Predicting how each NFL team will finish this season ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

Exclusive Analysis
by The War Room

Predicting how each NFL team will finish this season
July 1, 2003

Training camp is less than a month away, and anticipation already is mounting. All 32 teams are without a loss and are in playoff contention. Although our friend and colleague Dan Pompei recently wrote his predictions for the 2003 season in TSN's Pro Football Yearbook, our War Room staff thought we would take our shot at forecasting the season.

Check back in January to see how we did.

~ ~ ~ NFC EAST
1. Eagles
2. Giants
3. Redskins
4. Cowboys

Outlook: The Eagles have taken a step backward because of special teams losses, but they still are the class of the division, thanks to their attacking man-to-man defense. The Giants have bridged much of the gap, though.
In Washington, coach Steve Spurrier got the upgrades he needed on offense. It always seems to take two seasons for Bill Parcells to turn around a franchise, and it doesn't look like that process will go faster in Dallas.

The War Room, a team of football scouts headed by Gary Horton, analyzes NFL and college players, coaches and teams exclusively for Sporting News.

http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/gary_horton/20030701a.html

[JoeDaSchmoe]

Wow, I don't like a lot of what I see there, but the worst part definitely has to be the playoffs. Can't agree with that at all.

[hail2skins]

We all know the Eagles lost alot of defensive players this offseason so it'll be interesting to see if they'll come together fast enough.

[dj_stouty]

I think it is a cop-out to rank the NFC East as 1. Eagles, 2. Giants, 3. Skins, 4. Boys. That was the way we ended the '02 season. Obviously none of the critics have the cojones to predict anything different from the past.

The truth is....The Giants are about the same....The Eagles have gotten worse...and the Skins and Cowboys have gotten better.

NOW....try to rank us again...

[lamont_jordan_rules]

...how bout this...
1. skins
2. eagles
3. giants
4. cowpukes

...you won't start winning til the 2nd week of the season however...

l_j_r

[SoCalRaider]

What's up with that Kelly, you left out the most important part of the article:

AFC WEST
1. Raiders
2. Chiefs
3. Broncos
4. Chargers

Outlook: Oakland is aging, but cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Charles Woodson are healthy. That means the Raiders can play more aggressive blitz schemes in front of their man coverage. Kansas City will be more athletic on defense, but can Priest Holmes stay healthy?

In Denver, Jake Plummer will have the supporting cast he never had in Arizona, but the defense is not up to par. The Chargers will be more explosive on offense with receiver David Boston, but their cornerbacks and linebackers are inexperienced.

.
.
.


PLAYOFFS
AFC wild cards: Kansas City and New England.
NFC wild cards: Tampa Bay and Seattle.
AFC championship: Oakland over New England.
NFC championship: Tampa Bay over St. Louis.
Super Bowl: Oakland over Tampa Bay.

[Keino]

:funpost:

Charles Woodson is one of the most overrated CB in NFL history. For an Elite CB, he sure gets thrown at alot and beat alot. He's no Champ Bailey. He's no Lester Hayes.:doh:

[LostinNH]

I don't think Woodson is overrated at all. When healthy I think he is every bit as good as Champ. Perhaps even better because he is more of a threat to pick off a pass and bring it back for 6. Champ tends to drop too many interceptable passes. Problem with Woodson is that he is not healthy lately.

Anyway, I can't really argue with the predictions. Philly is still the team to beat though they have come back to the pack some because their front office just seems to try and plug holes rather than improve the team and give McNabb some weapons. The Giants are a good team with nice offensive weapons and a decent enough defense that maybe they can overtake Philly. The Skins are probably a year away from challenging Philly and NY for the top spot, but if Ramsey progresses a ton we might be in it. I do think the Skins have the most talent of the teams overall. Dallas, to me should be awful this year. They have very little talent of offense and an unproven secondary. I'm sure Parcells will squeek some wins out of the team but I see them at 5-11 again.

[SoCalRaider]

You know, if CWood would only hang on to half the interceptions he drops, he would average 10 picks a season...

But to be totally honest with you guys, I think Buchanon is better than CWood, and 2003 might turn out to be Buchanon's big year, not CWood's...

[jsarno]

in case you haven't noticed mr Socalraider...you guys have the worst cap troubles. I sincerely doubt that you'll be a factor when the season comes to an end.
Ps- 50 year old Gannon is due for an injury.

About the NFC East:
Skins 11-5
Giants 10-6
Eagles 10-6
Cowpatties 7-9

The NFC east will go back to being the best division in football.

