Prior to the start of the 2008 season, almost all of the hype centered around what was considered to be the best division in all of football: the NFC East. There was talk that the Cowboys were so stacked with talent, they were the easy Super Bowl favorites.
Dallas stumbled to a 9-7 finish in the regular season, and were unceremoniously stomped from playoff contention in the season’s final game, a 44-6 drubbing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Then there was the defending champions, the New York Giants. A team that was expected to struggle tremendously along the defensive line with the loss of retired defensive end, Michael Strahan, and the season-ending knee injury to Osi Umenyiora.
The G-Men flew out of the gates, soaring to an 11-1 start.
Enter Plaxico Burress. In the days leading up to the Giants 23-7 victory over the Washington Redskins, Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a New York night club.
Without their biggest weapon, the Giants stumbled to a 1-3 record in December and were bounced from the playoffs by the Eagles at home in the divisional round.
Speaking of the Eagles, a team that Sports Illustrated columnist Paul Zimmerman had picked to with the division with a 12-4 record and lose the Super Bowl…again, to the Patriots, stumbled their way to a 9-6-1 record.
Thanks to a frantic and miraculous week 17, the Eagles squeaked into the playoffs, and wreaked havoc among the NFC. They upset the Vikings and Giants on the road, but saw their magical ride come to an abrupt halt in the NFC Championship game…again.
And then we have the Redskins. Oh, the Redskins. The team that almost routinely makes the most moves to try and buy the Super Bowl, again played below expectations and again missed the playoffs.
Quarterback Jason Campbell, under the tutelage of rookie coach Jim Zorn, led the Skins’ to a 6-2 start, but struggled late in the year and finished out the season 2-6.
Okay, so you have four teams, all considered to be high quality, three stumble their way through the season and one gets off to a hot start, but chokes in the playoffs. Does that sound like the league’s best division?
In 2009, this is again going to be considered one of the league’s top divisions. But the question remains, can they live up to the hype?
We begin with the division champs, the Giants.
New York Giants: 2008 finish (12-4)
On offense, the Giants will remain a threat, regardless of the loss of Plaxico Burress. Like the Eagles of 2008, they may not have that stud at receiver, but they do have a good amount of complimentary receivers who can still hurt you.
Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon will be counted on to lead the receivers this year. But two players with upside are draft picks: Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden.
Nicks has been compared to Anquan Boldin with his toughness and great hands. Barden is an enormous target who presents a huge red-zone threat to go along with tight end Kevin Boss.
Eli Manning will again have the benefit of being protected by the league’s best offensive line, as well as the cushion of Brandon Jacobs and Amhad Bradshaw on the ground as one of the league’s most potent rushing attacks.
On defense, the Giants will be considerably better along the front seven with the additions of outside linebacker Michale Boley, tackle Rocky Bernard, and defensive end Chris Canty.
With Osi Umenyiora returning from injury, Big Blue presents a fierce pass rush that will combine with a dominant rush defense, and offenses should have fun trying to score on this defense in 2009.
Arguably the only weak point of the 2008 Giants defense was the linebackers. Antonio Pierce was the only starter who was consistently productive. But with the addition of Boley and the selection of Clint Sintim in the second round, there is some solidity there.
The secondary could feel the effects of losing strong safety James Butler to free agency, but there are affable replacements waiting in the wings.
2008 first-round draft pick Kenny Phillips will see an expanded role as the starter at free safety and has a lot of upside.
Terrell Thomas is a versatile player who can make the transition from cornerback to safety, and he could very well be the leader in the clubhouse to make the move to strong safety.
The cornerbacks, on the other hand have a considerable amount of talent and should again be among the league’s best.
Cory Webster, who has finally lived up to expectations and 2007 first rounder Aaron Ross form one of the NFL’s top tandems at corner.
Kevin Dockery has the ability to step in and start as well, he is a very good nickel back and a solid special teams player.
The Giants’ special teams were among the leagues best in 2008. But this year, Jeff Feagles will be in his 23rd season, his production will be brought into question because of his age.
Lawrance Tynes will re-assume the kicking duties after an injury-plagued 2008 cost him his job to since retired John Carney.
Tynes, as you may remember, kicked the Giants to the Super Bowl with his game winning 47-yard field goal in the NFC Championship in 2007.
Kick returning may be an issue for the Giants. Amhad Bradshaw and Domenik Hixon both had their good returns, but each struggled with consistency.
Philadelphia Eagles: 2008 finish (9-6-1)
In 2009, the Eagles will again boast the NFL’s biggest offensive line, thanks to the additions of right tackle Stacy Andrews and left tackle Jason Peters.
Those two additions should bolster an offensive line that lost bookend tackles Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas to free agency.
With Brian Westbrook sidelined at least until pre-season, LeSean McCoy and Lorenzo Booker will need to pick up the slack in the running game.
McCoy, the Eagles second choice in the draft this year, is looked upon as the team’s back of the future and is expected to relieve some of the load that …
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