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Right? Michael Vick has dominated the news coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles over the past 24 hours, and for good reason, but there's a lot more going on with the Eagles than the quarterback situation. There's the defense, to name one incredibly significant other thing, and new coach Chip Kelly and new defensive coordinator Bill Davis spoke Monday about what that defense might look like:

"I'm not caught up with labels," Kelly said. "Because I don't think it's going to be a ladies-and-gentlemen defense. I think it's hopefully going to be a defense that creates a lot of turnovers and gets the ball back to our offense."

Davis has worked mostly with 3-4 defenses. He said 15 of his 21 years coaching in the NFL were with odd-man fronts. When he was the defensive coordinator in Arizona from 2009-10, Davis ran a 3-4, but it was called a "4-3 under" that implemented some 4-3 principles.

Kelly confirmed that he prefers a 3-4. More NFL teams have been switching to an odd-man front because of its versatility. The fact that Kelly hired inside and outside linebackers coaches suggests that he will have a defense suited more to a 3-4, and one that employs linebackers of a different skill set.

It certainly does, but just as is the case with the Kelly offense, the Eagles and their fans must enter this new arrangement with the hope that Kelly isn't wading in with definitive formulaic ideas and principles. What will determine whether Kelly is a successful NFL head coach is the extent to which he can be nimble and innovative and creative -- whether he can determine and implement the best ways to use the personnel at his disposal. I don't get the sense he plans something like the Mike Shanahan makeover in Washington, where Jim Haslett was brought in to oversee a transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4, and the personnel was overhauled over a two-year period. The Eagles have a lot more good players on their roster right now than the Redskins did then, first of all, and second of all, the point of Kelly is to try something that hasn't been tried before, right?

You don't hire the hot college coach just because he won a bunch of games in college. Winning in the NFL is totally different than winning in college. You hire the hot college coach because you see in him a willingness and ability to do things differently, to implement new ideas and thoughts and mesh them with the old NFL way of doing things. The Eagles want to move their program forward and build something that sets the new trends rather than reacts to them. If they didn't believe Kelly was the man for that job, then they shouldn't, and likely wouldn't, have hired him.

So, I'm eager to watch what unfolds with the defense over the coming months, and whether the Eagles line up with three down lineman more often than four is not the most interesting aspect of it to me. I'm eager to see what they decide to do with Trent Cole and Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox and DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks. I'm eager to see what kinds of defensive backs they get to augment the front. I'm interested to hear and see and report on the fresh, new aspects of the Eagles' defense, because I have to imagine there are going to be plenty of them. If this is just about shoehorning 4-3 personnel into a 3-4 scheme and getting rid of the guys who can't handle it, that's not going to be very interesting or very effective. And I highly doubt it's what the Eagles hired Kelly to do.

So this here is the Eric Edholm article about which you've likely heard, some time in the past 24 hours, if you're a Philadelphia Eagles fan. It's from 2009, when Billy Davis was the Cardinals' linebackers coach, and it features Davis explaining in detail the hybrid defensive alignment the Cardinals were running at the time. Something between a 3-4 and a 4-3 with "under" principles. Davis, who would soon thereafter become the Cardinals' defensive coordinator, has just landed a job as the Eagles' new defensive coordinator under Chip Kelly. And while it's no sure thing that he'll install the exact same defense he was using in Arizona, the story offers some potential clues about the way the Eagles will run their defense with Davis in charge.

The "under" front Davis employed in Arizona, which shifts toward the tight end side, looks like a 3-4. But it doesn't adhere strictly to 3-4 principles, and as you read the details in Eric's story you can start to believe the Eagles' current 4-3 personnel might fit the new defense better than initially thought:

But in the 4-3 'under' front, like the Cardinals use as their base defense which looks similar to the 3-4 to the naked eye, the biggest difference is in the outside linebackers. The strong-side linebacker is still outside the tight end. But the other outside guy -- the Cardinals call this player their "Predator" -- is almost always rushing the passer, although the Cards will occasionally drop him into covers to mix things up. Other differences: The nose tackle shades to the A-gap (in between the center and the guard) on the tight end side, and the end on that side moves between the tackle and tightend.

In this arrangement, the Eagles' "predator" could be either Trent Cole or Brandon Graham. Either one fits the mold as a pure pass-rusher with a great first step and, especially in Graham's case, a high motor. I'm not sure either of those guys translates to the strong-side linebacker role in this scheme, and Mychal Kendricks seems suited to the weak-side linebacker role. They may need to find a more traditional stand-up linebacker and either rotate or decide between Cole and Graham, since you have to think Cullen Jenkins and Fletcher Cox are the ends and the nose tackle is someone not yet on the roster.

Another interesting aspect has to do with veteran middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who would remain an extremely important player in a scheme such as this. It's true that one of the reasons the Texans traded Ryans to the Eagles was that he'd become an imperfect fit once they switched to a 3-4, but that had more to do with Ryans' salary and the emergence of fellow linebacker Brian Cushing as a superior three-down option than it did Ryans' ability to play the scheme. And if Davis runs a system similar to the one he ran in Arizona, Ryans takes on a vital dirty-work role:

The only player in the 4-3 'under' who is left uncovered is the "Mike," or the middle linebacker. In the Cardinals' scheme, that's usually Gerald Hayes. "That's my thumper, more of a thick guy," Davis said, circling the capital M on his piece of paper. "In the 'over' front, when I was in Atlanta [2001 to 2003], we put Keith Brooking -- we were actually playing an even scheme, too -- but we stacked Keith right behind the three [technique] and he got to run and make players and use his athleticism, and he made his first Pro Bowl playing behind the three."

But in this scheme Hayes, listed at 249 pounds ("or a little less than that," he admits with a wink and smile), is the only uncovered linebacker. That means he often will be taking on 300-pound guards head on. On Sunday, it could be Steeler ORG Darnell Stapleton and his 305 pounds that will meet Hayes more than once. "You don't think about," Hayes says, "you just do it. You can't worry about taking those guys on. It comes with the territory."

Ryans is listed at 247 pounds and seems a natural for that role, which would answer one of the big questions about the Eagles' current personnel transitioning to a new alignment.

