wow...i've seen it all....Delhomme over Vick??? Your on some sort of crack or something because Delhomme is a one year wonder. While i'm not convinced of Vick's talent, he's got more tools then Delhomme does. Vick is a runner and can chuck it a mile....Delhomme is a dead duck in the pocket.....

 

Plus learn how to spell, it's embarrassing how you spelled your supposed franchise team.

wow...i've seen it all....Delhomme over Vick??? Your on some sort of crack or something because Delhomme is a one year wonder. While i'm not convinced of Vick's talent, he's got more tools then Delhomme does. Vick is a runner and can chuck it a mile....Delhomme is a dead duck in the pocket.....

 

Plus learn how to spell, it's embarrassing how you spelled your supposed franchise team.

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THANKS GOD somebody backs me!

Ok, I am not a Delhomme fan. He is a one year wonder? That is why his passing stats last year were superior to Vicks? I've never seen Vick chuck it a mile, and even NFL analysts will say he is not a strong passer. And none of you will admit that Delhomme, even without his best offensive weapons last year, had a superior season THROUGH THE AIR than Vick. I'll agree Vick get's it done on the ground, but I would rather have a QB who can do it through the air and doesn't have to rely on his own personal ground attack, which Vick does.

Ok, I am not a Delhomme fan.? He is a one year wonder?? That is why his passing stats last year were superior to Vicks?? I've never seen Vick chuck it a mile, and even NFL analysts will say he is not a strong passer.? And none of you will admit that Delhomme, even without his best offensive weapons last year, had a superior season THROUGH THE AIR than Vick.? I'll agree Vick get's it done on the ground, but I would rather have a QB who can do it through the air and doesn't have to rely on his own personal ground attack, which Vick does.

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So you don't think Mike Vick has a strong arm? He probably has the strongest arm in the game. And so it is a negative to be able to run?

Jeff blake has the best arm in the game...anyways.....Delhomme is a dead duck in the pocket.....i'd take 75% of the QB's over Delhomme and that's even being generous.

I can't believe we are having a Delhomme Vick argument...I would think that would be a no brainer. Vick is a game changer, Delhomme is pretty much in there not to make mistakes.

 

 

Anyways rankings are meh. Detroit that far down? I don't care who their quarterback is they are going to put up some big numbers this year offensively.

Michael Vick was 21st in NFL passer rating last season(Jake D 12th), 26th in passing yards(Jake D 7th), 24th in passing TDs(Jake D 5th), Michael Vick had 3215 total yards-2313 passing, 902 rusing(Jake D had 3957-3886 passing, 71 rushing), Michael Vick had 17 total TD's-14 passing 3 rushing(Jake D had 30-29 passing, 1 rushing).

 

So, Jake D was ahead of Vick in passer rating(87.3 to 78.1), passing yards(3886 to 2313), passing td's(29 to 14), total yards(3957 to 3215...and had more yards through the air than Vick had total yards), and total TDs(30-17, also Jake D had more passing TDs than Vick had total TDs). Jake D also took his team to the Super Bowl in his first season under center as a starter, Vick has made it to the NFC championship game. But, yea, you guys have made good arguements as to why Vick is "so superior".

No way the Bengals finish behind the Ravens.? I don't believe it, won't believe.?

 

They're just predictions.? No matter how much you "swear by them."? If you were dead-on accurate you'd work for ESPN.

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Yep I sure would. How is Palmer looking in workouts so far? Kids got a great future.

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IGNORANCE!

 

hehe, actually, he's in better shape Todd. But you'd know that, right, because you were there? He's down about 30 lbs and is more mobile. But you're basing it off one preseason game that doesn't matter, right?

 

See this at the end of the season.

Michael Vick was 21st in NFL passer rating last season(Jake D 12th), 26th in passing yards(Jake D 7th), 24th in passing TDs(Jake D 5th), Michael Vick had 3215 total yards-2313 passing, 902 rusing(Jake D had 3957-3886 passing, 71 rushing), Michael Vick had 17 total TD's-14 passing 3 rushing(Jake D had 30-29 passing, 1 rushing).

 

So, Jake D was ahead of Vick in passer rating(87.3 to 78.1), passing yards(3886 to 2313), passing td's(29 to 14), total yards(3957 to 3215...and had more yards through the air than Vick had total yards), and total TDs(30-17, also Jake D had more passing TDs than Vick had total TDs). Jake D also took his team to the Super Bowl in his first season under center as a starter, Vick has made it to the NFC championship game. But, yea, you guys have made good arguements as to why Vick is "so superior".

