CFZ The NFC East Could Surprise This Year

Pass2Run

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I call it like I see it. Last year, many criticized my take about the Giants actually being a good football team. Indeed, I was correct about that. I also speculated that they might even be better than the Eagles. Obviously, whiffed on that speculation.

In any case, things change — every year. That's one thing that doesn't change in the NFL: it's always changing.

Injuries happen; new players get drafted; old ones retire; players get traded, some are flat out cut,. a few end up in the hoosegow or worse.

What ever happens.. pretty much everyone knows the drill.

Last offseason, everyone clamored on about, "be more like the Rams."

But wait a minute?

Isn't that called "selling out."

Once upon a time, we were like the Rams. The difference? We just weren't that good at it. We tried trading for the flashy payers and supplementing our roster. We even did a relatively good job during our worst years. Those 5-11 Campo years were bad. But we were usually more competitive than our record stated. Still, as Parcells said, you are what you are. Anyway, I'm not living in some world where statistics don't matter.

I've never been much of a math person, although I'm more interested in it this year than I was in the past. I never liked it because I didn't see how it applied. I was slow to learn, I guess. What the flock is this sheep herder getting at?

My expectations are real. I get that it's a difficult game. Even more importantly, I get that it doesn't take a team of flashy stars. Although, it's great if you have them. But it's a team game, and takes a team at each position to be good at the sport.

The reason the Cowboys are drafting a different profile of players lately, in terms of character, is because of this fact. When you're in the middle of the game, you can be a great athlete, and all of that. But if you're not on the same page as the worst guy on the team, the other team can scheme on that, then your star, flashy player means squat.

Mazi Smith may not be an upgrade over some of his draft class, or maybe not for other teams. But for the Cowboys, he most definitely does upgrade what they do overall as a team. Your weakest link can negate any talent your flashy player has. And you can have a flashy player, with all the talent in the world, then he (or she in women's sports) ends up costing your team more than anything because his mentals break down, at all the wrong times.

In fact, I think the Giants will be back this year? Why because they play well as a team. They're getting better, steadily, rather than taking the Rams' philosophy, which I think is the only way to go. Be competitive over a timeframe, don't sell out for a year.

Either way, the odds are against us, but that's what makes it so fun. I see the Giants competing again this year, possibly being as good as the Eagles, and the Cowboys end up taking the division. I have almost zero doubt we'll be in this mix for the NFCC.
 

817Gill

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I think it’ll be the same old same old from the last 4/5 years generally. Us and Philly competing for a division title and the other two ranging from WC contenders to bad.

Another year of not being worried about the division much. I see a 4-2/5-1 record in division which we should all be good with.
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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I think people might be surprised how far Philly and NYG regress. Scheduling and health are wildly underappreciated aspects of Philly's run last year. I don't see Washington with any new upside, but both Philly and NYG are more likely to regress than get any better.

And just, in general, I think it's silly to expect a division to have 4 teams all .500 or better. That's pretty rare.
 

KJJ

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I think it’ll be the same old same old from the last 4/5 years generally. Us and Philly competing for a division title and the other two ranging from WC contenders to bad.

Another year of not being worried about the division much. I see a 4-2/5-1 record in division which we should all be good with.
Probably but you can’t rule out the Giants. They won a playoff game last season and are trending up. It would be a mistake to overlook them. Washington will continue to have issues until they find a franchise QB.
 

75boyz

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I think the Schoen and Daboll GM-HC combo is a good one for the Giants. But this year, 7 of their first 9 games are on the road against several '22 playoff opponents. They may take a step back record wise this year while evolving into a better team if that makes any sense.

Philly continues to be our arch rival with an equally talented roster as ours and whom we really need to sweep this year to insure our best opportunity at playoff success with home field advantage imo.

Washington has to develop their QB first before jumping into divisional contention but Rivera remains a good defensive minded coach.

jmo
 
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plymkr

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I think people might be surprised how far Philly and NYG regress. Scheduling and health are wildly underappreciated aspects of Philly's run last year. I don't see Washington with any new upside, but both Philly and NYG are more likely to regress than get any better.

And just, in general, I think it's silly to expect a division to have 4 teams all .500 or better. That's pretty rare.
I agree, I think the Eagles have a super loss letdown and a 1st place schedule to play through. Also I think last year was Hurtz best season, ala RG3 or Wrecks Grossman. I think he’s going to be more of a one year wonder than a long term stud. Especially with signing the massive deal and that taking away from his supporting cast.
 

Nova

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I think people might be surprised how far Philly and NYG regress. Scheduling and health are wildly underappreciated aspects of Philly's run last year. I don't see Washington with any new upside, but both Philly and NYG are more likely to regress than get any better.

And just, in general, I think it's silly to expect a division to have 4 teams all .500 or better. That's pretty rare.
The Eagles were a very good team last year, but you're right. They were fortunate to be relatively healthy and also not face many teams with franchise QBs.

Same could be said for us though, so ya know.
 

sarge1116

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I agree, I think the Eagles have a super loss letdown and a 1st place schedule to play through. Also I think last year was Hurtz best season, ala RG3 or Wrecks Grossman. I think he’s going to be more of a one year wonder than a long term stud. Especially with signing the massive deal and that taking away from his supporting cast.
I think the eagles will be the first team to repeat for the division in 20+ years. I don't know who Hurtz is, but Hurts is on another level and has ascended every year. What supporting cast is being taken away this year? All offensive starters are back expect 2 and the o coordinator is replaced by the qb coach who has coached him since 2021. Every year the dude progresses , every single year. I'm done betting against this dude.
 

