MaddHatter

The Ravens are lucky nobody looked at Rex for a HC Position - the guy definately deserves it

Wheat

and his name is Rex. which is pretty damn cool.

Brook Westerly

LOL @ "Either way, the Cowboys have a phenomenal offense and their only weakness was their porous defense. "

Yeah, thats all, just their porous defense. Their terribly over rated, porous defense.

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MaddHatter

Perhaps you would like to tell me what was wrong with the Cowboys?

Gzus

I know i'm bringing up, what would seem to be a dead thread. BUT I have to defend my Cowboys. You all say it was a horrible defense, but you cannot argue with the talent on that D. You got Roy Williams, now Ken Hamlin, Terrence Newman, Demarcus Ware, Greg Ellis, now Anthony Spencer. I agree last season we didn't have the greatest of defenses, but the main reason was the kind of football Parcells played. He like to run a conservative style of football, yes he may have been a genius back in his Giants days but his old school tactics were too old to work. The defense wasn't aggressive at attacking the ball last season and personell were poorly utilized. This next season will be a blitzing defense with lots of qb pressure. I see this D wreaking havoc on opposing offenses next year. And in addition to that the offense under Garrett will be a shoot em up offense, not like the conservative grind it out offense which wore out the Cowboys under Parcells. Overall w/o Parcells the Cowboys will thrive and that is why they win the division.

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"GzusJuice" 2007 & 2008 Back-to-Back FBB.com Fantasy Football League Champion *I R Romosexual*

HailttRedskins

Washington Redskins


Last year, we had a QB in the package that really didn't know what the hell he was doing, he was scared about 85-95% of the time, and he wouldn't throw it down field. I mean, we could have had Santana wide open, and Chris Cooley open, but he'd do a dump off for 3 yards to Betts, just wasn't smart football.


We seem to be getting the defense back to normal, healthy players, decent trades / picks, so I think defense should be doing much better.

Our big special teams guy Pierson Preilou (sp) will be back, he was a major threat on special teams, he was the one you saw drilling the punt returners right when they cought the ball.


We have a young QB, but he has already proven he knows what he's doing. He sometimes will take a chance or too, but overall you have to be worried about him scrambling considering he is decently quick. He has a great arm, and under pressure he doesn't fold.

Clinton Portis is back, and should be 100% ready for the season, him being out last year left a big gap in the offense, but now that him and Betts are easy 100+ rushers a game, shows they can be one of the baddest running combos in the league (ESPN agreed too, I think they were the #3 copy they had).



But hey, I always have high hopes for my team, which everyone should.

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Transplanted Caper

If the secondary can be adequete I wouldn't want to line up against the young Cowboy defence. IMO, it's on the cusp of being absolutely dominant.

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steve09ru

I won't disagree with an 8-8 record...but how can you give say that campbell failed last season, if you take a look at stats, you will see they are better than eli's numbers, and right around mcnabb's comparing their first 7 games as well. Throwing a TD in every one of your first games is
"bad" too i guess.

2 solid rb's...easily top 5 tandem in the league. One of the better o-line's in the league as well. I don't see how you come off saying that our o-line was hit badly (we lost our weakest link in dockery) and he played solid but still a question mark there since wade is not use to the position.

I think we have solid depth at LB (Washington, Fletcher, McIntosh, Marshall (who can play any LB position, Blades). And also we never have really generated pressure from our fronline, most of our sacks are from the secondary, if you look at the 04, 05 seasons, you'll see that our frontline never really put a whole lot of pressure, but it was the different schemes williams used within our secondary. Which was one of the reasons our defense was so horrid last year (we send blitz' from the secondary to pressure, and couldn't last year due to injury and lack of depth at cb)

And lastly, our offense wasn't bad at all last year, esp. with a first year starter (last half- see last giants game comeback/panthers game/rams game)...and a backup RB who had the most yards in the last 6-7 games of the season throughout the whole nfl. we are weak inside the redzone since we really don't have a big guy to go to and we seem to quit running the ball around then too (i don't know why we don't give it to sellers)

But just a lil argument on some of what you said...and here is my predictions

Eagles 12-4
Cowboys 11-5
Redskins 9-7
Giants 7-9

JCD

I do not get all this hype over the Cowboys. They were an ordinary team last year and have not really done a whole lot to change things.

As for the defense, some people are putting it as a top-10 unit. I ask how?

Take it apart.

