Peter King Picks Dallas/New England Super Bowl

[5RINGS]

Okay, Okay, Okay!

First off, I haven't re-mortgaged my house to get those early odds on Dallas winning the Super Bowl.

Even Peter King says that he picked Minnesota - MINNESOTA!?!?!? - and New England last year. In reality his choice probably dooms the Cowboys to an 8-8 season.

But he does bring up some good points -

1) The NFC EAST is the toughest division in Football.

2) The Cowboys have - on paper mind you - shored up their weak spots from last year. WR, Kicking, Bookend Strong side LB for Ware, Two TE offense (threat on both sides),

3) Notes that the Oline MUST perform better than last year. ( It couldn't be worse really)

4) I really don't care who comes out of the AFC. I hate the AFC. San Diego, Buffalo, Cleveland - I hate all those crappy AFC teams.


P.S. I have been wondering this offseason what the reason is for all the personnel changes in Washington. You guys did well last year and were a sloppy performance in Seattle away from going to the NFC Championship and maybe the Super Bowl.

Why so much upheaval?

[Daseal]

I truly believe that any team in our division could come out on top. It'll be interesting if a new offense and a ton of new players work. I think the biggest problem is we're going to run 4-5 wide a lot and the teams in this division don't have the secondary to cover the type of speed we have at WR.

That said, I think New England doesnt have any sort of shot at a super bowl, and I think Dallas could make it, but I also don't think any NFC East teams gets to the Super Bowl for one reason. We're going to beat each other up and have close records within the division. This will hurt the chances for home field for all four teams. In the playoffs, not having to travel is huge.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

There wasn't upheaval so much as we did just what the Cowboys did. We shored up spots of weakness. Except rather than get ONE WR to make up for our poor WR performance last year, we got two.

We just the things we needed to do. We fixed where LaVar left. We signed two up-and-coming WRs. Wasn't really a lot of upheaval, but I do understand the viewpoint coming from the outside.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

And also, the things that mattered stayed the same. Offensive line was great, and this year is another year together to gel even more.

Biggest addition is Al Saunders. The man is as much a genius offensively as Williams is defensively.

[5RINGS]

Why didn't the Skins try and pick up some more draft picks?

[wolfeskins]

Originally Posted by 5RINGS

Why didn't the Skins try and pick up some more draft picks?

i don't think gibbs thought we needed any extra picks. gibbs has said that he is satisfied with the team . i think every skill position is set and that there is plenty of quality competition at every other spot.
having said all that, i think it is truly hard and much too early to say who will be going to the superbowl. once pre-season ends, then lets make some predictions.

[MonkManiac]

I don't understand how people can say that the reason the Cowboys will do well/win the Super Bowl is because they "addressed their needs better than anyone else."

Redskins needs:
Offensive Ingenuity = Al Saunders
WR = Brandon Lloyd, Antwan Randle El
Pass Rush = Andre Carter
Safety = Adam Archuleta
LB = Rocky McIntosh
Secondary Depth = Kenny Wright
TE Depth = Christian Fauria
QB Depth = Todd Collins
OLine Depth = Not yet

The top four were all addressed strongly.

[MTK]

I'm so tired of this Dallas nutlicking from the media, going all the way back to last year.

I guess we're just gonna have to pull out the broom again this year.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by 5RINGS

P.S. I have been wondering this offseason what the reason is for all the personnel changes in Washington. You guys did well last year and were a sloppy performance in Seattle away from going to the NFC Championship and maybe the Super Bowl.

