Sunday Slobber Knockers

Adam: How many wins does Michael Vick lead the Eagles to?  Can he make the Pro Bowl?

Eric: I think Vick could get the Eagles an extra 1-2 wins that they might not have gotten with Kevin Kolb.  He also could potentially lose them a few games too.  So I say they still finish around .500: 7-9, 8-8, 9-7, somewhere in there.  A Pro Bowl in certainly within reach if Vick remains the starter.  I think the fans are ready to forgive the dog fighting if he can keep making electrifying plays with his legs; that's what he would be rewarded for if he makes the Pro Bowl.

A: Bruce Gradkowski starts for Oakland.  What are your thoughts on how it will go and overall on the move to bench Jason Campbell?

E: In the long run, Campbell should be the starting quarterback for Oakland.  That said, I really liked what Gradkowski was doing for them at the end of last season: nothing flashy, just winning games.  Like I said in my review of Week 2, I was a little surprised how easily they gave the starting job to Campbell when he came over.  Gradkowski won't be any worse than Campbell was, but he doesn't have as much upside either.

A: Who is the best team in the AFC East?

E: The Dolphins are 2-0 and are tough to play against, but the class of the AFC East still consists of the Pats and Jets, both at 1-1. If Mark Sanchez can continue to make strides as a starter, I give the edge to New York.

A: How many wins do you expect out of each team in the NFC West by the end of the year?

E:
49ers: 9-7
Seahawks: 6-10
Cardinals: 6-10
Rams: 3-13

A: What record will the Vikings and Cowboys have at the end of the year?

E:

Vikings: 8-8
Cowboys: 10-6

What are your thoughts on the AFC East?

A: I think at this point in Sanchez's career, he is somewhere between his two performances this season.  He's not as bad as he showed in Week One, but he can't consistently perform like he did in Week Two.  I also think that this whole bravado the Jets pride themselves on is going to bite them. Rex Ryan is starting to see that with the Braylon Edwards DUI, the Revis holdout, and the Santonio Holmes suspension.  The thing is, over this past decade, the most talented team has not won the Super Bowl plenty of times ('07 Pats, the Cowboys when they went 13-3, the Chargers every year).  Winning in this league is just as much about cohesiveness as it is about talent.  Offensive and defensive schemes are more complicated than ever, and 53 men have to be on the same page.  If you have a locker room full of egos and distractions, it's hard to make your team have that "one heartbeat" approach you need to have.  I think the Jets need to stop worrying about talking to everyone else and just focus on maximizing their talent.

I think the Dolphins will be in close games all year no matter who they play.  Chad Henne hasn't yet taken a big step where he can lead the offense to 25-30 points, and they are still very much a power running team.  The defense is strong but and the offense is methodical, which can be a successful formula, but you also lose a lot of close games in this league and it takes some measure of luck to win this way. If the Dolphins want to be a playoff team, they are going to have to light up the scoreboard a bit more, and they have the potential to do so with Brandon Marshall.

The Patriots over the past three years have lost some head-scratching games.  You still want to think, "Hey, this is the Patriots. They don't lose close games and they don't lose to teams they should beat."  But I think the reality is that they have come back to the pack, and while they are a playoff-level team, they are not a surefire championship contender.  They are on the same level with about six other AFC teams.  They don't have the defense that confuses and frustrates opponents, and their running game is really absent.  Kevin Faulk is gone for the year, and Laurence Maroney just got traded, so who do they really have?  BenJarvus Green-Ellis?  Fred Taylor?  They simply don't have a feature back, and they don't run the ball enough for their offensive line to establish a rhythm.  As a result, they don't hold the ball long enough, and the defense just can't hold up as it had during their Super Bowl run.  Tom Brady, Wes Welker, and Randy Moss are still great, but all three of those guys are aging, and Welker is only nine months removed from major knee surgery.  Aaron Hernandez (rookie tight end out of Florida) is a really exciting find for the Pats; he has made some really explosive plays across the middle.

The Bills are really in trouble.  Chan Gailey is not the right guy for an all-out house cleaning/rebuilding process.  You need a young innovative guy with energy to totally remake a team.  They need to overhaul the roster and change the culture in Buffalo.  The Bills have no quarterback worthy of starting in this league, they might have one starting quality wide receiver, they have a clusterfuck at running back, and they can't block well enough for any of those guys to go off.  I think CJ Spiller is a nice weapon, but he is the type of guy that could put a talented offense looking for one more playmaker over the top. He is not a bell cow, carry-the-offense-type guy.  Defensively, the Bills have a talented secondary, but the front seven is underwhelming.  They need more than a good draft or two; they need 3-4 good free agent signings and 2-3 drafts to turn up the talent and fill needs.  It's going to be a long time before this team is good again.