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Vick went to the NFC Title, Delhomme to the golf course.

No way the Bengals finish behind the Ravens.? I don't believe it, won't believe.?

 

They're just predictions.? No matter how much you "swear by them."? If you were dead-on accurate you'd work for ESPN.

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Yep I sure would. How is Palmer looking in workouts so far? Kids got a great future.

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IGNORANCE!

 

hehe, actually, he's in better shape Todd. But you'd know that, right, because you were there? He's down about 30 lbs and is more mobile. But you're basing it off one preseason game that doesn't matter, right?

 

See this at the end of the season.

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I liked Palmer from his USC days. Quite a QB factory they got going on there. But I dont want to get into it, people will start telling me why Vick was so superior to Palmer in their college days. And even though I'll statistically prove Palmer to be better, they will provide no backup as to why Vick is so great they'll just call me stupid.

Giants 29th!?! They were a much worse team last year and were decimated by injuries and they were still rated higher than the 29th best team in the league. Even at their absolute worst this season they're better than 3 other teams.

 

And the Dolphins 18!?! I can see there's a bit of homerism going around and Fishfan79 seems to have caught it.

Regardless of Harrington, no WAY are the Lions that bad.

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I will try to answer questions one by one for each poster that put up their thoughts. I would love everyone else's predictions and why.

 

In the lions case I think the Injury bug will bite them upon their backside. Rogers and Williams cant keep healthy. Pollard is not a big time blocking TE and their line last year gave up more sacks then anyone in the NFC. They didnt secure the problem there in the line enough to have me give them more credit. I think that next year, if they address the line/QB they will be there.

 

But, I think they will be a disappointment. Before the draft I saw them going far, but they need help in too many places still. Though I do like their special teams KR/PR.

14. Bengals ? Another year of Growth for the Bengals. Carson Palmer will grow into a top 10 QB this year. His second year in the league. He will pull the bengals almost into the playoffs with his good solid RB and WR. But they will fall a bit short still with need for more help on the defense. Next year, they should win the NFC North though.

 

AFC North.

 

And we will make the playoffs this year. Our offense is too sick (that doesn't even do it justice) and our defense will be better able to catch up with it. We've made some key personnel changes and this is the first year where IF we DON'T make the playoffs you could look back and actually blame it on the coaching staff.

 

The key is stopping the run and I believe we can do that.

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My apologies for the Typo of NFC instead of AFC. That was just a missight that I didnt catch when proofreading. I will mke the update for that for my next one (plan to do 1 of these each month durring the year with positives and negatives for teams as I pick them up).

 

I agree one of the big keys shall be the defense and I like your young line backers. But, I dont fully your secondary and DT's. I think in that division specially they are extra important. I think indeed they as well will not keep healthy (warrick cant understand you need to stay on the field to play). But, I believe they will come close and next year put it all together.

The Jets, Vikings, Chargers, and Panthers are better then the Colts?

 

Pass over the funny cigarette, I wanna hit that....

 

Cardinals in the top 10????

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The Jets, Vikings, Chargers and Panthers have something the colts do not have. They have a quality defense to back up each of them. They are balanced teams. Balanced teams are what win the super bowl 90%.

 

I would take the Jets defense over the Colts defense 999 times out of 1,000. Specially if Ty Law comes back with the Vengence I believe he shall. As a Dolphins fan whom hates the jets, That wouldnt give a glass of water to their team if they were drying up of thirst. I rather have someone pour burning scalding water upon parts of me then seeing them win and play well. I think they have the best chance to unseat the Pats in the AFC.

The Chargers have a quality offense and defense, A top rated offensive line, a solid coach that will make it to the playoffs often. Oh and the best Running back in the NFL hands down.

Vikings have a balanced game with a solid passing attack, a good offensive line. They can put up the points with the colts even. Their QB passed for more yards then Manning even last year and a career amount of TD without Moss for almost 1/2 of the year. They play in Alot weaker division too then the Colts. They have a better quality defense and more balance.

