By Bob Cunningham Over recent years, the NFC East has dominated the NFC. Many years even sending three teams to the playoffs.
The dominance of the division is well-known, and puts all four teams in a rather unenviable position.
This year, however, may turn out to be a different story.
Of course there are a lot of "what-ifs" but if things stay the way they are now, it would appear to be a two-team race for this division.
The Eagles and Giants are obviously the class of this division. While the Giants have had their way over the past few years, the Eagles were the dominant team before that and may be looking to take back the reigns.
The Cowboys and Redskins have had their time in the past, and certainly will have their time in the future, but at the moment they simply do not stack up to the Giants and Eagles.
The Redskins, whom I believe are the worst team in this division, are a team without an identity and without a direction.
Teams without an identity as a passing team, a running team, a defensive team, or whatever else, will always suffer because they have nothing to fall back on. They have nothing that they know they can do well. They may be average everywhere, but all that creates is an average team.
The only identity that the Redskins seem to have is the fact that they'll overpay anybody. If you've ever had a sack, a touchdown, an interception, a half sack, an assisted tackle, or if you've ever called a fair catch, you can be sure Danny Snyder will overpay to have you on his team.
Prime example (and will be for years to come): Albert Haynesworth.
Before 2007, Haynesworth has been nothing better than average. Before that magical '07 season, Haynesworth never had more than three sacks in a year and had only accumulated 9.5 sacks.
That's 9.5 sacks in five years. That's just under two sacks a year (1.9). To put that little gem into perspective, Dan Klecko had 2.5 sacks this season alone as a DT with the Eagles. A whole three-game stretch.
Are those numbers worth $100 million? I don't think so.
Then there was that '07 season.
All of a sudden, Haynesworth doubles his sack total in a single season to six and is voted to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team.
So what was the sudden change?
Well, Haynesworth was in a contract year in 2007 and was playing simply to get paid. But to be fair, he did repeat those number in 2008 with 8.5 sacks and a second consecutive invite to the Pro Bowl and another All-Pro nod.
But wait, 2008 was another contract year while playing under the franchise tag.
So unless Snyder found a way to sign Haynesworth to one-year contracts, don't look for him to produce any more than about three sacks.
A guy who doesn't produce outside of a contract year, and has never finished a season by the way…Now that's a guy worth $100 million!
Then there was DeAngelo Hall, a poor-man's (extremely poor) Deion Sanders, who also was severely overpaid. He's been nothing more than a career underachiever (for every pick, he'll get burned to make up for it) with a bad attitude. So, on second thought, he'll fit right in to D.C.
The Cowboys, like the Redskins, are another team (using the term loosely) that cannot live up to the potential that they seem to have on paper.
So what's the solution? Cut the only player who has lived up to his potential (with the exception of DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten) and turn your play-making duties over to a guy who showed last year that he has no motivation or desire to better himself.
Also, a guy for whom Jerry Jones severely overpaid. A first, third, sixth, and seventh is extreme for any player, but Roy Williams was a guy who had documented motivational issues and had clashed with teammates in Detroit because of his lack of a work ethic.
Tony Romo is underachieving at its best. September, October, and even November are just fine. But when it's time to buckle down and win something for your team in December and January, not only will Romo not help the cause, but he becomes a liability.
The team has no head coach. Wade Phillips wears the title but he has no real authority with the team as long as they continue to see Jerry Jones butting in every chance he gets. Phillips has proven he belongs at defensive coordinator, not head coach.
Until Jones stops trying to interfere, and they find a real head coach, the Cowboys will always be a team with the promise but never exceeding 9-7.
