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Old 08-04-2006, 06:07 PM
trapsetter trapsetter is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
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Default Re: Shorting the Chiefs at 9.5 wins

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I am a Chiefs fan. I know my team in and out.

I can however just give a rough view of the two.

I don't like the Jets at all. They have named Pennington their starter. He had a weak arm prior to getting hurt so it can't be much better now. Martin is a year older and they lost their rush end Abrahams. New coach with a young team. Don't expect much here.

Giants are in a weird spot. I have not heard them doing much in the off season to improve while Dallas added TO and Washington got one of the best O coordinators in football. Clinton Portis is going to touch the ball a lot more based on Saunders work with Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. Brunell is servicable enough to move the ball around to the receivers and the good tight end Washington has. His name escapes me. Number 45. The eagles will be competitive but I don't know how much they have left even with McNabb back. That said I can't see the Giants winning more than 10. No clue what their win line is at.

With that said they could start off hot. Barber is awesome and Manning will have another year under his belt. Best DE tandem in the league. Linebackers were hurt late last year too which had a big effect in the end. All things to consider but I haven't looked at their schedule. I believe they won the division so it should be tough.

No expert on any of this stuff. Just watch the chiefs closely.

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Gotcha. I tend to agree everything you wrote about the Jets and Giants... the one area I would call you out on is saying the Giants didn't do much in the offseason to improve. On the offensive side of the ball, they didn't really add anyone, but they didn't lose anyone either. Defensively, however, they bulked up in a big way. The big signing was LaVarr Arrington, which rounds out their linebacking corps nicely and gives them what is easily the best pass rush in the NFL. Their secondary was a major weak point all year last year. They added a lot of depth in the offseason, signing Sam Madison, Will Demps, RW McQuarters, and a couple of other fill-in guys.

Last year their offense was ranked 5th in the NFL. Eli is a year older, they return everyone, and Sinorice Moss (rookie WR from Miami) should be a good slot guy and will help on special teams. It is not unreasonable at all to expect a decline for Barber, but I can't see him just falling off a cliff. He had a career year last year and keeps himself in tremendous shape. I think he may decline a bit, but I don't think it is going to be a huge dropoff. He'll probably get fewer touches as they look to use Brandon Jacobs in more than just short yardage situations.

The Giants' season comes down to Eli. If he steps it up and brings his game up a notch or two, this team can go all the way in my opinion. If he looks like he did late last year (poor mechanics, bad reads, low completion rate), the giants will win 8 or 9 games and will fall into the bubble category.

There is just too much talent on this team though on both sides of the ball to expect fewer than 8 wins. Barring a massive onslaught of injuries, I just can't see that happening, despite the tough schedule and tough division.

Gun to my head I say 11 wins, a repeat of last year. I think Eli takes it up a notch, and the defense plays much better than last year, but the much tougher schedule offsets those improvements.

I like going long at 8.5 wins (trading 50/52 on tradesports right now).
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