Panthers - They are my "surprise pick", if you can call them a surprise. Not only did they end the regular season upon a terror while using their 6th string running back (Nick Goings? Who the Hell is Nick Goings? A quote from ESPN last year on him) They have a solid offensive line that gives time to Delhome (whom has a better passing ability then vick, but I am not getting into the vick/delhome arguement. Please have it in another thread ) They have a core of three fantastic running backs when healthy in Foster, Shelton and yes Steven Davis is back too (remember that guy? If you dont look him up for 2003 stats). Not to mention their recieving core of Colbert, Gardner (big tall target to replace muhamid, and an underrated player fantasy nerds), and finally Smith is back healthy and looks FANTASTIC in camp. Now next their defense is a top 10 unit against the run, against the pass and against scoring. Peppers will only be better this year and will be the Defensive player of the year for the NFC. Watch out for the Panthers, I wouldnt be surprised to see them and the Jets in the Super bowl (stupid jets).

 

Now for the Colts, the following reasons I do not have them as highly rated.

1. The patriots showed a blue print last year in the Playoffs of how to take down Manning. Everyone knows the weakness of the Pats is their secondary, but they with their defensive system made manning look like Jay Fielder back there. Next, the injuries to Stokley will slow him down as well. I believe Manning wont has as much time this year in the backfield and you will see less explosions from him. I am not saying a terrible year but I see more "normal" type of numbers. Next, I dont think their defense will progress anymore in growth. I think with the lack of huge leads they will degress actually to show their true colors like they did in the playoffs. I also still believe that any team that depends so much upon the Offense normally will not make it to the Super bowl and win it. Examples are Dan Fouts, Dan Marino and Peyton Manning. All three are the three best passer QB in the History of the National football league and together all three always had sorry excuses for defenses. Manning has something the other two didnt in a quality RB (for one more year). But, I dont think he has "enough" defensively to get to that next step.

 

It is an opinion, just one taken from watching football for years. Take it as you will, and he is still fun to watch. Everytime I see him, I think I am seeing Marino again

 

 

I hope that helps some for my reasonings for those teams

19. Buccaneers ? Another team that was at the bottom last year that shall pick it up. They shall play spoilers as a solid (not great) defense will put up a fight. Along with a few young receivers and a good young back they should end the year upon a terror.

 

I hope we are more then spoilers, but that is a much more positive prediction then any other one that I have seen.

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I would of given them more, but I think they are still missing one piece. I like their new back, I like their recievers. I like Griese as their QB. I think they have a solid Offensive line, even if it needs a bit of work. I also believe their Defense is aging and shall be a bit troublesome with some injuries. I think they are a swing team and will come close but just are not there yet. Next year when Cadillac is settled in though, watch out, they will get Atlanta and the Panthers a run for their money.

Saying the Jags need more work on defense?!?

 

Are you joking? They added Reggie Hayward (10.5 sacks) in the offseason also. They have a Top 3 D in the league.

Michael Vick was 21st in NFL passer rating last season(Jake D 12th), 26th in passing yards(Jake D 7th), 24th in passing TDs(Jake D 5th), Michael Vick had 3215 total yards-2313 passing, 902 rusing(Jake D had 3957-3886 passing, 71 rushing), Michael Vick had 17 total TD's-14 passing 3 rushing(Jake D had 30-29 passing, 1 rushing).

 

So, Jake D was ahead of Vick in passer rating(87.3 to 78.1), passing yards(3886 to 2313), passing td's(29 to 14), total yards(3957 to 3215...and had more yards through the air than Vick had total yards), and total TDs(30-17, also Jake D had more passing TDs than Vick had total TDs). Jake D also took his team to the Super Bowl in his first season under center as a starter, Vick has made it to the NFC championship game. But, yea, you guys have made good arguements as to why Vick is "so superior".

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Vick went to the NFC Title, Delhomme to the golf course.

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Delhomme has been to a Super Bowl.

15. Bills ? Their defense is solid enough, their receivers aren?t too terrible either. But, their losses on the Offensive line along with the terrible play of a rookie QB will see them not make the playoffs this year. Give them a year or two and they should be back into the mix.

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A rookie QB (even though Losman isn't a rookie) really killed the Steelers last year, huh?

 

The Bills have enough around Losman that he's not going to have to win games by himself, simply not lose them.

 

They'll win between 8-11 games (I see them at 10-6), depending on their health and other similar factors that are tough to predict in the preseason.

 

I don't even know where to get started with the rest of your rankings, though to your credit it does look like you put some time into them.

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I believe the steelers last year was had three other factors to consider.

1. Their offensive line was better. There is a few holes upon that offensive line with the loss of your all pro left tackle. Specially with their blocking recievers as well.

2. Big Ben had a freakish type season making none of the rookie Mistakes. Actually I like Losman, I like his attitude coming into camp. I just think he will have the typical needed year to "learn". Look at Palmer last year for instance, He had a good solid year. But he was even with Int and TD. He is perhaps a bit more talented then losman and has perhaps better recievers. But, they are close to the same expectations.

3. They had a tandem of dominating backs. Now, McGahee is a pretty good back (As a guy from the U, I gotta say I love his skills here). But, I dont think he is gonna have a great sophmore (technically his third year) campaign though. He is getting hyped to ungodly proportions though.

 

I think the bills are one of the biggest swing teams, they could be in the top 5 or near the bottom. All depending on injuries and how they play against the Pats and Jets. I think between 7-9 to 9-7 is realistic. But will it be enough?

 

Thank you for the compliment for the work. Yeah, I normally try to compile my thoughts for the coming year. The surprise teams for good and bad. I still wanna see more of everyone's rankings. I would love to see the thoughts out there

Saying the Jags need more work on defense?!?

 

Are you joking? They added Reggie Hayward (10.5 sacks) in the offseason also. They have a Top 3 D in the league.

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I would take the following defenses over them still.

1. Ravens - an ungodly defense with amazing abilities.

2. Buffelo - They have it all and are one of the top scoring defenses. Check out their stats the second half of the year.

3. Carolina - They have the best defensive player in the leage in my eyes. Julius Peppers.

4. Pitt - They have a dangerous defense and shall be very deadly again this year.

5. Philly - Their corners are deadly and can lock down almost anyone.

6. NE - They havethe best defensive scheme in football. You could take a man off the street and play him and he would be an all pro.

 

 

After that it runs off here and there, but those teams right there I think will have some of the top defenses in the league. I just dont think Jacksonville is right there. I dont think Taylor will hold up, or even jimmy smith. Matt Jones might be a treasure in the future but this year he wont be that big impact.

 

I guess in my eyes it comes down to injuries for them. Can they beat back the colts? Can Leftwich take that full step forward and be the man he is expected to be?

I do think they have the best backup QB in football though.

14. Bengals ? Another year of Growth for the Bengals. Carson Palmer will grow into a top 10 QB this year. His second year in the league. He will pull the bengals almost into the playoffs with his good solid RB and WR. But they will fall a bit short still with need for more help on the defense. Next year, they should win the NFC North though.

 

AFC North.

 

And we will make the playoffs this year. Our offense is too sick (that doesn't even do it justice) and our defense will be better able to catch up with it. We've made some key personnel changes and this is the first year where IF we DON'T make the playoffs you could look back and actually blame it on the coaching staff.

 

The key is stopping the run and I believe we can do that.

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My apologies for the Typo of NFC instead of AFC. That was just a missight that I didnt catch when proofreading. I will mke the update for that for my next one (plan to do 1 of these each month durring the year with positives and negatives for teams as I pick them up).

 

I agree one of the big keys shall be the defense and I like your young line backers. But, I dont fully your secondary and DT's. I think in that division specially they are extra important. I think indeed they as well will not keep healthy (warrick cant understand you need to stay on the field to play). But, I believe they will come close and next year put it all together.

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Warrick is the third best reciever on our team talentwise. He wasn't even going to be a factor (he was going to be cut two weeks ago). He got a Marvin second chance grace period. We have TOO many weapons at reciever.

 

And our secondary is going to be vastly improved.

 

It's all good though. We seem to be everyone's "dark horse" favorite this year and some even think we're above that category now.

Giants 29th!?! They were a much worse team last year and were decimated by injuries and they were still rated higher than the 29th best team in the league. Even at their absolute worst this season they're better than 3 other teams.

 

And the Dolphins 18!?! I can see there's a bit of homerism going around and Fishfan79 seems to have caught it.

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My reasons for the giants placement is the following:

1. Since switching out Kurt Warner last year Tiki Barber disappeared as a major player. His stats were rather terrible after that point, when before that was amazing. I dont think him and Eli are on the same page yet. Plus I dont believe he will keep it up this year with his lack of fumbles. (His past years says he will go back to being a fumble waiting to happen).

