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Air war in the NFC East

There’s a Cold War a-brewing in the NFC East. The fifty year conflict between the US and the USSR was characterized by move and counter-move in the ability to prevail in conflict.

Move and counter-move is happening in the NFC East and it informs the Redskins’ moves at wide receiver. Once again, it’s Washington against the evil empire.  

Asante Samuel and Pacman Jones join the likes of Shawn Springs, LaRon Landry, Lito Sheppard, Brian Dawkins, Terrence Newman, Roy Williams and Sam Madison as Beast teams shoot to boost air defenses. The Giants, Cowboys, Redskins and Eagles ranked 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th respectively in NFL passing defense last season.

The Cowboys and Giants are clearly trying to get better stopping the pass. The Redskins have other issues on defense. The Super Bowl Giants hope to strike gold through the draft again.

On offense, the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys each have one top tier receiver to go against the secondary of the evil empires. The Eagles work magic with a nondescript group that is not the equal of their quarterback.

One top receiver is not enough. Not anymore. It’s going to take more air power to defeat the coverage. It’s going to take two top receivers.

Is it any wonder that all four Beast teams are nosing around receivers Chad Johnson and Detroit’s Roy Williams? Move-counter move.  

If the Bengals accepted Washington’s trade offer of two top picks for Ocho-Cinco, Redskins followers would have ripped the team for the price of the deal. I know. I would have been one of the rippers.

But, the thought of seeing Johnson in Dallas or Giants blue or Iggles green is cause for pause. A second draft pick for Johnson might be worth it to keep him away from those other guys. Call it the Die Eagles Die strategy.

The Dallas Pac-attack won’t be game ready until late in the season. Dallas must have some reason to believe that he will be reinstated. It will take that long before he has his game legs back.

You can’t say that about Asante Samuel. He’s ready now. Passing on the Eagles will be a lot tougher.

If the Bengals won’t budge on trading Johnson, and I won’t believe that until after the first round, Beast teams could make a run Drew Rosenhaus’ other wide receiver clients. They seem to be the ones trying to beat their contracts. Not that I’m saying that Beast teams would conspire with Rosenhaus to violate league tampering rules. That just doesn’t happen in the NFL.

As a last resort, the teams could use their first round pick on a wide-out, especially if there is an early run on those guys. They will hold their nose as they do it, since even top choices Limas Sweed, Mario Manningham and DeSean Jackson project as No. 2 receivers.

Advantage Dallas in that regard. The Cowboys have two picks in the first round.

Are you listening, Daniel Snyder?

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am and is filed under Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins Draft, Washington Redskins, Redskins, NFC East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.