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goldenster95

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People are giving the dolphins too much credit.

Other than the Bucs D line (which with all things being equal it will boil down to the tackles vs our guards) the FNG matches up well with the cover two.

Skins 11-5

Iggles 11-5

Midgets 9-7

Pokes 8-8

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What I don't understand is why does everyone believe that Parcells will turn around the Boys??

He wasn't the one responsible for the Jets turn around, or at least most of it. He is much older now, out of the league for what 3 or 4 years? Has no QB in Dallas and no RB there. I just don't see it. His health is terrible and he is one 1-15 year away from having a heart attack and retiring for good.

I agree there is some talent on the defensive side but I don't see him lasting in Dallas more than 3 years. His health will be a major factor. With Jerry still running as GM I have no faith in the players the draft. Yes it is hard to go wrong at #5 but the rest of the draft is what is important for them.

How long is Dallas in salary cap hell anyway??

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There's a reason Noble started for Dallas and neither Nix nor Myers did. It has nothing to do with stats.[/Quote]

So why is it that Dallas opted to not even attempt to resign Noble given the cap space they had(have)?

Only a Cowboy fan could make a straight-faced case that the guys not good enough to play ahead of Noble for two years are somehow better.

From what I was seeing Noble and Nix got 50% of the snaps which would mean they were roughly equivilent wouldn't you say? Why was Nix getting equal playing time if he wasn't equal in ability? Noble had an extra year in the league. Could that be why he got the start even though their was nothing distinguishable about his game compared to the other guy.

Noble was a good signing for the price but you need to be realistic. The only reason you signed him is you needed somebody to start and didn't have the cap space to really spend much on that position. If you had the space you either wouldn't of lost your starter or would of signed somebody else that does more then occupy space. Of course, if you were to draft your own DL from time to time you could let a guy like Noble leave because he is nothing special. Since the skins are such failures at actually developing DL talent did they just got smart and decide to quit trying?

What I don't understand is how you can think the Skins have so much more talent when each year there is only a few games that seperate our teams and Dallas always looks very competitive when playing the skins. How could a Campo coached team produce a mere 2 fewer wins then the talent infested Spurrier coached squad? If the talent difference was what you claim it was then these matchups would look more like the Dallas-Eagles games.

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Interesting Eboyer, you wrote:

"So why is it that Dallas opted to not even attempt to resign Noble given the cap space they had(have)?"

Typical of a Cowboy fan, Eboyer, but, perhaps you can help me out in understanding you better. Why is it that in order to make a point you have to write it in fiction first? See, the Cowboys did want Noble back. Parcells said so. The Cowboys Insiders reported it so. Look here:

http://cowboys.theinsiders.com/2/93837.html

In fact, you not only tried to sign Noble back, but you offered him about the same contract. Is it sad or more pathetic that you know so little about your own team?

"From what I was seeing Noble and Nix got 50% of the snaps which would mean they were roughly equivilent wouldn't you say? Why was Nix getting equal playing time if he wasn't equal in ability? Noble had an extra year in the league. Could that be why he got the start even though their was nothing distinguishable about his game compared to the other guy."

I'm reminded of a statement I recently said after reading your position. That statement is, "Only a Cowboy fan could make a straight-faced case that the guys not good enough to play ahead of Noble for two years are somehow better."

The reason Noble started and played the majority of snaps is because he was superior than the guys behind him. A lot of teams have young players who are better than guys who've been around longer and those guys actually outplay and therefore actually START. That wasn't the case for you. And to make yourself feel better, you've decided to block out the fact that, in fact, you wanted Noble back to START AGAIN.

Now, I recognize in your fragile world being a Cowboy fan it's impossible to recognize the reality of what's going on because reality would hurt your inflated seemingly inebriated view that guys who couldn't start for you in two years are better than the guy you wanted back to start again for you this year.

"Noble was a good signing for the price but you need to be realistic. The only reason you signed him is you needed somebody to start and didn't have the cap space to really spend much on that position. If you had the space you either wouldn't of lost your starter or would of signed somebody else that does more then occupy space. Of course, if you were to draft your own DL from time to time you could let a guy like Noble leave because he is nothing special. Since the skins are such failures at actually developing DL talent did they just got smart and decide to quit trying?"

In fact, I'm being quite realistic. We needed a guy to start and we signed the guy you wanted to start for you. The guy we got isn't as good as the guy we lost, but, he's better than the guys you have. I only know this because he's started every game for you the last two years and BOTH the other guys have been there while Noble has and neither has started ahead of Noble. Not even once.

