FOX: Czar: Top storylines heading into camp

[bubba9497]

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Top storylines heading into camp

After giving so many of his exclusives to ESPN, the big question of the day is why did Brett Favre give his first exclusive TV interview to Greta Van Susteren of Fox News? Could the answer be that she is from nearby Appleton, Wis. and is a Badger alumni? It had to make the Packer faithful a bit happy that Greta is one of them, right?

Well, at least we finally heard Favre's explanation of his retirement. He wants to play and what's wrong with that? I've written a million times it is the toughest decision in professional sports and once you're done, it's over. Favre surely didn't perform like he was "over" last season.

But like everything else, we are left reading between the lines, attempting to find the real truth from every coach and player statements and long-held perceptions. We are entering the best time of summer — the opening of NFL training camps and these are my best storylines heading into the season.

With Peyton Manning missing the entire preseason, does this mean either Jacksonville or Tennessee has a legitimate chance at winning the AFC South?

If ever there was a quarterback who needed a bit of a rest, it is Peyton. He is a workaholic and is chasing Favre's ridiculous consecutive games record. Granted, this wrecks the Hall of Fame game because Peyton won't be taking four to six snaps in the exhibition opener, but if ever there was a quarterback that could perform in a coma it is Peyton. I mean, he is as reliable as a robot out there. However, being a rhythm passer, Peyton may look a little rusty in the season opener against the Bears. Fortunately for the Colts, the Bears probably won't score more than 10 points. If the Jags are going to finally win the South in the Manning era, their biggest chance will come when they get a shot at a still-rusty Manning in Week 3.

Is Wade Phillips the next Marty Schottenheimer?

You know, win 12 or 13 games and then get fired. Wade knows the drill from experience because he was coordinating Schottenheimer's defense in San Diego a couple seasons ago. There isn't as much internal pressure on Wade as there was with Marty in San Diego. Jerry Jones laughs and talks with Wade all the time, whereas A.J. Smith avoided Marty in every hallway. But with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett earning more than $3 million and all this money tied up in Tony Romo, T.O. and so many offensive players, the football world suspects Garrett will be the head coach in 2009 even if Wade wins a playoff game.

If the Packers really don't want Favre, where will they trade him?

I really don't think Favre will show up in Green Bay for training camp unless GM Ted Thompson loses his mind. Favre practicing behind Aaron Rodgers would become as big a circus as Terrell Owens doing push-ups in his driveway. Do Thompson and the Packers really want a daily distraction? I think not. In the end, Tampa Bay makes the most sense for Favre because Jon Gruden loves him and actually worked with him years ago in Green Bay. I think Favre would like Baltimore, too, and Carolina makes some sense. Too bad Drew Brees is in New Orleans, because Favre and Sean Payton could make some magic happen, too.

Why are the Giants still not getting any respect?

This will be a summer-long issue, because even though Eli Manning has a Super Bowl MVP award many believe Tony Romo possesses more quarterback charisma in the rugged NFC East. The Cowboys may have the best NFC team on paper, but the games are still played outdoors on a field and not in a draft room. Even with Michael Strahan retired and major distraction Jeremy Shockey hanging around, the Giants still have a very good offensive line, a bevy of backs and a respectable defense. Tom Coughlin had the last laugh last season and now he can preach the no-respect line all season. There will be no letdown with the Giants. Now, the Jets are another story.

[RammsteinSkins]

I really can't believe how the Giant's aren't getting alot of respect.They pulled off one of the biggest upsets in superbowl history.

[CowboysSaintsFan]

I really can't believe how the Giant's aren't getting alot of respect.They pulled off one of the biggest upsets in superbowl history.

I'll admit-we were fortunate to beat them twice in the reg season last year(If Toomer had gotten both of his feet in the endzone cleanly in game 1 OR if Plax hadn't reinjured himself falling down on that Eli pick-they would have won by double digits. In game 2, the Giants blew so many opportunties in the 1st half-ie, a Romo fumble that Strahan had in his breadbasket-they would have otherwise blown us out in that game as well).

Pt being that the Giants could have easily gotten the #1 seed, while we would have been a WC team hobbling all the way to Tampa.

While some pundits keep saying "They were merely a 10 win team last year", they seem to be forgetting they could have easily won 13 as well, while my team could have easily been that 10 win team(we got lucky against bottom-feeders Buffalo and Detroit as well).

[pvkeeper19]

1. No
2. Yes
3. If they're smart, they'll bring Brett back
4. They're not very good

Problems solved. You're welcome.

[PC84]

I'll admit-we were fortunate to beat them twice in the reg season last year(If Toomer had gotten both of his feet in the endzone cleanly in game 1 OR if Plax hadn't reinjured himself falling down on that Eli pick-they would have won by double digits. In game 2, the Giants blew so many opportunties in the 1st half-ie, a Romo fumble that Strahan had in his breadbasket-they would have otherwise blown us out in that game as well).



That's something I don't get...A Cowboys fan saying we got lucky on two double digit wins, I mena I can see how you can say we got lucky against Buffalo and Detriot, but cmon, give credit where credit is due. We beat the Giants fair and square in the regular season twice, and they beat us when it counted, luck had nothing to do with either.

