I have no idea what you’re talking about.
(Eagles fan).
ha…glad you said it, because i was gonna say it.
look where it got the eagles.
you can replace people with younger, cheaper things sometimes, but you can’t KEEP doing it.
I’m thinking there’s a better than 50-50 chance we’ll be hearing discussion of the Pats front office getting cocky and thinking they could never screw up after this season. I don’t know their cap situation, and I wonder if letting name guys like McGinnest, Givens and Vinetari go is prelude to them replacing Corey Dillon with someone pricey who doesn’t have a fork sticking out his back, but right now it looks pretty grim.
Omni, I see that the Bears finally wised up and picked up a backup QB in the form of Brian Griese. Were I a Bears fan, I would be fairly psyched about that. (Despite a similarly good move by the Jets last year turning out to be worthless, in the form of one series by Jay Fiedler.)
Jimmy and furt, I’ve been hearing an awful lot of talk – Mike & Mike, PTI, Around the Horn, etc… – about the NFC East, and how the Eagles are now the worst team in the division of four. Generally they’ve been saying that the Cowboys and Redskins (in no particular order) are the top two teams, the Giants are a solid third and the Eagles a distant fourth.
I’m accustomed to the Giants getting no respect. Despite two Superbowl appearances with one win, the Giants haven’t gotten respect around the league since '86. But this is the first I’ve heard people having no faith in the Eagles this century. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?
Do you think the Eagles are being underrated, and if so, are you pleased or annoyed by it? Or do you think it’s a realistic prediction for them to again be last in the NFC East, and are just hoping that Donovan & Co. can field a respectable showing?
From my perspective, I’m pleased as punch that the Giants are getting very little respect. Taking the field as underdogs has always served Big Blue well. I fully expect the G-Men to make a Superbowl run this year. At very least I want them to do better than the Colts, and I see no reason why they can’t at least do that.
The Pats are a good 20 million under the cap, but they need to redo the deals of Richard Seymour and Deion Branch, who each have only one year left on their contracts. It’s been noted that these two, being both (a) young and (b) top-notch performers at important positions, would be FAR more of a tragedy if they got away than the people who have gotten away (though they are still huge risks, especially Vinatieri at the price he likely signed for; Givens will be great in the future, but the Titans were willing and able to overpay for him, while the loss of Willie makes the most sense of the three given the money they already have sunk into his position). There is speculation that the Pats will make at least one major move and several moves of moderate importance at SOME point… but no one’s really sure when it’s going to come.
As a fan, I’m certainly nervous at this point, but am reserving judgment until we see them make the moves that they will eventually make.
The lions? Lets not get crazy here. Granted they did nab Josh to battle Kitna at QB. Arizona should have a nice shot at the playoffs.
Hey playoffs would be nice for me right now.
Osip
I can’t believe you just told me to get excited about the signing of Brian Greise…what a topsy turvy world. I’m much more concerned about the signing of Gilmore, apparently an indication they’ll continue to not care about the TE position.
I’ll come back with more after the fantasy baseball draft.
I don’t see nothin’ wrong with a little Brian Griese.
Last in the division is realistic, certainly. They sucked last year, and everyone in the division has added some new dimension thus far this offseason, so I don’t think anybody can argue that it isn’t realistic. I’m not ready to call anything a lock because so much is up in the air, but my thoughts right now? I’m a tiny bit worried, and slightly less confident that they’ll get back on top of the division than I was at the end of the season.
It wasn’t hard to see what was wrong with the Eagles last year. In no particular order: McNabb was hurting badly, they got no pass rush, they didn’t run the ball, none of the “other” receivers distinguished themselves much, special teams was a glaring weakness, and they just didn’t stop anybody in general. Oh, and they had some off the field problems. OK, so, here’s the good news – 25+ under the cap this offseason, TO is a thing of the past, and there are a few appealing options in free agency, etc. Use the money wisely, plug the holes, and 2005 was just an injury-riddled malignant tumor of a season that we could all put behind us and move on as the gold standard of the NFL. That’s certainly what the organization was putting out there, and to a certain extent I was ready to buy it.
Just by glancing at the first page of this thread, you can see that I wholeheartedly endorse the additions they’ve made thus far – Barber’s about a 300% upgrade every second he’s on the field (ay, there’s the rub), and Darren Howard was the defensive end I wanted. OK, looking good. Hell, I even mentioned Jabar Gaffney by name, so I’m right on board with the moves they have made. It’s the ones they haven’t that have me just a little bit on edge. Missing out on Bentley was a serious cock-block for me, because I was absolutely frothing at the mouth when I heard they were gung ho about him. With him and Shawn Andrews most likely side by side (one way or the other), how can you not run the ball, right? Then he ends up with Cleveland. Randle El was another guy they were supposedly targeting – never materialized. Mike Anderson – gone before he even visited. This isn’t Madden, and you can’t just sign whoever you decide you want, but they haven’t fixed everything that needed to be fixed.
As we sit here today, I really don’t like the look of the offense. I especially worry about the combination of no offensive line help and no running back with the still-mediocre receiving corp. It really looks like they’re confident with the same old offensive formula, and that they’re just going to pick up some schlub during camp to fill the power running role, like furt said – another Lamar Gordon. In light of the big steps backward the defense has taken, like I said, I’m worried. I’m sure they’ll draft help on both lines, and almost certainly a linebacker and another receiver, but they’re not all going to help right away. Most likely, only two or three of them will. If that’s the case, where does this team hang its hat? Rhetorical question – on #5, obviously. I have no problem with that, but I don’t see the help around him that I thought I’d see. I really banked on either a “name” receiver or an accomplished back to pair with Westbrook, and it’s looking like that’s not going to happen, which is absolutely not going to get it done in this conference the way it did in years past.
All that said, Dallas doesn’t impress me much, and I believe both Washington and the Giants are beatable, at least. It’s certainly not time to despair, but if this is the look we’re going to show on offense, I’d put them at about 25% for last place, 60% for third in the division. Now, wow me with day 1 of the draft, or trade Hollis Thomas and a 3 for Javon Walker, and all of a sudden I’m on board without reservation.
Okay, my prediction was only off by, uh, 43 days. Not that it was a protracted negotiation or anything. Geez, I thought the week-long contract deal with Plaxico last year was bad, but Arrington’s deal drove me batshit crazy for these past SIX WEEKS. (John Clayton said the Plax deal was over a month long. It was not; it was fewer than 7 days.)
Okay, so as you can imagine, this Giants fan is happier than a pig in shit right now, addressing our biggest hole with a potential superstar. There’s a great thread on giants.com where people are gathering quotes from the Redksins, Eagles and Cowboys boards, and I thought I’d share. I’ve bolded my favorites:
That makes two of us, Ellis. Keep those knees healthy, and this’ll be a monster improvement where we desperately needed it.
Glad to read those quotes – nice summary. One of the reasons I’ve soured on team message boards is the insane amount of overly-optimimistic fanboy thumping – it seems that no matter what happens, 90% of posts are “we’re still gonna kick ass!”. Good to see fans of the other NFC East teams realize what they’re in for. 