2. Eli manning, I dont see maturing enough to become a dominant force. It took peyton two years and it will take Eli that too. He didnt show "enough at the second half of the year to make him be shown as dominate.

3. Shocky was a non factor for most of last year. Specially after Eli came into the picture. I dont think he is going to live up to the Hype yet again.

4. If you look at the ratings of their offensive line, they have one of the worst in the nfl. They havent addressed this issue as much as I believe they should of. They didnt even have a top draft picks to try to address the issue sadly.

5. Their defense is an aging machine. They didnt fully address much of the problems upon it that plagued them last year. Stahan has been becoming more and more injury riddle and has been becoming less of the dominate force he was. (Even an article on yahoo about that a few weeks ago).

 

I just dont think this is their year to step up yet. I believe they have a bit more to do and work upon before they start to take their steps forward. Remember they are within the rebuilding process still for this team.

My prediction is 3-13 to 7-9 range. Most likely upon the lower half.

 

As for the dolphins, perhaps a bit of homerism. But, I think they will end up at 7-9 for the year. A middle of the range team. Remember this is a team that went 10-6 over past 5 years before last year.

Here are the following areas of concern for Miami last year, and how they were addressed. At least for what I am basing my choice upon for them to be an upstart and cause some problems for other teams;

1. Offensive line- Will it be able to hold up? Last year they played from behind alot durring the games. This was caused by the following reasons, no choice but to throw the ball because of ricky retiring. The defense was severly beaten by injuries which caused often leads for the other team. Teams were teeing off for the pass rush last year. Remember they were upon their 5-6 string backs last year for this team. Alot like Carolina. But with Ricky and Ronnie brown back there teams will need to load the box to stop that tandem. Ricky if he keeps up what he did last game. 6 rushes for 38 yards. He will be a definite factor once he gets accimated to the system that is being run around him. Second the offensive line was address with three pick ups. First they hired the number 1 offensive line coach within the National Football league. Most coaches and individuals within the NFL will tell you that the one position you can coach better is the O-line. Hough took offensive lines in 3 different places from last rated to in the top 10 in each case within 1 year's time. His blocking schemes are much better. They have also brought in the USC line coach from last year as a second coach for the line to work with them also.

2. Offensive mindset and scheme; Last year the offensive coordinator was a first time ever in that position. He was actually an offensive line coach (a rather crappy one). That was given the position because he was a friend of Wannstadt. After the Raiders claimed our prior one for their head coach. Now, the following problems were with this. One they tried to pound the ball with a team that was clearly not built for it. They didnt use their strengths last year (recievers and TE, nearly close enough). They didnt have a shotgun offense. They didnt have a plan to pick up blitz schemes. Heck, they didnt even have a 2 minute offense. To address this they have brought in Scott Lienhan whom has been has the offense of the vikings last year. His teams have had the following offensive rankings; 2,3,1,4,1. That is not too bad in itself, but his scheme plays to a down the field passing game with a spread for the offense. This plays to the strengths of McMichael (rated the TE with the best hands for receptions by NFL.com and a top 5 TE by yahoo sports), Chambers (one of the best underrated recievers around), Booker (a pro bowl reciever 2 years ago), Boston (ditto again, a possible amazing reciever if he can keep healthy). This will force teams not to line 8-9 men in the box to stop brown and ricky, else to cover chambers 1 on 1. I will take Chambers 1-1 against any DB in the league.

3. Defensive schemes - This team for the last 8 years now has ran the same defensive scheme that was installed by Jimmy Johnson( curse his vile name, man whom ran out shula). It was a 4-3 scheme that was bump and run within the first zone then hard corner play afterwards. A lack of blitz packages and very vanilla otherwise. A bend, dont break defense in the standard fashion for those that follow defenses.

Now to fix this problem comes in the system that is used within LSU and NE last year. The system that NE runs is the one developed by Saban while within Cleveland (he took a last rated defense to a top 5 defense there). It will be a cross between a 3-4 and 4-3. With Taylor being the roaming/blitzing often linebacker. Add to that the drafting of Wright, Roth, Chowder(this kid is gonna be amazing). The Signing of Carter (3 time PB), spriggans, holliday. This team will now have depth upon the defensive front. The idea of the system is the easy flow from position to position and keeping the defense unsure of where the attack will come from. It should be interesting to see.

