10-6?
For the first time since Doug Pederson was taking snaps under center, I do not have a good feeling about this Eagles team or season. Perhaps that is a good thing, as the Eagles have fallen short of my (and many others’) preseason expectations for eight straight years now. Even during TO’s second year implosion, I held out hope right up the point where the Eagles blew the home game versus the Cowboys and McNabb aggravated his sports hernia trying to tackle Roy Williams. Game. Set. Match.
I hope I am wrong but in four months, when the post-mortem is done on the season just completed, I fear that we’ll have a collective, “D’oh,” as the gift of hindsight makes this team’s deep flaws even more glaring. “The holes were there all along,” we’ll say, “we just didn’t want to see them or admit it.”
It now appears that the shifting balance of power from defense to offense is complete. For most of Andy Reid’s tenure the defense has carried this team. It was an irony never fully explored that a coach with an offensive pedigree and franchise QB could be the poor sister of Jim Johnson and his merry blitzing men: Hugh Douglas, Trot, Carlos Emmons B. Dawk, Corey Simon, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent.
This could be the year the Eagles inability to competently evaluate linebacker talent over the past decade and to groom a replacement to Brian Dawkins (buh-bye Norman LeJeune and CJ Gaddis) finally catches up with the team. Jim Johnson is a master defensive tactician and strategist, and you won’t here any complaints from him, but one has to wonder how getting smaller and less experienced at linebacker this year is going to help stop them from getting run over like they did last year (then again, the Colts’ won the Super Bowl with the worst run defense (5.5 yards/carry) of any team since 1972.)
The defensive ends are still light (in researching recent Eagle drafts I came across a short blurb on Trent Cole that had him projected as an outside LB in the NFL) and their highest-profile player, Jevon Kearse, is coming off a very significant knee injury. Sure they have more depth and size at defensive tackle – veteran run stuffers like Kimo van Oelfen and Montae Reagor, but in two years Mike Patterson has yet to show an ability to push the middle of the pocket. Then again, if Brodrick Bunkley plays the rampaging bull everyone thinks he can be, he’ll make them all look better.
Unfortunately, I can’t get the picture out of my mind of Omar Gaither being physically dominated by the Steelers offensive line during their 3rd preseason game. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why they cut Trotter. Were they really afraid such a stand up guy would be a problem being a leader if he was 2nd string? Wouldn’t having him as insurance have been worth the risk?
Gocong can’t be any worse than Dhani Jones last year but you have to accept a steep learning curve. If he picks things up half as fast as Gaither did last year, it will be a good deal. Backing both these guys up is another young guy, rookie Stewart Bradley. Though I have to think that if Gaither keeps getting pushed around the first option would be to move him back to weakside LB and put Takeo Spikes in the middle. Not sure how TKO would feel about that, but they cut the Trotter plan B option.
Lito Sheppard continues to raise his game. Funny to think he got the most crap of that class of defensive backs drafted in 2002 cause he was the last one to earn a starting spot, but he’s turned out to be the best. Sheldon Brown is a big hitter but has been exposed as an average cover corner without the help of a pass rush. #20 is the ageless wonder, and Sean Considine is going to be a whipping boy till he lays a real hard lick on someone. He’s my candidate for this year’s Matt McCoy award given annually to the white defensive player who becomes the fall guy for the defenses shortcomings.
Anyway, it’s a front-running defense. If they can play with a lead, and the offense should be able to score points, then maybe they won’t be abused or worn down.
Some NFL “experts” still think Donovan McNabb is a running QB and thus express concern about his knee recovery. He’ll be fine as long as Marty M. continues to call the plays, which a small blurb in the Philly Inquirer confirmed this weekend (funny how perhaps the most important news about the Eagles’ offense got so little coverage).
Everyone’s counting on Westbrook carrying a full load like he did during the Garcia games last year, but I am a little skeptical/worried about that. That was only 7 games last year – at the end of the season no less. Can you really ask Westbrook to carry 25 times (plus 6 catches) a game for 16 weeks? Uh, no. Fortunately, we won’t have to see Westbrook plunge into the line on 3rd and short (or a McNabb QB sneak) now that Tony Hunt is available. Fantasy alert: Hunt could be the Eagles’ version of “TD specialist” Brandon Jacobs this year.
Reggie Brown has a lot of expectations. We’ll see. This could be a breakout year for him. Or we could confirm that he is just a solid #2 WR. Somehow Greg Lewis is the new Reno Mahe. Not sure how he stays on the team, but he manages to make the roster and get on the field for significant playing time. Fielding punts, though? Yikes. Now that JR Reed is back on the team it will be interesting to see if the return problems were Jeremy Bloom’s (given his collegiate accomplishments I say no) or the new special teams coach Rory Segrest. Segrest has big shoes to fill, but it looks to me like Bloom was the fall guy while Segrest got acclimated to game action.
The O-line is solid once again. It is the one area that Reid has done his best personnel work. Thomas and Runyan are solid veterans, Herremans is serviceable,
They probably go 10-6, maybe 11-5. Probably not enough to earn a bye, so here’s hoping that they can rest their starters in the
As for the rest of the division. The jury is still out on Tony Romo, but unfortunately he’s still got a bipolar diva in TO who will be causing problems by game 5 and a buffoon of a head coach in Wade Phillips who might make Dave Campo look like a genius. 8-8 for the ‘Boys?
The Giants are on a downward slide. They should have jettisoned the martinet Coughlin last year. Brandon Jacobs is no Tiki Barber, but he may on occasion look like Earl Campbell as he drags Omar Gaither ten yards. Eli Manning remains an enigma. If he doesn’t have a breakout year this season (and this is the third straight “ultimatum” for Manning) then the Giants’ long-term prospects look even bleaker. 7-9
The Redskins are the wild card. They could easily finish 11-5 or 5-11. They still don’t have a pass rush, OLB Marcus Washington is breaking down, and the rest of the LBs are young. But they’ve got two ferocious hitters at safety who can do lots of damage lots of different ways. On offense, Portis will share the load with Ladell Betts, though Portis is playing with a huge chip on his shoulder. It will be interesting to see if Jason Campbell can continue to improve. A Joe Gibbs offense wouldn’t ask him to do too much. Of course, this is a Al Saunders offense now so we’ll see.
The first two weeks will be key for the Eagles. The Pack have enough talent to contend for a weak North division title. And they could deal a heavy blow to a division rival with a win in week 2, especially if the Dolphins can beat them in the opener.
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