Damn, if I had 10 points to add to the 49ers scores last year I could get their record up to 9-7, winning the NFC West.
Sure, but winning the NFC West is probably equivalent to finishing third in the AFC South.
…and the Eagles signed him right back to a much cheaper deal. I can’t imagine how a team is going to pass on the Eagles this season.
On passing downs, the Eagles will be a bear; but as much as they’re able, I’m expecting teams to stay in their base sets, force the Eagles to do the same, and go to work on the linebackers and safeties.
Yeah, the linebacking corps is still a liability in coverage. Asomugha and Samuel can’t cover the shallow middle of the field. Of course, with the Giants letting Kevin Boss go and with Chris Cooley banged up, that won’t be a problem inside the division (except with Dallas, who might suck defensively).
On the East coast, which I’m not a part of, it’s officially gameday. Saints will tear shit up!!!
That’s a big concern. Not the safeties so much (I like the Eagles’ group a lot) but the linebackers, especially against the run. But on the other hand, forcing teams to stay comparatively conservative on offense may work right into Philly’s hands. Ball control is fine and good, but at some point, against the Eagles’ offense, you’ll need to score points. Tough to do that milking the clock and working the short/medium middle.
Jamar Cheney is going to surprise a lot of people with his ability to cover linebackers, he’s really good in that aspect. I would be really surprised if teams were able to consistently beat the Eagles with TEs like they could last year.
The only way to beat the Eagles, in a theorycrafting way, is to pound the ball on inside runs (Philly will be bottom 5 YpC against the run this year, I’m sure) and control the clock enough to keep the offense off the field. If you can limit the big play on defense (a big if with Vick/DJax/Maclin/McCoy) you can beat the Eagles. But like I said to furt, you’re essentially bringing a knife to a gunfight in that scenario. It’ll be tough to pull off if Vick is anything like he was in 2010.
Two of the Giants’ Lombardi trophies came from exactly this strategy, and against more potent offenses than the Eagles look to have this year.
Of course, both were nailbiters and both could have easily gone the other way. heh.
God I love preseason hubris.
Give me your prediction on the Eagles’ season. The way you describe how hard they are to beat, it’s gotta be at least 13-3, with a Super Bowl win. I just want to hear it from your mouth.
Predict your team’s record now, before we move to the weekly threads. Yay! Football is here!
With so many 10am East Coast away games, I can’t see the 49ersweekly doing better than 8-8. They’ll beat Seattle this week, but that second win will be a long time coming.
Seattle is going 9-7 with Charlie Whitehurst at the helm
and hell is a balmy 14° F
The Packers will go 20-0, ending their season defeating Al Qaeda and breast cancer in blowouts.
I’ll go ahead and predict a 11-5 season, NFC North Divisional championship, and a loss in the Super Bowl. Their huge issues are, once again, the Offensive line and avoiding overconfidence on defense. Of course all bets are off if Rodgers goes down. They need him for the breast cancer game.
I look at the Bucs’ schedule and I only see three games we shouldn’t win (@ Green Bay, @ Atlanta, @ New Orleans). I see 10 games we should win (it helps that we play Indy in Week 4, by which I doubt Manning will be back). I see three that could go either way (@ San Fran, Houston, fake-home-game-in-London-against-Bears).
We’re going to lose at least one of the games we’re supposed to win. The question then becomes whether we can win 2 of the toss-ups. If so, we’re 11-5 and in the playoffs. If not, we’re 10-6 or 9-7 and not in the playoffs.
I smell 10-6, but I have a feeling New Orleans takes a step back and we do make the playoffs.
I could see the Bills beating Cincy, Washington, maybe Tennessee, and while Oakland will be better this year they may be erratic, especially early on (they play in week two) and who knows what’s up with Dallas, as usual. I don’t have much faith in the Broncos either. I’ll share my prediction to the optimistic side and say 5-11.
The Panthers’ schedule looks pretty brutal. They might be able to get Jacksonville and Washington, and I see Minnesota as a team that will have some bewildering losses. Again, I don’t think much of the Titans. Picking better than 3-13 doesn’t seem very realistic, though.
The Panthers will be significantly better than last year. 3 of their 4 best players were on IR by the end of October. On the other hand, their schedule is tough for a 4th place team. I’m giving them 4 wins (Tennessee, Washington, Jacksonville, one randomly selected division game).
