About The NFC East

[Whyjerry]

Just curious to see how some of you view how each team has changed.

My take:

Eagles - Not sure what to make of them. They have a ton of talent but they seem like they might have lost that "underdog" edge they had that carried them to the SB. A lot of chatter.

Commanders - I think they have really improved. Smith will probably be a better QB for their offense and no matter what you think of him, he will not make the same mistakes Cousins has made at times. They loaded up on run stopping defenders.

Giants - I also think they improved. I am not impressed with Shurmur as a HC, but there is enough residual talent on this team for them to be able to compete. I think they will try to be a more balanced physical squad.

It is interesting that outside of the Eagles, the division is shifting towards the run game. And the Commanders loaded up to stop the run, while Dallas is at a clear deficit. That might be a key to this season.

The responses should be fun to designate who pays attention to other teams or who just has blinders on.​

Eagles - I think their coaching was tip-top. I am shocked so many thought DP was a piker. That guy was on last playoffs. I think you overrate their talent but they do have a great young QB and coach in place. They are the top dog in the NFCE.

Commanders - Personally, Cousins > Smith but the roster is better. I also think Gruden is a good coach. Very good draft. The issue is the QB play is the worst in the NFCE. I think they are third best but dangerous.

NYG - I think the new coach is better than you think. I also think he was better in Cleveland than given credit for so big upgrade in coaching. What worries me more about the Giants is the new DC, Bettcher. That guy always ran a nice D in Arizona. Talent wise these guys are the worst in the NFCE. I also think Eli is on the way down. The OL still needs works and the LB group is so-so.

For me Dallas has the best top to bottom roster in the NFCE. That has been the case for a couple years. Want to know what holds us back? Watch the second half of the first Philly game last season. You will get the picture.

Philly wins 10-12
Dallas wins 8-11
Skins wins 7-9
Giants wins 6-8

 

[Sydla]

You lost 31-0 in the second half! You can explain that away? If so FOX news has an opening, lol. Getting back Sproles, Peters and Hicks makes the Eagles a better team than the one that won the SB. The Eagles are better than you schematically, in talent and in coaching. The differences in the FOs aren't even worth listing. Keep up with the dumb narrative of lighting in a bottle. We won our games on average by better than 10.5 point per. Yep some bottle.
What I find interesting is how all of you suggest your problems at guard are over. How? Williams number one know is he needs to get stronger. Isn't that the number asset of an NFL guard, strength? In his first year he will be dominated by the DTs just in this division alone. You will see he will be a liability. A 6'5" guard with short arms and strength issues is a disaster waiting to happen. Not being able to run the ball consistantly will expose Dak. Hell it already has.

You have no idea what he's going to be. And further, Williams is the same size as Zach Martin (6-4 versus 6-5) and has longer arms than Zach Martin (33 versus 32 7/8). Using your logic, Martin should have been a disaster waiting to happen. Except he was an All Pro as a rookie and arguably the best OG In football the last 3-4 years.

Note, I am not suggesting Williams is going to be Martin. Just pointing out how stupid it looks to see you citing his "vitals" and concluding he's gonna suck because of them.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Watch the second half of the first Philly game last season. You will get the picture.

O-Line and QB play. Hopefully those issues are behind us.

 

[1nfljunky]

You have no idea what he's going to be. And further, Williams is the same size as Zach Martin (6-4 versus 6-5) and has longer arms than Zach Martin (33 versus 32 7/8). Using your logic, Martin should have been a disaster waiting to happen. Except he was an All Pro as a rookie and arguably the best OG In football the last 3-4 years.

Note, I am not suggesting Williams is going to be Martin. Just pointing out how stupid it looks to see you citing his "vitals" and concluding he's gonna suck because of them.

Martin had strength issues coming into the league? Nope. He was strong enough and had great technique. He was also a lottery pick. But other than that I guess they are kissing cousins.

 

[Sydla]

Martin had strength issues coming into the league?

Actually yes, there some questions about his power coming out of ND. Here's a blurb from a scouting report on Bleacher Report:

Evaluators will worry about Martin's ability to take on head-up, anchoring three-techniques as an NFL offensive guard. Martin's power is only slightly above average, and he has not shown at the college level that he is a consistently mauling body-mover.

Walter Football's reviews talked about how at times, he struggled with larger DL at ND because he couldn't overpower them.

And you didn't just question Williams strength. You tried to suggest his size would be an issue as well, that his height and arm length would prevent him from playing well.

 

[1nfljunky]

Actually yes, there some questions about his power coming out of ND. Here's a blurb from a scouting report on Bleacher Report:



And you didn't just question Williams strength. You tried to suggest his size would be an issue as well, that his height and arm length would prevent him from playing well.