[kelly]

Originally posted by SoCalRaider
What's up with that Kelly, you left out the most important part of the article:

AFC WEST
1. Raiders
2. Chiefs
3. Broncos
4. Chargers

Outlook: Oakland is aging, but cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Charles Woodson are healthy. That means the Raiders can play more aggressive blitz schemes in front of their man coverage. Kansas City will be more athletic on defense, but can Priest Holmes stay healthy?

In Denver, Jake Plummer will have the supporting cast he never had in Arizona, but the defense is not up to par. The Chargers will be more explosive on offense with receiver David Boston, but their cornerbacks and linebackers are inexperienced.

.
.
.


PLAYOFFS
AFC wild cards: Kansas City and New England.
NFC wild cards: Tampa Bay and Seattle.
AFC championship: Oakland over New England.
NFC championship: Tampa Bay over St. Louis.
Super Bowl: Oakland over Tampa Bay.


~ ~ ~ " What's up with that Kelly, you left out the most important part of the article: "
sorreee 'bout that SoCal.
here you go > > > > super bowl champs -> new york jets ! !
:banger:

p.s. i seriously doubt it but, i'm hopin' :beer:

[dj_stouty]

Originally posted by jsarno
in case you haven't noticed mr Socalraider...you guys have the worst cap troubles. I sincerely doubt that you'll be a factor when the season comes to an end.
Ps- 50 year old Gannon is due for an injury.

About the NFC East:
Skins 11-5
Giants 10-6
Eagles 10-6
Cowpatties 7-9

The NFC east will go back to being the best division in football.

I'm not sure us Redskins fans should go around accusing other teams of having "the worst cap troubles". :D

[jsarno]

Originally posted by dj_stouty
I'm not sure us Redskins fans should go around accusing other teams of having "the worst cap troubles". :D

You obviously didn't see that the Raiders were about 49 million over the cap when last season was over. They had the worst cap problems in all of football. We looked like finantial STUDS compared to them.

[bigeaglefan]

Originally posted by jsarno

About the NFC East:
Skins 11-5
Giants 10-6
Eagles 10-6
Cowpatties 7-9

The NFC east will go back to being the best division in football.

I agree that the NFC East will be the best division in football but do you really think the Skins can win 11 games this season? Kindly explain which 11 teams will lose to them. :confused:

[bigeaglefan]

Originally posted by jsarno
About the NFC East:
Skins 11-5
Giants 10-6
Eagles 10-6
Cowpatties 7-9

The NFC east will go back to being the best division in football.
Do you really think the Skins can win 11 games next season? :confused:
I find that hard to believe. What about the Skins offseason moves makes you believe they will win that many games, and which 11 teams will they beat?

[jsarno]

other than the standard in division teams we play twice (for a total of 6 games which we will probably go 4-2 on) we play:
w- Jets (weak team now)
l- Atlanta (could pose a problem)
w- New England (we'll see them in the preseason too, and I personally think they are not as strong as people think)
l- Tampa (will be a problem)
w- Buffalo (defense blows)
w- Seattle (everything blows)
w- carolina (easy win)
w- miami (late in the season on the schedule means they are self destructing by now)
l- new orleans (jury still out)
w- chicago (easy win)

these are just guesses (obviously)...we could easily beat ew Orleans then lose to chicago...you never know. But with the MASSIVE offseason moves the skins did (I hope you weren't serious here): What about the Skins offseason moves makes you believe they will win that many games
if you don't know how well the skins handled their offseason, I suggest you take a look at one of the many sites / resources.
We will probably have the best o-line in football. That alone should win us 9 games. Our WR's could be the best over all corp in football too. Our biggest problem is our QB, and he's not looking too shabby. Then again, do we really need a stud back there??? Mark Rypien SUCKED! But he won us a SB!!!
We'll be fighting chemistry early in the season, but 6 games in, we should hit our stride. Player for player we might have the best team in football.

[TexSkin]

Love the enthusiasm jsarno, but I really don't believe we are the best team in football. Ramsey is a second year qb and we will have to deal with the mistakes a second year qb makes. Our DL is also suspect. I think we will have a great season and I am hoping your predictios are correct. We are a good team,I just feel we are still 1 season away from being the very best.