Why so much upheaval?

keeping up with the joneses... our WRs outside of moss were total crap, ryan clark (SS) got steamrolled twice trying to make game saving tackles (alstott for TB, and LT for the chargers) and he couldn't blitz. We have a legit pass rushing DE now (and a very solid starter quality DE as key DE/DT depth). Fauria (TE) > royal, solid upgrade there, and kenny wright (CB) can be a reasonable #2, but a good #3, which we need (CB injuries hurt us a bit last year)... everyone else is just depth and teams...

we didn't go for more draft picks cause they won't make an immediate impact and there aren't that many spots for low rounders to make the roster. mcintosh, doughty, havner, chijioke, a RB, and both DTs will make the final cut (or PS).

the only areas of concern are whether there's a starter at ROLB (which between mcintosh or clemons should be alright at worst), whether brunell can hold up the entire season (and if campbell can play), if everyone can adapt to the new OC quicly, and how good our OL depth really is after losing ray brown as our reserve starter. None are a real concern until the playoffs, when OL depth and brunell's fatigue level could be the roadblocks once again.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by MonkManiac

I don't understand how people can say that the reason the Cowboys will do well/win the Super Bowl is because they "addressed their needs better than anyone else."

Redskins needs:
Offensive Ingenuity = Al Saunders
WR = Brandon Lloyd, Antwan Randle El
Pass Rush = Andre Carter
Safety = Adam Archuleta
LB = Rocky McIntosh
Secondary Depth = Kenny Wright
TE Depth = Christian Fauria
QB Depth = Todd Collins
OLine Depth = Not yet

The top four were all addressed strongly.

I think ramsey -> collins is hardly an upgrade... more like a wash at best. Lavar -> Mcintosh is a clear downgrade, at least for this year since rocky is going to have to deal with rookie lumps and lavar (though slow) actually played pretty well down the stretch.

we also upgraded our coverage and return units again. mcintosh, havner, doughty, chijioke and possibly a guy like lumsden could all really help there. Not to mention:
--KR/PR = Antwaan Randle-El ( >>>>>>>>>>>> Antonio Brown)

which is important not to overlook... too bad we didn't fix kicker/punter , maybe next year.

[MonkManiac]

Originally Posted by That Guy

I think ramsey -> collins is hardly an upgrade... more like a wash at best. Lavar -> Mcintosh is a clear downgrade, at least for this year since rocky is going to have to deal with rookie lumps and lavar (though slow) actually played pretty well down the stretch.

we also upgraded our coverage and return units again. mcintosh, havner, doughty, chijioke and possibly a guy like lumsden could all really help there. Not to mention:
--KR/PR = Antwaan Randle-El ( >>>>>>>>>>>> Antonio Brown)

which is important not to overlook... too bad we didn't fix kicker/punter , maybe next year.

I am concerned about our ROLB, but that's really it.

My point was - Can the Cowboys really say that there is not a single position at which there are question marks? Who do they have backing up Drew Bledsoe? Henson/Romo? Do they really have fewer question marks than the Skins? I just don't understand the argument that they have filled more holes in the offseason than the Skins.

Maybe somebody who knows the Cowboys a bit better can weigh in about their holes (not just WR, yeah yeah we know that one) and how they fixed them. Sure, they get TO, they pick up some help on the Oline (while also losing Larry Allen), and then Vanderjagt. I'm supposed to believe these are the only holes on the team?

Being a Redskins fan, I'm used to getting slapped in the face by the media. I'm over that. I'm just trying to understand the argument.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by 5RINGS

P.S. I have been wondering this offseason what the reason is for all the personnel changes in Washington. You guys did well last year and were a sloppy performance in Seattle away from going to the NFC Championship and maybe the Super Bowl.

Why so much upheaval?

Upheaval?

Not really, more like aggressively addressing our weaknesses.

[5RINGS]

Monk Maniac

I don't think that Dallas filled more holes than Washington, rather I think that the holes Dallas had were so obvious and glaring that when they got upgraded it seems like the 92/93 Cowboys all over again.

ST - Our Kicking game was horrible. Our PR was in the bottom half of the league. Optimists say that with a better kicker we could have gone 12-4. I don't think that is true but ....

WR - oh sorry..

SOLB - Demarcus Ware was getting a constant Chip or Double team because we did not have a threat on the Strong side last year - especially when Al Singleton went down. Bobby Carpenter will start in that position before game 5 and represents an upgrade in terms of being a threat to get to the QB. Carpenter and the FA Akin Ayondele help the Defense get bigger at LB in general and completes the switch to the 3/4.

