The GIANT NFL Preview By C#1 With Help From The Best

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Originally posted by Maverick41 from a sports forum:
The GIANT NFL Preview By C#1 With Help From The Best


Ok, this is the longest preview ever LOL

I decided to write a HUGE preview after Webby didn't get enough submissions for the team previews. I picked the brains of some of the best posters on each team forum! I tried to pick guys who haven't gotten an MVP yet so you guys can see the depth of their knowledge and they can finally get recognized.

I picked the games and they gave insight on their team.

Sorry if the AFC insight on my part wasn't very "Deep" but I was pretty burned out after just the NFC. Enjoy!

P.S. I'm not ready to be ripped yet. I picked the games week by week and I chose who I honestly thought would win each game. Ok...I'm ready now.

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NFC East
1. Dallas Cowboys 13-3

My Opinion
Ah yes. I'm sure most of you find this to be homerism at it's best. In all reality, Dallas is a serious contender. It's not just Cowboys fans who are saying it.
I think Owens shuts his mouth and plays well. I think his great play will lead to more single coverage on guys like Glenn and Witten. The Oline is still questionable and so is the running back position, but I think the potential of the passing offense will make things easier on both of those spots.

The defense has serious potential. Dallas has quite possibly the most talented secondary in the league (Aaron Glenn, Pat Watkins, Roy Williams, Terence Newman and Anthony Henry)

Can they secondary play up to their potential? We'll see.

The pass rush should be nasty as ever. Ellis and Ware will be serious headaches at the OLB spots and Canty and Spears could cause trouble as well.

Fan's Opinion - TheStarStillShines

How do you see the Cowboys offensive line performing this year?
The Cowboys' OL struggled in 2005, in large part due to injuries to key players (Flozell Adams and Marco Rivera) and the struggles of rookie OT Rob Pettitti and backup OT Torrin Tucker. The Cowboys used the off-season and the draft to strengthen the OL, acquiring younger and more agile linemen in the process.

The success of the Boys' OL, as such, will be dependent on three key things:

1. The health of Adams and Rivera;
2. The development of youngsters Pettitti, Al Johnson, and Andre Gurode; and
3. Chemistry as the team will have essentially two new starters this year (Adams who is returning from injury and FA acquisition Kyle Kosier) along with as many as three other new backups (Marc Columbo who missed most of last season, Jason Fabini, and one of Pat McQuistan and E.J. Whitley).

If all three can be answered positively, then the OL should improve significantly over last season. The improved depth on the OL should allow the team to overcome any injuries to the starters. As such, expect the Cowboys' OL to be improved over last year, although don't expect a tremendous improvement. Right now, the Boys' OL is average to slightly above-average.

How much trouble, if any, do you see Terrell Owens causing this year?
Terrell Owens essentially signed three, one-year contracts. At 33 years of age, this is Owens' last opportunity to earn big dollars as well as to achieve something significant in his career. With Parcells at the helm and a strong veteran cast in Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Jason Ferguson, Roy Williams, and Flozell Adams, expect Owens to be on his best behaviour this year. He really cannot afford to alienate another team.

Last year, many thought that the Cowboys would be 11-5 maybe even 12-4 had they had a decent kicker. How important is Mike Vanderjagt to this team?
Mike Vanderjagt definitely improves the team's chances, but does he really improve it that much? Last year's team could easily have been 5-11, after winning close games against San Diego (who was without Antonio Gates), San Francisco, Kansas City, and Philadelphia.

Vanderjagt helps, but the key to the season will be the effectiveness of the team's offense. Last year's offense too often failed to finish drives. They'll need to do a better job at executing in the red zone and sustaining drives.

2. New York Giants 12-4

My Opinion
New York has no glaring weaknesses on offense. They are solid at every spot. Some questions may arise about Eli Manning's experience and about the age of Amani Toomer and Tiki Barber, but overall, this offense won't have much to worry about.

The Giants pass rush is one of the best in the game. Strahan and Umenyiora are two of the best at their positions. The linebackers appear to be more than solid, but there may be questions in the secondary. Keep an eye on that.

Fan's Opinion - TheGmen10

Will Eli make that step up this year to an elite level?
He has the potential too. He showed great progress last year. It all really depends on the health of shockey, but he seams to be getting back to 100%. The Offensive line is a key part to, if they dont start protecting eli, hes going to have a tuff year. He has weapons apon weapons. Plaxico will be the number 1, along with toomer as our number 2. But the number 3 is still up in the air. Im going to give it to rookie Sinorice Moss. And dont forget about Shockey. So he can, and i think he will.

This could be the last hoo-rah for Tiki Barber; how do you expect him to perform?
In my mind the only way this is tikis last hoo rah is if we win the championship. And if we do that tiki is going to be the man reason why we got to the superbowl. Tiki in my eyes is going to have a great year, the offense is loaded with weapons which will take the presure off Tiki.