Re read the edited post. Thanks.

 

[Sydla]

Re read the edited post. Thanks.

The edited post is even worse.

For one, he wasn't a lottery pick.

Yes, he had questions about his overall strength coming out of ND. I just showed you one scouting guide that said just exactly that. There are others. Read Walter Football's scouting review of him back coming out of ND, etc.

Further, I clearly stated I wasn't saying Williams was going to be Martin.

And finally, you continue to gloss over the fact you tried to use his height and arm length as somehow making it impossible for him to play well. I can see why you suddenly want to pretend you didn't say that.

 

[CouchCoach]

The Eagles are the best team in the East and NFC for now but how Wentz responds to that injury and how that affects how he plays the position this season will set their course. They are the best balanced team from O to D and pass to run in the NFC and Pederson is an excellent play caller. The only thing that can keep them from winning the East, back to back since 2004, is injuries and they proved themselves quite resilient in that department last season.

Can Barkley fix the Giants? He can surely help because he is the real deal but they have to protect Manning because he's immobile and gets the "yips" a lot easier these days. The Giants never do anything without a stout D and I do not see that this season. They should fight the Skins for the cellar.

If they think Smith is going to fix them, they're in for disappointment because the only thing he has in WAS that closely resembles what he had in KC is at TE. He will not have a top 2 RB and top 5 WR in WAS. They will also have a coach on the hot seat and if they start off shaky, they could implode.

The Cowboys are a bit of a mystery with a lot of youth but they should contend for a WC and be the 2nd best team in the East. I do not think they are a top 6 team so they will need some cancelling out from the better teams in order to get in. The Cowboys are very thin at some key positions and injuries will play a bigger part for them than the other east teams.

I do believe the Cowboys are the most likely East team to improve as the season unfolds and the moving parts fall into place. The three big ?'s for the team is on offense, can the QB shake off a shaky last half of 2017 and which WR's and TE's will step up? On defense, can they trust the front 7 and run game to a rookie LB and will the secondary come together as a unit. And on ST, quite possibly the most overlooked and most vital part of the team when the games are close, is the old Danny Bailey back or will he struggle? I have a feeling too many missed FG's by him and the team is on vacation in January. I think it's going to be that close, one game can get them in or out.

 

[Stash]

on the contrary, the fact that they were able to win with the three players out show that every did indeed align for them or they would have strugged to overcome

I dont know how you can say that we wouldn't have won the first game....we were up 9-7 at half time and having zeke in would have likely converted a few of the FG's to td's plus protected the defense in the second half....

Maybe because the final score was 37-9?

 

[Stash]

The Eagles got the ball to start the half and went right down the field on us. And then after a drive by us that ate up close to 3 minutes where we punted and pinned the Eagles deep, they went 90 yards in 5 plays and 2 minutes to blow the game open.

So nah, I don't think we had much of chance to win that game with Elliott and Smith. The Eagles simply made better adjustments and utterly embarrassed us in the 2nd half.

What do "adjustments" mean?

 

[dallasdave]

Maybe because the final score was 37-9?

 

[Fletch]

Just curious to see how some of you view how each team has changed.

My take:

Eagles - Not sure what to make of them. They have a ton of talent but they seem like they might have lost that "underdog" edge they had that carried them to the SB. A lot of chatter.

Commanders - I think they have really improved. Smith will probably be a better QB for their offense and no matter what you think of him, he will not make the same mistakes Cousins has made at times. They loaded up on run stopping defenders.

Giants - I also think they improved. I am not impressed with Shurmur as a HC, but there is enough residual talent on this team for them to be able to compete. I think they will try to be a more balanced physical squad.

It is interesting that outside of the Eagles, the division is shifting towards the run game. And the Commanders loaded up to stop the run, while Dallas is at a clear deficit. That might be a key to this season.

The responses should be fun to designate who pays attention to other teams or who just has blinders on.​

*adjusting my blinders so nothing peaks through peripherally*

Cowboys sweep the East and go 12-4 on their way to NFC Championship game, eventually winning the Super Bowl.

That was fun.

 

[dallasdave]

*adjusting my blinders so nothing peaks through peripherally*

Cowboys sweep the East and go 12-4 on their way to NFC Championship game, eventually winning the Super Bowl.

That was fun.

I like your Outlook

 

[Stash]

Martin had strength issues coming into the league? Nope. He was strong enough and had great technique. He was also a lottery pick. But other than that I guess they are kissing cousins.

So 29 bench reps Martin is "strong enough" but 26 reps (Williams) is a "strength issue"?

