There's no shortage of questions around the four NFC East clubs and almost all of them surround the quarterback position. Can Donovan McNabb stay healthy for 16 games and reclaim an Eagles team that looked to Jeff Garcia and Kevin Kolb as answers in the last nine months? Will Eli Manning stand up tall in the pocket and become worthy of his family legacy? Is Tony Romo a long-term answer or just a better option than Drew Bledsoe? Does Jason Campbell live up to expectations and make the Joe Gibbs comeback a success in year four?
How those questions get answered will tell us how the four teams shape up come January. The Cowboys have the best defense with studs like DeMarcus Ware, Roy Williams and Terrance Newman while the Eagles have held steady with the same strengths and weaknesses that have dogged them for years. Those pros and cons have also made them a perennial playoff team, of course, and that experience means that they are in win-now mode. The same is true of the Giants who will try to save Tom Coughlin's job, again, and try to do it without their best offensive player and, maybe, their best defensive one as well. As for the Redskins it's the same old song, big-name acquisitons with big money deals trying to fit into a system that has borne little fruit.
1. Dallas - As mentioned above, they've got the best defense in the league and with Wade Phillips at the helm they have a coach who knows how to deploy it with maximum effectiveness. It wouldn't be surprising to see Ware's name mentioned alongside Shawne Merriman and Jason Taylor as the league's best pass rusher thanks to his new coach. Romo should be even better in his second season, playing behind a solid line and throwing to good receivers in Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn. He also has a good running back combo to keep the pressure off of him. He will need to use those tools to boost his own confidence and avoid the poor play that almost sank the 'Boys down the stretch last year and helped contribute to an unacceptable playoff loss.
2. Philadelphia - Most of their key players are in their 30's, which means they've been through the battles and won't be caught off guard. It also means they are more succeptible to the injuries that cost them McNabb and Jevon Kearse for most of last season and without Garcia to save the day another injury to the QB would be disaster. Brian Westbrook is a threat on every touch and the Eagles need that to overshadow their weakness at wideout. On defense, Takeo Spikes is a great acquisition and if their talented but underachieving line plays up to their ability they could challenge Dallas for defensive dominance. At the end of the day though McNabb's physical woes make it too hard to choose the Eagles over the Cowboys.
3. Washington - I'm still not sure how their defense ranked next to last in the NFL last season. It was very good in 2005 and the Redskins may have found the answer to their problems by signing London Fletcher and drafting LaRon Landry. He and Sean Taylor will punish teams that go over the middle and the trio of Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot and Shawn Springs will take care of the flats. Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts will batter teams with the run and take some pressure off of Campbell, a good thing since the Skins biggest weakness is in a receiving corps long on names - Santana Moss, Antwan Randle-El, Brandon Lloyd - and short on productivity. Count on Gibbs to keep things simple for Campbell and rely on the run and defense to contend.
4. Giants - It looks like Michael Strahan will be back and his return should play right into the hands of new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. While with the Eagles Spagnuolo played an aggressive hand and with Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka opposing quarterbacks won't know where to slide coverage to stop the pass rush. That should help the Giant defense cope with mediocre linebackers and suspect safeties. Spagnuolo won't help the offense, though. Big Blue lost Tiki Barber and despite all of his attitude problems they will miss his ability to bail the offense out. Brandon Jacobs and Ruben Droughns should do well between the tackles but lack the elusiveness that made Barber such a weapon. There are good targets among the receiving corps but that leads us back to Eli Manning. It's now or never for Eli and the team won't be able to recover from another season dotted with bad throws at the wrong time. He needs to set his feet, stand up to the rush and lead his team for them to avoid the divisional cellar. And that's something I just don't see happening.
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