QB - You are right. After Bledsoe, Jerry Jones might as well call me because we have nothing there. But Drew is Durable. He got Mashed last year Game after game but played every snap.

OL - Can we talk about something else? Okay they couldn't be worse. So we did pick up Fabini, Kosier (who was sought after by a few teams), and Columbo who was a former 1st round pick. What do you want me to say? if Parcells can get this line to work then just put him in Canton right away.
This is definately the biggest ?uestion mark this year. If they give Bledsoe protection, we will do well. if not.....

DL - Very strong here and got stronger - great DLine rotation that will help to cut down the amount of time those little recievers have to get open.

[D'BOYZ]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I truly believe that any team in our division could come out on top. It'll be interesting if a new offense and a ton of new players work. I think the biggest problem is we're going to run 4-5 wide a lot and the teams in this division don't have the secondary to cover the type of speed we have at WR.

That said, I think New England doesnt have any sort of shot at a super bowl, and I think Dallas could make it, but I also don't think any NFC East teams gets to the Super Bowl for one reason. We're going to beat each other up and have close records within the division. This will hurt the chances for home field for all four teams. In the playoffs, not having to travel is huge.

Daseal I agree with you in your assessment on how much our division is going to hurth any of the teams chances, but in the other side if 1 of the teams in division comes on top I really see them going all the way because of the tought competition during the season it will help them during the playoffs.

Now last year with Pitts playing all the playoffs away from home and winning the SB we know is really hard but not imposible and at least 1 of the teams in the division is going to get 1 home field game in the playoffs.

[MonkManiac]

Originally Posted by 5RINGS

Monk Maniac

I don't think that Dallas filled more holes than Washington, rather I think that the holes Dallas had were so obvious and glaring that when they got upgraded it seems like the 92/93 Cowboys all over again.

ST - Our Kicking game was horrible. Our PR was in the bottom half of the league. Optimists say that with a better kicker we could have gone 12-4. I don't think that is true but ....

WR - oh sorry..

SOLB - Demarcus Ware was getting a constant Chip or Double team because we did not have a threat on the Strong side last year - especially when Al Singleton went down. Bobby Carpenter will start in that position before game 5 and represents an upgrade in terms of being a threat to get to the QB. Carpenter and the FA Akin Ayondele help the Defense get bigger at LB in general and completes the switch to the 3/4.

QB - You are right. After Bledsoe, Jerry Jones might as well call me because we have nothing there. But Drew is Durable. He got Mashed last year Game after game but played every snap.

OL - Can we talk about something else? Okay they couldn't be worse. So we did pick up Fabini, Kosier (who was sought after by a few teams), and Columbo who was a former 1st round pick. What do you want me to say? if Parcells can get this line to work then just put him in Canton right away.
This is definately the biggest ?uestion mark this year. If they give Bledsoe protection, we will do well. if not.....

DL - Very strong here and got stronger - great DLine rotation that will help to cut down the amount of time those little recievers have to get open.

Thanks for the insights, 5RINGS.

This may be just me playing logical semantics, but:

1) If Dallas did not fill more holes than Washington; and
2) Dallas was 9-7 last year, did not make the playoffs, and was swept by Washington; and
3) Washington was 10-6 last year, reached the second round of the playoffs, and swept Dallas...

then how can one reasonably make the claim that the Cowboys are favorites to win the division/Super Bowl, much less perform better than the Redskins? The head-to-head matchup record, as well as overall season performance, would indicate that the Redskins were the better team last year. In order for the Cowboys to now be the better team, they would have had to fill more holes, because a lesser team couldn't possibly have fewer holes than a greater team to start with.

Granted, the use of "holes" as a barometer for improvement is not well-defined or easily measured, but I thought I'd post the argument. So much of the Cowboy-love coming out of the media is about how they have filled all their needs, while the Redskins-bashing centers around having spent a lot of money without really doing much.