[bigeaglefan]

Originally posted by jsarno
other than the standard in division teams we play twice (for a total of 6 games which we will probably go 4-2 on) we play:
w- Jets (weak team now)
l- Atlanta (could pose a problem)
w- New England (we'll see them in the preseason too, and I personally think they are not as strong as people think)
l- Tampa (will be a problem)
w- Buffalo (defense blows)
w- Seattle (everything blows)
w- carolina (easy win)
w- miami (late in the season on the schedule means they are self destructing by now)
l- new orleans (jury still out)
w- chicago (easy win)

these are just guesses (obviously)...we could easily beat ew Orleans then lose to chicago...you never know. But with the MASSIVE offseason moves the skins did (I hope you weren't serious here): [b]
if you don't know how well the skins handled their offseason, I suggest you take a look at one of the many sites / resources.
We will probably have the best o-line in football. That alone should win us 9 games. Our WR's could be the best over all corp in football too. Our biggest problem is our QB, and he's not looking too shabby. Then again, do we really need a stud back there??? Mark Rypien SUCKED! But he won us a SB!!!
We'll be fighting chemistry early in the season, but 6 games in, we should hit our stride. Player for player we might have the best team in football.

Which team do you expect to sweep in the division? I guess you think you'll beat the Jets because you raided their team.

By the was it takes an O-line time to gel together. You can't just stick people together and expect them to be great.

[jsarno]

Originally posted by TexSkin
Love the enthusiasm jsarno, but I really don't believe we are the best team in football. Ramsey is a second year qb and we will have to deal with the mistakes a second year qb makes. Our DL is also suspect. I think we will have a great season and I am hoping your predictios are correct. We are a good team,I just feel we are still 1 season away from being the very best.

I did use the word "might".

I don't think we'll win it all this year either...but we "could". Every team in the NFL has a weak spot somewhere. I totally agree that next year is our year. This year might be too. Here's to hoping!!!

I do think Ramsey just needs to have an average QB season for us to win big. He plays big, we win big.

[jsarno]

:offtopic:

BUT

what's the deal with this angry dude beating on this other dude with a peice of poo? :twak:

What is that supposed to be anyway?

[TexSkin]

I think its a stick but poo is funnier....its a Skins fan giving a Cowpoke fan what he deserves. :twak:

[jsarno]

Originally posted by TexSkin
I think its a stick but poo is funnier....its a Skins fan giving a Cowpoke fan what he deserves. :twak:

It does look more like poo since little pieces of the same colored poo is left on the cowpattie fan's head. I like the idea of saying it's a skins fan bashing a cowpattie fan.

[Skinzaholic]

I cant see what everyone else sees in the Giants.


But... I do think that if we expect to beat out the Eagles, we will need ATLEAST 11 wins... (and one against them)... we cant expect to win it with only 10 and losing both to them as in the past.

I dont expect the Eagles to go 10-6... I think they are better then that unfortunately.

[jsarno]

Originally posted by Skinzaholic
I dont expect the Eagles to go 10-6... I think they are better then that unfortunately.

I know McNabb is a stud, but they lost too much in the offseason...some true leaders. They will not be nearly as tough as in the past.

[SkinsKY]

You can't rule the Eagles out of the top spot because a champ is a champ until he loses it and they are still the champs. The Giants have the potential to be an excellent team. They just can't get it together. With all of our improvements, we still have a lot to prove. I'm going to have to hold back judgment on a record until I see the preseason. The cowboys should still be at the bottom. Their defense is a little better, but they no offense to show for it so they won't do a whole lot.

As far as the statement about best overall WR corp that was made earlier, you have to look no further than the Rams and the Raiders for a better 1-2-3. I have no idea who the Rams #3WR is, but Bruce and Holt more than make up for it. After those two, I would put us at #3.

Should be an interesting year to watch though.

[jsarno]

Originally posted by champbailey
I'm going to have to hold back judgment on a record until I see the preseason.

So last year you had us winning the super bowl with the all time preseason record for most points scored and a 4-1 record????

As far as the statement about best overall WR corp that was made earlier, you have to look no further than the Rams and the Raiders for a better 1-2-3. I have no idea who the Rams #3WR is, but Bruce and Holt more than make up for it. After those two, I would put us at #3.

I don't agree. I can see your point, but i don't agree. First off, the rams don't have a good third starter. Bruce is too injury prone, but those two are indeed better than our two.
The Raiders do have a better one, two, three if you don't count the steps that have been lost over the years.
I think top to bottom, subs and everything, no other team has a better corp.

[TexSkin]

As long as know one here predicts the Cryboys going over .500 we wont have to fight!! :twak: