins fan checking in. As happy as I am with some of the off-season acquisitions (Orakpo, Haynesworth) and the stability of the coaching staff… this might be another season where I enjoy watching the other Beast teams fall to pieces. The Cowboys are going to crumble - as much as I hate T.O. they are going to be exposed, big time, without him. I don’t think Romo is the real deal either, and I suspect this season is when this will become apparent.
Iggles brought Vick on board. I assure you that sometime this season there will be serious discussion about benching McNabb in favor of Vick. I don’t think there’s ever been a more unappreciated QB in the history of the league than McNabb… but I still wish this franchise the very worst.
Hate the Giants as well but it doesn’t seem like they got any worse. I did just hear that David Tyree was cut by the team. That’s a Timmy Smith-esque fall from grace.
Alright, I’ll bite.
Oh yeah? Then what are YOU…
Darn it!
Well, what’s to say that hasn’t already been said? It has been a very… public preseason for the Eagles. But there are some things worth noting.
The Michael Vick situation is always interesting. I posted here on the Dope that I didn’t think he’d be anything special in this first season, and, that of the dozen or so times he’ll actually touch the ball, he wouldn’t do too much with it. I’m more convinced he can have a positive impact on the field, but in a limited role. He certainly isn’t ready to be the starting QB of a successful team. He may never be. But during the Jets/Eagles preseason game a couple days ago, I think Andy Reid showed a glimpse as to how he’ll be used, and it looks extremely promising. Reid subbed Vick in a number of times for a single play, often on 2nd or 3rd and short. They called all run plays, and up until halftime I had counted him at 5 for 5 in converting for a first down, and he even scored a rushing TD. If he does nothing else this season but come in sparingly on those situations, this offense will be much improved. Knowing Reid though, he’ll go to the well too often and late in the season when the team really need Vick to make a play, teams will have figured it out.
I’m not worried about the defense, despite all the warning signs. They’ll slip a little, probably due to some early season struggles, but the defense is largely the same as it was last season. Dawkins was a bonafide leader, though I think his contribution was exaggerated. Losing Stewart Bradley was painful. At least the Eagles have a lot of depth at MLB, including Omar Gaither, who was a starter there for about a season, I think. I’m not at all worried about the defensive coordinator. McDermott has been in the system for about a decade. He’ll run the exact same defense with all of the same terminology and aggressiveness of Jim Johnson. I think the transition will be seamless.
DeSean Jackson has looked really good. Kevin Curtis has been hurt again, and he could lose his job to Jeremy Maclin early on if he can’t stay on the field. I don’t think that would be a positive gain this season, Maclin isn’t ready. The offensive line hasn’t played together much, and the unit has been almost entirely revamped so they really need time together to form a cohesive wall.
As I said when the schedule was released, this is a 9-7 or 8-8 team that is getting way too much love. That was before Vick or Jason Peters, but I don’t feel as if much has changed. If this roster could stay together through this season, I would consider them a favorite to make the Super Bowl next season. I just don’t see it happening. The team looks to go 8-8, and the Eagles will probably get impatient and start blowing things up before next season can ever get off the ground. I’d love to be wrong though! I can say that, if the playoff races are close down the stretch, the Eagles have an advnatage in their final five games not being as tough as those of the rest of the division.