Draft position and Giants-Cowboys thoughts
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Draft position and Giants-Cowboys thoughts
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles are one of eight teams that finished the season with an 8-8 record.
Seven of those teams (the Broncos being the exception) will miss out on the playoffs. And that also means strength of schedule determines where those seven teams will pick in the first round of April's draft.
The team with the weakest strength of schedule among the group, the Cardinals, gets the 13th selection. And the Eagles will pick two spots later at No. 15. Here's the order for the 8-8 teams, with strength of schedule in parentheses, courtesy of NFL.com:
13. Cardinals (.469)
14. Cowboys (.473)
15. Eagles (.488)
16. Jets (.500)
17. Bengals (from Raiders) (.504)
18. Chargers (.516)
19. Bears (.527)
As for the second round, the seven teams cycle down. In other words, the Cardinals will pick last among this group, and the other teams get bumped up, with Dallas picking first.
That's significant because the Eagles get the Cardinals' second pick (courtesy of the Kevin Kolb deal) in addition to their own selection. That translates to the 46th pick (their own) and the 51st pick (the Cardinals') overall.
GIANTS TAKE THE NFC EAST
Some stray thoughts on the Giants' win over the Cowboys Sunday night:
* Before the Eagles played the Giants in Week 3, Victor Cruz had two career catches for 17 yards. He finished the season with 82 receptions and 1,536 yards, most in Giants franchise history and third-most in the league, behind only Calvin Johnson and Wes Welker.
Against the Cowboys, Cruz piled up six catches for 178 yards. In the first half, he made Terence Newman and Gerald Sensabaugh look silly on a 74-yard touchdown that included about 68 yards after the catch. With everything on the line for the Giants, it was the second straight week Cruz made a huge play. Against the Jets, he had a 99-yard touchdown in the first half.
* And no, I have no clue what NBC was thinking playing the salsa music for Cruz' celebration. Very strange. At first, I couldn't tell if it was coming from the broadcast, the stadium or my neighbor's apartment.
* If I'm the Giants, perhaps the most encouraging thing to take from yesterday's game was the pass rush. Jason Pierre-Paul's been doing it all season, but they got contributions from Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora yesterday. Tuck has two sacks in the last two games. And Umenyiora had two against the Cowboys. Overall, the Giants have 11 sacks in the last two games. There are still plenty of holes in that secondary, but New York can at least rush the passer effectively.
* Speaking of Pierre-Paul, if you were starting a franchise and had your pick of any defensive player in the league, he has to be in the discussion, right? Yesterday was his 23rd birthday, and Pierre-Paul finished the season with 16.5 sacks. I'm on board with those who have written that Brandon Graham deserves a chance to prove himself next season when he's healthy, but I don't think the regret over passing on Pierre-Paul is going away any time soon.
* As for the Cowboys, they miss out on the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. I know Tony Romo will take a lot of heat for turning the ball over twice, but the Dallas defense reminded me of what the Eagles' D has looked like at times this season. Missed tackles, confusion, breakdowns in the secondary. Eli Manning picked them apart, completing 24 of 33 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys have plenty of work to do this offseason on that side of the ball.
NEXT YEAR'S OPPONENTS
With the regular season over, next year's opponents are set. Aside from the division games, the Eagles play the following teams at home: the Falcons, Panthers, Ravens, Bengals and Lions. Not an easy slate. Four of those five teams are in the playoffs, and the other has Cam Newton.
On the road, the Eagles go to New Orleans, Tampa, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Arizona. Two of those five teams are in the postseason.
You can follow me on Twitter or become a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
You can bet that PeeWee Roseman is already in the playhouse watching game film with King Cartoon.— Astro Jones- First round position doesn't matter if you keep picking the wrong guy.— mikemaddog
- amen, brother. we could have the entire first round and we would blow half of it. — coloradoeagle
- Great Point. The D was castigated but after 39 turnovers by the offense, what can you expect? Vick is a loser and we will never attain lofty goals with him as QB.
- That schedule for next year is a lot tougher than the 8-8 schedule this year.— oakmontleo
- 8-8 might be a reach with that schedule, especially if the song remains the same for 2012. I hope Juan finishes "Defense for Dummies" before OTA's start.— coloradoeagle
- Near the end of the season, there was a list of things that had to happen for the Eagles to get into the playoffs. All of them happened except one. The stinkin Jet's lost to the more stinkin Giants. I am not saying the Birds deserved to get in, just that it almost happened.— chucksf
- I had hoped maybe the 'fans' in here made resolutions to not be such miserable losers. Maybe next year, guys?— smfree31
- I'll bet the other teams on next years schedule will be "Very afraid" knowing our Eagles will an opponent.— olddog
- Doesn't matter who is on the schedule. If the Eagles take care of the ball, they will be in the playoffs. If they don't, we will have a new coach and QB.— borntosuffer
- New Orleans road trip...Nice !— jdrab
- Grab a copy of the final standings and check "points allowed" and "points scored" by the Eagles and compare to division opponents, even to the entire NFC. It will make you weep.— dasher
- Nice pick up...for all the grief the D got it was the O that really let the Birds down this year. — 2ndNlong
- Yup, I said yesterday...3rd fewest points allowed in the NFC. But the sheep read about the DC and pile on.
By the way, Spagnoula is 10-38 as a head coach and we are hoping to get him before someone else grabs him? What???
I have a friend who works for another NFC team and he told me he is very happy the Eagles are not in the playoffs.
It's funny reading how after going 8-8, 5-1 in the division that we are a 'joke' of a franchise.
Seems to me that's proof of how good a job Reid has done every year.— smfree31 - Of those 10 non-conference teams on the schedule, I see the Eagles going 6-4. If they play against the NFC rivals as well as they did in 2011, they could finish 11-5, at worst 10-6. But (and there's always a "but") Reid has to go, Vick has to get better, they need to sign a stud backup QB who can step in if needed (like Jeff Garcia did a few years ago in the McNabb era), trade Samuel for instant starter(s) in the LB and safety core and tweak a few other positions here and there.— 1republican
Follow
Sheil on Twitter. And become
a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds
coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Download it here.