Ranching

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I call it like I see it. Last year, many criticized my take about the Giants actually being a good football team. Indeed, I was correct about that. I also speculated that they might even be better than the Eagles. Obviously, whiffed on that speculation.

In any case, things change — every year. That's one thing that doesn't change in the NFL: it's always changing.

Injuries happen; new players get drafted; old ones retire; players get traded, some are flat out cut,. a few end up in the hoosegow or worse.

What ever happens.. pretty much everyone knows the drill.

Last offseason, everyone clamored on about, "be more like the Rams."

But wait a minute?

Isn't that called "selling out."

Once upon a time, we were like the Rams. The difference? We just weren't that good at it. We tried trading for the flashy payers and supplementing our roster. We even did a relatively good job during our worst years. Those 5-11 Campo years were bad. But we were usually more competitive than our record stated. Still, as Parcells said, you are what you are. Anyway, I'm not living in some world where statistics don't matter.

I've never been much of a math person, although I'm more interested in it this year than I was in the past. I never liked it because I didn't see how it applied. I was slow to learn, I guess. What the flock is this sheep herder getting at?

My expectations are real. I get that it's a difficult game. Even more importantly, I get that it doesn't take a team of flashy stars. Although, it's great if you have them. But it's a team game, and takes a team at each position to be good at the sport.

The reason the Cowboys are drafting a different profile of players lately, in terms of character, is because of this fact. When you're in the middle of the game, you can be a great athlete, and all of that. But if you're not on the same page as the worst guy on the team, the other team can scheme on that, then your star, flashy player means squat.

Mazi Smith may not be an upgrade over some of his draft class, or maybe not for other teams. But for the Cowboys, he most definitely does upgrade what they do overall as a team. Your weakest link can negate any talent your flashy player has. And you can have a flashy player, with all the talent in the world, then he (or she in women's sports) ends up costing your team more than anything because his mentals break down, at all the wrong times.

In fact, I think the Giants will be back this year? Why because they play well as a team. They're getting better, steadily, rather than taking the Rams' philosophy, which I think is the only way to go. Be competitive over a timeframe, don't sell out for a year.

Either way, the odds are against us, but that's what makes it so fun. I see the Giants competing again this year, possibly being as good as the Eagles, and the Cowboys end up taking the division. I have almost zero doubt we'll be in this mix for the NFCC.
Dang.....we need a limit on words per post....
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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The Eagles were a very good team last year, but you're right. They were fortunate to be relatively healthy and also not face many teams with franchise QBs.

Same could be said for us though, so ya know.
On the schedule side maybe

But Dallas had a lot of injuries.
 

CowboyRoy

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I call it like I see it. Last year, many criticized my take about the Giants actually being a good football team. Indeed, I was correct about that. I also speculated that they might even be better than the Eagles. Obviously, whiffed on that speculation.

In any case, things change — every year. That's one thing that doesn't change in the NFL: it's always changing.

Injuries happen; new players get drafted; old ones retire; players get traded, some are flat out cut,. a few end up in the hoosegow or worse.

What ever happens.. pretty much everyone knows the drill.

Last offseason, everyone clamored on about, "be more like the Rams."

But wait a minute?

Isn't that called "selling out."

Once upon a time, we were like the Rams. The difference? We just weren't that good at it. We tried trading for the flashy payers and supplementing our roster. We even did a relatively good job during our worst years. Those 5-11 Campo years were bad. But we were usually more competitive than our record stated. Still, as Parcells said, you are what you are. Anyway, I'm not living in some world where statistics don't matter.

I've never been much of a math person, although I'm more interested in it this year than I was in the past. I never liked it because I didn't see how it applied. I was slow to learn, I guess. What the flock is this sheep herder getting at?

My expectations are real. I get that it's a difficult game. Even more importantly, I get that it doesn't take a team of flashy stars. Although, it's great if you have them. But it's a team game, and takes a team at each position to be good at the sport.

The reason the Cowboys are drafting a different profile of players lately, in terms of character, is because of this fact. When you're in the middle of the game, you can be a great athlete, and all of that. But if you're not on the same page as the worst guy on the team, the other team can scheme on that, then your star, flashy player means squat.

Mazi Smith may not be an upgrade over some of his draft class, or maybe not for other teams. But for the Cowboys, he most definitely does upgrade what they do overall as a team. Your weakest link can negate any talent your flashy player has. And you can have a flashy player, with all the talent in the world, then he (or she in women's sports) ends up costing your team more than anything because his mentals break down, at all the wrong times.

In fact, I think the Giants will be back this year? Why because they play well as a team. They're getting better, steadily, rather than taking the Rams' philosophy, which I think is the only way to go. Be competitive over a timeframe, don't sell out for a year.

Either way, the odds are against us, but that's what makes it so fun. I see the Giants competing again this year, possibly being as good as the Eagles, and the Cowboys end up taking the division. I have almost zero doubt we'll be in this mix for the NFCC.
So we have two of the top 3 teams in the NFC and your making the call that the NFC East could surprise?

Is that some kind of joke? Everyone knows it will be good. They had 3 teams in the playoffs last year did you know that?
 
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