 

Strengths of the dolphins

1. WR

2. RB (Brown, Williams,

3. Special Teams

4. Defense end (Roth, Bowens and Taylor should be amazing this year).

5. Linebacker - Moore, Pope, Seau, Thomas, Chowder, Spriggans

 

Weaknesses of the team

1. Depth at CB (madisen is strong still, but how will daniels do over all? He made a great play saterday but who knows).

2. Safeties question of how well they will mesh into the system

3. QB play, will Gus give them enough from his knowledge of the system to make "a difference"

4. Offensive line, will they be able to hold firm and pick up the blocking scheme correctly. They did terrible in the first PS game and good in the second PS game.

5. Health of the defense, can Thomas keep healthy, chowder and the rookies produce. The depth of the team is within quesiton and injuries do happen.

 

 

 

There is my thoughts upon both of your observations

14. Bengals ? Another year of Growth for the Bengals. Carson Palmer will grow into a top 10 QB this year. His second year in the league. He will pull the bengals almost into the playoffs with his good solid RB and WR. But they will fall a bit short still with need for more help on the defense. Next year, they should win the NFC North though.

 

AFC North.

 

And we will make the playoffs this year. Our offense is too sick (that doesn't even do it justice) and our defense will be better able to catch up with it. We've made some key personnel changes and this is the first year where IF we DON'T make the playoffs you could look back and actually blame it on the coaching staff.

 

The key is stopping the run and I believe we can do that.

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My apologies for the Typo of NFC instead of AFC. That was just a missight that I didnt catch when proofreading. I will mke the update for that for my next one (plan to do 1 of these each month durring the year with positives and negatives for teams as I pick them up).

 

I agree one of the big keys shall be the defense and I like your young line backers. But, I dont fully your secondary and DT's. I think in that division specially they are extra important. I think indeed they as well will not keep healthy (warrick cant understand you need to stay on the field to play). But, I believe they will come close and next year put it all together.

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Warrick is the third best reciever on our team talentwise. He wasn't even going to be a factor (he was going to be cut two weeks ago). He got a Marvin second chance grace period. We have TOO many weapons at reciever.

 

And our secondary is going to be vastly improved.

 

It's all good though. We seem to be everyone's "dark horse" favorite this year and some even think we're above that category now.

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If you were in the NFC, I would have you winning any of their divisions except the north. I would also have you in the NFC championship. But, the AFC is so deep it is scary. I think the Bengals are a good team and will be impressive in the next few years. But, really in the long run if they do have a "down year" this year. Then pick up a top notch CB they will be even more deadly in the future. I think they are close. But, with Pitt and the Ravens? Youch.

1. Since switching out Kurt Warner last year Tiki Barber disappeared as a major player. His stats were rather terrible after that point, when before that was amazing. I dont think him and Eli are on the same page yet. Plus I dont believe he will keep it up this year with his lack of fumbles. (His past years says he will go back to being a fumble waiting to happen).

 

You don't think that had more to do with the Giants facing 5 of the best defenses in the NFL in a row? Atlanta, Philly, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. No running back in the NFL would have put up the numbers Tiki did pre-Warner against those offenses.

 

It's not like Tiki magically stopped fumbling, he's totally changing his running style and his football placement that gives the confidence and elusiveness that impressed everyone last year.

 

 

2. Eli manning, I dont see maturing enough to become a dominant force. It took peyton two years and it will take Eli that too. He didnt show "enough at the second half of the year to make him be shown as dominate.

 

It took Peyton one year to start dominating, but that's neither here nor there because Eli's not Peyton. Eli doesn't have to be a dominant QB to win, he has the offensive talent around him to the point that he meerly needs to be decent. And he has taken huge strides in his last 3 games of the season against the Steeler, Bengals, and Cowboys. He outplayed golden boy Ben Roethliesberger, kept his team in the game against the Bengals, and showed great poise and recognition against the Cowboys.

 

3. Shocky was a non factor for most of last year. Specially after Eli came into the picture. I dont think he is going to live up to the Hype yet again.

 

Shockey was injured not long after Eli became starter, and it didn't help Coughlin kept him in the backfield to help block almost all season and when he did go out for a pass team double and triple covered him since the WRs were piss poor. This year the line is much improved and Plaxico Burress will help draw some attention away from him.