Again, we will learn more about all of this in the coming months, and the way the Eagles line up on defense this year could look different even from what Davis has run in the past. But this is an interesting look at the new guy and where he comes from philosophically, and I found it interesting. Hope you did, too.

The strong consensus belief is that new coach Chip Kelly wants to change the Philadelphia Eagles to a 3-4 defense from the 4-3 they currently run, and Rich Hofmann has taken a look at what, specifically, that would entail. His conclusion is that the Eagles will ultimately need to find at least seven new starters and that the transformation will take at least two years to work effectively.

This is not sky-is-falling hype. There is ample evidence that the transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4 takes two years, and the personnel issue is well outlined here by Rich, who operates on the belief that the Eagles could use four new starters in the secondary regardless of how they decide to align the front seven. With Fletcher Cox (moving to defensive end), linebackers DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks and maybe pass-rusher Brandon Graham the only current front-seven players who look like good potential fits in a 3-4, the Eagles would have a lot of work to do. They'd have to find a nose tackle, a second end and at least one outside linebacker depending on whether Graham could transition. They'd have to cut ties with Trent Cole, who just signed a long-term deal last year. The Eagles, under this scenario, likely would spend much of 2013 evaluating their current personnel to decide who fits into the long-term 3-4 plan and then the 2014 offseason hunting players to fill the holes that crop up.

I personally think it's encouraging that Kelly views the repair of the Eagles' defense as a long-range project, because it should be. And if the new coach has been given reason to believe he has enough time to wait out the bumps that go along with this process, that's a good thing. He needs to feel comfortable and empowered to install his program his way. If you're a big-picture Eagles fan, you can embrace the idea of trying to overhaul the defense and re-create it as something new as opposed to patching holes. But it is going to take time, and it is going to look ugly at times in the short term. And I just think it's important that Eagles fans go into this season with that understanding.

Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a lot of good background information on the Philadelphia Eagles' hiring of Chip Kelly as their new head coach, including this:

Kelly favors an aggressive, attacking-style defense and will likely change the Eagles' scheme from a 4-3 to a 3-4, a source familiar with the coach's thinking said.

Well, that's interesting, no? And the way the Eagles played defense this year, it's hard to argue against change, even if it's for change's sake. But my first reaction is that I don't think the Eagles have the personnel to make this switch, and that it would require an even more drastic defensive rebuild than the one that faces them now.

Right now, they need to fix the secondary, but they have an excellent, deep, athletic 4-3 defensive line as well as a couple of good linebackers in DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks. If they switch to a 3-4, they need to evaluate what they have at all three levels of the defense, and here's what I think they'd find at the first two:

Defensive line: It's easy to see Fletcher Cox and Cullen Jenkins as good 3-4 defensive ends, but the Eagles would need a nose tackle. It's possible Antonio Dixon could be that, or they could draft Utah's Star Lotulelei with the No. 4 pick, but it would become a significant area of need if the Eagles did in fact make the switch.

Linebackers: Personally, I like the idea of Brandon Graham as a stand-up outside linebacker and I think Kendricks fits the mold of a fly-around inside linebacker in a 3-4, assuming he develops some. But I don't see Trent Cole making the transition to stand-up outside linebacker very smoothly. And Ryans, who was Philly's best defensive player in 2012, was just traded from Houston a year ago because he didn't fit anymore after the Texans switched to a 3-4, and the Eagles saw him as a prototypical middle linebacker in a 4-3.

The problem here, as Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. said when I asked him about this, is that a switch to a 3-4 doesn't really benefit any of the Eagles' current defensive players. Sure, some of them (such as Cox and Graham) could make transitions, but it's hard to see how any of them would thrive as a result of the change. And if that's the case, that means the Eagles are going to spend this offseason and likely the next one trying to figure out which pieces fit and which spots require them to find replacements. Seems like a major project that would require time and patience, and that's not always something NFL fans and franchises are willing or able to offer.

Who will run the Eagles' D? NFL Network raised the names of Georgia's Todd Grantham and Florida's Dan Quinn as potential defensive coordinators under Kelly, and Adam Schefter says he's heard both as possibilities. Whoever it is will have a significant responsibility to rescue a defense that flopped more or less completely in 2012, and his ability to do that will go a long way toward determining whether Kelly's tenure in Philadelphia is a success.

The initial reaction in Philadelphia to Chip Kelly's decision to stay at the University of Oregon instead of jumping to the NFL to coach the Philadelphia Eagles seems to be trending toward disdain. This guy doesn't have the guts to make the leap, if he doesn't want us we don't want him, that kind of stuff. And that's fine. You don't want to love without being loved back. Fair enough.

But it's pretty clear the Eagles did want Kelly, or else they wouldn't have spent as much time with him Saturday as they did. If they didn't really want him, they would have done what the Browns did early Sunday when Kelly was dithering and simply taken themselves out of the running. But they did want him, and so they waited all Sunday (while, yes, continuing their search with other candidates just in case) until he made the decision they feared he'd make, and now they move on to Plan B or C or whatever-letter-plan this is.

It's not devastating, but it does call into question the desirability of the Eagles' head coaching job, especially for people with cushier alternatives. You can convince yourself, if you like, that it was Phil Knight's Nike money that lured Kelly back to college, but I don't buy that. Kelly always knew he could count on Knight paying up to keep him. If what he wanted was to stay he wouldn't have been playing footsie with the NFL since October the way he did. No, you have to believe that the reason Kelly didn't take an NFL job this time around is that he didn't find the one he wanted. That the Eagles (and the Browns) were unable to sell him on the appeal of their job over the one he already has.

