The Cowboys are better than last year, The Eagles are worse

Cowboys5217

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,623
Reaction score
8,199
Overall in the NFC not much appears to have changed pending which of these draft choices break out as top players. Philly, SF, and Dallas still look like the top three by a fair margin over the rest.
 

cmoney23

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,660
Reaction score
2,128
We upgraded our biggest weaknesses last year -- DT, WR2 and CB2.

The Eagles? They got Jalen Carter, who will not replace Hargraves production for at least a couple years. And Nolan Smith, who is a duplicate of Reddick. You're not playing two 235 DE at the same time.

Meanwhile, they lost both starting safeties, their best linebacker, their best starting guard. Both coordinators. Five key players for them are over 33 (Slay, Cox, Johnson, Kelce, and Graham). Hargraves was their best D player, the entire glue. They have 2.25 wide receivers, one who could break in a strong wind. Their QB got paid.

AND, the Georgia stuff just might be too cute. Get a bunch of young, immature players who are bros from college and bring them to big city. Tell them they are Super Bowl locks. Heap praise on the Eagles all off season. Recipe meet disaster. Not to mention the history of Super Bowl losers.

They still have a great roster. But so do we. Best one since the 90s. We're better today than last year. And the Eagles are worse, despite what Steven A. Smith and Colin Cowturd and Chandler Random say
Careful saying that stuff on this Eagles board.
 

leeblair

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,991
Reaction score
5,108
Stop it. Not one person thinks the Dallas Cowboys were better then the Philadelphia Eagles last year.
They were. Except for coaching errors and referee help the Cowboys would have beat them the first game.
Except for Dak the Cowboys had the strongest NFC team. The Bengals and Cowboys should have been in the Super Bowl.
 

KJJ

You Have an Axe to Grind
Messages
57,332
Reaction score
35,368
We’ll find out when the season starts if anyone has gotten better or worse.
 

sandbridge77

Well-Known Member
Messages
531
Reaction score
621
They were. Except for coaching errors and referee help the Cowboys would have beat them the first game.
Except for Dak the Cowboys had the strongest NFC team. The Bengals and Cowboys should have been in the Super Bowl.
Lee does, he posted for about 5 straight weeks that the Eagles were about to implode.
 

SuperBowlz

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,007
Reaction score
551
They were. Except for coaching errors and referee help the Cowboys would have beat them the first game.
Except for Dak the Cowboys had the strongest NFC team. The Bengals and Cowboys should have been in the Super Bowl.
Stop it. That's just nonsense. Just because the Cowboys have the Eagles number that doesn't mean they are a better team. The Eagles didn't lose to the crappy teams Dallas did. The were so close to winning their 2nd SB in 5 years. Were we close to winning the SB last year. Someone else posted the following but it was spot on...
QB Philly
RB Philly
OLine Philly
WR Philly
TE Philly
DLine Philly
LB Dallas
CB Philly
S toss up?
Coaching Philly

How can Dallas possibly be better last year. They won the NFCE, they won the NFC championships, they were close to winning the SB but Dallas is better. Be for real dude.
 

Flamma

Well-Known Member
Messages
22,325
Reaction score
19,110
The biggest loss to Shegals may be the 2 coordinaters. Couple that with rooks and replacement FAs it could be step back.
Cowboys are marginally better and could add some OL help after cutdowns. Odoga if that’s how it’s spelled should help depth but more is better if available.
One would think that could hurt the Eagles. But I saw a piece breaking down the 5 or 6 other times this has happened. Where a team lost both the OC and DC after a season. In every case the team was either just as good or better the following year.
 

mcmvp

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,179
Reaction score
2,102
I think it’s interesting that some fans think the Eagles will be hurt by the loss of their coordinators while it’s an addition by subtraction to have their OC Moore leave.
Fair point. I'm not at all sad to see Gannon go. Steichen will be missed, but much of what he did is now well ingrained and they won't change much. Johnson has been with Hurts a while. Much more curious than worried about what will be added.
 

Blue&Silver

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,759
Reaction score
1,056
I'm not going to be that presumptuous. They are going to be good, and so were we. I'll make a mild prediction. They'll struggle on defense the first few weeks and then get better and better. They lost their defensive coordinator by default that makes them better on defense.
 

BoyzBlaster

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,470
Reaction score
3,145
You do need to do a more thorough and objective analysis of their off season.
On paper, they are a more complete team right now.
The off season is not over, so we can still catch up, and it will come down to how the teams perform on the field.

You mention Guard. Yes, they lost Semalu (Dickerson is their best guard BTW), but they have Cam Juergens, last years 2nd rounder, whom they are very high on, to step in. The Eagles have become adept at this. Bringing in a guy and having him understudy for a year, then moving him into the starting lineup. Will he be as good as Semalu? Only time will tell, but he's a really good prospect who will be playing between 2 of the finest ever to play their positions (Kelce and Johnson).

The same could be said at LB. They lost Edwards (and White), but they drafted Nakobe Dean in the 3rd last year. Many felt he was a first round talent, and slipped due to injury concern. He will be their starting Mike this season and should replace Edwards quite well.

They did lose both Safeties, but return Edmunds and Blakenship, who played a lot for them, and added a highly touted draft pick in Sydney Brown. They return all 3 of their fine CB's.

They replaced RB Sanders with Swift, which may actually be an upgrade, and added Nolan Smith to the mix. And of course the Carter for Hargrave swap. As important (at DT), they have a DEEP rotation, and return Davis, Cox, Milton Williams and Tuipolotu, along with Carter. They take that position much more seriously than the Cowboys have. Glad to see us finally ackowledge that with Mazi, but we still do not have anywhere near the Eagles Depth at DT.

My concern right now for the Cowboys is this:
We moved on from Moore, and will now have MM call the plays. He is more a west coast, ball control kind of guy.
I get that and agree with it. Ask less of Dak. More quick drops and simple reads will help him.
More ball control on O will help keep our D fresh. We have worn down at times, and Mazi will help that big time.
I like what we have done on D a lot. I feel we can now be as physical as the Eagles and Niners on D.

What I question is that if we want to run more, be more ball control, we need our OL to dominate the LOS (like the Eagles do), and I don't see that right now. I was shocked Torrence was there in the 2nd, and even more shcoked that we past on him. I would have liked to see us invest in a physically dominant IOL. Someone who, long term, we could pair with Tyler Smith on the left side and run behind for years to come.
We didn't do that. I like Schoon, I'm a U of M guy, but I feel we reached there bevause we needed a TE and they were coming off the board so fast. So we are either relying on Tyron to remain healthly (which is highly doubtful), or that Edoga or Farniok to suddenly blossom? Edoga played 50 snaps last year, and has never been that good. Farniok I like as a multi position role player off the bench, but I'm not sure he is NFL starter material, So I see a hole in the Cowboys right now. Maybe Tyron plays an entie season, and it never becomes an issue. It's possible.

I'm not an Eagles fan, but they have a great front office, and have done an amazing job, on paper at least, of retooling on the run.
On paper at least, they are a more complete team right now, but as I said, the offseason is not over, we still have money to spend in FA, and utlimately it will come down to performing on the field. Last year doesn't matter anymore, both the Eagles and Cowboys are new teams this year.
Killer post.
 

roarr

Active Member
Messages
57
Reaction score
117
Sure. You better hope that Steen can play inside where he is supposed sit down and anchor. His game was to use his long *** arms to steer guys outside. At 315 at first glance it might seem okay but at 6'6" that is not a lot of density. Kelce has always been undersized.

Mazi is precisely the type of player that gives guys like that fits. Bigger, quicker, stronger. You cannot Morgan Moses lean on a guy like Mazi.

One thing to consider is that Hargraves was one of the best run defenders in the NFL. Smith and Carter are excellent players and might be good run defenders for what they do. They do not do what Hargraves did in terms of controlling the los. Cox is still there but every year he slows down that much more. Cox is certainly at the age where the wheels can fall off at any time.

If you are planning on a 3rd round and picks over 100 to solve your losses at both starting S you are delusional. In contrast, the cowboys lost Brown and Brown and replaced them with Cooks and Gilmore for two picks over 100. Schultz is gone and Ferguson looked a lot better as a rookie than Schultz did. Throw in Schoonmaker and the chaff and it llooks like depth.

Eagles S depth is absolute trash. Cowboys fans know very well what it looks like throwing UDFA, late rounders, and cast offs at the S position. Have fun with the big plays.

