I think the key to this year, beyond the defense being very tough again, is that the new OC does not forget to get the ball in the hands of Shannon Brooks at least 20 times and possibly an almost equal number of times to Rodney Smith.
I know that is a big workload, but if they can get OL to a good place, Brooks and Smith are great enough to carry the team. The last regime cost themselves a couple of wins by putting it the hands of #7, instead of feeding Shannon Brooks the ball. The TV guys and people that do not know enough about the team always talk about Smith, and he is very good, but Brooks brings something more to table, or at least I have always liked him a little more if someone is going to get a few more carries.
In the case of MBIII and Maroney I never worried about who would get more carries, since we ran the all so much, and that meant I never had to choose a favorite, but they were both rare talents, with somewhat different strengths. I hope we can have two more years of a similar situation with the current RBs, and maybe Femi Cole or #22 can be the Thomas Tapeh of this team. This RB based approach might take some pressure off of the raw QB as well.