And that gets to the root of something I've been discussing on here and on Twitter for the past week. The Eagles' head coaching job is not some dream opportunity for which the cream of the coaching crop is going to climb all over itself. There are multiple red flags that could turn off highly qualified candidates and likely will end up forcing the Eagles to take a chance on an unproved coordinator. To wit:

• Whoever takes the job will have to figure out a messy and unsettled quarterback situation. Michael Vick appears out, as the Eagles won't take him back at his current salary. It's possible the next coach likes him and convinces him to renegotiate and stay. It's possible the next coach sees something akin to what Andy Reid saw in Nick Foles and decides to develop and build around him. But neither is a guarantee, and neither offers any kind of stability. This is the first and biggest problem for any coach who comes to Philadelphia -- answering the question of who's going to play quarterback.
• The new coach will inherit something of a rebuilding project on defense, as well. The Eagles look strong up front on the defensive line, and in DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks they have more at linebacker than they did a year ago. But the secondary could stand to be replaced wholesale, and beyond that the past few years have been a sloppy stew of changing and conflicting schemes and philosophies. Whoever takes the job will need somebody to build and run a defense for him.
• The Eagles have a GM in place. Howie Roseman is clearly owner Jeffrey Lurie's guy, and Lurie is looking for a coach who will work with Roseman while both GM and coach report directly to Lurie. This is not an ideal situation for a coach, like Kelly for instance, who may believe he requires a certain amount of control in order to install the program he wants to install. Whoever takes the job is going to have to accept Roseman as a fact of life and be willing to have certain personnel matters decided by someone other than himself.
• Finally, there is the pressure. Kelly is an icon at Oregon -- a program-builder who can do no wrong in the eyes of the fan base. For better or for worse, the fan base of the Philadelphia Eagles does not genuflect. To anyone. Whoever takes this job is going to have to accept working under some of the most intense (and yes, quite often unreasonable) pressure in the sports world. There may be a coach out there who gets energized by such an idea. But a guy who's already got a sweet, high-paying college gig or a sweet, high-paying TV gig is likely going to look at what coaches and players go through in that market and decide he doesn't need it in his life.

Someone's going to coach the Eagles. There are only 32 of these jobs in the world and only five of them are currently open. There are plenty of hungry coordinators and assistants who are dying to try their hand at any NFL job someone will offer them. The Eagles will continue to interview and consider and think this through, and ultimately they'll pick someone and hope, honestly, he can do as good a job as their last coach did. Better, actually, since the day-one mandate in Philadelphia will be to win a Super Bowl.

But if you thought the glitterati of the coaching ranks was going to be snaking a line around the NovaCare Complex begging for a chance to run the Eagles for the next few years, the process so far should show you that this job comes with a few more warts than you may have thought it did.

Good morning. As you've no doubt heard, we're having a pretty serious weather situation here in the northeast. So while I am hoping to populate the blog with much of the normal Monday stuff to which you're accustomed, I can't make any promises about how consistently I'll be able to update. It'll depend on when we lose power and for how long, and of course whether that's the worst thing that happens, which I currently hope it is. In the meantime, I hope you're all staying safe in the storm.

We do the links in standings order during the season, and Sunday's results did not change the order. The Giants' escape against the Cowboys in Dallas may have been shaky, but the result is that the Giants have a 2.5-game lead in the division with half of their schedule complete. The other three teams in the division are not playing like a real playoff contender right now, and if the Giants continue to win in the next couple of weeks they have a chance to put this thing away fairly soon. More on that and everyone else's issues in your morning links.

New York Giants (6-2)

Jason Pierre-Paul is so good it's ridiculous. His leaping interception and subsequent return for a touchdown in Sunday's victory gave the Giants' young superstar defensive end a chance to show off his basketball skills.

What Stevie Brown has given the Giants at safety since starter Kenny Phillips got hurt has been invaluable and completely unexpected. Brown collected two interceptions and recovered a fumble Sunday.

Philadelphia Eagles (3-4)

Phil Sheridan writes that Michael Vick sounds like a man defeated, based on the resigned way in which Vick reacted when it was suggested to him that Andy Reid might be thinking about changing quarterbacks. I admit to being surprised at the way Vick addressed that topic in his news conference. It was a weird afternoon in that locker room, and the tone of the interviews and conversations did little to shake my feeling that what's going on now is different from anything with which Reid has dealt in his career there.

There were issues early in the day too, including the brief benching of rookie linebacker Mychal Kendricks for missing a meeting. Kendricks' first four games of the season made him look like a defensive rookie of the year candidate. The last three have been nightmarish.

Dallas Cowboys (3-4)

The Cowboys fell behind 23-0 almost immediately Sunday, which made their comeback to take a 24-23 lead absolutely remarkable but also, to state the extremely obvious, made the game extremely difficult to win. Everybody from the quarterback to the owner heard the boos during the Cowboys' incomprehensibly bad start, and Tony Romo says he'd have booed too.

As disappointing as the loss was, Bryan Broaddus points out that Sunday featured several outstanding performances by Cowboys players -- none bigger than the 18-catch effort turned in by tight end Jason Witten.

Washington Redskins (3-5)

Sunday was not a great day for Robert Griffin III, as the Steelers' defense (and, in some cases, his own receivers) stymied him to an extent that he had not yet been stymied as a professional. But as the very wise Jason Reid writes, the story of this Redskins' season continues to be an undermanned defense that undermines everything Griffin might be able to do.

Rick Snider thinks it's time for the Redskins to change defensive coordinators. And it's not as though Rick doesn't make good points. I just question what the solution is. Do people really think it should be secondary coach Raheem Morris, when the secondary is the biggest problem? Whoever the Redskins brought in would surely find it impossible to succeed with the current defensive roster. Mike Shanahan brought in Jim Haslett because he was the guy he wanted to run his defense. And while it's possible he could rethink it, it's not the slam-dunk many seem to believe it is.

PHILADELPHIA -- Well, it appears as though Juan Castillo was not the Philadelphia Eagles' problem.

Eagles coach Andy Reid fired Castillo 12 days ago and replaced him as defensive coordinator with Todd Bowles. But in their first game after the bye week, the Eagles' defense has been tissue-paper soft, allowing the Atlanta Falcons to score on them in almost every conceivable way en route to a 24-7 halftime deficit.

Atlanta opened the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive that took 8:44 off the clock, then got the ball back almost immediately and took 4:18 more off the clock to score a second touchdown. And after the Eagles mounted a long drive of their own to cut the score to 14-7, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan hit Julio Jones for a 63-yard touchdown pass for the Falcons' third touchdown.

