How do we match up?

[JaimeDeCurry]

Now that the impact portion of the draft is over, I thought I'd go back and see how our team compares with those on our schedules now that we know about their significant draft picks. See what you guys think.

Dolphins - Their defense is really, really good. With Joey Porter there as well, it's only going to get better. The addition of Ted Ginn, Jr. scares me a little. He has Devin Hester-like potential on the return side, and is faster than anyone on our defense. Special teams is just as important as offense and defense, and he instantly makes theirs dynamic. I think this game is going to be harder than people are giving credit for.

Eagles - McNabb. That's going to be the X-factor for the Eagles this season. None of their draft picks impress me, and their offense will hinge on how well McNabb plays coming off that injury now that Garcia is gone. We had them beat during the second game last season, they got a really flukey win. If we can contain McNabb's passing game, I see us sweeping the Eagles this season. Easier said than done, though.

Giants - Aaron Ross and Steve Smith were both good pickups in this draft. They now have two big receiving threats, and Ross will shore up a weak spot at CB for them. I think we'll be able to run on them, though, and Eli Manning is still Eli Manning. The team is in total disarray up there, and they've lost their only real dynamic playmaker in Tiki Barber. I still like our chances against them this season.

Lions - Well, they got Calvin Johnson. I don't think Stanton will be playing against us, and I'm not sure he'd be better than Kitna even if he was. So it's Calvin Johnson. I know I'm going to get blasted for this, but I really think that if we can get up in his face early, and get some big hits from Rogers, Landry, or Taylor on him, I don't think he'll be as big a threat as we believe. It seemed like in college, when players got up against him and threw their bodies around at him, his play diminished. If our DBs can play without being intimidated by his physical attributes, and play hard against him, I think this will be an easy victory for us.

Packers - Green Bay had a pretty good draft overall. Favre is still old as dirt, but still a gunslinger. They're a team that's getting better. The Redskins' ability to get some turnovers may be the deciding factor here.

Cardinals - They had a great draft, and have tons of talent at the skills positions. Still, it's their first year under a new head coach and I don't see them pulling a Saints. Their running game will be a whole lot better than last year, though. Hopefully our offense will be able to roll over their front seven, which may be a bit harder now that they have Alan Branch.

Patriots - All I can say about the Patriots is that they have my vote for AFC champs. They have acquired all sorts of talent for Brady to throw at, have a great new safety in Meriweather, and grabbed a lot of depth in the draft. I'm really not looking forward to this game. If the Patriots play well and we beat them, it will say a lot about this team.

Jets - They were good last year, and they now have a whole year under their new head coach. This game is a toss-up in my mind. Too hard for me to predict how we'll do until I see both teams play a few games. Revis was a good pickup, but the rest of their draft was a bit underwhelming from what I see. I just don't know about this one.

Cowboys - I could be off-base here, but I just don't think they'll be as good as last year. New head coach, Romo sits to pee dropped off once teams had film on him, and our O-line should be able to stand up to their 3-4. They picked up a speed rusher in Spencer who I don't think will impact how they play against us at all. We've beaten them 3 out of the last 4, and I can see us sweeping them this season.

Bucs - We'll see if their draft pickups can help out their aging defense. Adams was the consensus best defensive lineman in the draft, but barring injuries, I'll bet our O-line handles him. I can see our offense overwhelming their defense in this matchup. They need a #2 receiver even more than we do, and their #1 isn't nearly as dynamic as ours. This one's a victory in my book, and better be since I'll be at the game.

Bills - They had a decent draft, and I think this will be a good game. They're missing a huge chunk of their defense now, and unless someone really steps up there, I think that will be the deciding factor. Marshawn Lynch could be offensive rookie of the year, though, and unless our run defense really shores up we could be in for a long game. Anyone think Trent Edwards takes over for Losman?

Bears - Their defense will still be dominant, Briggs will almost certainly be playing by this point in the season, and Greg Olsen will be a target that even Rex Grossman can hit. Everyone knows you're not going to score many points on the Bears, so I think it will really be up to our defense to show up for this game for us to grab a win. If they do show up, it'll be a low scoring match that could go either way.

