Merrill Hoge on the Eagles...

[Gryphon]

taken from http://corner.bigblueinteractive.com

....says that the Birds will not be as good this year.."they will be more than a step away from the Super Bowl, unlike last year." Why? He points to the loss of Dawkins as the biggest problem, along with having to replace Thomas & Runyan. He said that a team has enough trouble replacing one tackle, but having to replace two, plus Dawkins ("on a team that relies on its defense"), will keep the Eagles from the SB. I have some newfound respect for Hoge and agree with him. I think the Giants' biggest rival in the division will be Dallas.

 

[dalboy]

can't stand that guy but I hope he is right

 

[tunahelper]

Dawkins is clearly the glue of that pressure defense. His knack for playing the ball in the air or in the hands of a runner is a difference maker.

 

[1fisher]

Dawkins will be missed..... but not by me!

 

[Monster Heel]

Hodge is something of a pot stirrer, but I can get behind this. The NFC East winner in recent years has never been the media anointed one. Look at the offseasons since the big Eagles' slide.

2006 - Commanders, signed sealed and delivered after the acquisitions of Lloyd, Archuelta and Randle El. Didn't even break .500, Arch and Lloyd are long gone and El has never been better than mediocre.

2007 - Eagles, after they surprisingly won the division in 2006, the media was back on this wagon. Finished .500

2008 - Cowboys, THE MOST TALENTED TEAM IN THE NFL!, one game over .500 and no playoffs.

So, yeah I can definitely see the Eagles being paper tigers. A lot of their hype is based on what they did last year. Thing is they had to a perfect storm of things go right to even make the playoffs.

 

[jimmy40]

can't stand that guy but I hope he is right

I wish he could still play so we could watch him knock himself out.

 

[LenS]

The sad truth was that Dawkins was a liability at the end of the year. He couldn't cover anyone and was covering that by going bezerk with the hitting as sort of a rushing linebacker. Like Trotter at the end, his fierceness helped on run defense and rushing, but it couldn't overcome the pass defensive liability.

A bigger loss will be Coach Johnson. It's looking very likely he's done.

 

[Sarge]

He's right. I must say.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I think the loss of Dawkins is going to be HUGE to the Eagles. Not just in his ability to make plays, and QB the defense, but he was clearly an emotional leader on that team as well. We've all seen on our own team how bad things can go for a team once they lose their emotional leader.