@Kaze:
haha. I hate fair weather fans. :P
Lol yeah I hear ya. That doesn't mean you can't be realistic about it, though. It can honestly be even more enabling. Two years ago after the Packers played a game I'd go "yeah they're great, so just imagine how awesome they'll be NEXT year!"
Speaking of the Colts, Is Payton even going to start this year? Didn't he have surgery not too long ago?
He hasn't even really practiced yet, but he's normally a lock to start once the regular season games start rolling. This happened once before, 3-4 years ago, or something like that. He couldn't do anything in preseason but got himself ready to go for week 1. The result, however, was that he sucked for the first 4-6 weeks of the season while he got the timing back with his receivers. They went like 2-4 in the first 6 weeks if I remember right before they started looking like the Colts again, and barely made the playoffs as a result.
@1000sunny:
No player except a damn good QB makes that much of a difference on your team especially a CORNER!!! I mean if the Eagles somehow traded for Fitzgerald, Demarcus Ware, and Adrian Peterson to go along with Nnamdi then maybe were looking at a "dream team" but what the Eagles have now? They went from being a playoff contender to Superbowl contender, no doubt about it but lets hold off before comparing them to the 80's Cowboys or the 90's 49ers or the FUCKING MIAMI HEAT. They defiantly aren't better than Green Bay, probably not better than the Saints (who sneakily had the best under the radar free agency), and aren't really that far ahead of the Falcons. Much less the Pats, Steelers, Jets, and Ravens…
It's not just one player, though. In addition to Nnamdi they also got Rogers-Cromartie, Cullen Jenkins, and Steve Smith (Giants version), who are all pro bowl talents, among others. Their offense was as good as any in the league with Vick last year, and this year their defense got several MAJOR pieces added to it. So it's easy to see why they're such a popular pick.
I, however, am not as high on them. Their defense has a gaping hole that is the running game. The linebackers are where they skimped in order to have such great players elsewhere, and I'm not certain but I don't think the interior of the defensive line is all that great either. And if a defense can't stop runs up the middle, they're totally screwed. They should be very strong against the spread offense this time around, though.
Offensively, they got significantly worse towards the end of the year as teams developed a book on how to play against Vick (attack him and don't give him time for big passing plays). Will a year of scheming and an improved offensive line fix that issue and his injury habits? If it does they'll be nigh unstoppable, but only time will tell.