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Neither are the New York Giants, who collapsed down the stretch in 2008 without Plaxico Burress. They drafted wide receiver Hakeem Nicks in the first round, but to ask him to fill the shoes of Burress or fellow departed receiver Amani Toomer is asking a bit much.
Add in the loss of 1,000-yard rusher Derrick Ward to the Bucs, and the Giants don’t figure to win as many as 12 games again.
It would therefore appear the NFC Championship Game could be a rematch of 2004 with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles had the top-ranked defense in the NFC last year and finished in the top 10 in the league in total offense. Donovan McNabb has shed his initial desires to be a running quarterback, and is now a winning quarterback who thinks pass first. The past five seasons have had McNabb post the top four passer ratings of his career.
The Eagles even gave McNabb new weapons to work with in the draft with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and running back Shady McCoy.
McCoy figures to spell Michael Westbrook, who is recovering from a knee injury in 2008.
The defense did lose free agent safety Brian Dawkins to Denver, but he is now 35.
What the Eagles lose in leadership they hope to gain with the continued maturity of run-stuffing middle linebacker Stewart Bradley and a promising cornerback duo of Asante Samuel and ex-Patriot Ellis Hobbs.
Atlanta didn’t have the defense of Philadelphia, and lost Brooking and strong safety Lawyer Milloy to free agency.
But after allowing nearly five yards per rush in 2008, the idea is to allow second round pick William Moore to replace Milloy, first round draft choice Peria Jerry to plug the middle on the defensive line, and to hope veteran free agent Mike Peterson exceeds the results Brooking put up at middle linebacker.
Seven of the Falcons’ eight draft picks went to defense, and tight end Tony Gonzalez was added to give second-year quarterback Matt Ryan yet another weapon to go along with 1,699-yard rusher Michael Turner and Pro Bowl receiver Roddy White.
Atlanta’s defense is a cinch to improve, thus making them one of the two best teams in the conference.
Unless...
Unless the Minnesota Vikings sign Brett Favre to be their quarterback.
Current projected starter Sage Rosenfels is not the quarterback one employs to sell tickets or win championships. He’s a career backup and has thrown 22 interceptions during the last two seasons despite making only 10 starts. That's hardly the sort of efficiency one wants out of a quarterback whose main offensive focus is giving the ball to running back Adrian Peterson.
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