Red&BlueRivalry Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 You know what's sad about the Eagles loss? Not that they've blown it three times in a row (that is pretty bad though :hump: ) but that they will have approximately $20 million in salary cap space next year. Now, a lot of that room is because of older players becoming free agents next year. But you have to wonder if a team that has come so close to winning three years in a row yet still finds itself in the top five for cap space in the NFL is really committed to winning. If Philly had spent a little more on depth and much needed offense and even tried to retain some of their vets, they might have gone to the Super Bowl at least once. But knowing how notoriously cheap that franchise is and the imminent departures of those great corners Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor as well as one of the most underrated running backs in the NFL, Duce Staley, does Philly have it in them to repeat as NFC East Champs? They still have a great offensive line with everyone locked up in contracts. Their receivers aren't getting any better, that's obvious, and Philly would never ante up for a legit weapon for McNabb. Their front seven isn't the same dominant force it once was as they allowed several teams to run all over them this year. I think Andy Reid is a great coach and the Eagles are still a talented team but the division has suddenly become much tougher with Parcells, Gibbs, and Coughlin in town. The Eagles dominated the NFC East while Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder piddled away on coaches and players until they gave up and brought in the two best men in football to coach their teams. :cool: The Giants may suddenly find some direction for once under the disciplinarian Coughlin and not be as erratic. Do you think Philly realizes how intense the competition has become in the NFC East? Do you believe they'll change their ways and maybe spend a little more on free agents or re-signings this year? Do you think they can continue to be the role model for thriftiness in the NFL and still win the NFC East? Was this Playoff loss the straw that broke the camel's loss? Troy Vincent has already been quoted everywhere as saying the window of opportunity (Super Bowl) is quickly closing on the Eagles. Has it offically closed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Murphaaay Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Somewhat, They won't run through the division like they have in previous years. They may be in the playoffs, and may continue to be competitive, but I think that there will be too many strong teams in the East that will stop the Eagles from being dominate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakofthesouth Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I hope they don't get a big name reciever, like TO. But they have to improve there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 your question is backwards from your poll. However, I think its 50/50. they might have one more year in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Murphaaay Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Originally posted by Bufford Redux your question is backwards from your poll. However, I think its 50/50. they might have one more year in them. It may take Parcells & Gibbs a couple of seasons (maybe one for Parcells) to sculpt their teams into champions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atloldskin Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I really think this loss will end the Eagles dominance in the NFC East. They really looked bad against the Packers and Panthers. They were exposed as a one man team and a team you could run the ball on. This sounds odd, but I thought this was the weakest Eagle team of the last three years and yet I thought they had the best chance of winning the Championship game this year. The Eagle fans will not forget three losses in a row and that will have a "noose" effect on that team. Plus, Parcells and Gibbs are now in the conference!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyKilmer Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Originally posted by Bufford Redux However, I think its 50/50. they might have one more year in them. Bufford said it best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankRizzo Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 They'll be hard pressed to even get to the NFC Championship game next year, much less win the NFC East. People are always down on Snyder for going all out in the offseason, but I'd much rather have an owner like that than one who is complacent to lose big name player after player and NEVER upgrade at much needed positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 until the other NFC East teams get better, Eagles will still reign. I remember Dallas declining in talent after 92/93 but the rest of the NFC East didn't immediately catch up. Then in 95 a GOOD but not GREAT Cowboys team won the damn SB again. So it is really up to the rest of the NFC East to show they are ready to take the next step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief skin Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 The window was slammed shut yesterday, it is over for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 the Eagles will continue to be a competitive, playoff contender but their dominance at the top of the East will be severely challenged in 2004. with Parcells, Gibbs and Coughlin in the East there are no more easy wins to be had. those years of going 5-1 against the East is over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeypeet Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I'm not sure why anyone would think the Eagles are done in the NFC east.....especially Redskin fans. As much as it pains me to say it the Eagles own us. I know with Gibbs in town things look pretty good right now but until I see the proof on the field I just won't believe we are better than the Eagles. Now Dallas may get better than Philly over the offseason. They had mixed sucess against them this year.....whereas we had none. New York? Well they are probably in the same boat as we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Carolina's rise from 1-15 to 7-9 and 11-5 should be a lesson, however, Whiskey, that one year moves are indeed not only possible but probable by some teams in the NFL. There is no reason the Redskins or Giants can't make a solid move of their own and there is no guarantee that the Cowboys will improve on their win total in 2004. the Redskins and Giants don't figure to be a 4-0 speed bump for Dallas again. I don't see Gibbs losing 27-0 to anybody in the East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief skin Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 The eagles have weaknesses that a good coaching staff can exploit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPare Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I would expect that they will be a middle of the pack team next year, as will be the Redskins. I fully expect that the Cowboys will be the class of the east, particularly if they pick up Brunell and/ or Dillon. It is rumoured that they are targeting both. Now, that said, I strongly doubt that this year's Dallas games will be the embarrasments that the last few have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince62 Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 from the sidelines: yea the receivers were pretty bad yesterday. and yea...they need at least one gamebreaker wr. but the iggles didn't win 9 straight with widgets playing wideout. look...the Colts wrs looked horrible yesterday also....is anyone going to argue that they should be *hit canned? the ggles defense held on yesterday....but...playing contrarian...I would argue that the defense is what needs upgrading. it was pushed all over the field during the regular season. it was a matter of time