The Browns play CIN, @IND, MIA, and TEN before their bye. I honestly believe they can win all those games. If Cincy is as dogshit as I think they’ll be, then the Browns have no excuse if they lose, and the result should give us a good idea of what kind of team they’re going to be this season (TEN @ JAX and NYG @ WAS are two other bellwether games, because I think the losers are most likely to finish last in their respective divisions).
So if the Brownies can go at least 3-1 before their bye, I see them going 8-8 with an outside chance of 9-7 and second place in the AFC North.
I think the Panthers will be better, too, and they have a lot of talent around Newton and or Clausen. But that’s a really tough schedule. Their division is still very strong, and they also play Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indy, and Chicago along with Arizona, who figure to be better.
I got the Bears going 9-7, we’ve got a pretty easy schedule and if we take care of business against the Lions and Vikes twice, the Seahawks, Chiefs, Broncos, Panthers and Raiders we’ve got 9. If we steal a couple against the Packers, Eagles, Chargers and rest of the NFC South we could win the Norris again. Chances are we’ll falter against one or two of the first group, Lions/Vikes road games or one of the west coast trips and win a couple we aren’t supposed to and even out at 9 wins.
ETA: Getting a home win against either the Falcons or Packers will be HUGE. We could be 1-4 heading into Detroit in week 5 and that’s a scary thought. Big NFC road games against the Bucs and Eagles on either side of the bye are key as well, I like our chances in both because we match up well but there’s a lot of tough games on the first half of teh schedule.
Yeah, it’s so hard to see how a team built the way the Eagles are will be hard to beat. It’s so much of a reach! I mean, they have no good players, on either side of the ball. They didn’t improve themselves at all this offseason, and that’s a damn shame for a team that went 4-12 last year. God, how pitiful I am to think the Eagles might be better than last year.
Okay, I’ll bite, though I’m pretty sure I’ve already predicted on the boards a season around 13-3. I’m concerned enough about the offensive line now (I figured they would have done a little more on that unit by now) that it tempers my expectations a little. But I just don’t see how a healthy team does worse than last season when the roster is significantly better.
Is it hubris to say the Eagles should win against San Francisco, Buffalo, Washington (twice), Miami, Arizona and Seattle? It’s fair enough to think the Eagles handle those games easily enough, and I’ll even give you the annual let down game where the Eagles lose to one awful team they should beat each season. Not unreasonable to go 6-1 against those teams. The rest of the division includes the Giants (hurting and a team the Eagles have beaten 6 straight times) and the Cowboys, and the fair thing would be to say the Eagles split those series. 8-3. That leaves St. Louis on the road, Atlanta on the road, Chicago at home (finally!), New England at home, and the Jets at home. I think the Eagles are better than St. Louis and Chicago, 10-3. I think it’s fair to say the Eagles would go 1-2 against Atl, NE, and NYJ, so 11-5.
11-5 without giving the Eagles a win against a team they should lose to. So if they can beat either NE or NYJ (both at home), or take an extra game against NYG or Dal, they go 12-4. I don’t think they win the Super Bowl, but I do think they make it there. It’s just that the NFC is more pass heavy, which works into the Eagles’ strengths and the AFC is more run heavy, which works into the Eagles’ weaknesses. They aren’t invincible and I never implied as much. They should be a really good team though. So I’ll say they take that extra game and go 12-4.
Wow, those are some nice strawmen you’ve built yourself those. Maybe the Eagles can use them as tackling dummies.
I enjoy the preseason hubris, because it’s just that, preseason. There’s optimism all around, you can ignore the inevitable toll of injuries, the parity of the NFL where so many games come down to a field goal or less (or a miracle punt return), and the reversion to the mean from excellence. It’s preseason. And it’s hubris.
Everybody does it, including me. It’s what happens in preseason. The holes in the team haven’t been exposed yet, Danny Watkins hasn’t been blown past, the secondary hasn’t missed tackles, Chad Clifton hasn’t been a turnstile, and Aaron Rodgers or Michael Vick haven’t had a concussion. I’m not mocking you, or your prediction, which may well be right (Vick is 2-3 in the playoffs, just sayin’), just the blind optimism that comes in the preseason.