If there's any good news at all it's that the Eagles haven't turned the ball over (mainly because they've barely had it), and that they finally did get a third-down stop on the Falcons' final drive of the half, limiting the unbeaten Falcons to a field goal. And the Eagles do get the ball to start the second half. But none of that is going to matter if the defense can't find a way to get off the field. The Falcons were 6-for-7 on third down in the first half, and that doesn't even count the brutal Jason Babin defensive holding penalty that kept the opening drive alive on a third-down play.

Ryan was 17-for-20 for 197 yards in the first half. Six different Falcons have caught passes, three for touchdowns. The Falcons appear to be picking on Nnamdi Asomugha, who was beaten by Jones for the long touchdown, but Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and linebacker Mychal Kendricks have had plenty of their own problems in coverage, especially with penalties. The Eagles still don't have a sack.

All in all, the Falcons have so far looked like the best team in the league (which, the records say, they are), and the Eagles have looked confused. Castillo's firing was a desperate act by Reid, especially considering that his offense had been a bigger problem in the first six games than his defense had. A loss would drop the Eagles to 3-4 in a season in which they almost certainly need to reach the playoffs in order to save Reid's job. He is 13-0 in his career in games immediately following the bye week, but right now he needs a monster second-half comeback to make that 14-0. And if he doesn't, the firings that happen after this season might not be his call.

I sincerely wish this for all of you: If ever you decide you need to take a day completely off from Twitter because you can sort of see your breaking point speeding toward you, I hope it's the day on which some idiotic controversy erupts on there about whether Tony Romo hung up on his conference call with the Baltimore Ravens beat writers. I can't remember the last time I felt so justified about a decision in retrospect.

Links.

Philadelphia Eagles

Very nice story from Marcus Hayes on Eagles rookie linebacker Mychal Kendricks and where he came from. Kendricks had a poor game against the Steelers last week, but over the first four weeks of the season he was one of the league's best linebackers and a key to the Eagles' fast start on defense.

Jason Babin and Trent Cole are looking all over the place for answers to why the Eagles' defensive line isn't getting any sacks these days. Babin even called his dad to ask what he thought about it.

New York Giants

Victor Cruz didn't like that Carlos Rogers imitated his salsa touchdown dance last year and says he hopes he doesn't do it again. Rogers said he would, because he likes it. But later, when told that Cruz considered it a tribute to his late grandmother, Rogers said he'd been unaware of that and that the information changes his view of the whole thing. So it sounds like this is all civil now.

The Giants won the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco in January, but the offensive line remembers it as a game in which Eli Manning took way too many hits. They vow this time it will be different. The Giants' line has played very well this year, especially since Will Beatty got healthy and became the starting left tackle again. But the 49ers' pass rush is considerably tougher than any they have faced so far.

Dallas Cowboys

The defense missed linebacker Anthony Spencer in Week 4 against the Bears, and they may have to play without him again Sunday in Baltimore, Spencer continues to miss practice due to a pectoral muscle injury.

The Cowboys cannot keep their punters healthy. Their punter is hurt and the punter they signed to replace him his hurt. Ironically, the punter they had last year that they really liked but let go of because they didn't think he could stay healthy is healthy and punting for the Eagles. Anyway, the Cowboys are probably going to need to find another new punter by Sunday.

Washington Redskins

Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, who suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to Atlanta, returned to the practice field Wednesday and says everything is going well in his attempt to recover in time to play Sunday against Minnesota. Still has to pass more tests as the week goes along, but the early indicators are positive on Griffin's status for Sunday.

Kent Babb, in consultation with folks around the NFL, explores the idea of how and how long Griffin can continue to play the way he plays if he wants to avoid further head injuries.

Not a lot of changes this week to the All-Division Team, which now includes nine Giants, nine Eagles, six Redskins and three Cowboys. The most significant are at quarterback, where the Redskins' concussed rookie lost his spot to the guy I think is playing the position better than anyone else in the league right now, and at outside linebacker, where Mychal Kendricks' first bad game as a pro was enough to cost him his spot and force all of you DeMarcus Ware fans to find something else to yell at me about this week.

Before we get to the list, the disclaimer that no one will read: This is an All-Division Team based on overall performance in the season to date. It is not -- repeat, NOT merely a position-by-position list of the best Week 5 performances. That's why Ahmad Bradshaw isn't on it.

That out of the way, I present this week's edition of the team, with some explanatory notes at the bottom.

Quarterback: Eli Manning, New York Giants (Last week: Robert Griffin III)

Running back: Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins (Morris)

Wide receiver: Victor Cruz, New York Giants; DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles (Cruz, Jackson)

Tight end: Brent Celek, Eagles (Martellus Bennett)

Fullback: Darrel Young, Redskins (Young)

Left tackle: Trent Williams, Redskins (Williams)

Left guard: Evan Mathis, Eagles (Mathis)

Center: Will Montgomery, Redskins (Montgomery)

Right guard: Chris Snee, Giants (Snee)

Right tackle: Todd Herremans, Eagles (Herremans)

Defensive end: Jason Pierre-Paul, Giants; Jason Babin, Eagles (Pierre-Paul, Babin)

Defensive tackle: Cullen Jenkins, Eagles; Linval Joseph, Giants (Jenkins, Rocky Bernard)

Outside linebacker: Ryan Kerrigan, Redskins; DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys (Kerrigan, Mychal Kendricks)

Inside linebacker: Sean Lee, Cowboys; DeMeco Ryans, Eagles (Lee, Ryans)

Cornerback: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Eagles, Brandon Carr, Cowboys (Rodgers-Cromartie, Carr)

Safety: Nate Allen, Eagles, Antrel Rolle, Giants (Allen, Kenny Phillips)

Kicker: Lawrence Tynes, Giants (Tynes)

Punter: Sav Rocca, Redskins (Rocca)

Kick returner: David Wilson, Giants (Wilson)

Punt returner: Rueben Randle, Giants (Randle)

• Yes, I consider LeSean McCoy a better running back than Alfred Morris. No, I do not think McCoy is having the better season. Morris has more yards, more yards per carry and more touchdowns. He deserves the spot for now.
• Bennett had been holding off Celek for the tight end spot because of his blocking. But Celek's blocking has also been tremendous, and for me he surpassed Bennett this week.
• Will Beatty of the Giants is one more very good week away from passing Trent Williams at left tackle, and that's no knock on Williams, who's having a very good year. Beatty is playing that well.
• Feel free to help me out at safety. Almost no one's playing that position well. Almost left Phillips in there even though he's out for the foreseeable future with an injury. Weak spot this year in the division.
• Got a lot of grief last week for ranking Jenkins over teammate Fletcher Cox at defensive tackle. I think Cox has played well, but I see what I see. Jenkins moves all over the line and does more. I went back and looked it all over again, watched last week's game tape and this week's over to see if I was nuts. And I feel good about the pick.

