NFC East Champ?

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

It's really early, but my money is on Philly to win the title. But, here are some reasons why the Skins are a legitimate contender:

1). For the first time, Jason Campbell will be working in the same system for two consecutive years.

2). Jason Campbell will have all offseason to work with receivers.

3). Jason Campbell looked very promising in his last few starts.

4). We really established the run in the latter half of the season and Gibbs has repeatedly said that, henceforth, this team will be and will remain a run-first offense. In short, after fumbling and bumbling around for the first 9 games last season, we have re-established our identity on offense.

5). Todd Collins and others suggested that it would take a full year to understand Saunders' offense, but once it was understood, the offense would produce in a big way. History bears out the truth of that assessment and, as we all know, history tends to repeat itself.

6). After perhaps being overconfident last off-season, our team is hungry and feels like it has something to prove.

7). Between Betts and Portis, we have two proven runners going against some NFC East teams that, IMHO, can be run on.

8). There is no way in hell our defense can get any worse. Williams has fielded bad defenses before, but what makes him a great coach is that he adjusts his defense to ensure that he does not field poor defenses in back-to-back seasons.

9). I guarantee you we will be better at kicker next season. I think a lot of people underestimate the value of a good kicker, but Gibbs certainly does not and there are several free agent kickers that should be available this offseason (e.g., Josh Brown).

10). With a little luck, we will not have as many key injuries as we did last season. Not only was Portis injured and eventually placed on IR, but our defense lost key contributors and we didn't have the depth to overcome that. Griffin, Salave'a, and Daniels battled injuries all season long. Our secondary was without it's most important contributor. Marshall was hurt all season long. And yes, every team must cope with injuries. But, our defense was absolutely ravaged by the injury-bug.