Vikings - Adrian Peterson is another candidate of mine for offensive ROY. Minnesota has a good O-line, and Peterson is very, very good. Unless something major happens, I don't imagine them passing on us too much now that they don't have a solid QB situation, so I think if we can contain the run we can shut them down. Another year in Saunders' offense will help us out and I'm relatively certain we'll outscore them this time around.

Honestly, I think our season this year hinges on injuries. If we stay healthy, we have the talent to be a top team in this league. If injuries hit us like they did last year, who knows what will happen. I'm confident in our offense to be top 10, and I'm confident in the talent level of our defense. If they can get their swagger back from '04 and '05, I think we'll see good things.

[SkinSince87]

the fins front is good not their entire D they have a really weak secondary so we exploit that we win easily

[DeMarco Murray 29]

Good post man. But "Honestly, I think our season this year hinges on injuries. If we stay healthy, we have the talent to be a top team in this league. If injuries hit us like they did last year, who knows what will happen. I'm confident in our offense to be top 10."

Can be said for all teams .

Good post though

[JaimeDeCurry]

the fins front is good not their entire D they have a really weak secondary so we exploit that we win easily

Their front 7 dominates teams, though. I think they ranked #4 in defense last year. A lot better than people seem to think when they think of the Dolphins.

[JaimeDeCurry]

Good post man. But "Honestly, I think our season this year hinges on injuries. If we stay healthy, we have the talent to be a top team in this league. If injuries hit us like they did last year, who knows what will happen. I'm confident in our offense to be top 10."

Can be said for all teams .

Good post though

Haha, fair enough. I tried to be objective with your 'Boys, too, but you can't expect too much from me as a 'Skins fan. Of course we'll sweep you guys.

[DeMarco Murray 29]

Haha, fair enough. I tried to be objective with your 'Boys, too, but you can't expect too much from me as a 'Skins fan. Of course we'll sweep you guys.

Oh no problem at all being objective. Thats why I left my 2 cents out of it . Your post, Your glory.

[SkinsFanAnt]

Excellent post btw :cheer:

I disagree with the Lions prediction. They beat the Pukes pretty convincingly last year at the end of the season and I think C.J. gives Martz a crazy threat. They'll definitely win if Kevin Jones is running like he used to. If not, I think it will be an easy win for us. They don't have Bly which will be a plus for us. I'll be surprised if we beat any AFC East team. The Bills is our only chance to get an 'easy' win though. :2cents:

[Veretax]

Some points:

Dolphis: Ted Gin is one good hit from Landry, Jimoh, or one of our studd Gunners on a punt from being injured. He is a risk pick and I wouldn't worry too much about him just yet.

Eagles as always will be tought, its a division team so it will always be tough.

Giants: Giants have a jeckel and Hyde mentality, with our improved secondary I think we have a good shot at getting some penetration from golston or griffin to make manning nervous. Their GM is going to wish he had taken Staley when he had the chance. And as good as Ahmad Bradshaw is he does have the injury flag attached to him.

Lions: Its simple to beat CJ play physical. we put smoot on him and cover him over the top with Landry or Taylor. He will wish he never got drafted by the Lions . The lions as far as I know didn't draft any Oline and they weren't great on Oline last year as I recall.

Green Bay: This one if played up in Green Bay could be tough. Favre is one of those gunslingers that when he is hot, he plays lights out. I don't know if they got a suitable RUnning back to help Favre out, but they should give us a run for our money, and their Dbacks were bad then us.

Cardinals: I really hope we eat the crap out of them for jumping in front of us for Branch. The Cardinals just reearned my wrath against them that I never had when they were a divisional rival. I want to make them pay and pay highly! Matt leinart may need Oxy clean to get that jersey clean

Patriots: The Pats are a team that never seems to get blown out of games, and because of their explosivity this year that could be a problem. The key for us is to try and get ahead of them early in the first half, if we can do that we can throw brady's timing off with coreographed blitzes and hopefully outlast their comeback.