As ever, I welcome your thoughts.

Quarterback remains a tough call on this week's edition of the NFC East All-Division Team. I started by eliminating the turnover machines in Dallas and Philadelphia from contention (though their non-turnovers numbers aren't bad, and Michael Vick did just manage to go without a turnover in the biggest game of his season so far) and focus on the Giants' Eli Manning and the Redskins' Robert Griffin III. And I did so while keeping in mind the disclaimer that no one ever reads, in spite of the bold type and capital letters:

This is an All-Division Team based on season performance to date. It is not -- repeat, NOT -- simply a recap of the best performances of the past week. That is why Jason Witten is not on it.

That in mind, how to compare what Manning has done so far with what Griffin has done? Both are 2-2. Manning has 250 more passing yards, but he's put it in the air 36 more times, and besides, Griffin has 249 more rushing yards, so that's a bit of a wash. Griffin has the far better completion percentage, a slightly higher yards-per-attempt average, one interception to Manning's four and the same number of fourth-quarter comebacks. Manning has more touchdown passes, 7 to 4, but again, Griffin's rushed for four. Manning had the spot on the team last week, so you'd think Griffin would have to have done something in Week 4 to overtake him. I say he did enough.

This week's team is a bit unbalanced, and isn't going to help me in Dallas. It has nine Eagles, nine Giants, seven Redskins and just two Cowboys. I guess that doesn't look too ridiculous after the way the Cowboys played their most recent game, but I assure you it's based on all four games so far and not any sort of punishment for what we saw Monday.

Anyway, here's the team. More comments to follow:

Quarterback: Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins (Last week: Eli Manning)

Running back: Alfred Morris, Redskins (Andre Brown)

Wide receiver: Victor Cruz, New York Giants; DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles (Cruz, Miles Austin)

Tight end: Martellus Bennett, Giants (Bennett)

Fullback: Darrel Young, Redskins (Young)

Left tackle: Trent Williams, Redskins (Williams)

Left guard: Evan Mathis, Eagles (Mathis)

Center: Will Montgomery, Redskins (Montgomery)

Right guard: Chris Snee, Giants (Snee)

Right tackle: Todd Herremans, Eagles (Herremans)

Defensive end: Jason Pierre-Paul, Giants; Jason Babin, Eagles (Pierre-Paul, Babin)

Defensive tackle: Cullen Jenkins, Eagles; Rocky Bernard, Giants (Jenkins, Bernard)

Outside linebacker: Ryan Kerrigan, Redskins; Mychal Kendricks, Eagles (Kerrigan, Kendricks)

Inside linebacker: Sean Lee, Dallas Cowboys; DeMeco Ryans, Eagles (Ryans, Lee)

Cornerback: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Eagles, Brandon Carr, Cowboys (Carr, Rodgers-Cromartie)

Safety: Kenny Phillips, Giants; Nate Allen, Eagles (Phillips, Gerald Sensabaugh)

Kicker: Lawrence Tynes, Giants (Tynes)

Punter: Sav Rocca, Redskins (Chris Jones)

Kick returner: David Wilson, Giants (Brandon Banks)

Punt returner: Rueben Randle, Giants (Damaris Johnson)

• No, I am not simply penciling in the same offensive linemen week after week. I do watch the games and evaluate. For example, I thought Tyron Smith and Nate Livings did a much better job on the left side of the Cowboys' line on Monday Night, and I have been extremely impressed with the work of the Giants' Will Beatty at left tackle since he returned from his injury. But I do not, to this point, believe the season-to-date body of work of any of those players has been better than that of Williams or Mathis. I am keeping an eye on it, though, I promise.
• And yeah, I mean, I'm sorry. I have ample respect for the work and the career and the brilliance of DeMarcus Ware as one of the dominant defensive players in the NFL. But the Kendricks kid in Philadelphia is simply playing too well to take off the list. He was all over the place Sunday, covering Bennett, covering Cruz, even pressuring Manning into throwing the ball away on the Giants' final drive of the game. He's a little bit like Lee in Dallas in his ability to not just recognize what's going on (i.e., the poor snap on that play I just mentioned) and react to it, but also to maintain his composure and technique and actually make the play once he gets to where he needs to be. The rookie is playing linebacker as well as anyone in the league right now (other than maybe Kerrigan, who's a complete animal), and he deserves this spot, no matter how fantastic a career the other guy has had.
• Carr had a horrible game for the Cowboys on Monday, but his four-game body of work still merits the spot. Part of it was that I couldn't find anyone else who was crying out to deserve it. The guy I looked at most closely was Prince Amukamara of the Giants, who (like the aforementioned Beatty) has been very good since finally getting on the field.
• Safety play has been an issue this year, in that few in the division have played it well. And Phillips, who's the best one, is likely to lose his spot in the coming weeks as he misses time with a knee injury. I welcome suggestions on safety. I feel like Allen has played pretty well.
• Running back was close between Morris and LeSean McCoy, and touchdowns were my tiebreaker... Jackson took Austin's spot but not by much... Brent Celek nearly knocked off Bennett at tight end, and I looked at Trent Cole, Fletcher Cox and Linval Joseph at defensive line... His early-season blocks behind him, Rocca has ascended back to the top of the NFC East punter heap on the strength of four fair catches and five punts inside the 20.

