Cowboys' Secondary Tops NFC East

The NFC East is no stranger to standouts in the secondary.

Darrell Green locked down one side of the defense in Washington for almost two decades while fellow Hall of Famer Ken Houston scared receivers who dared to come over the middle against the Redskins. Deion Sanders danced through five seasons in Dallas at the same cornerback spot where Mel Renfro was once arguably the NFL's best. Brian Dawkins (six) and Eric Allen (five) were perennial Pro Bowl picks for Philadelphia. Only New York, which hasn't had a Pro Bowl defensive back since 1988, doesn't have a modern-day history of superior secondary play.

Even last year with Dawkins having moved on to Denver, the Giants collapse on defense during the final three months and the Redskins' 4-12 disaster, three of the four starters in the NFC's Pro Bowl secondary were from the division: Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman (backed up by teammate Mike Jenkins), cornerback Asante Samuel and strong safety Quentin Mikell of the Eagles.

Let's take a look at how the NFC East's secondaries compare this season.

1. Dallas -- Newman sometimes gambles and loses like a typically confident cornerback, but he has been chosen for two of the past three Pro Bowls. Newman had 11 interceptions despite missing nine games with injuries the past three seasons. He turns 32 on Saturday -- advanced middle age for a corner -- but he was still effective in 2009. Jenkins, 25, could be ready to supplant Newman as the Cowboys' stopper in his third season.

The 2008 first-round draft choice had five picks last year. Steady strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh, 27, arrived from Jacksonville in 2009 while cocky 25-year-old Alan Ball replaces departed free safety Ken Hamlin. Third-year corner Orlando Scandrick is the most experienced of the young group of reserves.

2. Philadelphia -- Samuel, 29, remains one of the NFL's elite corners. He tied for the league lead with nine interceptions last season. Ellis Hobbs, 27, another former Patriot, takes over at the other corner for Sheldon Brown, who was traded to Cleveland in April after the Eagles wouldn't renegotiate his contract. Joselio Hanson and Dimitri Patterson are decent backups.

Mikell, who turns 30 this month, is the only remaining defensive starter from Philadelphia's 2004 NFC champions. He has taken on more of a leadership role since Dawkins' exit. Macho Harris and the departed Sean Jones shared free safety in 2009, but second-rounder Nate Allen moved into that spot the first week of camp. Quintin Demps, seventh-rounder Kurt Coleman and Harris are the other reserves.

3. Washington -- Only Samuel (33), 2009 Defensive Player of the Year Charles Woodson of Green Bay (30) and ex-Redskin Champ Bailey of Denver (28) have had more interceptions at cornerback the past six years than DeAngelo Hall (26). And no corner has totaled more interception return yards during this period. Hall, 26, notched eight picks in 20 games since coming to Washington in November 2008 and added two more this preseason in the new 3-4 defense that the Redskins believe will produce more takeaways than their league-low 17 last year. Fellow corner Carlos Rogers is much happier playing for new coordinator Jim Haslett than for Greg Blache -- who benched him each of the past two years. Rogers, 29, can cover and he would have had plenty of picks during his first five years if his hands weren't so bad.

Big hitter LaRon Landry, 25, is back at strong safety where he belongs, and where he played as a rookie in 2007 before free safety Sean Taylor's death. Hustler Reed Doughty, 27, will likely start next to Landry as he did most of 2009 until corner Kareem Moore, 26, returns from a knee injury in three to five weeks. Former Oakland/Tampa Bay/Detroit starter Phillip Buchanon, who turns 30 this month, replaces the departed Fred Smoot as the nickel corner. Chris Horton, a surprise starter as a seventh-rounder in 2008, and former Steeler Tyrone Carter, 34, are also on hand at safety while youngsters Justin Tryon, Kevin Barnes and Byron Westbrook were battling former Brown Ramzee Robinson, 26, at corner.

4. New York -- The Giants' defense was strafed for an average of 32 points during the 3-8 finish that followed a 5-0 start in 2009. Top corner Aaron Ross and safety Kenny Phillips, the 2008 first-rounders, were hurt almost the whole year. Corners Corey Webster, 28, and Terrell Thomas, 25, didn't play as well as expected and safeties C.C. Brown and Aaron Rouse were so bad, they're now ex-Giants.

New York general manager Jerry Reese signed free agent safeties Antrel Rolle, 27, and Deon Grant, 31, from Arizona and Carolina, respectively, to team with the recovering Phillips, 23. Though, 2009 regular Michael Johnson, 26, is still on hand. Ross, soon to be 28, Webster and Thomas all missed time in preseason, but none are seriously hurt. Bruce Johnson, who started five games in 2009 at 21, is also back for coordinator Perry Fewell, the former Buffalo interim coach who has replaced the fired Bill Sheridan.