So the Eagles without Hargreaves are less capable of anchoring the los than before while the Cowboys are much better equipped. The Cowboys were able to much better fill their holes using late round picks than the Eagles did.
Hargraves not only was good against the run. He was their BEST D player. Lots of sacks. Created sacks for others. It's no coincidence that Graham and Reddick had career years. That was Hargraves
 

roarr

Active Member
Messages
57
Reaction score
117
You do need to do a more thorough and objective analysis of their off season.
On paper, they are a more complete team right now.
The off season is not over, so we can still catch up, and it will come down to how the teams perform on the field.

You mention Guard. Yes, they lost Semalu (Dickerson is their best guard BTW), but they have Cam Juergens, last years 2nd rounder, whom they are very high on, to step in. The Eagles have become adept at this. Bringing in a guy and having him understudy for a year, then moving him into the starting lineup. Will he be as good as Semalu? Only time will tell, but he's a really good prospect who will be playing between 2 of the finest ever to play their positions (Kelce and Johnson).

The same could be said at LB. They lost Edwards (and White), but they drafted Nakobe Dean in the 3rd last year. Many felt he was a first round talent, and slipped due to injury concern. He will be their starting Mike this season and should replace Edwards quite well.

They did lose both Safeties, but return Edmunds and Blakenship, who played a lot for them, and added a highly touted draft pick in Sydney Brown. They return all 3 of their fine CB's.

They replaced RB Sanders with Swift, which may actually be an upgrade, and added Nolan Smith to the mix. And of course the Carter for Hargrave swap. As important (at DT), they have a DEEP rotation, and return Davis, Cox, Milton Williams and Tuipolotu, along with Carter. They take that position much more seriously than the Cowboys have. Glad to see us finally ackowledge that with Mazi, but we still do not have anywhere near the Eagles Depth at DT.

My concern right now for the Cowboys is this:
We moved on from Moore, and will now have MM call the plays. He is more a west coast, ball control kind of guy.
I get that and agree with it. Ask less of Dak. More quick drops and simple reads will help him.
More ball control on O will help keep our D fresh. We have worn down at times, and Mazi will help that big time.
I like what we have done on D a lot. I feel we can now be as physical as the Eagles and Niners on D.

What I question is that if we want to run more, be more ball control, we need our OL to dominate the LOS (like the Eagles do), and I don't see that right now. I was shocked Torrence was there in the 2nd, and even more shcoked that we past on him. I would have liked to see us invest in a physically dominant IOL. Someone who, long term, we could pair with Tyler Smith on the left side and run behind for years to come.
We didn't do that. I like Schoon, I'm a U of M guy, but I feel we reached there bevause we needed a TE and they were coming off the board so fast. So we are either relying on Tyron to remain healthly (which is highly doubtful), or that Edoga or Farniok to suddenly blossom? Edoga played 50 snaps last year, and has never been that good. Farniok I like as a multi position role player off the bench, but I'm not sure he is NFL starter material, So I see a hole in the Cowboys right now. Maybe Tyron plays an entie season, and it never becomes an issue. It's possible.

I'm not an Eagles fan, but they have a great front office, and have done an amazing job, on paper at least, of retooling on the run.
On paper at least, they are a more complete team right now, but as I said, the offseason is not over, we still have money to spend in FA, and utlimately it will come down to performing on the field. Last year doesn't matter anymore, both the Eagles and Cowboys are new teams this year.
You're wrong. The Eagles have NOT become very adept at having draft picks come in to replace people. Look at the last ten years of their drafts. It's trash. Bottom ten in the league. They have missed A BUNCH.
 

roarr

Active Member
Messages
57
Reaction score
117
This is foolish for me to post this as all I'm doing is putting material out there for you guys to criticize and poke at, but I was asked for a review instead of just saying I did one. It's just my perspective which I'm respectfully not ramming down anyone's gullet.

In the back end Philly lost Gardner-Johnson and Epps. I believe CJ was considered the bigger loss and he’s being replaced by Edmunds. PFF has similar grades on both players with TE graded ahead of CJ with higher coverage and run grades. Edmunds will benefit from Philly’s corners being resigned, more very positive offseason moves that can’t be overlooked, and we shouldn’t be surprised to see TE’s INT’s on the uptick. You could pair with him the 3-round safety that garnered All-Big Ten Conference honors while leading the Big Ten with 6 picks which placed him third in FBS. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see Evans back there with Edmunds instead of the rook, Blankenship, or K’Von Wallace. With what they do up front and retained on the edges (added Greedy Williams also), I wouldn’t expect a drop-off in the back end. Remember, they also smartly got a toy in the forth round in the speedy Ringo.