So that's the team for this week. As ever, I welcome your thoughts.

Matt Williamson of Scouts, Inc. has his weekly "Rookie Watch" posted, and three of the top 10 players in it are NFC East players. It's an Insider piece, so you have to send me a check if you want to read it, but I can tell you that this is where our division's players rank:

2. Robert Griffin III, QB, Washington Redskins

6. Mychal Kendricks, LB, Philadelphia Eagles

9. Alfred Morris, RB, Washington Redskins

No other division has more than two in the top 10, and the NFC East also has two guys in the honorable mention list -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne and Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. It's a fun time to be a fan of these teams on which young players are making such an impact in their first years, and I'm sure it gives fans plenty of reason to hope for good things to come in the future.

Redskins fans will wonder, of course, why Griffin is No. 2 on the list and not No. 1. It is Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, taken one spot ahead of Griffin at the top of this year's draft, who sits atop Matt's list. Matt has consistently called this a very difficult choice between the two, and he expects that it will remain so for the rest of their careers. Both are obviously excellent young players, and you can probably find as many people who would rate Griffin No. 1 and Luck No. 2 as you can people who would flip the order. Matt's one concern, articulated here, is about the way Mike Shanahan and the Redskins are running the offense in the very early part of Griffin's career without top wideout Pierre Garcon on the field:

Shanahan better quit calling so much option if he wants to keep Griffin upright. That cannot be the foundation of Washington's rushing attack.

A point being brought up by worried Redskins fans all over the DMV this week, and one worth watching. Personally, I think the option stuff is just one of several things Shanahan believes he can do with Griffin. It has been a good idea early without Garcon in the lineup and while Griffin gets used to the speed of the NFL game. I doubt they plan to run this all season, and Morris has shown enough early that they could afford to give him more carries.

Yes, we have a change at the quarterback position this week, and that's the position about which everyone seems to get the most excited. But it wasn't that difficult a decision, really. Through three games, Eli Manning has 264 more passing yards, a marginally lower completion percentage and one more touchdown that Robert Griffin III. He's thrown three interceptions to Griffin's one, but these things happen when you actually throw the ball down the field. He has also taken five fewer sacks. It was close last week and remains close this week, but Manning has surpassed the rookie in terms of overall body of work in 2012.

The tougher call was actually at running back. By now you all should know about the disclaimer that no one ever reads: This is an All-Division Team based on overall season performance to date. It is not -- repeat, NOT -- simply an All-Star team based on the previous week's performance. This is why Ramses Barden is not on it.

However, the team's running back is the Giants' Andre Brown, who has only played a game and a half. He won out over the Eagles' LeSean McCoy and the Redskins' Alfred Morris, each of whom has been a starter for all three games this season. Brown's addition to the team would seem to fly directly in the face of the aforementioned disclaimer, and in order for him to make the team I would have to be convinced that his six-quarter performance was more impressive than what Morris and McCoy have done in their 12. Fact is, I was.

Brown has 79 fewer rushing yards than Morris and 77 fewer than McCoy. But his yards-per-carry average of 5.6 is far better than their 4.3 and 4.5. He has three touchdowns, which ties Morris and is two more than McCoy. He has no fumbles, and neither does Morris, but McCoy has two. It was Morris, and not McCoy, who was Brown's closest competition for this week's honor, and the simple fact is that I think Brown has been the better runner this season. It was a difficult call, and with the return of Ahmad Bradshaw likely this week, I have to imagine this is Brown's only appearance on this list, but I thought he deserved it based on the overall performance of everyone in the division in the first three weeks of the season. Had either of the other two been performing at a standout level, it would have been impossible for Brown to overtake them after a game and a half. But neither is (and yes, I know you can argue that McCoy's issue is one of limited opportunity), so Brown gets the nod because he has.

Here's the team, which this week includes nine Giants, eight Eagles, five Redskins and five Cowboys, and I have some more observations down at the bottom:

Quarterback: Eli Manning, New York Giants (Last week: Robert Griffin III)

Running back: Andre Brown, Giants (LeSean McCoy)

Wide receiver: Victor Cruz, Giants; Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys (Cruz, Hakeem Nicks)

Tight end: Martellus Bennett, Giants (Brent Celek)

Fullback: Darrel Young, Washington Redskins (Young)

Left tackle: Trent Williams, Redskins (Williams)

Left guard: Evan Mathis, Philadelphia Eagles (Mathis)

Center: Will Montgomery, Redskins (Montgomery)

Right guard: Chris Snee, Giants (Snee)

Right tackle: Todd Herremans, Eagles (Herremans)

Defensive end: Jason Pierre-Paul, Giants; Jason Babin, Eagles (Pierre-Paul, Jason Hatcher)

Defensive tackle: Cullen Jenkins, Eagles; Rocky Bernard, Giants (Bernard, Fletcher Cox)

Outside linebacker: Ryan Kerrigan, Redskins; Mychal Kendricks, Eagles (Kerrigan, DeMarcus Ware)

Inside linebacker: DeMeco Ryans, Eagles; Sean Lee, Cowboys (Ryans, Lee)

Cornerback: Brandon Carr, Cowboys; Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Eagles (Rodgers-Cromartie, Josh Wilson)

Safety: Kenny Phillips, Giants; Gerald Sensabaugh, Cowboys (Phillips, Sensabaugh)

Kicker: Lawrence Tynes, Giants (Billy Cundiff)

Punter: Chris Jones, Cowboys (Jones)

Kick returner: Brandon Banks, Redskins (David Wilson)

Punt returner: Damaris Johnson, Eagles (Brandon Banks)

