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NFL Media's Albert Breer touches on multiple topics in his robust Inside the NFL Notebook, including (click on each link to go directly to the topic): And much more, beginning with one of the biggest surprises of the young season. ...Don't feel bad if you didn't see the being where they are now, rolling into mid-October at 4-1 and raring for in Seattle.The truth is, they didn't <a href="https://www.metsgearsny.com/new-york-mets-jersey/keith-hernandez-jersey">Keith Hernandez Jersey</a> really see it playing out like this, either."I think that's fair to say, that it's better than we expected," said COO and executive vice president Stephen Jones, around lunchtime Tuesday. "We thought this was a young team that would get better as the season went on -- that, as we got players like and back, we'd improve. We were thinking we'd hang in there early on, and play our best football in the second half of the season."That might be the best part of this early-season vindication of the Joneses and their staff at Valley Ranch: If the blueprint plays out like it should from here, the best is very much yet to come.Amazing, then, to think that the expectations around the entering the 2014 campaign were about as low as they had been since the Dave Campo era.The quarterback was coming back from back surgery. The star receiver and the team fell short of consummating a new deal before the opener. The cornerstone tight end was a year older. The defense was bad in 2013 and, after hemorrhaging and as part of a cap purge, lost heart-and-soul linebacker to a freak ACL tear in the spring, an event that had all the markings of a dam-breaking hit for a team that was seemingly already reeling.All that raises a pretty simple question: How in the hell have the gotten here?"Everyone probably gave us that the offense would be a good, solid offense, that we were gonna win some games by outscoring the other guys," Jones said. "What people mi sed? I read it everywhere, it was gonna be the worst defense in the history of the league. That's what people mi sed. We felt all along we'd be improved from last year."And if you're gonna start there -- with the defense -- Jones has proof. He'll cite the defensive line and have you look at the 46-man game day roster for the last two weeks of 2013. There were players dre sed for those games who, after the team performed some offseason tweaking, weren't good enough to make the 90-man roster in the spring. Jones didn't name names, but some guys were simply allowed to walk (, Edgar Jones), some were cut ( and Corvey Irvin in February; in May).At linebacker, improved depth has shown up (veteran , rookie ) in the Lee aftermath, and the calculated gamble on has paid off big. "That's to Jerry and Stephen's credit," one source said about the acquisition of McClain, a former top-10 pick of the who . "That's Jerry's deal -- we'll figure out what they are for us, rather than listen to what someone else says about them."And then, of course, there's pulling the whole thing together. The personnel department knew that it was important, through the offseason, to acquire players who fit the defensive coordinator's profile: "You can't bring in a prima donna," the source said, "those guys won't last." Mix in a staff that's coaching the way Marinelli sees the group playing (focus on physical play, takeaways, tackling and keeping the ball in front of you), and you get .On the other side of the ball, it' <a href="https://www.metsgearsny.com/new-york-mets-jersey/wilson-ramos-jersey">Wilson Ramos Jersey</a> s considerably simpler. Dallas rebuilt its line around three first-round picks ( in 2011, last year, this year) in order to, per Jones, create a strong environment for as he entered his mid-30s. The result has been (with ), which gives the a distinctly 1990s look."I do see similarities," Jones said. "We can run the <a href="https://www.metsgearsny.com/new-york-mets-jersey/neil-walker-jersey">Neil Walker Jersey</a> ball in spite of an eight-man front, and when you see that, running it against that, it's like we were in the '90s. You have a very good running back, and a really good receiver, a la (Michael) Irvin, in Dez (Bryant). Then, there's the tight ends, (Jay) Novacek and (Jason) Witten. And you've got a solid QB in Tony, who compares with Troy (Aikman), the difference being the rings, which means Tony's still got some work to do."The Trade: 25 years laterNFL Media takes an expansive, in-depth look at the HerschelWalker deal -- a true game changer in the world of sports. So maybe the aren't on the verge of three more rings. But as was the case back then, at the very least, this group .According to those at Valley Ranch, Marinelli