Are the Giants a realistic Super Bowl contender?
Yes, we have one if not the hardest schedule in the NFL. We had a great off season revamping over secondary with the likes of Sam Madison and Will Demps and a few key bench players. Lavar Arrington was also another great pick up for us. If he gets in the right mind set our defense could be very scary. Our weakness is DT, but ive heard we are looking for DTs on the market. If we can get a run stopper in a trade, out defense with be set. But the teams chances this year are is on Eli. And he knows, i see him having a great year and finally showing everyone that he really is a great QB. Tiki is going to be his normal self, carrying the team through good and bad times.

So are the Giants a realistic Super Bowl contender? Yes.

Is it going to be easy? No, not at all. I see alot of bumps in the road for us this year.

3. Washington Commanders 8-8

My Opinion
Oh...do you hear that? I do. That's the sound of Commanders' fans already complaining about my bias against their team.

The offensive line is good and they have a superstar running back, but there are questions everywhere else.

There is not a single quarterback on the roster that I would trust to lead my team to the playoffs. Brandon Lloyd is an under achiever and I don't see anything changing there. Is Santana Moss a flash in the pan? Maybe...probably not, but I don't see him duplicating last year's performance. Cooley is good, but not great.

You can't really complain about the defense and so that makes up for a lot of the questions on defense. The secondary has a lot of talent (Minus Archuletta ) and the defensive line is really good. There may be slight questions about the linebackers, but I wouldn't worry about them too much.

8-8 sounds fair considering that there are few questions on defense and LOTS of questions on offense.

Fan's Opinion - Blknite01

Washington added Al Saunders in the offseason and many now believe that Washington has the best coaching staff in the NFL. How much of a difference will Saunders make?
I feel we have the second best Coaching staff in the NFL. Saunders should make a huge addition for the O making it more profecient.

The defense once again appears to be a top 5 unit. Is there any reason why we should expect less from them this year?
Cornerback Depth is the only reason I can see why we won't be a top 5 D.

Washington is in a very tough NFC East division. In all likelyhood, it will be a struggle for every team. Is Washington a serious Super Bowl contender considering the teams in their division and their roster?
I believe they are a contender but they might be beaten up so much from the other division that they can't make a deep run.

4. Philadelphia Eagles 5-11

My Opinion
I believe that the Eagles window of oppurtunity has been slammed shut and boarded up with wood and nails.

To be absolutely honest, I think there offense will be terrible. Just terrible. I think McNabb can't do much when not much is around him, I think Westbrook is Roger Craig with not even half the running ability and I think Stallworth and Reggie Brown both insult hard working players in the NFL with their inability to live up to their full potential. If those two actually care and play to their maximum, Philly should be all right, but I don't think they will.

The defense? Yeah they're good, but I think they were exposed a little bit last year. They'll be good, but I'm not sure they'll be as good as in the past few years.

Fan's Opinion - NOTE: This interview was conducted before the acquisition of Donte Stallworth

Do you expect Philadelphia to commit more to Brian Westbrook and the running game this year?
Yes. Last season the run/pass ratio got way out of hand. Andy Reid has said the run game will be more of a factor this season in our offense. Every indication in training camp and even preseason thus far is that the Eagles will run the ball, and Brian Westbrook will get his carries. People seem to forget how dangerous of a player he can be, but I think he started to remind people against the Raiders when he had over 40 yards on one drive, and a touchdown. The Eagles will run the ball this season. Look for Ryan Moats to get his share of carries too.

Some criticized the removing of Terrell Owens while others called it addition by subtraction. Can the current set of WR's get the job done?
I think so, but it's hard to say right now. Reggie Brown gets better everyday and all those people who say he's not a #1 reciever will be shocked this season. Trust me when I say, Reggie Brown is going to be great. However, after Reggie there is a quite a mix-up. Jabar Gaffney hasn't been impressive, and Greg Lewis is nothing more than a situation player. Then you have the 3 rookies: Jason Avant, Hank Baskett, Jeremy Bloom. All have potential to be great, but that's all it is right now - potential.

The Eagles offense spreads the ball around like no other team in the NFL. Rather than having one or two main targets, they have a group of players who all get their chances to make plays throughout the game. The Eagles did it for year prior to Terrell Owens, and it took them to 3 straight NFC championship games. However, the group we have now is much more talented than those other WRs cores. I think the Eagles offense will be fine, we have alot of talent.

What should NFL fans expect from the Eagles defense?
The same old nasty Eagle defense. Our defensive line has improved so much over the offseason, and the players have really been working themselves in camps. The pass rush will be the main factor. Expect the Eagles to be leading the NFL in sacks again.
 
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