• Carr takes his place at cornerback, supplanting Wilson after Wilson's tough game against Cincinnati. Wilson is actually having a very good season overall, but Carr hasn't had one bad play that I've seen, and he gets good-teammate bonus points for moving over to safety once Barry Church went out. Carr has shut down opposing receivers in all three games, and his work against Tampa Bay's Vincent Jackson on Sunday was his best yet.
• Sorry, Jason Hatcher. It might be unfair, but as a 3-4 defensive end you almost have to be over-the-top great to hold off the 4-3 sack artists. Hatcher barely beat out Babin (and fellow 3-4 end Stephen Bowen) last week, but Babin's three-game tape is simply more impressive. Could be because of the difference in the position they play, but dem's the breaks.
• On the flip side, Ware hasn't looked like his usual horrifying self yet this season, and while I imagine he'll come back and take his spot, Kendricks deserves this mention for the way he's played consistently as a 4-3 outside linebacker in all three Eagles' games. Along with Ryans, he's a huge part of the reason for this season's defensive improvements.
• Bennett has been a monster blocker and has caught a touchdown pass in all three games. Cowboys fans can scoff, and justifiably doubt whether it will continue. But through three games, he's been a difference-maker at tight end for the Giants.
• Trent Williams left Sunday's game with a knee injury in the first quarter, which would have opened up this team's left tackle spot if anybody had been close behind him. But no one has been, as tackle continues to be a huge problem division-wide. Will Beatty of the Giants played it the best this week, but that was only one game, and Williams was excellent in the first two.
• The kicker decision wasn't easy, as Cundiff continues to hammer touchback after touchback and has made every one of his field goal attempts inside 62 yards. But Tynes is 10-for-10 on field goals, and for me that's better by enough than Cundiff's 5-for-6 to overcome Cundiff's proficiency on kickoffs.

That's what I've got for this week. I welcome your thoughts, as always.

Good Monday morning to you. Little bit of a "market correction Sunday," unfortunately for the fans of two of our teams and fortunately for the fans of one. I think the Cowboys' and Redskins' losses were bad losses and the Giants' and Eagles' wins were tough, if ugly, wins. We knew the Giants were tough. We had plenty of reason, after last year, to think the Eagles weren't. They have shown in their first two games that, in spite of quite a number of other flaws, they're at least tougher this year than they were in 2011. And that's something on which they can build.

In case you're new, when we're in season we do the breakfast links in order of division standings. With a three-way tie for second, I'm using division record as the tiebreaker. The Redskins haven't played a division game. The Cowboys beat the Giants in the only division game so far this year. That explains the order. Now, links.

Philadelphia Eagles (2-0)

Bad things happen in life, some of them our fault and some out of our control. All any of us can do after the bad things happen is handle them the best we can. This is what Phil Sheridan believes Michael Vick has shown in his first two games, recovering from a mess of turnovers to lead a pair of game-winning drives. Vick is obviously not playing well, but he's 2-0. And I have to believe Eagles fans would rather that be the case than the opposite.

The Eagles' defense has been absolutely stellar in both games. A lot has to do with the veteran leadership (and excellent play) of new middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans. But they've also been getting big-time contributions from rookies Mychal Kendricks and Brandon Boykin, as Geoff Mosher writes.

Dallas Cowboys (1-1)

If you brought home a report card like the one Tim MacMahon handed the Cowboys after Sunday's loss in Seattle, your folks wouldn't let you out of the house for a month. The D-minus for the passing offense qualifies as the lone "bright spot." I do find it interesting that they didn't blitz the rookie quarterback Russell Wilson after blitzing Eli Manning more last week than they did last year. In general, it seems the Cowboys prefer not to blitz, but I thought the point was that this year they'd do it more because of all that improved coverage in the secondary.

The Golden Tate hit on Sean Lee was out of line, and the Cowboys expect that Tate will be fined for it. Good for Lee for playing it down. Guy's a professional. Also, he's a linebacker who got walloped by a wide receiver. Can't imagine he was too fired up to discuss that, whether it was legal or not.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins' defensive front seven is a critical element to their team, and likely its biggest strength. As Jason Reid writes, key injuries to Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker altered a lot about the way the Redskins were able to attack the Rams' offense Sunday. We await word on the severity of the injuries, but extended missed time for either or both would be difficult for the Redskins to overcome. Mike Jones writes that it doesn't sound good for either guy.

If the front seven isn't dominant, the secondary is exposed, and my goodness did the Rams' Danny Amendola expose it.

New York Giants

What we wrote about Vick up in the Eagles links is certainly something that applies to Eli Manning's Sunday as well. Manning had a rough start but ended up with (gulp) 510 passing yards and three touchdowns. All summer, the Giants said they didn't want to ask Manning to have to come back and win games with his arm over and over again this year. But they sure do love knowing that he can.

The Giants' offensive line had to shuffle some things when right tackle David Diehl went out with a knee injury. Will Beatty was happy for the chance to get some snaps, though not happy about the reason he got them. We await word on the severity of the Diehl injury and the way the Giants plan to use their tackles in the coming weeks. Remember, they have the Thursday night game this week.

PHILADELPHIA -- Despite everything, the Philadelphia Eagles had the lead. Despite four more turnovers, six more penalties and a slew of significant injuries to offensive starters, the players in the Eagles' defensive huddle were looking up at a scoreboard that showed them leading the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 with 1:55 to go and the ball on the Baltimore 20-yard line, and they were fired up.

"This is the play!" middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans shouted at his teammates, before each of the eight plays the Ravens would run on that final series. "This is the play we make to close the game!"

And the Eagles bought it. And make those plays they did. Rookie cornerback Brandon Boykin went high in the air to break up a Joe Flacco pass. Safety Nate Allen busted up a couple. Nnamdi Asomugha got one, too, though he got called for illegal contact on his and handed the Ravens five yards with 1:21 to play. Just one more obstacle, and Ryans kept barking, kept urging. The defensive line swarmed Flacco, who threw incomplete on third-and-1, incomplete on fourth-and-1, and Ryans' prophecy came true. The defense held.

The Eagles held on for a 24-23 victory over the Ravens. Despite it all, and for the second week in a row, the Eagles had come back in the fourth quarter to win a game by one point. And if you watched the Eagles play the fourth quarter last year, there's no other way to put it: This is new.

"I think the belief is what's new," Asomugha said. "I think we would say the same thing in the huddle last year, but we'd be wondering what play we were going to run and not really be believing it. So I think that belief is there now that, when it comes down to the end of the game, we can finish it off."