before its success in the red zone was going to slip. they have real problems if vincent/taylor go - those two always dominated the Skins receivers. They also need to replace some of the pass rushing dominance they have lost over the last 2 seasons. the difference this season and prior seasons in the iggles defense was between pretty good and really good. they have fallen from the ranks of the really good and need to do some rebuilding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 the Eagles problems on the defensive line can be traced in part to the number of injuries the club suffered in that unit. Losing Hollis Thomas and Paul Grasmanis took away the club's best run defenders, a hole the team was not able to plug the rest of the way. I think the Eagles need to invest in better talent at RB and WR. The Eagles have now scored 10 and 3 points AT HOME on offense in 2 NFC Title games. Yesterday, the defense gave up 14 points. That should be enough to win most games. You see other teams in the playoffs with running backs like Davis, Priest Holmes, Edgerrin James and Faulk and you see how undermanned the Eagles are in the backfield. Similarly at wide receiver, there is no Marvin Harrison, no Torry Holt, no Steve Smith to challenge opposing defenses. Thrash is fast straight-line but has no sophistication or polish as a wide receiver. He is a #3 receiver on a good WR unit. Pinkston is only 185 pounds and the book on him is you hit him, knock him around and he disappears. At some point the Eagles have to give McNabb another pro bowl caliber skill player to work with on offense. Or the club is going to continue to be knocked out of the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagles_Legendz Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 bulldog, I disagree when you say the Eagles RBs need to be addressed. Westbrook/Staley/Buckhalter carried them through this season. It's the WRs that need to be severely looked at and fixed. Wouldn't mind seeing Darrel Jackson in green next year. They will need to address the CB position if both Taylor and Vincent leave, and I would like to see a premier DE brought in (they have many good but not great DLine players). In response to the original question: who knows? We'll see what the draft and FA bring. I don't think any other team in the East is better than Philly if that is what the question is trying to answer. The wins won't be as easy, but I would expect a 4-2 record in the division next year. Couple that with playing the NFC North and AFC North, and I don't see why there wouldn't be another successful season. Say what you want about Gibbs, but Washington (and Gibbs) need to prove they can compete consistently. Lets just say I'm more skeptical than the rest of you about their immediate return to glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Just about. They might be able to win the east one more time in 2004; but their window of opportunity for winning the superbowl has closed. In 2005, other teams: Dallas,DC and NY will be contending for the division. Eagles could slip to 3rd or 4th in 2005. At best, Eagles will be a wild card team but after 2004; their days of dominating the east will be over. The east could rotate among the other 3 teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 It's pretty simple: I think it's guaranteed that: Parcells will lead the pukes to at least as good a season as last year (he'll certainly get a better qb and rb next year); It is impossible to conceive that Gibbs won't improve the Skins wins next year by at least 3-5 games; Coughlin will also improve the play of the gints dramatically; The iggles will probably lose three of their toughest players, seem unlikely to sign the fa we'd hate to see there the most - TO, will be drafting 28th or 29th, and have NEVER shown the willingness to use up that cap for high priced stars, this last loss could crush them for the entire next year like the gints loss to the 49ers did a year ago -- They WILL have a worse record next year even if there play the same and their talent were to stay the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talent Wasted at a Desk Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 One other thing: The NFC East has an easy schedule next year: from nfl.com: Philadelphia ---- HOME. Dallas, N.Y. Giants, Washington, Green Bay, Minnesota, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Carolina; AWAY. Dallas, N.Y. Giants, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis Washington ---- HOME. Dallas, N.Y. Giants, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Minnesota, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay; AWAY. Dallas, N.Y. Giants, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Francisco We all play the AFC North and NFC North. The worst divisions in football. (And the home/away break is opposite for the Giants and Cowboys.) So I believe we will have a good shot at a lot of wins with a mediocre product, as will the Eagles. Therefore, they are my pick as of now to win the division next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeypeet Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Originally posted by Bulldog Carolina's rise from 1-15 to 7-9 and 11-5 should be a lesson, however, Whiskey, that one year moves are indeed not only possible but probable by some teams in the NFL. I won't disagree with that. Some turnarounds in the NFL are probable....and there's no doubt that the Skins are due (if there is even such a thing as being due in the NFL) for such a turnaround. The thing is we have made the moves every year to turn this thing around and it just never seems to happen. There is some bad bad karma here in D.C. And once again, with Gibbs in town things do seem to be looking up. But as with beating the Eagles I won't actaully believe it until I see it. And like you said there is no guarantee the Cowboys get any better next year either. Anything could happen next year...but as far as watching the boys in DC making a ton of noise color me pessimistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Let's see --- easy schedule? Carolina - SB GB -- Division Champ Baltimore - Division Champ (with no qb) Dallas - Wild Card (with no qb or rb) St. Louis - Division Champ - First Round Bye Cincinnati - 2nd year under Lewis - play off near miss Minnesota - playoff near miss on fluke play by Arizona at buzzer Bears - surging at end of year Pittsburgh - great coach and talent coming off bad year Detroit - 2nd year under Mooch - beat Rams with homefield advantage on the line for the Rams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Besides those WRs, they need to figure how to stop when people run all over them too. All of the sudden, their premier defense has become terrible. Sounds so familiar...:doh: I strongly believe, with Gibbs in charge, we will be able to split game with them, and the pokes, next year. They won't be that dominant in '04, NO WAY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinthePRF Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 If Philly loses both their corners, which I don't think they will, their defense could be in a heap of trouble. What would of been their strength, their defense, could succumb to mediocrity. On the other side of the ball I'm not sure what to think. During the Panthers game the Eagles kept getting ripped for their WRs breaking off and creating their own routes, which led to INTs. What great coaching would even allow this especially in a championship game? Philly's WRs do suck but I'm wondering how much their passing game suffers because it's usually at its best with McNaab improvising at least once every few plays, I'm sure any WRs can't help but get used to improvising themselves. This offense will never be horrible because McNaab is a great player IMO. But I'm not sure it will ever be a top offense either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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