Manning got carried to the SB by the Giants defense. When the Giants DC went to the Rams, the Giants D faded. The swoon at the end of last season was not an optical illusion. The Giants are really that bad.
The Eagles have another Mike Vick drama going on,and just dumped McNabb to the Skins, and the Redskins are fighting with Haynesworth. The Cowboys take the East rather easily, at least for an NFC East battle, because they’re the only team that doesn’t have major distractions going on. When Dez Bryant not carrying Williams’ shoulder pads is the closest you can get to a controversy, you’re in pretty good shape.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see the East only have one playoff team this year. I think the Vikings and the Packers both make it. In the west, the Cards and 49ers are both pretty good, and in the south there’s the Saints and the Falcons. With the Cards, the problem is going from one of the best QBs in Warner to Leinart, who is a tool.
Dog bottom teams in the NFC: Lions, Bucs, Rams, Seahawks. This is why I think the East only gets one playoff team this year. The Eagles, Giants and Skins are all IMHO about 7-9 teams. Every other division in the NFC has at least one awful super dog that couldn’t beat Oregon State. The Eagles will drop with McFlabb going to the Skins (Kolb ain’t the answer) and Shanahan was a 7-9 coach with the Broncos for his last couple of years there (got a super gift in the Chargers game.) Shanahan can’t coach defense and the Skins offensive line isn’t built for his cut-block scheme. Strength of the Eagles was their D, and the death of their DC sent them on a downward spiral. Eagles fans aren’t stupid. They KNOW that Andy Reid got carried by Jim Johnson. Giants are just on a downhill spiral. They’ll bottom out before they get better.
Did you hear the news today?
Early Friday morning, the cones were lined up 25 yards apart on the field for Albert Haynesworth's conditioning test. He needed to complete the first part in 70 seconds or less to have a chance to pass.
He clocked 71.
...
So, for Haynesworth, the second day of training camp was much like the first. After failing the test, he was sent inside to do treadmill and agility work while the rest of the team practiced.