We had plenty of cap space and offered substantially more to Gardener than we did to Noble. Gardener wanted even more and we decided to make good with another direction. Perhaps if you had followed the story you'd be smart enough not to state false information and generate an argument surrounding that stupidity.

"What I don't understand is how you can think the Skins have so much more talent when each year there is only a few games that seperate our teams and Dallas always looks very competitive when playing the skins. How could a Campo coached team produce a mere 2 fewer wins then the talent infested Spurrier coached squad? If the talent difference was what you claim it was then these matchups would look more like the Dallas-Eagles games."

I'll give it to you that I've never seen it happen before where a fan of a 5-11 team actually decides to use his team's record as a positive point in a debate. I fear, however, you are clearly unaware that when you point to your 5-11 record and attempt to mitigate the atrocious nature of it by saying a team with a first year coach, first year system, 30-new players, five players who even knew any part of the system only finished two games better than that it makes you look seriously daft.

I'd ask you a simple question. How is it possible that the Cowboys, consistent with the same coaching and majority of players for year, coming off a self-proclaimed winning offseason both in free agency and the draft couldn't finish ahead of a Redskin team led by a new coach, Shane Matthews, Danny Wuerffel and a rookie holdout?

In fact, that you were two games worse last year simply exposes the tremendous difference in ability on your roster. That you've been the last place division finisher for the last three years further highlights that. With every single thing going against a team last year we STILL finished ahead of you. And the talent difference showed up writ large to close last year in a game that looked seriously like a Dallas-Eagles game.

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I have to disagree on Thomas as well. Early in his career, it looked like he was developing as a blocker and could be something. Some were actually referring to him as the "Chocolate Moose" thinking he could replace Daryl Johnston.

But there was a reason that all the talk last preseason was that Thomas was in jeopardy of getting cut since it looked like Jamar Martin would replace him as a starter. Of course, that was until Martin went down in training camp.

Anderson's not a blocker but is one of the better pass catchers in the league. I'm not sure Martin is great with the ball in his hands, but is a devestating blocker.

I think both are pretty clear upgrades over Thomas.

Heck, just look and see how much interest Robert Thomas has drawn from other teams. If he was a brute blocker, why hasn't someone employed him, even if only as a backup? I haven't heard of one team even bringing him in for a workout this offseason, much less serious talk about signing him.

As for Noble, I'm in agreement with Art. Dallas' line has serious question marks on the side that Myers/Nix and Ekuban will be starting on. I think Ellis is a very solid player, a guy just below the notch of your typical Pro Bowler. Glover is a Pro Bowler. But the other side is in disarray.

If no one steps up, I'm sure that DT and DE will be the priorities, along with RB and QB, next offseason. Heck, one may even be signed prior to the end of the preseason if a semi-quality player is released, as that is the talk I have heard.

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Art,

though in your reasoning you may seem right, just because Noble was a starter, it doesn't signify that he was a great loss for the cowboys since the difference between noble and the guys behind him were insignificant. If there was a great significance between Noble and the guys behind him and given the cap space that the cowboys have they would have made a bigger push to sign him and obviously they didn't.

The Noble loss is not that significant to the cowboys, eventhough he started, he did share a significant number of the snaps with others. technically speaking, a guy could start and play one snap and give way to some one else who plays the rest of the game. He would be considered a starter. He did not contribute but one play. Its the overall contribution that matters more so than who is starting. In terms of contribution the guy behind him slated to start had better statistics than him and the combination of the other two guys in that rotation were significantly better than Noble. If you state that cowboys lost a guy in their DT rotation and thus their depth is lessened then I agree (and I think we had that debate before and I did agree that we lost his contribution in the rotation that has to get replaced).

Now regarding the reason that why noble was the starter? he clearly is not a passrushing, pocket collapsing, attacking type DT that can take on blockers shed them and make plays in the backfield. He is solid against the run and his job was to hold up the line and allow the LBs flow to the ball to make plays. Dallas also had a different defensive philosophy given their experience in other areas. We clearly didn't have the DB personnel to be able to play aggressively and having been burned the couple of years before that in rush defense, their philosophy was run D first and then worry about pass rush.

Given, emergence of Ross as a legitimate cover corner and potential of Newman and emergence of Williams, dallas' plan is to be more aggressive in their pass rush and play the Safties closer to the line (as opposed to having them drop back to help the DBs) in playing run defense which should in thoery free the DL to attack the line of scrimmage more aggressively.

Now if washington is looking for a DT with Character who is a role player and a team player then they have their guy in Noble. If they are looking for some one to make things happen, then you will be disappointed.

however, strictly speaking on this DT topic, you had to replace Gardner, the skins defensive MVP with Noble. The loss of Gardner is more significant to the skins than the loss of Noble to the cowboys. Teams game planned around Gardner, I doubt if anyone game planned around Noble.

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How is it possible that the Cowboys, consistent with the same coaching and majority of players for year, coming off a self-proclaimed winning offseason both in free agency and the draft couldn't finish ahead of a Redskin team led by a new coach, Shane Matthews, Danny Wuerffel and a rookie holdout?
I'd say it was the abortive attempt to install Bruce Coslet's offense.

When the Cowboys were 3-3 and the Skins were looking up from the division cellar at 2-4, it looked like the Cowboys were going to finish in front of the talent-heavy, well-coached 'Skins. But 2 weeks later, the Cowboys started a rookie QB who hadn't played a meaningful snap in over 4 years, and they only won 2 more games all season (and 1 of those should hardly count, since it was against the 'Skins). I think the Cowboys slide from 3-4 to 5-11 had a lot more to do with the coaching decisions that were made and the inexperienced QB than an overall lack of talent. Chad Hutchinson wasn't the only starter with a dearth of experience, either. The Cowboys got significant contributions from Roy Williams, Derek Ross, Andre Gurode, Antonio Bryant and Tyson Walter, all of whom were rookies. Quincy Carter and Keith Adams (who started 5 games at MLB) were 2nd year players. I can't guess how many 1st and 2nd year OL played for the Cowboys last year. IMO, that's a very compelling argument that the Cowboys weren't an untalented team, they were an inexperienced and poorly coached team.

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Art:

Assuming I don't disagree that Glover is better than any tackle we have, the fact is, we have the next two best, if not the next THREE best. You're right, I don't like Ellis. Despite your appreciation of him, he's not even as dangerous a player still as Bruce Smith who is our No. 3 defensive end at the moment as Wynn and Upshaw are starting.[/Quote]

I think this is a little misleading.

You suggest Smith is more dangerous than Ellis, yet only your No. 3 DE. While true, I would also argue that Smith is more dangerous than either of the two defensive ends starting ahead of him in your lineup.

They may be better all-around players, as Smith is likely more one-dimensional at his age, but I don't think either is more dangerous.

Wynn had 2.5 sacks last season, in 16 starts. Regan Upshaw had 7 in his last full season, and only 2 last year.

Bruce Smith is more dangerous, even at his age, than Ellis. Ellis is a very good all-around player in my opinion, but not an upper-echelon pass rusher. He's the type that'll get you around 8 sacks, but play the run real well. It's one reason we've been so doisappointed with Ekuban -- he was expected to be the dominant pass rusher.

Doesn't Wynn play the same side of the ball that Ellis plays? I recall Smith going up against our LT, and when re-watching Cowboys games, Ekuban goes up against the LT as well.

Would you take Wynn, and his 2.5 sacks in 16 starts, over Ellis? While Smith is only your #3, and is more dangerous than Ellis, I don't think that Wynn is more "dangerous" than either Ellis or Smith. Nor do I think he's better overall than Ellis.

In six seasons, Wynn has averaged 2.6 sacks a season, and has averaged 13 starts a year ... so I don't think last season was a below average season for him. Rather, it seems that it is the exact type of performance he puts out on average.

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Shawn,

Let me see if I understand this. The Cowboys, excuse me, the tri-5-11 Cowboys are a team so rich in defensive tackles that your as good three-deep along the defensive line as you are at the starting spot? This is what you'd have me swallow, yes?

You made a push to sign Noble. He came to Washington for similar money to what you offered. I don't know why, but Noble gave me a hint. It had something to do with tri-5-11 seasons. I think Redskin fans know precisely what we're getting with Noble. What we're getting is the best of the batch of Myers, Nix and Noble. And we know exactly what that means for us, and for you.

Dale,

The point of the statement is simple. It's not unlikely that the most game impacting player at defensive end that EITHER team has is sitting on the bench for us, or at least that's the projection. But, since you largely agree with the weakness your line has, especially so in terms of depth, we don't need to harp on this point.

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there are a lot of matchups to compare but here is a main one:

consider the NFC playoff quarterbacks from 2002: McNabb, Favre, Garcia, Collins, Johnson, Vick............

now consider the probability of whether Patrick Ramsey or Carter/Hutchinson is going to step up and produce a consistent effort in 2003, and then tell me honestly which club, the Redskins or Cowboys, is likely to be a playoff contender in December :)

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Skinster wrote:

We were in every game last year with the Giants and the Cowpokes!! This year..... they just wont handle our talent level on both side of the ball!

Funny, I could swear that the Giants have quite a bit of talent on both sides of the ball themselves. Oh well, I guess I just dreamt that the Giants have Barber, Collins, Toomer, Hilliard, Shockey, Carter, Dixon, Levens, Mitchell, Strahan, Allen, Petersen, Short, Jones, Barrow, Hamilton, and Griffin on their team. My bad.

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you know, that whole argument about the cowboys backup DT being more productive than Noble could mean one thing-- other teams would run at them and not Noble....

and how productive was Glover when Noble was out? their different styles could have had a detrimental affect on his play... Noble was known as the guy who would take on a double team, and this year a slimmed-down BDW will be the one reaping the rewards...

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Originally posted by Tom [Giants fan]

Funny, I could swear that the Giants have quite a bit of talent on both sides of the ball themselves. Oh well, I guess I just dreamt that the Giants have Barber, Collins, Toomer, Hilliard, Shockey, Carter, Dixon, Levens, Mitchell, Strahan, Allen, Petersen, Short, Jones, Barrow, Hamilton, and Griffin on their team. My bad.

There is no doubt you have talent on both side of the ball, BUTT!!

Collins,? Collins!....He is your main reason for failure. His days of grandeur in the NFL are all but on the down slide. Sorry but seen to many times he fail in big time situations.. Now Palmer maybe a choice for your future, but behind Collins I just dont see your team competing with us this year!!

I am laying my money down on the skins!!!:cheers: :cheers: ...... Will you on your Giants??? :tongue: J/K

Skinster!!!

Skin 4 Life

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collins is a solid QB... he doesn't get a lot of credit for what he does.

in 2000 he completed 59% of his passes for 3600 yards, 22 TD's and 13 INT's... an 83 QB rating.....pretty good season

in 2001 he completed 58% of his passes for almost 3800 yards, 19 TD's and 16 INT's... a 77 QB rating.....drop off

in 2002 he completed 61.5% of his passes over 4000 yards, 19 TD's and 14 INT's... an 85 QB rating..... good season considering Hilliard didn't play but 6 games...

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Originally posted by Tom [Giants fan]

Funny, I could swear that the Giants have quite a bit of talent on both sides of the ball themselves. Oh well, I guess I just dreamt that the Giants have Barber, Collins, Toomer, Hilliard, Shockey, Carter, Dixon, Levens, Mitchell, Strahan, Allen, Petersen, Short, Jones, Barrow, Hamilton, and Griffin on their team. My bad.

Tom,

I have no doubt that the Giants are talented, but please do not include these guys when trying to make your point:

Carter- Ehhhh, didn't he tear his achillies last year?

Dixon- except for a few returns, what is he so great at?

Levens- quality back up and nothing more.

Hamilton- didn't he just tear his achillies too and get arrested for drugs? He was once a great player, but I doubt he will even start on your team and may even be cut.

That is all.

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Art,

I am not sure if you misunderstood or not, I am not discounting contibutions of Noble to the cowboys. In your mind he maybe the best of the bunch and I am sure you would be saying somewhat different things if he would resign in dallas or perhaps would have gone to another team and the skins would have signed someone else in his place. But given that's not what happened, we can look at the statistics as you often choose to do so (unless it doesn't benefit your argument). Statistically Noble shared 50% of his snaps with his back up. Statistically he was not as good as one of his back ups. You don't see me say the same thing about glover or ellis. What I alluded to was contributions of a player not his starting status if you recall.

again, Did losing Noble lessen cowboys on the DL. YES. the question is how much? and if you go back to the post, I had mentioned that losing Noble has in the least lessened our depth and contributions of Noble have to be replaced with other players. The question again is how much is the effect of losing Noble? I tend to think not as much as you think it is. Noble is not as big a loss to the cowboys as Gardner was to the skins. Gardner was the skins defensive MVP and he is replaced by a role player in Noble. The difference between Noble and Garnder is quite significant. The difference between Noble and his backup is much less.

As to last year's defense. Zimmer had to change his style given that the westbrook signing flopped (admitedly) and they had to go back to the conservative defensive game plans. Given that our starting CBs were Edwards and other warm bodies (until Ross took over).

I am going to look for the weekly over all ranking and stats for the NFL last year. The cowboys I think as a group gave up after the SF 4th quarter melt down. I think the defense was a top 10 defense or close to it before this melt down for the last 4 or 5 games. so until I find the statistics I have to wait before I can make a definite statement. so we will visit this on a differnet post...

you also alluded to Ross as a cornerstone!?, but I have talked about his emergence no differnetly than the skins fans did regarding smoot during his rookie year and then the off season after that!! I am not sure why that's an issue in regarding him not as cornerstone but one of the talented players on the cowboys team? will he regress? I can't tell until he plays this year. I can only go by what he has done and that's show a lot of promise, play solid CB and make the defensive rookie team. if he flops or regresses this year, then we will re-evaluate next summer.

you may not have specifically seen cowboys fans criticize the cowboys players on this board, but there has been a lot of criticism of the players on the cowboys board. its more fun to go to a rivals board during the slow times and have a little fun :) there had been a lot of criticism of thomas and page and ekuban and zellner and goodrich (urghh, bad bad draft pick) and some of the other players on the cowboys boards that I am a member of. I have had a lot of complaining on those players over the past couple of years.

Now you criticize the cowboys in over estimating their talents, yet you do the same thing. You have often done your head to head comarisons with not just the cowboys team but the giants, philly , etc. yet the highly talented, superior, pro-bowl filled skins teams have ended up on the short end of the stick for the past few years. Over the past 3 years, every year the skins claim they have gotten better in the off season yet the records have been

8-8, 8-8 and 7-9. that doesnot show a trend in improving as claimed by many. I guess we are all just as guilty. though some of these players may have made the pro-bowl, collectively they have failed. as you mentioned yourself, talent alone doesnot equal to success.

the cowboys lack of success and the tri 5-11 seasons can be attributed to several reasons, mainly coaching and meddling owner. though cowboys had consitancy in coaching, they consitantly had coaching that sucked. I guess you can relate to that when Norv was the coach, though there was consistency... it wasn't the greatest thing to have.

The lack of talent over the stretch is also contributed to retirement, FA and bad drafts. In the past couple of years, the cowboys apprantley (at least on paper) have reversed that trend. Are we where we need to be? no, not yet, but at least we are heading in the right direction. The cowboys may not be as talented as many cowobys fans here aruge, but they are also not devoid of talent as many skins fans here argue. It think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The same is true for the skins, though everyyear most of their fans tend to start shopping for superbowl tickets. its called being a fan.

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Shawn,

Your first and second sentences are contradictory and, in fact, represent that I didn't misunderstand you at all. Your first sentence reads, "I am not sure if you misunderstood or not, I am not discounting contibutions of Noble to the cowboys."

Your second sentence reads, "In your mind he maybe the best of the bunch and I am sure you would be saying somewhat different things if he would resign in dallas or perhaps would have gone to another team and the skins would have signed someone else in his place."

In fact, the phrasing, "In your mind he may be the best of the bunch....." expresses doubt in your mind that he was, which means you are discounting his contribution as YOUR STARTER. Let's be clear. It's not MY mind that said he was the best of your bunch. It's the mind of Zimmer who started him over the rest of your bunch. It's the mind of Parcells who tried to bring him back to start again.

The ONLY confused minds are those of Cowboy fans who have fixed in their miniscule craniums that Noble's dutiful backup is at least equal in ability to the guy they played behind. Good for you.

Statistically Myers spotted Glover more than Noble. Statistically Nix spotted Noble more than Glover. In fact, when Nix was in, Noble would never be so. One Cowboy fan on a Cowboy board even said Nix and Noble split snaps 50-50 over the second half of last year.

Fascinating.

Over the second half, games 9 through 16, Nix managed three total plays. He was in ON THREE TOTAL plays. I'm not a guy who thinks defensive linemen are easily measured by stats, but, since Nix and Noble fulfilled the exact same role on the exact same defense, their relative contributions are significant because to be equal in any way they must be equal in some way.

Over the same period in which Dallas fans say Noble and Nix split time half and half Noble managed to be in on 19 plays. So, by all means, let's look at stats. Especially those that make me seem remarkably bright and make you seem dim. Highlight as many of these types of stats as you can.

I have managed to remain relatively even-keeled in my estimation as to what the Redskins may manage the last couple of seasons. In fact, I even wrote if Ramsey gets much playing time at all I'd be happy with 6-10 from the year last year. That doesn't diminish individual positions of strength elsewhere. It means one position is simply too weak to have much expectation overall.

I have not misjudged where the Redskins are the last few years. You have misjudged where the Cowboys are and have been the last few years. But, we only have to do a search to see what each of us has felt. Care to play that game? I hope so. :).

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