The turnover problems, the penalty problems and the general sloppiness are not new. Those were here last year, and they're still here. Whether the Eagles can correct those things will go a long way toward determining what kind of season they have. But there has been enough talk so far about what's the same about this year's Eagles. Sunday's game, in the end, and same as last week, was about what's different. Last year's Eagles didn't come back to win games in the fourth quarter. Last year's Eagles didn't stop teams on that final drive. Last year's Eagles were giving away September games they should have won. This year's Eagles are winning September games they should have lost.

"We've been put in that same position two weeks in a row, and we love it," safety Kurt Coleman said. "It builds character. We're glad we've come away with two wins, but what's just as important is the way games like that, and proving to yourself every week that you can win them, really help build the character of your football team."

This was one of the big questions about the 2012 Eagles. Last year's flop gave everyone reason to doubt whether this group had it where it counts -- whether it had the guts, the heart, the whatever-you-want-to-call-it that teams need to win games in the fourth quarter. Adding Ryans at middle linebacker, picking rookies such as Boykin, Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks to infuse the defense with energy, intensity and depth -- these are moves that have so far paid off. The Eagles have needed their defense to stiffen up when the offense was struggling and repeatedly handing the ball to the other team in each of their first two games. Twice now, that defense has responded. The Eagles gave up just 146 yards in the second half of the game while Michael Vick and his crew erased a 17-7 deficit. They watched starting center Jason Kelce, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and left tackle King Dunlap get carted away to the locker room. They watched Vick somehow figure out an 80-yard touchdown drive in the final five minutes, nearly turning it over again but holding just tough enough to get it done.

"It was obviously like, 'Here we go again,'" said Vick, who has thrown a stunning six interceptions in his first two games but also completed 23-of-32 passes for 371 yards in Sunday's contest. "But you just look at your teammates, your coaches, the people who depend on you, and you just want to get it done. It's just another opportunity to be 2-0, and that's all it boils down to."

For the most part, that's true. It's not as though the Eagles don't still have issues. They won't be able to average 4.5 turnovers per game and expect to win every week. Kelce's injury appears serious enough to end his season, and that's going to matter. Maclin looks like a guy who's going to be playing hurt, at best, for some time. Many of the play-calling and discipline issues that have been driving Eagles fans for years remain in evidence, and as the weeks go along they will want to see them taken care of.

"Look, there's nothing I can tell you," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "I don't like turnovers. I don't want turnovers. The players don't want turnovers, so we have to get better at it. You have to hang onto the football when you're given a chance to handle the football, and you have to make sure you throw it to the right person. This isn't something we planned on having."

But despite it all, the Eagles are 2-0. And just as they all believed in each other to come back and beat the Ravens this week, they believe they can fix their problems over the long haul. And amid all of this, they've already shown more toughness and heart and grit in two games than they showed last year in 16. And that's got a chance to serve them extremely well if they ever get the sloppy stuff fixed.

PHILADELPHIA -- A few thoughts following the Philadelphia Eagles' 24-23 comeback victory over the Baltimore Ravens at Lincoln Financial Field:

What it means: The Eagles are 2-0 with a pair of one-point victories in games that have seen them turn the ball over nine total times. Sloppy, yes, but 2-0 is 2-0, and for all of the mistakes he's made, quarterback Michael Vick has also led two game-winning drives. If the Eagles can get their turnover problem solved, they will be very tough, and very glad they swiped these first two.

My goodness, with the turnovers: The Eagles turned the ball over five times in their opener last week in Cleveland and yet somehow managed to come back and win that game. This week, they turned it over three times in the first half alone and four times in the game. Some seemed avoidable, like Vick's first interception. And some seemed less so, like his second. But the problem is significant, and it undercuts everything they do. They have playmakers on offense, and everyone from LeSean McCoy to DeSean Jackson to a banged-up Jeremy Maclin to tight end Brent Celek showed off while the Eagles piled up the yards. But you can string together as many nice-looking offensive plays as you want -- if you keep handing it to the other team, and the other team is as fundamentally sound as the Ravens are, you're not going to win very often.

Give it up for the D: Turnovers also put a ton of pressure on your defense. And while they were victimized by a few big plays here and there, overall the Eagles' defense looked dominant in this game. They had consistent pressure in Joe Flacco's face. When Ray Rice got through the line, they swarmed to stop him. Linebackers DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks made all kinds of plays. Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie covered well. Rookie defensive tackle Fletcher Cox was disruptive. The Eagles' defense is good and deep and built to last the full 60 minutes, and it's the main reason they were still in the game with a chance to win it late in spite of the errors on offense.

One exception: Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha struggled badly with Ravens receiver Jacoby Jones, who burned him for a touchdown early and appeared to have caught another one late before an offensive pass interference call wiped it out. He was also flagged for illegal contact on the Ravens' final drive. Asomugha may be playing well most of the time, but the spotlight is on him as the team's biggest 2011 free agent, and he's going to be judged on these big plays he gives up, unless he stops giving them up.

Medical ward: Left tackle King Dunlap, center Jason Kelce and Maclin were among the significant Eagles to leave the game with injuries. Waiting to hear, obviously, on long-range consequences. But Maclin was playing with a bad hip, and that's what he injured. He came back in the game, but it might make sense for the Eagles to try to manage that injury by limiting Maclin's playing time in the next couple of weeks or sitting him out for a game.

A note on the officiating: The NFL should be ashamed of itself. The officials' lockout is the height of arrogance, and the NFL believes it can pull it off. But the crew it sent here was a mess all day. Couldn't work the microphone. Didn't know the appropriate distance on penalties. Clearly nervous, and moreso as the close game went on. It's not these guys' fault they're in this impossible situation. It's the NFL's, for locking out the real officials. The league is cheating its fans and demeaning its product, and more people should be angry at the owners for what they're doing.

What's next: The Eagles travel to Arizona, where they will take on the Cardinals next Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET. Former Eagle Kevin Kolb played quarterback for Arizona in place of the injured John Skelton in Sunday's upset victory over New England. It's possible Skelton could return, but right now it looks as though the Eagles should get ready for Kolb, whom they traded to Arizona last summer for Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick.