Eli Manning has always been remarkably strong in the face of pressure. His top-notch pocket presence has helped him avoid the types of hits that remove quarterbacks from games, which is why the 32-year-old New York Giants quarterback has taken all but 35 snaps in the last three years and hasn't missed a start due to injury in his nine-year career.

But Eli's older brother possesses the same traits when facing pressure and—once upon a time—Peyton Manning also established himself as an ironman who never missed time due to injury. 

Until this happened and everything changed for Peyton, who missed the entire 2011 season as a result of neck problems.

The point is that one hit can change everything, and every time a block is missed or a blitzing linebacker or defensive back isn't picked up, the odds increase that the quarterback will be hit.

Read More »13

Dallas Cowboys fans have for quite some time been immensely passionate and loyal, but also increasingly frustrated with the franchise's inability to reanimate the glory days that slipped away a decade-and-a-half ago.

The 'Boys have won only a single playoff game since 1997 and haven't made the playoffs since 2009. They're coming off back-to-back 8-8 seasons and it didn't appear as though they did much to change that this offseason. 

All spring, I've been trying to tell fans to relax. This is a team that suffered a disgusting amount of injuries last season but has most or all of the right pieces in place. They finished 5-3 despite those injuries, falling just short of the postseason, and now they could be on the brink of something rather special. 

Read More »28

It's been a while since we've busted out a "Would You Rather," so I figured we'd wrap up the week on the NFC East blog by comparing two NFC East running backs with hefty résumés. 

One, LeSean McCoy of the Philadelphia Eagles, is coming off a disappointing season but has already accomplished quite a lot during his short career. 

The other, Alfred Morris of the Washington Redskins, is coming off a huge season but was a no-name sixth-round draft pick before that. 

If you went off of what McCoy and Morris did in 2012 alone, this wouldn't appear to be much of a debate. Here's the breakdown:

Read More »245

One year ago at around this time, we made a case for why DeMarcus Ware was the best player in the NFC East. That wasn't a highly controversial position to take, because Ware had more sacks and pressures than any pass-rusher in football between 2008 and 2011 and was coming off a 19.5-sack season.

This year, though, things have become a little more complicated. 

Ware's sack total plummeted to 11.5 while he struggled with injuries in his age-30 season. Jason Pierre-Paul's sack total also dropped from 16.5 to 6.5, Eli Manning had a down season, Tony Romo threw a tied-for-league-high 19 interceptions, Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Sean Lee and Hakeem Nicks got hurt and Trent Cole and Nnamdi Asomugha were disappointments, along with pretty much everyone else in Philadelphia. 

Victor Cruz, Jason Witten, Anthony Spencer and Evan Mathis deserve some love, as per usual, and you could make a valid argument for any one of them, but two players in particular emerged to such a degree that I'm prepared to give them an edge over everyone else.

Read More »90

Bad news, Dallas Cowboys fans. It looks like you'll be stuck with a Doug Free/Jermey Parnell combo at right tackle again in 2012. 

There is some good news, though. With Free taking a sizable pay cut on Thursday, the Cowboys have wiped a significant amount of money off the books for this year, next year, 2015 and 2016. 

Free was scheduled to make $15 million over the next two years, but that total has dropped to $7 million, with only his 2013 salary of $3.5 million guaranteed. The 'Boys probably could have had a free agent like Eric Winston for a similar price (and this move might even give them the flexibility to still make that move), but it also would have cost Dallas $7 million over two years to release Free on June 1. 

In other words, this is by far the cheapest scenario. I know that doesn't please Cowboys fans, but let's keep in mind that this is a team that is currently slated to be more than $20 million over the salary cap entering the 2014 offseason after reworking a slew of deals this spring. 

Read More »10

We kicked off the week here by looking at the uphill battle rookie fourth-round pick Matt Barkley would have to overcome to be a successful starter at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. The odds certainly aren't in Barkley's favor. 

However, they weren't in Tom Brady's favor 13 years ago, and Brady's rise from pick No. 199 of the 2000 NFL draft to three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback has since given fuel to anyone trying to argue that a mid or late-round pick could become a star. 

That's what NFL.com's Bucky Brooks does with Barkley:

Brooks has four specific reasons to back his argument up. First, he says Barkley has the high football IQ required for a quarterback to strive in Kelly's up-tempo offense; second, Barkley and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur both have backgrounds in the West Coast system; third, Barkley has the weapons in place to excel right away; finally, Michael Vick's presence could give him a year to prepare. 

Read More »132

For two years running, Doug Free has been one of the worst starting offensive tackles in the NFL. But the Dallas Cowboys don't have a ton of options at right tackle and Free's cap hit is slated to exceed $10 million in each of the next three seasons. 

Free might still be released on June 1, which would give Dallas the ability to spread out the guaranteed money left on the four-year, $32 million contract he signed after the 2010 season. But the Cowboys are in a tough spot no matter what happens and how you break it down. 

Naturally, frustrated fans want to point the finger at somebody, and ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon thinks that Free is fully responsible for this mess.

Yes, Free is the guy who has failed to live up to expectations here, but the Cowboys didn't have to hand him a contract worth $17 million in guaranteed money based on a year-and-a-half's worth of quality performances. 

Read More »34

Watch New York Giants rookie defensive end Damontre Moore on tape and you'll find it hard to believe the former SEC standout at Texas A&M dropped into the third round of last month's NFL draft. 

Moore, who was at one point projected by many to be a first-round pick, saw his draft stock slide this spring because teams wondered about his commitment in practices and his work ethic in general. He may have had 21 sacks, five forced fumbles and 39 tackles for loss during his final 24 games with the Aggies, but embarrassed himself at the combine and couldn't run due to injury at his pro day, and as a result he fell into New York's lap in Round 3. 

Oh, and a 2011 arrest on charges of marijuana possession didn't help his cause. 

But extremely early signs indicate that the Giants might have wound up with a steal, with Moore possessing the ability to replace the departed Osi Umenyiora for years to come. If he can stay focused and continue to produce on game days despite the transition from Saturday to Sunday, superhero pass-rusher Jason Pierre-Paul could have his edge-rushing sidekick. 

Read More »20