Edwards was a loss but he was one of the lucky recipients of what the beef up front did. He’ll be replaced by Morrow and Nakobe Dean who will be essentially coming off a red-shirt type year. He didn’t need to see the field with TJ and White on the field and it’s a good thing as he struggled with the formation transition of the Birds defense. Word has it he’s really set to go now. Remember, Dallas fans were tickled when Morrow was rumored to be a potential acquisition, well now he’s taking his 2022, 116 tackles to Philly where tackles at the position will be much easier to come by. Not concerned about this position. Besides, they have another 1st round toy in Nolan Smith, that they’re going to have to find a place for – perhaps a la Parsons. That will be a dynamic they didn't have last year.

Hargrave is gone but the Birds are throwing quality bodies at the d-line. Jordan Davis will play a bigger role after a needed year in the weight room and look at that, his buddy with “generational talent” joins him on the line as well as a very nice late round get in Ojomo. Add to that another D-lineman, Kentavius Street, and don’t discount Cox coming back and the there are plenty of ****-disturbers still lingering on the Philly front.

Seumalo was a nice player that took a long time to develop and it felt as if the guy was one misstep away from an injury. How many games did he play in the ’20 and ’21 seasons combined? Underrated and underappreciated but was not the linchpin of the line by any stretch and has had the luxury of being sandwiched between Kelce and Johnson last year. They’ll fill in just fine with Cam Jurgens this year and oh look, they smartly drafted a player in the 2nd round to compete at the position in the future.

They got better in the backfield. Sanders was nice, but the combo of Penny and Swift? I’d be worried if I just had one due to injury history but having both is sweet. Still, if I were to pick a pass-catching group I’d take Philly over Dallas. It’s the receiving ability at the TE position that swings the pendulum. QB – Hurts. So, I don’t see their offense declining and the addition of Cooks and a blocking TE really doesn’t do it for me in terms of closing the gap.

So, overall they may have a little different look but they also will play with more team speed and they have solid depth. Don’t overlook a few of the vets getting together to seal the deal this year.

There's another thread where I generated a post on the Cowboys draft so to stop my rambling I'll just summarize one more time. The Cowboys draft was a "C" with a max. potential of being a "B". The players we selected haven't exhibited the explosive style of play (more than the rare occasion) to expect this class to be afforded and "A" grade, and the FO missed opportunities to push this roster where it needs to be. We didn't close the gap.
Okay, let's go one by one. Your safety analysis is so off. CJ was one of their best players. And Edmunds PFF grade is in the 60s. Plus, everything else is a question mark. a 3rd rd rookie, or career backups.

Hargraves is a huge loss! There's almost no way Carter replaces that this year. Cox is older. Graham is older. actually, they are old **. Nolan Smith is a reddick replacement, so it's not an upgrade overall. They will just split snaps.

The oline may be fine but it's no guarantee they are as good as last year. They are depending on two old guys here too. Their best two linemen.

Backfield? Not that rbs matter that much, but it's a push at best. IF THEY STAY HEALTHY.

LBer? Again, you're counting on guys who couldn't see the field or career journeymen to replace your best LBer.

They lost both coordinators, too.

We upgraded our three weakest positions and lost nothing of note. Cooks and Gillmore will have WAY more impact this year than their entire draft class.
 

roarr

Active Member
Messages
57
Reaction score
117
Go position group by position group. How many groups is Dallas better at?
O-line- Philly
TE- Philly
WR- call it a push. CeeDee and AJ are close. Smith is better than Cooks at this point in their career. Gallup better than Watkins
RB- Push. Eagles are a bit deeper but Pollard is a good starter
QB- Eagles

D-line- Philly- they have a solid 2 deep rotation. Parsons is the best individual player but Philly has better overall talent and depth
LB- Dallas. Eagles have new players.
CB- I’d call it a push. Both teams have a solid group. Avonte Maddox is a better slot corner but he’s been injury prone.
S- Dallas

K- Eagles
P- Dallas
Return- Dallas
Dline is Cowboys... Whole D is very much Cowboys. And Cowboys better at RB, maybe WR and TE. Oline is Eagles. QB? We'll see... Hurts has one good year. Dak's had a lot of those
 

roarr

Active Member
Messages
57
Reaction score
117
The Dallas TE room has a total of 315 career receiving yards.
The Eagles back-ups have 245 so not sure how you can say the Dallas room is better.
Athleticism. Upside. We have three guys who look like starters in their rookie or second years
 
Top