DMN: NFC East is a power struggle

[spanishomelette]

NFC East is a power struggle

Parcells, division rivals trying to pry Eagles' talons from hold on division

http://www.cowboysplus.com/topstorync/stories/090805cppredivision.39acb2.html

05:17 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 7, 2005

By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News

Bill Parcells loves those old NFC East days. Those games are his fondest memories, like coming out of the RFK Stadium tunnel to hecklers getting mighty personal. Same thing at Texas Stadium and old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

They were real rivalries. He relived some of that during training camp in Oxnard, Calif., when two former players from his New York Giants glory days, Jim Burt and Carl Banks, came in to do a little coaching.

His mind always flashes back to those games against Joe Gibbs and the Redskins. Or Buddy Ryan and the Eagles. Or Tom Landry and the Cowboys.

"It's a rivalry we had," Burt said. "We played them twice a year, every year. It was a tough division when we played those guys and then the 49ers in the playoffs. When you become a rival, it's a competitive hatred, not a true hatred. I'm 46 years old. I got over it."

If you asked, Parcells could tell you every player on the Redskins' roster from those days. He could probably do the same with the Cowboys and the Eagles. And he could tell you every defense and every play they ran, just like Jack Nicklaus can recount every shot from his six Masters victories.

Those were the days, but they have since disappeared. Since 2001, the Eagles have owned the NFC East, winning four division crowns and advancing to the Super Bowl last season.

Closing the gap

Obviously, there is a gap between the Eagles and the rest of the division.

The Eagles draft players specifically for their system. With coaching changes elsewhere in the division, teams have pieces that don't necessarily fit in with what they do.

"It takes a lot of discipline, a lot of difficult decisions," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said. "But when you have a blueprint and a plan to be ultra-competitive, you try to take advantage in any way you can in the system we operate under."

Last year, the Eagles won 13 games. The rest of the division combined to win 18. The Eagles' average margin of victory was 15.5 points.

In their 49-21 victory on Monday Night Football, the Eagles embarrassed the Cowboys in every way. Terrell Owens caught three touchdown passes. Donovan McNabb had an all-time highlight in which he scrambled away from defenders from one side of the field to the other for a big completion.

On the sideline, coach Bill Parcells stewed. He did not have these kinds of games with his Giants.

"I think if you're just going in, apparently there's a substantial gap," Parcells said. "You've got three teams that were below .500 and one team that won quite a few games. Apparently there is. But those things have a way of changing quickly."

Matching up

When the Cowboys went about fixing what went horribly wrong in 2004, they first looked inside the NFC East.

Dallas doled out about $32 million in signing bonuses to become more competitive with the Eagles and the rest of the division.

"Since Philadelphia is a team that's been out front and certainly knocking on the door of the Super Bowl, that's a good bar to look to," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "When we evaluated our team, I know I personally looked at how we played or didn't play against Philadelphia."

The largest signing bonus went to cornerback Anthony Henry, who received $10 million. The right cornerback spot was a merry-go-round for the Cowboys last season, and Henry provides stability with his 6-1, 207-pound frame.

The Cowboys also needed an anchor on the line for their new 3-4 defense. They signed run-stopper Jason Ferguson, giving him $9 million up front to be that guy.

The team addressed its offensive line concerns with right guard Marco Rivera, who also received $9 million up front. The Eagles, who led the NFL with 47 sacks last season, like to blitz from all areas, so an intelligent offensive line is a must.

Rivera is smart, tough and a Pro Bowl performer.

"You can see he's a pro when he's out there," said former Green Bay president Ron Wolf, who visited Dallas' training camp this year. "He plays like a pro. He practices like a pro. All those things add to it."

Feeling pressure

Bill Parcells turned 64 on Aug. 22, and he knows he does not have many more coaching years left. He is signed through 2006, but many wonder if he will fulfill the contract.

Losing burns Parcells. Winning is his drug of choice. He remembers his bonds to former players and coaches in New York after winning two Super Bowls. He keeps coming back to see if he can reach the pinnacle.

But he has a 16-16 record after two years in Dallas.

He feels pressure to succeed. He felt it with the Giants after they went 3-12-1 in 1983. If he didn't win in his second year, he knew he wouldn't get a third. If he didn't win, there would be no legacy. He wouldn't be called a modern-day Vince Lombardi.

He is coaching to win, but he is coaching for his legacy, too. Does he make the Hall of Fame? Nothing is certain. If he takes a third team to a Super Bowl, that would help his case.

"This game is full of doubt," Parcells said. "I'm not ashamed of that. That's the way it is when you sign up for it. When I was 23 years old, I signed up for this. I knew that. That never changes. ...

"You've just got to keep going forward, trying to persevere and be persistent. And you know, if I didn't have that quality, I mean I'm not being egotistical, but if I didn't have it, I wouldn't be here at this age doing it. Somebody would have run me off a long time ago."

In Eli they trust

The last time Cowboys fans saw Giants quarterback Eli Manning, he was handing off to running back Tiki Barber for a game-winning, last-second touchdown.

It was Manning's first win as a starter after six losses. In that game, he completed 18 of 27 passes for 144 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

He finished his rookie year with 1,043 yards on 95-of-197 passing. He threw six touchdown passes and was intercepted nine times. He was sacked 13 times and had a 55.4 quarterback rating.

Hardly exciting numbers, but the Giants entered the off-season believing Manning can win. Now.

"You can't just say, 'That's what everybody else has done, so that's what's going to happen,' " Manning told reporters earlier in training camp. "You still have to go to work, and you still have to get better. You can't just count on anything like that."

Handling success

Philadelphia has started to see cracks in its foundation. Terrell Owens has been a headache, asking to renegotiate a deal he signed before the 2004 season. He was kicked out of training camp for a week and had pointed things to say about Donovan McNabb. He told his offensive coordinator, Brad Childress, to not speak to him unless spoken to first.

McNabb has likened this year's training camp to a soap opera.

The Eagles have won at least 11 games for the last five seasons, but they haven't won a Super Bowl.

"I can only hope it drives a lot of guys," McNabb said during training camp. "As for me, it definitely drove me this off-season. I can honestly say that in my training sessions, my mind was focused on that, on the fact that those last couple of steps off the field there was somebody else celebrating once again in a big game. Personally, I don't want that to happen again."

The real Joe Gibbs

The Redskins have not had a winning season this century. The last came in 1999, when Norv Turner led Washington to its first division title since 1991.

Joe Gibbs returned to coaching to return the Redskins to the Super Bowl. But he had not coached a game since 1992, becoming one of the preeminent owners in NASCAR.

The Redskins finished 6-10, the worst season of Gibbs' Hall of Fame career.

This off-season has been tumultuous as well. The Redskins traded receivers Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner, bringing in Santana Moss and David Patten. Cornerback Fred Smoot and linebacker Antonio Pierce left via free agency, weakening a defense that was a hit in 2004.

Patrick Ramsey is the quarterback for the present, but maybe not the future. First-round pick Jason Campbell waits in the wings. Safety Sean Taylor had off-field issues. The same with linebacker LaVar Arrington.

"If I don't get this done," Gibbs said before training camp, "it's strictly going to be my responsibility."

E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com

[KingGibbs]

"The Eagles draft players specifically for their system. With coaching changes elsewhere in the division, teams have pieces that don't necessarily fit in with what they do."

Yep. It's no coincidence that the perenial playoff teams have had the same coaching staff in place for a few years. It took us awhile, but we are finally on our way to having a stable organization. (atleast I hope)

[gambit187]

All Eagles, Cowboys, Giants and Skins Fans Take note to this.

I have always felt that since our division was the toughest and we beat the snot out of each other all year long, that our teams were not at their peak during playoffs.

"It's a rivalry we had," Burt said. "We played them twice a year, every year. It was a tough division when we played those guys and then the 49ers in the playoffs. When you become a rival, it's a competitive hatred, not a true hatred. I'm 46 years old. I got over it."

Notice he said the 49ers, who although very good, played in a relatively week division. I just wanted to ask some of you guys opinion. If we had 49ers in our division instead of the cardinals, do you think they would have less then the 5 superbowls they have now?