Jets: The jets got a few good picks and their secondary should be improved, however, Pennington doesn't have the arm that Campbell does, and I give us the edge because of that.

Cowboys: New coordinators and new such, but its always dallas don't be surprsied if we split games with them.

Bucs: This game looks like a toss up no matter how I look at it.

The rest I basically agree with.

[JaimeDeCurry]

I disagree with the Lions prediction. They beat the Pukes pretty convincingly last year at the end of the season and I think C.J. gives Martz a crazy threat. They'll definitely win if Kevin Jones is running like he used to. If not, I think it will be an easy win for us. They don't have Bly which will be a plus for us. I'll be surprised if we beat any AFC East team. The Bills is our only chance to get an 'easy' win though. :2cents:

Oh I'm definitely not marking the Lions game as a sure win. Especially after last season, I'm not marking any game as a sure win (except the Bucs cuz I'll be there). CJ will be a huge threat, especially in the red zone, and they had a great passing attack last year even without him. If we can run the ball, and stop the run, that forces them into pass mode and 9/10 of the time that's an advantage for the defense. Unfortunately this might be that 1 time out of 10.

[JoeKnowsBest]

With the Eagles, none of their draft picks look impressive and in fact it looks like they blew it. But I wouldn't put anything past Andy Reid because he knows Quarterbacks. This is the same guy that developed Brett Favre and Donnovan McNabb. Both guys nobody else saw as stars, but he and his head coach Mike Holmgrin did.

Andy Reid knows quarterbacks.

Also with the Giants do not, i repeat: DO NOT discount that big large ox that is Brandon Jacobs. They still have same offensive line and this guy spelled Tiki alot since he came into the league and there was a reason they took tiki out and him in during goal line situations. Do not take him lightly.

I'm just glad we don't have to play the Patriots. They look scary. Especially knowing they were only 5 minutes away from beating the colts last year with out all the offseason additions. Wait a minute, we do have to play the Patriots! :doh:

[Veretax]

With the Eagles, none of their draft picks look impressive and in fact it looks like they blew it. But I wouldn't put anything past Andy Reid because he knows Quarterbacks. This is the same guy that developed Brett Favre and Donnovan McNabb. Both guys nobody else saw as stars, but he and his head coach Mike Holmgrin did.

Andy Reid knows quarterbacks.

Also with the Giants do not, i repeat: DO NOT discount that big large ox that is Brandon Jacobs. They still have same offensive line and this guy spelled Tiki alot since he came into the league and there was a reason they took tiki out and him in during goal line situations. Do not take him lightly.

I'm just glad we don't have to play the Patriots. They look scary. Especially knowing they were only 5 minutes away from beating the colts last year with out all the offseason additions. Wait a minute, we do have to play the Patriots! :doh:

They cut Lou Pettigout.... they replaced him with some 2nd day pick I think

[ouvan59]

First of all, people tend to way overrate the effect that the draft has on a team in that season. Even 1st round picks generally take time to develop. Free agency has a much bigger effect for that particular year. Take a look at Philadelphia last year. Their draft had people oohing and ahing all over the place but how much effect did those guys have?

1st round: Broderick Bunkley - 9 tackles

2nd round: Winston Justice - 0 games

3rd round: Chris Gocong - 0 games

4th round: Max Jean-Gilles - 0 games

4th round: Jason Avant - 8 games, 7 receptions

5th round: Jeremy Bloom - 0 games

5th round: Omar Gaither - 16 games, 62 tackles

6th round: LaJuan Ramsey - 6 games, 5 tackles

So basically they got production out of 1 player and it was out of the least likely one. But guess what? This was/is still a good draft.

Secondly, until training camp and preseason games start we aren't going to know if any of these teams have improved. Miami has a new coaching staff and no QB as of right now. We have no idea how good they are going to be. Heck, we have no idea how good we are going to be. Has Jason Campbell gotten better? How much of last year's poor defense performance was health related? How much of it was personnel related? How much of it was coaching related? As fans we can pretend to know but until we actually see the team against live competition we won't know.