Keep digging that hole!

 

[dallasdave]

So 29 bench reps Martin is "strong enough" but 26 reps (Williams) is a "strength issue"?

Keep digging that hole!

I think the hole is filling up with WATER

 

[Stash]

I like your Outlook

I prefer Microsoft Outlook!

 

[dallasdave]

I prefer Microsoft Outlook!

Good one

 

[gmoney112]

I think Philly will be a little worse than last year, just because DCs are going to pour over a ton of tape on Pedersons offense from last year. I think Philly will be good, but not "blow out the Vikings by the first half" good. Itll be interesting to see how good defenses play them this year with mixtures of coverages.

I think Eli is done. Giants end up better on offense and look to have a decent beginning for a transition to a younger QB, but theyll be largely irrelevant. Defense wasnt good last year considering the $$, and it wont be good enough this year.

Commanders OL got beat up last year, good amount of injuries for them. I think theyll be pretty tough, decent enough offense and a pretty talented DL in nickel. Kerrigan/Smith/Allen pass rushing. Alex, Guice, Robinson added on offense. I just dont think they're going to be good enough on offense or good enough in pass defense to make the playoffs. If they stay healthy, I wouldnt be surprised if they pull some nice wins though. A loss against Washington by us or Philly and it ending up being huge in the division race wouldnt surprise me at all.

If we can stay healthy, and not get ravaged by injuries, I think East comes down to us and Philly with Commanders playing spoiler and being competitive. As far as comparisons in recent years, the East is pretty good this year. Every single team actually looks to have improved.

I could see this years East looking a lot like last years South.

 

[Idgit]

The Skins have had an interesting offseason. Getting Allen back, adding Payne and Settle. I like Alex Smith for them better than Cousins. The OL was hobbled pretty badly last season, but they've got talent there. Then they added Guice. They had a long ways to go, but they've definitely closed the gap.

The Giants are still going to be limited by their OL. They paid Solder a lot for his level of ability, but he's a big upgrade. They'll still need to help him against some of the edge guys in the East. Hernandez is a huge upgrade, too. And having OBJ for (presumably) a full season. Their year will come down to how good Eli can be if he's protected well enough. They still have OL problems, and Eli has been overrated for the last 2-3 years already. We'll see what he can do. I still think they ought to consider adding Dez to that WR group. With OBJ and Shepard, he'd be a lot to handle. He'd make things interesting in the East. He'd take a one-year deal, and he's good friends with OBJ to begin with.

The Eagles have a good young team. Wentz will be back for week one. They took on some extra headache with Bennett, and I liked their DL better with Curry and Allen. Goedert is an interesting addition for them on offense. They're obviously the team to beat until proven otherwise.

Cowboys have had an interesting offseason. I do think we've made some strides in terms of the defensive talent. Much of that is just having 2nd year players developing. I'd like to see us add another LB who could actually start 4-5 games in a pinch, but the team seems to like Thomas for that. Offensively, our skill position players not named 'Zeke' don't scare anybody. We've got a bunch of starting-quality-but-not-special players across the board at WR and TE. I do like that we've got two legit speed receivers in Thompson and Austin. And we fixed the OL and improved the running game. We need the defense to actually be a factor in our favor and to do more than just hang on while the offense wears teams down and gives them a cushion if we're going to be successful. We've got a shot at that at least, though.

Overall, I think it's a much tighter division with the Cowboys and Eagles slightly ahead of the Skins and then the Giants. Whoever wins the East will be doing it in week 16 or 17 this year, and all 4 teams ought to have 7 or more wins.

 

[DiResta]

Giants will be much improved because they finally have a run game and some line improvement plus they get OBJ back
their defense was already far better than Dallas defense and should still be decent
Eli is the key here, some are saying he looks great but we will see. if he can manage then they will be a tough team

as ive already said before the Skins got much better in the trenches and Norman i suppose should be healthy, they have weaknesses but not in the middle
unlike some i think Alex Smith is very good and is what you hope Dak can be (since he says he tries to emulate him) Smith is highly efficient and thats enough
watch some Guice clips and you will see why this dude can be a threat behind Callahans line. they still have Samaje Perine the human bowling ball as a change of pace. i would say they definitely improved

the Eagles i dont think they got worse and they lost a couple of players - gained a couple
they have excellent coaching right now so they are not going to be taken lightly
we will see if they can repeat their success, including Wentz

all 3 of those teams have premium tightend options while Dallas has average at best

the Cowboys there are too many changes, the team is too young to really know how they will stand against the division
i like a lot of the changes and youth but the rivals are a strong counter to Dallas strength