[BigMike619]

That's something I don't get...A Cowboys fan saying we got lucky on two double digit wins, I mena I can see how you can say we got lucky against Buffalo and Detriot, but cmon, give credit where credit is due. We beat the Giants fair and square in the regular season twice, and they beat us when it counted, luck had nothing to do with either.

its called humility. try it when you get a chance. :cheers:

[mrdoctor]

yea the Giants are due a bit more props. I bet they would still be playing Patriots superbowl champs commercials today if they had won. but they rae the epic failures

[skinsfanindallas88]

I wouldn't be shocked to see the Giants win the NFCE...A team motto of No Respect even after we just won the superbowl over one of the best teams in history can do alot

[PC84]

its called humility. try it when you get a chance. :cheers:

But the fact of the matter is that there was nothing cheap or lucky about the way we beat them both times in the regular season, the same goes for their victory in the postseason.

[ouvan59]

I really can't believe how the Giant's aren't getting alot of respect.They pulled off one of the biggest upsets in superbowl history.

You just said it yourself. They pulled off a historic upset, meaning that even you didn't think they were that good. The fact of the matter is that they weren't a great team last year. In fact early on people were talking about whether Coughlin would make it to midseason. Eli really struggled towards the end of the year. Going into their last regular season game against the Pats he had been terrible the previous 8 weeks. Here were his numbers over those 8 games:

269 att, 138, comp, 1,560 yds, 6 TDs, 10 ints, 51.3%, 60.94 passer rating

That's a half season. He got hot at the right time though and was stellar in the playoffs. But it doesn't surprise me that people are still a little timid about declaring him a great player yet.

[CowboysSaintsFan]

But the fact of the matter is that there was nothing cheap or lucky about the way we beat them both times in the regular season, the same goes for their victory in the postseason.

Again-did you even see the games?

Double digits-yes, but that was b/c we ended up pulling away from them in the final minutes, after being in a see-saw battle all game long. Neither were really impressive, honestly.

Really-there's been a number of discussions back and forth on CZ over how the Giants got lucky in the playoffs against us, and how the refs even made some favorable calls for them to boot.

The pt I was trying to make was that lucky or no, we had all the breaks(whether it be from the bounce of the ball or the refs) in our 2 reg season games against them. In game 1-the Giants were up 6-3, and a WIDE OPEN Toomer just BARELY missed getting his 2nd foot in the endzone(as we all know-Toomer's biggest strength is his footwork). Otherwise, it would have been 13-3, and the game would have gotten ugly from there. And for that matter too-Burress was having an incredible game until he fell and reinjured his ankle in that 1st half(which ended up leading us to a TD the other way).

Ditto game 2-Strahan had a Romo fumble recovery in his breadbasket in the 1st half. Otherwise, with our D on our heals and the Giants having all the momentum at the time, they would have blown it wide open in the 1st half. And for that matter too-we got some favorable calls in the 2nd half(Bradshaw's KR called back on a questionable hold, a Giants' TD nullified on a questionable hold on Snee, and on MB3's game clinching 1st down run, I saw holding across our OL).

Pt being that the breaks end up evening out when all is said and done. Like I said-if anything, those 2 reg season games could have easily gone their way. But in the end, we had a golden opportunity in our laps, only to blow it in chunks.

With that being said-I'm happy over the improvements we made in the offseason to fix our weaknesses.

[PC84]

Again-did you even see the games?

Double digits-yes, but that was b/c we ended up pulling away from them in the final minutes, after being in a see-saw battle all game long. Neither were really impressive, honestly.

Really-there's been a number of discussions back and forth on CZ over how the Giants got lucky in the playoffs against us, and how the refs even made some favorable calls for them to boot.

The pt I was trying to make was that lucky or no, we had all the breaks(whether it be from the bounce of the ball or the refs) in our 2 reg season games against them. In game 1-the Giants were up 6-3, and a WIDE OPEN Toomer just BARELY missed getting his 2nd foot in the endzone(as we all know-Toomer's biggest strength is his footwork). Otherwise, it would have been 13-3, and the game would have gotten ugly from there. And for that matter too-Burress was having an incredible game until he fell and reinjured his ankle in that 1st half(which ended up leading us to a TD the other way).

Ditto game 2-Strahan had a Romo fumble recovery in his breadbasket in the 1st half. Otherwise, with our D on our heals and the Giants having all the momentum at the time, they would have blown it wide open in the 1st half. And for that matter too-we got some favorable calls in the 2nd half(Bradshaw's KR called back on a questionable hold, a Giants' TD nullified on a questionable hold on Snee, and on MB3's game clinching 1st down run, I saw holding across our OL).

Pt being that the breaks end up evening out when all is said and done. Like I said-if anything, those 2 reg season games could have easily gone their way. But in the end, we had a golden opportunity in our laps, only to blow it in chunks.

With that being said-I'm happy over the improvements we made in the offseason to fix our weaknesses.

So the only reason why the Cowboys won those games is because of luck?Don't give me that.I can see getting lucky in one game and winning by 3...but these are two separate games, and the Cowboys won both by double digits. And you might want to look up the rules on holding.I'm not for sure...but I don't think you're supposed put someone in a headlock like Snee did to Williams.

I don't see you making an argument saying that the Giants got lucky when Crayton dropped that pass in the divisional round.

[SkinsGuy]

I really can't believe how the Giant's aren't getting alot of respect.They pulled off one of the biggest upsets in superbowl history.

With the media giving the Cowboys all the love and hype, there isn't time for anyone else in their lives. :D