Peter King's top offseasons

[luckydevil]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/peter_king/news/2002/06/17/mmqb/

This is what he had to day about the redskins(he had them 10). Washington. Steve Spurrier. Marvin Lewis. Throw all the other refuse away, and those two names make the Redskins two wins better right now. I love how everyone's questioning whether Spurrier can adjust. Reminds me of 1989, when everyone questioned Jimmy Johnson.

[Burgold]

It's so odd to hear positives from the national media. Our ratio seems to be getting better. This offseason I'd even say about 30 percent have been non negative.

[Larry]

But, he ranks Miami #2, because they got Ricky Williams (a headcase) and Norv Turner (who'll forget to give the ball to Ricky).

[redman]

Then he writes something like this:

All the right moves

Eagles have made themselves perennial contenders

Posted: Thursday June 13, 2002 5:28 PM

PHILADELPHIA -- On Thursday morning Joe Banner, the Eagles' president and resident salary-cap brain, sat in his NovaCare complex office overlooking the wonderfully manicured practice fields, with the team's new stadium, two-thirds complete, off in the distance.

There's a lot in that first sentence to take in.

The Eagles have a cap wizard in Banner. That's the first thing. Not only are they a prime Super Bowl contender, but they also have more room under the salary cap ($9.9 million) to play with than any team in the league. And now they have an excellent football facility, a veritable free-agent magnet on the south side of Philly, with a locker room big enough to hold batting practice and fields nice enough to pass for U.S. Open fairways. The new stadium? It'll be ready in time for the 2003 season, and from the outside it looks pretty primo. It won't have far to go to beat the team's present home, of course. Plus, the field will be real grass, not the game-cancelling artificial turf of Veterans Stadium.

All in all, these are not your father's Eagles anymore.

"I remember this place in my second or third year in the league," said Eagles linebacker Carlos Emmons, who came to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh last season as a free agent. "Nobody wanted to come here. First of all, they weren't winning. And the facilities were horrible. But now when guys are talking about places they'd like to play, they include Philadelphia."

The Eagles missed out on their two big free-agent targets this offseason. They were outbid by Atlanta for Warrick Dunn, who got starting-back money even though his size limits him from being a 325-carry-a-year warhorse. And on Wednesday Green Bay snatched away linebacker Hardy Nickerson. Philadelphia looked at Nickerson as a $1.5 million insurance policy; the Packers view him quite probably as a starter. Given that Nickerson has been nicked recently, this isn't a big loss for the Eagles.

Dunn and Nickerson notwithstanding, the newness of the Eagles' physical plant has helped attract and keep good players -- almost as much as the team's winning ways. "Four years ago," Banner said, "when I'd call an agent and ask if we could talk about an extension for his client, I'd get a response like, 'Well, I'll talk to my client and we'll get back to you.' Now the response is more like, 'Oh, my client will be so happy to hear that. Thank you.'"

I'll never forget Philadelphia coach Andy Reid talking to me in his office in the bowels of Veterans Stadium a couple of years ago, telling me about the vermin (mice, mostly) that used to scurry across the field early in the mornings. He'd see them in the concourses, too. The coaches' bathroom doubled as the coaches' kitchen and refrigerator area. This is where the Eagles used to take players they were recruiting. Now team officials bring prospects into a gleaming new practice and office complex with huge photos of inspirational leaders -- Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and Dr. Jonas Salk -- owner Jeff Lurie's idea -- in the lobby.

Do these amenities help win games? Help, yes. But that's it. The reason the Eagles are good is because they've drafted and managed the cap well. They set a price for Dunn and he chose some bonanza elsewhere -- so be it. It's the way the Patriots operated last year, and look where it got them. And because the team's draft choices over the past five years have produced, Philadelphia can afford to sit by idly while the better free agents go elsewhere.

I think of the Baltimore Ravens and I think of a team that won one Super Bowl and could be headed for five years of hard times. I think of the Eagles and I think of a team that will contend for the Super Bowl each of the next five years. Will they win one? Maybe not. But if I'm a fan, I'd rather root for a team that has a real chance every August, not one or two Augusts out of five.

Huh? They're geniuses because they've conserved cap space by failing to sign anyone noteworthy, and to resign their star MLB Trotter? WTF?:?: :dunce: :stupid:

[W&M]

I Can't agree with you Larry.

Ricky may be weird, but he's still good. He's an improvement no matter how you look at it.

And norv is certainly a good pick-up as an offensive-coordinator, he may be a horrible head coach and lousey motivator. But the the man can call a nice game plan.

As for not running the ball ... Emmett Smith, Terry Allen, Stephen Davis .... I believe all these guys got more than their share of carries under Norv ... and broke records for yards and TD's in the process.

[redman]

Match that up with this assessment of the Eagles in his offseason rankings:

20. Philadelphia. Drafted half of college football's eligible defensive backs. Maybe one can run the ball. Their most valuable acquisition of the offseason, what with Correll Buckhalter being lost for the year with an ACL injury, is probably Villanova superback Brian Westbrook.

Makes no sense.

[Murilo Bustamante]

The last paragraph was "cute"- for lack of a better word.

Here is what Peter King really meant:

"I think of the Baltimore Ravens, and I think of

a team that took my home team Giants and pimp-slapped and humiliated them on national TV, proving they did not belong in the Super Bowl and that Sehorn does not deserve to be in any Pro Bowls. And I think of the Philadelphia Eagles, and I see a team that usually falls flat on its face to my Giants, so I'll write nice things about them, just like I did for the Redskins until they fired Norv Turner."

[ummagumma]

Originally posted by W&M

As for not running the ball ... Emmett Smith, Terry Allen, Stephen Davis .... I believe all these guys got more than their share of carries under Norv ... and broke records for yards and TD's in the process.

You must not remember all the times Davis was running all over teams (Monday nighter against Tenn. pops into my head) and the inevitable low percentage pass plays were called. Letting Aikman throw when you don't NEED to is one thing, but letting Brad Johnson is just bad play calling. Then, even more inexplicably, he'd keep throwing the ball, forgetting Davis was ripping off 6-8 yard runs every time he touched the ball.

[Murilo Bustamante]

Also, in regards to the Norv running the ball issue...

Norv would run the ball if he got a big lead or the run was working from the beginning. (And his time in Dallas and L.A. doesn't count because he had run-oriented head coaches looking over his shoulder, so I'm just talking about his time at the Skins).

However, the Skins lost so many games under Turner when Davis/Allen would have like 15 carries for 48 yards at halftime, the game would be close at halftime, and Davis/Allen would finish the game with... 15 carries for 48 yards. Norv would just panic and abandon the run in a close game....and not surprisingly, he lost a lot of close games.

[W&M]

There were certainly some of those games where it appeared that Norv abandoned the run too easily. But I don't blame him for pulling out the full playbook when teams challenged us to throw. I remember a lot of times where Norv made a great call, and the play was set-up perfect, but some screwed up.

But still Terry Allen broke the Redskins record for TD's AND Yards in a single season. And then Stephen Davis broke both of those records two seasons later. You don't do that with a coach that has a penchant for not running a lot. And it's not like our team was so good that we were always ahead, and those were just mop yards/TD's.

And I don't think you can discount his experience with Emmett. First, J.Johnson was the most hands-off coach there was. By his own admission, he had virtually no role in calling or influence plays, but he did give Norv the players he needed to be balanced.

And last year Norv was in San Diego, he still ran a lot.

My point is, we can make fun of Norv for a lot of our failings, but his style of play was the exact same as Joe Gibbs, in fact, they were both students of Air Correll. And there plenty of years (not just games) after Riggons where Gibbs used the Pass to set up the Run.

[Henry]

Allow me to nitpick for a moment: TerryAllen never broke Riggins' record of 24 TDs in one season. The most Allen ever ran for was 21 in 1996.

Neither did Davis. Davis best scoring year was in 1999 when he scored 17 TDs.

[Henry]

Oh, and I have a friend who's a avid Chargers fan, and for most of the second half of last season (when the Chargers went 0-8, I believe) my friend would consantly ***** about how Norv just wouldn't run the ball anymore and kept putting the game on Flutie's shoulders, and why was this because running worked so well in the first half of the season.

I could only pat my friend on the back and tell him I'd been there ...

[SonnyJ]

Originally posted by Henry

Oh, and I have a friend who's a avid Chargers fan, and for most of the second half of last season (when the Chargers went 0-8, I believe) my friend would consantly ***** about how Norv just wouldn't run the ball anymore and kept putting the game on Flutie's shoulders, and why was this because running worked so well in the first half of the season.

I could only pat my friend on the back and tell him I'd been there ...

In fairness to Norv, I seem to remember the word was that Tomlinson, a rookie, had hit the wall. He came in right before the season, with no training camp, and got a ton of carries in the early going.

I don't know that Norv had an alternative...

[SonnyJ]

A couple of other tidbits in there, too, in King's "I think I think" section.

1. I think, without question, that the most underwhelmed member of the Washington Redskins' 70-man 70th anniversary team is Brian Mitchell, the Eagles returner/backup back. Mitchell blames Washington owner Dan Snyder for his departure from Washington a couple of years ago, and he'll never forgive him. I saw Mitchell in Philly the other day and asked him about his appointment to the anniversary team. "Whoop-de-damn-do," Mitchell said, sneering. Now, understand that Mitchell loves Washington and the fans there. He just will never love the Redskins quite the same again as long as Snyder owns the franchise.

No attempt at damage control here. I think Mitchell is pretty much blackballing himself from the Redskin alum banquet circuit. I used to think this guy was pretty smart, but...

5. I think I hope Marco Coleman knows what he's getting himself into. Signing with the Coughlins this late in his career? I mean, you're going to go through that training camp and that in-season practice regimen. You think you're not going to have sincere regrets come October?

I don't know that I agree with this. Coleman isn't Smith. He is the model of professionalism. He got the best contract he felt that he could (don't know details other than 3yrs, $4.5M), and he'll handle the consequences. I say good luck to him, no regrets for either party.

6. I think no offseason injury hurts a team more than Oakland losing defensive end Regan Upshaw for the year. What a killer.

I'm sorry, but REGAN UPSHAW? Did he all of a sudden come alive last year? The last I recall is Tampa running the guy out of town. The only conclusion that I can draw from this statement is that King feels that no one of consequence has gone down yet. But Szott's injury has to be just as crushing. The Jets have to be just as weak on the OL as the Raiders on the DL.

As far as the rankings go, once again they give me cause for optimism. I look at the teams rated ahead of the 'Skins and don't see any that stick out as being as good or markedly better.

This is the second I've seen with Tampa on top, just because of Gruden. He gets a lot of love for someone who has only won two playoff game in 4 years. I'm certainly not dismissive of his ability, but I have to feel that (Spurrier+Lewis) >= Gruden.

[Darth Tater]

The Eagles HAVE made themselves perennial contenders (in the pre-season at least) but it seems they are satisfied with that role, they don't seem to want to go all the way!

:shootinth

[JimboDaMan]

Now team officials bring prospects into a gleaming new practice and office complex with huge photos of inspirational leaders -- Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and Dr. Jonas Salk -- owner Jeff Lurie's idea -- in the lobby.

Yep, nuthin like a giant picture of a 100-year-old nun to put a game face on ya.

And I think the proper expression for the Eagles is not "perennial contenders" but "perennial bridesmaids", as in never the bride.

[SonnyJ]

The thing is, I don't consider the Eagles to be a contender in the same vein as say, the Rams or Niners or Steelers or Raiders, etc.

They're too flawed. The offense walks a fine line - they depend heavily on one person to do it all. The running game is iffy, the passing game is not top-notch. The defense is suspect against the run.

They certainly are a DANGEROUS team, in that they can give any team a run for the money in any given game. But they aren't a complete enough team that another team doesn't have options against them.