Red White and Blue

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What's with all the hostility? We were just playing around, right? If you're still angry I could call you on my lunch break to talk about it, or would you rather I give you a ring at home tonight? Don't be so sensitive.

I thought he had questions for me?

The Clash

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES! QB: Probably more hinges on McNabb than anyone. He looks like he's lost a lot of weight/bulk and seems relaxed. Needs to bounce back after a physically and mentally tough season. Has spotty accuracy on short-range passes but throws a great deep ball, very good mobility, and he's a consumate team leader. He needs more support from the running game. Garcia is a much better backup than McMahon. Koy Detmer is strictly a locker room presence and placeholder. Grade: B+ RB: Did not do enough to bolster this position in the offseason. BWest is the best receiving RB in football but he cannot handle a very big load running. Moats showed flashes and seems a bit more rugged. Could have used a bigger back. Buckhalter is done. Bruce Perry looked decent in limited time and will probably be the short yardage rusher. Grade: C+ WR: Significant downgrade in talent with the loss of TO. Reggie Brown had a very good rookie year - if anyone is going to emerge as a #1 it's him. Gaffney and Pinkston will compete for the #2 spot. Greg Lewis and McCants are strictly veteran backups. Avant has some upside as a posession receiver. LJ Smith sometimes has mental lapses but he has great downfield speed for a TE; if McNabb weren't injured he'd have had a monster year. Grade: C OL: The most significant upgrade of the offseason, with possibly two new starters and much greater depth. Tra Thomas and Runyan are decent tackles, getting up there in years. Winston Justice could end up starting at LT if Tra has injury problems again. Enormous former tackle Herremins should start at LG. Shawn Andrews is a Pro Bowl caliber G on the right side, and he could slide out to tackle if needed. Jamaal Jackson may end up starting at C. Depth is excellent with Frahley, Justice and rookie Giles in reserve. Grade: A- DL: Maybe the biggest problem spot on a bad defense last year. Howard should immediately improve the pass-rush. Kearse needs to start earning his paycheck and notch double-digit sacks. Should have a very good DT rotation with Patterson, D.Walker, S.Rayburn and rookie Bunkley in the middle. Depth at DE is good with Trent Cole as a situational pass-rusher and J. Thomas on the other end. Grade: B+ LB: The biggest question mark on defense. Trotter was easily the best player on D last year. He's the defense's emotional leader. OLB has been a problem spot for years. Dhani Jones is as ordinary as LBs come. He will be pushed by Richmond and converted DE Cogong. Adams is gone on the other side - Shawn Barber or Matt McCoy, a rookie bust from last year, will take his place. The unit could be anywhere from "pretty good" to "awful." If Trotter gets hurt they're in serious trouble. Grade: C DB: Because of the lack of a pass rush, this unit was routinely picked on last year. Lito Sheppard was torched, and then injured. Roderick Hood (a former undrafted rookie FA) played far better than Lito (former 1st round pick). Sheldon Brown is the best of the bunch. Made some big plays and generally kept his man under control. Dawkins is beginning to age a little but he's a field captain and still hits like a truck. M. Lewis has Pro Bowl talent. Depth is only so-so with Wynn and Ware in reserve at CB. Grade: B STs: Usually a strength of the team but looked very ugly at times, with injuries to the starting K and P at some point of the year. Akers struggled early and spent a lot of time hurt. Dirk Johnson has been a reliable punter since taking over for Landetta. The coverage units played pretty well. Reno Mahe was solid in yards per return but he's never been a homerun threat. Rookie WR Jeremy Bloom and CB Wynn are among a few players who will probably replace him. Assuming last year was an aberration, STs should be a strength of the team. Grade: B+ Overall: So many things went wrong last year - not just the TO situation but all the injuries up and down the roster, the defense wasn't as good, cutting Corey Simon hurt more than anticipated, etc. Just getting healthy and the lack of controversy should be good for a few more wins, even in an improved division. My guess is 10-6 and a yearlong dogfight between the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants for the divisional crown and WC spots.

Three reasons: 1. Best QB in the division 2. Best overall defense 3. Under the radar / no expectations HTH.

I saw it on Friday night - it was pretty good.

I tip in bong hits.

I hate Pats fans too.

Yeah I know. US soldiers dying for no good reason is hysterical.

And all it cost was several hundred billion dollars, almost 3,000 US soliders lives, 45,000+ dead Iraqi civilians, and the United States moral standing around the world. Great job Brownie.

I'll try: If anything is to blame for 9/11 (other than blaming the terrorists) I think it's the short-sighted foreign policy of forming allegiances with regimes like Iraq and then attempting to "democratize" them when it blows up in our face. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc. supported bin Laden and Saddam Hussein back in the 80s. Now it's blowing up in their face. The worst part is their solution to the mess they created is to bomb and then occupy Iraq. For years, al Qaida has been saying that the U.S. will invade their holy lands and regions full of oil reserves. So what does Bush etc. do after 9/11? How about validating everything bin Laden has been saying for years? Nobody took terrorism seriously enough and I'm not giving Bill Clinton a pass by any stretch. But to act like Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz etc. are cleaning up Clinton's mess is laughable. They played a direct role in creating the problem and they continue to make it worse while their buddies in the oil industry and military contractors reap the benefits. Naturally, none of these hawks in the administration have any combat experience but they all know better than their own men and women on the ground.

Armed and trained under Reagan and Bush Sr., struck on Bush Jr.'s watch. Must be Clinton's fault? Seriously, there's plenty of blame to go around from Carter on up through Bush Jr. It's too early to be making movies like this because both sides are determined to use it for a political advantage.

I still think the Dolpins will win the division. They're playing a much better team than the Patriots, BTW.

He had no running room all night.

Here's my .02: You're a blithering idiot.

Very sorry to hear that, CMH.

Link

The Lions are a focking joke.

Let me know how they are. An ex-GF and me bought tix to see them at the Troc years ago, then got utterly smashed and horny while the opening act was playing and left to go fock. So the night wasn't an entire loss, but I wish I'd seen them.

Yo La Tengo

Did you type this with a straight face? As if anyone is a bigger flip-flopper or alarmist than Bush.

My apologies - I meant their out of control deficit spending.