The defensive line is sub-par. Far and away the most over-rated collection in the NFL. The 3-4 starts with the NT. Ferguson has had one worthwhile season since joining the Cowboys, a sad statement considering Parcell's track record of getting his players to perform. Now the underachiever has 11 seasons of wear-and-tear on his 33-year-old body. Cowboys don't have any quality back-up NTs behind him. At the ends, you have Spears and Canty. Spears has been a disappointment since day one. An inconsistent so-so player. Canty has outplayed him, but that is more a statement of Spears than Canty. Canty is a marginal starter in his own right. Ratliff could replace either as a starter. Then again, Ratliff is a high-motor guy who might not be cut out to be a starter. All-in-all, the D-line doesn't have one single noteworthy presence on it. Each of the starters is the guy most teams would look at as the "other guy", or worse, the weak link.

The linebackers are solid, but nowhere near the hype. Yes, Ware is great at getting to the QB. But he can be picked on in coverage or against the run. A modern day Kevin Greene. There is actually nothing wrong with having a specialist like that, heck Porter has made a career of it, but you need to have a good ILB next to him. The Cowboys ILB are good, but not great. Ayodele played well inside for a converted college DE, but is poor in coverage and can be slow to disagnosis the run. IMO, he would be better off as an OLB, but that isn't an option here. James is a 2-down forward mover, can't drop him back into coverage either. Carpenter played all over the place and didn't look comfortable where. He represents the best potential for a quality ILB, but he remains a work in progress. The spot opposite Ware is up for grabs. The 30-something Ellis is trying to come back from a torn Achilles... something that typically takes a player 2 years to recover from. I wouldn't count on him for anything this year. Besides, even when he was healthy, he was just another limited player (great at getting to the QB, but suspect elsewhere). In place of Ellis will likely be Spencer... who played DE in college. As any and every fan of 3-4 teams will tell you, it takes at least a season or two for those players to adapt. For example, Ware. Ideally, Spencer would be a 3rd down specialist while he learns how to play without his hand down. All in all, you have a bunch of guys who are good at getting to the QB, few that hold up against the run and nobody that is good in coverage.

The secondary boasts a lot of "names", but not play. Newman is far-and-away the best. Might be one of the more under-rated players in the game. Problem is, he is on an island so teams just avoid him. Why throw his way when you so many others to pick on? Williams needs help in coverage (see a theme here?), but isn't ging to get it from Hamlin. Henry lost a lot of speed and is at the age where it doesn't come back, most teams would have him at safety. Heck, if Hamlin bombs, he still might end up there (which would actually help out Williams tremendously). Problem is, that makes the 2nd CB spot butt-awful. The 76-year-old Glenn isn't starting material and he is the only guy worth mentioning.

Overall, this defense is suspect up front and exceedingly weak in coverage. The only saving grace is that they have a wealth of pass rushers who can take some of the pressure off the secodary. Only problem is that there is NOBODY at safety or LB who is good at covering the RB or TE, so teams just keep working the short underneath crap to avoid the heat. That is why Dallas got so few sacks despite the talent they had and why their ranking really wasn't as bad as their play (teams were content with the 5-8 yard gains underneath to keep moving the chains; as reflected in their horrible 3rd down rating).

Now, Dallas is still a competitive team in the NFC. Heck, with as weak as the NFC is, they are likely to make the play-offs. But they are not a SuperBowl threat in any way, shape or form. They will get at least 6 wins just because of the lack of competition, but I can't see them winning the division or making it to the Conference Championship.

Gzus

I have two words for you:

Wade Phillips

Our new coach is what will make our defense terrifying. The reason why our secondary was horrible last season was b/c Roy Williams had to stay back in coverage to help a rookie FS. With the addition of Hamlin this secondary will be able to move Williams around and let him pummel the offense. Henry gave up a bunch of plays b/c ppl were scared of throwing to the direction of Newman.

Our D-line sucked b/c Parcells liked to play a conservative style of defense, which equals low sack count for the D-line, his priority was not giving up the big play and stopping the run.

Out LB corps: James and Ayodele are solid linebackers, while Ware is one of the best OLBs in the league. Ellis was phenomenal when he was healthy and he should come back healthy this coming season. The reason our pass rush was so poor last season is Parcells refused to change up things to improve the pressure when Ellis went down. With this season we have more depth at LB, Spencer and Carpenter, and our coach is gonna open things up.

With the addition of Hamlin and Spencer, along with the new more aggressive defensive scheme of Wade Phillips will lead to a terrorizing defense.

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JCD

You mean the guy who despite having some of the best 3-4 personel in the league, failed to ever field a top-10 defense? The guy whose defense collapsed in the play-offs to allow the Patriots to win.

All ribbing aside, Phillips is a good coodinator. But he is not your coordinator, he is your head coach. If he is focuses on running your defense rather than running the team, you are screwed. Phillips failed in his last attempts at being a head coach, I don't think he is going to improve on Parcells.

Based on what? Chargers defense was never better than just good, and that was with Phillips focusing on just the defense and had far better players to work with.

Build me a case for Phillps being a better head coach than Parcells, then explain how Brian Stewart is going to improve your defense.

No, reason your pass defense was horrible is that, other than Newman, your DBs and LBs stink in coverage. Some thing that hasn't changed. Hamlin was poor in coverage for the Seahawks. They let him go to bring in people better in coverage.

Again, check up on Hamlin's prowess in coverage before thinking he solves anything. Seahawks lacked faith in him even when he was healthy.

Henry did give up tons of plays... and he is still listed as your starter. Nobody was brought in to replace him.

That is one reason. The other reason is that they just are not that good. Ferguson is a marginal starting NT, he was over-rated even before he signed with you (the typical "had a big season just before FA" story). Spears has never amounted to much and the rest are guys other 3-4 teams would be looking to replace. You don't have a Williams, Wilfolk or Hampton at NT nor do you have a Seymour, Smith or Castillo at end.

Solid, yes. Poor in coverage, also yes. I like both as 2-down players. Ayodele was/is a very good SAM in a 4-3, I don't think a 3-4 is a good fit for him.

No. For just 3-4 LBs, you have Merriman, A.Thomas, Suggs (plays a hybrid role) and Jason Taylor are hands down better. I would even put the vastly under-rated Wimbley over him too (had only 1/2 fewer sacks on a far less talented team). Opening it up to all OLBs, you have Brooks, Briggs, Scott, Brooking and Peterson. Ware is a good 1-dimensional threat, but others are better.

Three bad assumptions there.
1) That Ellis was phenominal. He was good, that is it. On pace for an 8-sack season as a 1-dimensional player.
2) That he will be healthy. At 32, players don't always bounce back.
3) That he will even return. He is in a contract dispute and wants an extension or to be released.

Your pass rush was actually quite good. Reason they didn't get to the QB is because your coverage stunk. Especially against TEs and RBs. QBs virtually ALWAYS had an outlet option open. None of your Safeties or LBs could man-up against them, so they played soft to prevent a big play. It causes a slow death. That is why, despite having an OK overall defense in terms of yards against, your 3rd down defense stunk and you had few sacks. Teams didn't need big plays to beat you, they could nickle-and-dime drives.

Spencer just replaces Ellis, that is a lateral move. Hamlin is another question, not an answer. Wade Phillips isn't running your defense, Stewart is. More so, he was unable to make a terrorizing defense despite being given an MVP-caliber defensive player in Merriman, arguably the best NT in the game with Williams, the best 3-4 end in the game in Castillo, one of the best coverage LBs in the game in Edwards and a host of quality players as a supporting cast: Foley, Phillips, Godfrey, Jammer, Florence and Olshansky. Now he is no longer just focusing on defense, and he has less talent to work with.

I see the Cowboys as a team right around .500. Good enough to vie for a WC berth in the NFC, but destined to be an also-ran. I think there defense is vastly over-rated (which is typical of Cowboy teams).

NFL Draft Dog

I will pick the Dallas Cowboys. With the addition of Anthony Spencer they will have a devastating pass rush and that defense should be one of the tops in the league. Wade Phillips is installing a more attacking defense, they should create a lot more turn overs this year.

The offense should also be good, Tony Romo will have a full year under his belt as a starter and they are stacked at almost every position. Julius Jone is entering his contract year so he should play with more passion. Talent wise they are the class of the NFC East, if all those high draft picks play up to their potential.

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NFL Draft Prospects

y2joey

1.Eagles
2.Cowboys
3.Giants
4.Redskins

NFL Draft Dog

The last few years I have been counting the Eagles out and they always come back and put an excellent team on the field. Andy Ried deserves a lot of credit, but sooner or later their luck will run out, they had a good run, but I think the Eagles are on the way down. Now it's time for America's Team to climb back in the spotlight.

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NFL Draft Prospects

BigdaddyQH

I see that it is getting to be that time of year when all the Cowboy fans come out of the woodwork and start boasting about their team. They may be good eonough to win a watered down division, but they are certainly not good enough to win the NFC, even though the NFC is very weak. Wade Phillips is a loser when it comes down to head coaching. Your offense depends on an "average" front line at best, protecting a QB who had a major meltdown last year after the league got to watch a few games. Your defense features a front line full of under achievers like Spears, Canty, and Hatcher. Your LB's are solid as is your secondary. That is enough to win the NFC East, which features the likes of Manning III, the oft injured Donovan J. (I'm a headcase) McNabb, and the unknown commodity in Campbell. That is as far as it goes. The NFC East has produced only 2 Superbowl contenders in the past 12 years, and neither one of those teams won it. I look for the same to continue.

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