Fearless Prognostications for 2010 – The NFC East/Central

The pre-season games are finally finished, and the 2010 NFL season will commence this Thursday with an exciting re-match of the NFC Championship game; The Super Bowl Champion New Orleans’ Saints will begin a defense of their title against the Minnesota Vikings. Your favorite correspondent will take this time and gaze into his Chrystal Ball attempting to foretell the events that will transpire in the upcoming season. Save these predictions until the Fat Lady sings her tune at the Cowboy Emporium in early February, and then see how it corresponds to reality.

In order to make a comprehensive analysis of the upcoming season, the evaluation will be divided into four parts. I will break down the New York Jets in a separate article.

Today we will analyze the NFC EAST and the NFC CENTRAL

NFC EAST

DALLAS COWBOYS

NEW YORK GIANTS

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

WASHINGTON REDSKINS

DALLAS COWBOYS

This division is tough to call. The Cowboys always seem to be the vogue pick, and are certainly loaded with talent - Demarcus Ware is a future Hall of Famer - but my feeling is that until they change the Head Coach they will always fall a bit short of the mark. The Son of Bum is an excellent defensive Coordinator but as a Head Coach is an example of the Peters Principle at work. Their have also been rumblings in recent seasons concerning Tony Romo’s work ethic. The Cowboys have a balanced attack, and as the season progress, stud rookie Dez Bryant should make a dangerous bookend to Miles Austin. Jason Witten is one of the more reliable Tight Ends in the League, and Ware and Anthony Spencer are the best set of OL in the NFL

NEW YORK GIANTS

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants finished anywhere from 6-10 to11-5, as the team, especially the defense, quit on Coughlin the last 4 games of last season; after a 5-0 start, looking invincible, they finished the last 11 games at 3-8, with the worst pass defense in the NFL. Their Offensive Line is aging, and they are weak at linebacker. They have made judicious additions to their secondary, and their defensive line has the potential of being the best in the NFL. Eli is now a seasoned veteran, with perhaps the best stable of Big Blue wide-outs in a generation. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs could be an excellent combo at RB, but both had off-season surgery. However, until they prove that last season was an aberration, their chances remain suspect.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

The Eagles rolled the dice this offseason, not only dumping Donavan in place of the untested Keven Kolb, but in doing so, broke the most elementary of trading rules when they sent McNabb to a Division opponent. They do have a potentially great pair of receivers in DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, but their linebacking corp is suspect. Andy Reid’s stubborn refusal to increase the percentage of running plays, especially between the tackles, remains problematic. There will be younger players on the Eagles then usual; however, the Eagles appear to be in a rebuilding mode; thus 8-8 seems like a reasonable expectation.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS

After years of meddling with the team, as well as hiring some of the most incompetent Head Coaches since the employment of the well-intentioned blunderbuss, Rick Kotite, Daniel Snyder finally got it right by signing Mike Shanahan, who’s blocking schemes for the running attack are legendary. McNabb will finally have the luxury of having a balanced attack, but there is age in the receiving corp, as well as system changes on both sides of the ball.

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NFC CENTRAL

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

CHICAGO BEARS

GREEN BAY PACKERS

DETROIT LIONS

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

The Vikings strength remains their weakness. Brett Favre had perhaps his most productive season of his illustrious career, but continued to demonstrate a disturbing pattern of making errant throws in critical playoff situations. Adrian Peterson is the most talented running back on the planet, but has a propensity for fumbling the rock. In last season’s NFL Championship, the Vikings outplayed the Saints in every offensive category, but lost the game due to turnovers. Super Bowl Champions invariably have a low turnover/penalty ratio, and unless Minnesota is able to fix this fatal flaw, they will again fall short of Nirvana. Defensively, the Purple People Eaters were subject to the same flaw - they led the NFL in sacks, but their turnover rate was mediocre. Their pair of safeties had but 3 turnovers between them. Otherwise they are loaded on both offense and defense; all 22 starters return, an impressive figure in this age of free agency flux.

CHICAGO BEARS

The Bears made two terrific additions to their squad this offseason; Julius Peppers, one of the best past rushers in the game, and Mike Martz, who may be one of the worst game-day Head Coaches in the NFL, but remains the Offensive Genius of this generation. Expect Jay Cutler and Matt Forte to have outstanding years; Johnny Knox has the potential of being a stud wide-out, and the Bears continue to have the best return specialists in the NFL. The weakness, and it could be deadly, is the lack of experience on the OL, especially at tackle. All successful teams need at least a competent Left Tackle, which means that Chris Williams had better learn his trade promptly.

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Aaron Rodgers is rapidly reaching elite status as an NFL quarterback, and as the NFL is presently a quarterback-driven league, a number of football sages are predicting that the Cheese-Heads will have a Super run this season. They may be correct, but I don’t think so. The Offensive Line is a liability, and thus the potentially strong running attack could be neutered. Last season, the defense had a propensity to falter in key situations. The Special Teams, the most unsung but nevertheless vital unit of the football triumvirate, was especially poor; the return units had a disproportionate amount of penalties on both punting and kickoff returns, and the teams punting was the worst in the NFL.

DETROIT LIONS

The Lions will still have a poor record – something in the vicinity of 5-11 sounds about right – but after years of enduring the staggering incompetence of Team President and CEO Matt Millen, as well as the inconceivable reluctance of owner William Clay Ford to fire him, there is finally some hope in Motown. Mathew Stafford will not be the reincarnation of Joey Harrington; Calvin Thomas is the most talented wide-out in the NFL, and First Round pick Jahvid Best is a speedy and talented running back. Massive Ndamukong Suh is a behemoth defensive tackle, and last season he was a Heisman Trophy finalist, which is unheard of for a defensive lineman. Kyle Vanden-Bosch, who plays defensive end with an insane ferocity, is healthy. If nothing else, the Lions will be fun to watch.

By Paul J. Nebenfuhr
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer