ESPN NFC East Poll
 

[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/index?&lpos=globalnav&lid=gn_NFL_NFL"]ESPN's NFL[/URL] site has a poll on who will win the NFC East and 42% have the Cowboys running away with the division, the Giants second at 27% and the Redskins third at 20% and the Eagles last with 11%. I guess people either bought the Cowboys media hype or they just dislike the Skins. I don't see the logic in this choice. We'll see in week two.

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dont let the public opinion sway you. we are in for a good season. lets just keep flying under the radar

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There is going to be media attention focused on the Cowboys that befits a champion. Please do not confuse this with actual belief that they are going to win it all. ESPN and their cohorts just want to make sure a camera is present when Parcells rips out Terrell Owens's throat with his teeth.

Re: ESPN NFC East Poll
 

Get used to it. ESPN will ride the Cowboys horse all the way to the finish line and most football fans are stupid sheep that will just fall in line. We're going to see so much of Ed Werder we're going to just turn off the TV when he appears. They're going to cover the first dump TO takes in camp, did he wipe up or wipe down, did he flush? The first pre-season game is going to be covered like the Super Bowl. Michael Irvin is going to verbally orgasm every Sunday NFL Countdown talking about them. It will just be that much sweeter when they finish third in the division and Parcells walks away a loser.

Re: ESPN NFC East Poll
 

Last year, ESPN had the following predictions for the NFC East:

1. Eagles
2. Giants
3. Cowboys
4. Redskins

The fan polls were all over the place depending on where the poll was published, but in general, most national polls (including USA Today) had the Skins finishing in the basement last year too. Everyone thinks T.O. is the savior for Dallas. They keep forgetting about that immobile quarterback who is getting a bit old and the broken down line who won't be able to stop a rush to him.

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Our division I could see any team winning it and any team losing it. Definitely a tough division. I thouh.ght it would be a bit more split than that thoug

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I dont see how people think Owens with all of his baggage will have more of a positive impact than Randle El, Lloyd, Carter and Archuleta. We were alittle better than them last season and we added more talent. Sure they got an explosive(in every sence of the word good and BAD) player in Owens. We added more. We filled our major holes through free agency the Boy's didn't. We also added the ace in the hole with Saunders.

The Giants are the team that scares me and that was the case long before they signed LA who also may help some. Bledsoe is toast as long as they cannot protect him because he's a statue standing in a tar pit.

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TO and Glenn is definitely a dangerous duo. While people want to take a lot away from TO, he's a very, very, very dangerous receiver. The Cowboys added some really good defensive players (Akin Ayodele is a player I used to really like.)

Randel El, until I see otherwise is pretty situational, and B Lloyd is a bit inconsistant. I feel the Carter pickup was good, and Archuleta was a complete and udder waste.

While Saunders is great, Im curious how he uses WRs. His WRs in KC never did much.

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[QUOTE=dmek25]dont let the public opinion sway you. we are in for a good season. lets just keep flying under the radar[/QUOTE]

Right on! Keep the faith, this is our year!

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[QUOTE=Daseal]TO and Glenn is definitely a dangerous duo. While people want to take a lot away from TO, he's a very, very, very dangerous receiver. The Cowboys added some really good defensive players (Akin Ayodele is a player I used to really like.)

Randel El, until I see otherwise is pretty situational, and B Lloyd is a bit inconsistant. I feel the Carter pickup was good, and Archuleta was a complete and udder waste.

While Saunders is great, Im curious how he uses WRs. His WRs in KC never did much.[/QUOTE]

With all that talent coming of age on the defense, the Cowboys D should be pretty good. Still thin in the secondary though.

Re: ESPN NFC East Poll
 

.

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[quote=Daseal]
and Archuleta was a complete and udder waste. [/quote]

?? How is that? He is a complete upgrade and a great compliment to Taylor.

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[QUOTE=Daseal]...and Archuleta was a complete and udder waste.[/QUOTE]

I'll give him a chance to prove himself. Maybe he'll flourish under Williams. Of course if he can't cover for shit I'll be pretty pissed.

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I'm kind of curious to see how TO plays in a non-West Coast offense for the first time in his career. I'm sure he'll still do fine, but still I am a bit curious

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how the hell do you delete a post?????

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[QUOTE=SkinEmAll]how the hell do you delete a post?????[/QUOTE]

Which post would you like deleted?

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[QUOTE=Daseal]TO and Glenn is definitely a dangerous duo. While people want to take a lot away from TO, he's a very, very, very dangerous receiver. The Cowboys added some really good defensive players (Akin Ayodele is a player I used to really like.)

Randel El, until I see otherwise is pretty situational, and B Lloyd is a bit inconsistant. I feel the Carter pickup was good, and Archuleta was a complete and udder waste.

While Saunders is great, Im curious how he uses WRs. His WRs in KC never did much.[/QUOTE]
I can agree to an extent about A.R.E., I think Lloyd will suprise you. I'll reserve judgement on Archuleta until I see how Williams uses him. While it's true Saunders WR never put up big individual numbers they were always productive and who are we talking about here? Johnnie Morton, Eddie Kennison, Marc Borighter, Sammie Parker? Not exactly the cream of the crop.

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Saunders was receivers coach for the Rams in 1999 and 2000. Those receivers put up some pretty good numbers. Plus Eddie Kennison was a 1,000 yard/season receiver the past few years. I think what stands out with Saunders' offense is the relatively equal distribution of wealth among several players.

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I'm going to take this time now to point out one of my main gripes with the offseason. When it comes time to predict results for the upcoming season, experts tend to look at teams who filled holes with explosive talent. Well that's all well and good, but the idea of roster building isn't really to fill holes. No matter how many holes a team fills, they will still exist. There are a few tried and true methods I use when it comes time to pick divisions:

Rather than look at key additions, I think the focus should be on player improvement. For example, last year I took the G-Men to make the playoffs because I figured Eli would take a big step foward as a QB, and took Washington to win the division because I figured we would get consistent QB play from Ramsey. At least we got consistent QB play. I think Houston is a team that could see big production increases from Carr and Davis, and should have a good deal of success in Kubiak's first season.

The other thing I look at is if any team lost games the previous year that they should have won. We lost to TB, OAK, and SD in three games that should have been won. Kansas City lost a bunch of games last year they should have won. These teams I believe will finish better this year because they had a better team a year ago then their record shows. Oakland is in the same boat, but they won't be a playoff team.

I apoligize for the essay, but I felt I needed to point out one of the flaws in accepted 'expert' logic. If one believes that Washington has an improved roster, not neccessarily great additions, then they should pick them to win a division.

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[QUOTE=GTripp0012]
The other thing I look at is if any team lost games the previous year that they should have won. We lost to TB, OAK, and SD in three games that should have been won. Kansas City lost a bunch of games last year they should have won. These teams I believe will finish better this year because they had a better team a year ago then their record shows. Oakland is in the same boat, but they won't be a playoff team.
[/QUOTE]

we also won games we should have lost...the seatle game was the biggest one

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Saunders receivers may not have put up individually awesome ProBowl stats but Saunders offense as a whole was f..a..i..r..l..y decent.

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I don't agree with the Archuleta pick either, but G.W. must know something i don't, because he wanted to pick him up. Either way, i don't care if we don't get any respect from the media, because that's the way i like it.

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[quote=Duffman003]we also won games we should have lost...the seatle game was the biggest one[/quote]Good point. Seattle and Dallas. Still, point still stands.

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I hope we get a photo op with Bush, Jones and TO. Preseason ofcourse...

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[quote=mooby]I don't agree with the Archuleta pick either, but G.W. must know something i don't, because he wanted to pick him up. Either way, i don't care if we don't get any respect from the media, because that's the way i like it.[/quote]

he knows arch won't get bitched on two game saving plays (alstot, LT) this year.

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ESPN must have tired of the NFC East Poll. Some other choice is up now.

Did not care to vote.

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[QUOTE=mooby]I don't agree with the Archuleta pick either, but G.W. must know something i don't, because he wanted to pick him up. Either way, i don't care if we don't get any respect from the media, because that's the way i like it.[/QUOTE]


I'm scratching my head over it as well.

My understanding is that Arch is good on the safety blitz and he's a hard hitter. He's not that great at deep coverage but he's pretty good at short coverage, nothing more than 10 yards or so.

But yeah, I have the same feeling. GW wants him, so there must be something good there.

Oh, have you seen his wife? Excellent reason to bring him aboard :)

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I think a little of the Archuleta pick had to do with the prospect of Sean Taylor paying a possible debt to society. AA is hitter in Taylor's mold, so there would be some enforcement in the secondary.

Much of the problem in St. Louis was scheme related. From his Redskin press conference: [I]"[B]There is no denying that we struggled in St. Louis the last two years on defense [/B]so I would look at other teams when I broke down film of who was playing well or who I had heard was playing well. We just happen to have many common opponents where the Redskins defense was playing the same team that we were going to play. I got jealous. These guys were flying around and hitting people. They looked sound. Guys were very rarely out of position. It looked like the guys on the field were having fun and there was a comfort to what they were doing. They always looked like they were in control. Along with the things that I had heard about Gregg Williams and what he has been able to do as a defensive coordinator and his reputation, it was one of the very few teams in the NFL that I admired the way they played defense."[/I]

Archuleta was a feared safety through 2003. Then Lovie Smith left the Rams. Suddenly, AA isn't quite the player he was. The coincidences are staggering.

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[QUOTE=Spaceman Spiff]I'm scratching my head over it as well.

My understanding is that Arch is good on the safety blitz and he's a hard hitter. He's not that great at deep coverage but he's pretty good at short coverage, nothing more than 10 yards or so.

[/QUOTE]


Welcome to the Forum SS!

You guys are right, Arch ain't all that! He has back problems, and last year was displaced by a Rookie in a mediocre to poor Ram Secondary. The fat guy on the local (Norfolk Va.) a.m. sports radio is a huge Ram fan/season ticket holder, and expressed his opinion on the FA pick-up right away! I don't know Arch from Joey Bagodonuts, but this guy wins on 70+ percent of his NFL picks!

Arch is a workout warrior, however.

But best FA Safety out there at the start of FA? Gotta reserve judgement.

Re: ESPN NFC East Poll
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]TO and Glenn is definitely a dangerous duo. While people want to take a lot away from TO, he's a very, very, very dangerous receiver. The Cowboys added some really good defensive players (Akin Ayodele is a player I used to really like.)

Randel El, until I see otherwise is pretty situational, and B Lloyd is a bit inconsistant. I feel the Carter pickup was good, and Archuleta was a complete and udder waste.

While Saunders is great, Im curious how he uses WRs. His WRs in KC never did much.[/QUOTE]

Glenn is pretty inconsistent - I'm not terribly worried about him. He's a moderate #2 threat.

TO CAN be dangerous, but only if Bledsoe isn't lying on his back staring at the clouds. It will all come down to how well their O-line protects Bledsoe. If they protect him well, I think they are a serious contender for the NFC East title. If they can't protect him, not only are they probabl the bottom of the division, but Bledsoe won't last long.

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[quote=Paintrain]Get used to it. ESPN will ride the Cowboys horse all the way to the finish line and most football fans are stupid sheep that will just fall in line. We're going to see so much of Ed Werder we're going to just turn off the TV when he appears. They're going to cover the first dump TO takes in camp, did he wipe up or wipe down, did he flush? The first pre-season game is going to be covered like the Super Bowl. Michael Irvin is going to verbally orgasm every Sunday NFL Countdown talking about them. It will just be that much sweeter when they finish third in the division and Parcells walks away a loser.[/quote]

LMAO!!!! Very funny...but only because it's true!

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[QUOTE=Spaceman Spiff]I'm scratching my head over it as well.

My understanding is that Arch is good on the safety blitz and he's a hard hitter. [B]He's not that great at deep coverage but he's pretty good at short coverage, nothing more than 10 yards or so.[/B]

But yeah, I have the same feeling. GW wants him, so there must be something good there.

Oh, have you seen his wife? Excellent reason to bring him aboard :)[/QUOTE]

It's always been my understanding that the strong safety (Archuleta) is more of the runstopping threat, while the free safety (Taylor) is more responsible for defending the deep pass. Williams will have each man in position to play to his prime abilities, yet they'll all attack the ball carrier -- regardless of whether it's a running play or passing play. Nothing to worry about -- and Archuleta [I]has[/I] to be an improvement over Ryan Clark.

Any links to photos of Archuleta's wife would be greatly appreciated!

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[quote=Beemnseven]-- and Archuleta [I]has[/I] to be an improvement over Ryan Clark.

[/quote]

Is Arch useless deep? If he is, I don't see a one dimensional safety, no matter how good he is at stopping the run, helping our defense.

Obviously GW will scheme him as necessary, but if I'm an offensive coordinator I'm going to exploit Arch as much as possible. Ryan Clark may not have been the show stopper, but he is without a doubt a more balanced Safety than Arch. Regardless with SS, CR, and ST out there he's in good company so mabye a more balanced defense will result. Hopefully it's as simple as that.