I'm Ashamed Of the NFC East

Like millions of Philadelphians, I was absolutely sick watching the NFC play-offs this weekend- watching Washington and New York bumble their way through sixty minutes of “football”. Throw in Tampa Bay- and you see what “good-defense, bad-offense, would be .500 in a good division” outfit looks like on a national stage.

One of the great perplexities of the second half of the season was how the Eagles’ B-team, which looked inept against Arizona and Seattle, managed to take both Washington to the wire- in a game the Redskins absolutely had to have- and the Giants into overtime, scoring at least 20 points?

Well, we know now- don’t we? It is because the NFC East doesn’t sport a single good team. There are good defenses- yes- but the offenses, particularly the quarterbacks, are poor. Worse, these play-off teams are shackled with awful offensive philosophies. Even when they play great and execute well, they struggle to get three touchdowns. And when your quarterback turns it over, coupled with this offensive approach that considers 20 points a lot, you are going to play a lot of games that are decided by mistakes featuring a quarterback who gives you a lot of mistakes per good “stuff”.

I am absolutely certain the Eagles could have made the play-offs, despite all their problems, had McNabb managed to stay upright. They might not have won the division- but even with a dozen starters out, there would have been enough here to get at least a pair of division wins, move the Arizona game to the win column- and been somewhere around ten wins.

Mind you, not that the Eagles would have won a play-off game. They would have been in a contest merely to head a real weak group. I can't think of the last time this grouping was this bad. But as long as the other quarterbacks in the division are Manning, Brunell and Bledsoe- playing at the level they are- the Eagles have the only offense that has the potential to be even okay in 2006.

Forget Barber and Portis- a good defense can take that option away if your quarterback is hopeless. We saw that this weekend. And a 120 yard rushing day doesn't mean much in today's game (except when you rush the ball well in the redzone). You have to consistently generate a few big plays and 25 completions from the quarterback- and categorically this division in 2006 has no one who can do that even half the time. Brunell, Manning, Bledsoe and McMahon- what division in football sported a worse foursome with less upside? Heck, to be candid, three of these guys have no upside whatsoever.