sonnyboy;1994567 said:
1 Why or why aren't we the favorite?
I think we are A favorite. We went 13-3. 4-2 in the division. We certainly deserve, I think, to be mentioned as one of the elite teams in the NFC. I think the Giants could probably get labeled as a favorite. Even though they didn't have quite as strong of a regular season, they did win when it counted, which is more than you could say for us. A lot will depend upon on their pass rush again. And which Eli Manning comes to play. Green Bay could fall off with Rodgers. Or they could be back in the mix. Can New Orleans fix that defense? A lot of questions needs to be answered with Green Bay, NY, and New Orleans. I think we have fewer questions concerning us, other than winning in the playoffs.
I wouldn't count out Philly either. Not because of the Samuel signing. But they did get hot towards the end of the year. And regardless of what people want to say about McNabb.... he can play at a high enough level for Philly to win in the regular season. Don't know if I'd call them a Super Bowl team....but I think they can contend for the playoffs. And once the playoffs start, anything can happen.
2 How good are we? Critique the team.
After years and years of searching for a pass rush.... I think we have a good pass rush. Yeah, its primarily coming from Ware and Ellis and a little diversity would go a long way. But another year of this system and we could make strides forward. But we need to avoid dumb penalties and mistakes. That hurt us just as much as #3 CB. And while you can't pin the playoff loss on Romo..... he needs to step it up the last part of the season and in the playoffs for us to make a push for the Super Bowl. The offense really sputtered down the stretch.
3 How good is/will Romo be? Critique his game.
Accurate. Play maker. But with his playmaking ability comes mistakes. That's probably going to be part of his game for good. Obviously, I don't think Buffalo will be an every year occurrence. But he is probably going to finish the season around 18 or INTs. The key is, does his playmaking make up for the extra couple of INTs he throws. Last year, for the most part, I'd say it does. So long as that remains true, we have ourselves a borderline elite QB in the NFL.
4 Where are we strong/weak?
We are especially strong at #1 WR, TE, RB with Barber, QB, LT, RG, and I think you can include OLB as well. And CB when Newman and Henry are healthy. Obviously, 3rd CB is a need for improvement. And we've got to get better play from Roy next year. Coverage from ILBs is weak. Thomas should help that. Special teams coverage was pretty bad too.
5 Who's the competition? How do we stack up to it or match up with it?
Talent wise, we can probably stack up with anybody.
Mentally, not so sure. Fix that and we are poised for greatness.