is big on , and his group has come to embody the qualities that push a defense up those charts. Offensively, coordinator wasn't exactly thrilled in January when , but what could've been an i sue isn't one at all. And both guys -- along with head coach -- have invested in the run game, first as a way of trying to help Romo return to form, and now as a legit strength of the team.And the best way to illustrate how it's come together? Jones goes back to ."We're down 21-0," the COO recalled. "And we didn't get away from running the ball. We just kept playing hard and chipping away. That's not normally what we'd do. We'd get in that situation, and throw every play. But not this time. We ran it, we played defense, we finally caught up, and we kneeled on it at the end. That day, you could say, 'We've got a shot.'"In a way, that game started with the team most of us thought the would be, and ended with the team that they're now becoming. Which is why they're here now, headed to Seattle in mid-October for a game that carries playoff implications for more than one of the teams involved.Four downs1) San Diego rising: Maybe the best sign of how coach and GM Tom Telesco have rebuilt the ' roster over the last 21 months comes in how they're fighting the war of attrition. And while clearly no one is rooting for injuries <a href="https://www.metsgearsny.com/new-york-mets-jersey/pedro-martinez-jersey">Pedro Martinez Jersey</a> , internally, the way things have held up under a glut of them has the bra s as encouraged as anything it's seen through the first five weeks of the season. Center was lost for the year in Week 1. Tailback and outside linebacker suffered significant injuries in Week 2 and are still out of the lineup. went down for the season in Week 3, and and were also hurt in that game () and haven't played since. McCoy was matter-of-fact about it after his M.A.S.H. unit this past Sunday, saying "it's part of the game." And he's right. The best teams are the ones that can withstand what is, in most cases, inevitable. Last year, was played between a Denver team without , and , and a New England team lacking , and . That's why what San Diego is doing shouldn't be taken lightly. Point being, between now and January, plenty of teams figure to catch up to San Diego on the injury front. But not everyone will handle it as well as the have.2) TomBrady's point of view:'s future in New England has been a point of much speculation over the last 10 days or so, and it should be. If he's on the roster for (a sure thing ... I think), the $24 million left on his contract becomes fully guaranteed. Meanwhile, the drafted a quarterback in the second round in May (Eastern Illinois product ) and carry a long track record of acting without emotion in purging aging players. So where does Brady stand? The way those around him have always explained the QB, he's too competitive to ever throw his hands up in the face of a challenging situation: "You know he won't give up," said one source close to Brady. That much was obvious in his pa sionate, borderline vengeful performance . That said, he admittedly still doesn't know if there's enough around him this year to win at the highest level. Last week, Brady told me he'd have that figured out "by the end of season," emphasizing that this New England mix is still evolving. He also said he likes the "competitive" makeup of the group. So that's <a href="https://www.metsgearsny.com/new-york-mets-jersey/gary-carter-jersey">Gary Carter Jersey</a> a long way of saying ... We'll see. Is Brady all-in for this year? Of course he is. It's silly to even ask about that. But there remain unanswered questions long term, and that guaranteed money on the deal could give Brady leverage to push the envelope in a number of different directions in the offseason, if he chooses to use it.Brooks: Must-see matchupsWhat are the most intriguing Week 6 battles in games acro s the NFL? Bucky Brooks provides his scouting eye. 3) Philadelphia ' offense slowed down: Early concerns about 's attack are understandable. Philadelphia currently . Expected MVP candidate is averaging 2.9 yards per carry, and quarterback has seen his pa ser rating dip nearly 37 points from last year's absurd number of 119.2. One rival defensive coordinator said that part of the i sue, as he sees it, is the league having an offseason to study Kelly's system: "They have limited formations and plays, they just go fast. It's still really good, but they have to execute better than you." An NFC personnel executive said it's simpler than that, chalking it up to water seeking its level with the quarterback and the depletion of the offensive line. Becaus |
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