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NFC East Predicted Finish 1. Philadelphia Eagles- Donovan McNabb is a proven success now in the NFL after last season's 11-5 finish and a win in the playoffs over Tampa Bay. McNabb's two top receivers in 2000 are now gone (Charles Johnson and Torrance Small), but head coach Andy Reid believes that the core is improved with Todd Pinkston back from a good rookie year, James Thrash's arrival from Washington, and the drafting of Freddie Mitchell. If Duce Staley can be healthy the Eagles have a great ground game, but if not the running game falls on the shoulders of rookie Correll Buckhalter. Defensively the Eagles will be solid as usual with Hugh Douglas, Corey Simon, and Ndukwe Kalu on the line Jeremiah Trotter, Carlos Emmons, and rookie Quinton Caver at linebacker along with two big time corners in Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent. Andy Reid is now running the front office and if he can do that half as well as he has coached, the Eagles will be in for a prosperous time in the future. 2. New York Giants- Jim Fassel made one of the great guarantees in sports last season by saying that his team was going to the playoffs or he wasn't going to be back as head coach. OK, maybe it wasn't so great because he probably would have been fired whether he said that or not, but it got his team motivated to make an improbable run to the Super Bowl. However, the run ended unhappily as the Jekyl & Hyde Giants were stomped by the Ravens in the championship after a dominating performance against Minnesota in the conference championship. The Giants benefited from a schedule that was the cupcake of all cupcakes, other than their sweep of the Eagles, New York lost to every solid team they played, not just lost, they were creamed. The Giants will be solid again this year in a division that is pathetic with the exception of themselves and Philly, they will return to the playoffs, but with an early exit this time. 3. Washington Redskins- The Skins went from Super Bowl favorite to mediocre, over-the-hill bust in just a matter of weeks in 2000 and proceeded to make a number of changes to both reduce salaries and become more youthful. Owner Daniel Snyder is reminiscent of a snotty-nose punk in the movies from a rich family that believes they own the world, but may have learned his lesson last year. Like in the movies you could hear the slow, sad, sentimental music in the background and Snyder crying, while admitting that he learned a lot after being beaten to a pulp by Dallas and Pittsburgh by a combined 40 points at the end of the season. Snyder ditched Norv Turner and hired Marty Schottenheimer in an effort to become even less intriguing, yet more disciplined while letting go of Brad Johnson, Dana Stubblefield, Albert Connell, Skip Hicks, Tre Johnson, Adrian Murrell, James Thrash, and Larry Centers. Washington has become more stable with the addition of Schottenheimer, but the fact that Jeff George is starting doesn't give much confidence to the long term success of the offense. The Redskins are in trouble. 4. Dallas Cowboys- For lack of a better cliché, where have all the Cowboys gone? Jerry Jones looks like a sad little girl who lost her first love and went into depression in the process losing a horrible amount of weight. In a sense, Jones did lose his first love, Troy Aikman. Aikman was the man to return the 'boys to glory and did, but fell to the bottom of the league just as fast as he climbed to the top and is now vegged out watching Brady Bunch reruns in his underwear with a glass of Kool-Aid and a box of Hydrox cookies. Now, Dallas is left with a average Emmitt Smith at running back, Joey Galloway attempting to return from a torn ACL at wideout along with the overrated Rocket and free agent star Carl Pickens, and a streaky at best Tony Banks at quarterback. The defense can't stop the run or the pass which tends to cause a problem, the Cowboys suck. 5. Arizona Cardinals- The Arizona Cardinals have a bit of a problem when it comes to this year's team. They can't pass or run the ball, add that to the fact that they can't stop the pass or the run and this could be a long season. The Cardinals are now on the clock.
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