 

 

4. If you look at the ratings of their offensive line, they have one of the worst in the nfl. They havent addressed this issue as much as I believe they should of. They didnt even have a top draft picks to try to address the issue sadly.

 

Ratings of the offensive line? What are you basing this on, Madden ratings? Petitgout is healthy at LT and is at least sufficient if not above average, Diehl is getting more experience and has a ton of versatility, O'Hara was a rock at center and the line only really struggled once he got injured, Snee is the best young guard in the game, and Kareem McKenzie is a monster in the run game and is one of the most disciplined tackles in the game. And the back-ups are incredibly deep. Whittle and Lucier can play all 3 positions and could start for most other teams. Whitfield is an experienced, talented LT. This is the best offensive line I've seen this team field in years.

 

 

5. Their defense is an aging machine. They didnt fully address much of the problems upon it that plagued them last year. Stahan has been becoming more and more injury riddle and has been becoming less of the dominate force he was. (Even an article on yahoo about that a few weeks ago).

 

Three of their starting D-Linemen (Osi Umenyiora, Kendrick Clancy, and Will Joseph) are 26 or under. Antonie Pierce and Barrett Green are 27 and 26 respectively. Their secondaryhas the Wills (27 and 26) at the corners, a second year starter at SS with Gibril Wilson, and Shaun Williams at FS is only 28. That leaves 2 of their starters over 30, and Strahan is still one of the most dominant ends in the league, even at 33. They have exactly one defensive reserve over 30, one.

Mets BS with a great comment, their are so many people who base ratings on teams depending on how Madden rates their players.

 

It's hilarious.

 

The Giants may not be a dominant team this year but they certainly are improved. Eli was just fine in the last games of the season, he's actually got a servicable WR to throw to this year(I love Amani but he can't be a #1 anymore) and the O-line is going to be just fine.

I believe the steelers last year was had three other factors to consider.

1. Their offensive line was better. There is a few holes upon that offensive line with the loss of your all pro left tackle. Specially with their blocking recievers as well.

 

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Jonas Jennings has never been to a Pro Bowl - in fact, his name doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence in Pro Bowl without the word "not" included. His loss will hurt, but as an average at best LT, he's hardly irreplaceable.

 

The OL could be considered a weakness, but with a mobile QB in Losman behind center as opposed to the statue-esque Bledsoe, the line will probably seem like it is playing better this year in terms of sacks given up when in fact they won't.

 

2. Big Ben had a freakish type season making none of the rookie Mistakes. Actually I like Losman, I like his attitude coming into camp. I just think he will have the typical needed year to "learn". Look at Palmer last year for instance, He had a good solid year. But he was even with Int and TD. He is perhaps a bit more talented then losman and has perhaps better recievers. But, they are close to the same expectations.

 

 

 

Palmer might, and I emphasize might, have had a better offense around him with the Bengals last year than the Bills have this year (though I think Palmer will turn out to be a better NFL QB than Losman), but it's definitely not certain.

 

But where the teams differ is on defense and special teams. Buffalo had one of the best defenses and special teams in the NFL last year, and having that type of support for Losman will help him not have to shoulder the load himself.

 

Losing Pat Williams will hurt, but having Troy Vincent around for a full season (if healthy) will upgrade the secondary. Overall, because of the Bills defense and special teams in 2005 being better than the Bengals special teams and defense in 2004, and roughly equal offenses, it's not a stretch to expect Losman's Bills of this year to outperform Palmer's Bengals of last year.

 

3. They had a tandem of dominating backs. Now, McGahee is a pretty good back (As a guy from the U, I gotta say I love his skills here). But, I dont think he is gonna have a great sophmore (technically his third year) campaign though. He is getting hyped to ungodly proportions though.

 

 

 

Why wouldn't Willis have a just as good, if not a better, year? He should be fully recovered from the Ohio St. knee injury, with it being 2+ years, and be at his peak speed again, if he is ever going to get it back. Defenses won't stack up against the run much more against Losman than they did against Bledsoe, especially with the emergence of Lee Evans late last season as a deep threat and complement to the still very solid Eric Moulds.

 

There's not really much evidence to suggest a sophomore slump for McGahee - in fact, having a full season under his belt and being 2+ years removed from major knee surgery would suggest he improves, not regresses.