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If you could have exactly five Pro Bowl players . . .


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Theoretically, a QB, WR, WR, WR, and TE would mean we must have the most prolific passing offense in NFL history and probably go undefeated...or even a QB, WR, WR, TE, and RB.

I think back to the SD Chargers of the early 1980s: Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, John Jefferson, Wes Chandler, Kellen Winslow (plus Chuck Muncie and James Brooks). One heck of a fun team to watch, but 0 championships.

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A little too nice a team! :P Kyle Williams is a Pro Bowler, so having him + 5 Pro Bowl offensive linemen would be one Pro Bowler too many. If Dareus becomes a Pro Bowler as well, that would be two Pro Bowlers too many!

 

That said, I agree that the OL you've described would go a very long way toward improving the Bills.

 

You know what would happen if the Bills had TWO ProBowl DTs at the same time?

 

THIS!

 

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If I'm running a team from scratch and can bring in five pro-bowlers, that, to me, is a no brainer, too.

 

QB - a great one can elevate the rest of the offense.

 

Defense - NT, a great one can eliminate runs up the middle. OLB - a great one, like Mathews, just scares the devil out of QB's. And, finally, two CB's - to do much like the Jets did last year and just shut down the opposition's offense. If they can't run up the middle, and can't pass much, well...

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I think back to the SD Chargers of the early 1980s: Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, John Jefferson, Wes Chandler, Kellen Winslow (plus Chuck Muncie and James Brooks). One heck of a fun team to watch, but 0 championships.

 

Good point...counter point would be that NE came within one fluke catch by David Tyree on his helmet from a perfect season with a Pro Bowl QB, WR, WR...add another 2 Pro Bowlers in any combo of RB, WR, and TE and NE runs the score up that SB and NY is never in position to win on a fluke throw and even flukier catch that prevented the game from ending and allowed Eli to throw the game winning TD a moment later. :P

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Good point...counter point would be that NE came within one fluke catch by David Tyree on his helmet from a perfect season with a Pro Bowl QB, WR, WR...add another 2 Pro Bowlers in any combo of RB, WR, and TE and NE runs the score up that SB and NY is never in position to win on a fluke throw and even flukier catch that prevented the game from ending and allowed Eli to throw the game winning TD a moment later. :P

Yeah, NE. I think the major differences between NE and SD are that NE was more balanced (they had a solid D to go with their offense) and NE had more of a ball control offense to help keep pressure off their defense. But, fluke or no, the three highest scoring teams in NFL history (2007 NE, 1998 Minnesota and 1983 Washington) could not win a championship.

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I'm surprised with so many people going corner over safety. With how reed, bob sanders, polamaulu just change games. I'd rather get the big plays than make the game 10-10 if I haaaave to choose. Get a pass rush, clog the middle and last up, get your qb of the secondary and turnover machine

 

The more I think about it, I follow the ravens D with ngata, Thomas, Lewis and reed type molds, and add the probowl qb. 3 in the front seven, two being very versatile and a playmaker in the back to scoop up the ball. Add a qb and your looking good.

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I'm surprised with so many people going corner over safety. With how reed, bob sanders, polamaulu just change games. I'd rather get the big plays than make the game 10-10 if I haaaave to choose. Get a pass rush, clog the middle and last up, get your qb of the secondary and turnover machine

 

The more I think about it, I follow the ravens D with ngata, Thomas, Lewis and reed type molds, and add the probowl qb. 3 in the front seven, two being very versatile and a playmaker in the back to scoop up the ball. Add a qb and your looking good.

If the other team has a Larry Fitzgerald or a Jerry Rice, your defense has four options. 1) Double cover him. 2) Single cover him with a shutdown CB like Antoine Winfield or Darrell Revis. 3) Single cover him with a normal CB and have your pass rush arrive almost instantly. 4) Single cover him with a normal CB and get killed.

 

Option 3) won't always be practical, especially not if the other team has a good OL. Option 4) is obviously a bad idea. Against the better teams--such as the ones you're likely to encounter in the postseason--it's going to be a choice between double covering their best WR with normal CBs, or single covering him with a shutdown CB. Obviously the single coverage is better if you can do it, because you're freeing up a defender for use elsewhere.

 

You could reasonably ask why, if these were my opinions, I didn't select a CB as one of my five players! :blush:

 

One of those five players had to be a QB--obviously. Whether your offensive supporting cast is good or bad, a good QB makes a huge difference.

 

Then I chose a LT, on the theory that the more time a QB has in the pocket, the more effective he becomes. Also a Pro Bowl LT is nice to have on running plays! :)

 

On defense, I wanted a Pro Bowl NT to anchor my 3-4. You need a guy like Ted Washington or Pat Williams--a guy who can consume two blockers while still being productive. I also wanted two very good pass rushers, on the theory that if the offense shut one pass rusher down, the other could do some major damage. My two best pass rushers would be my RDE and my OLB. With three Pro Bowlers in my front-7--including two defensive linemen--it would be hard to run against this defense.

 

I admit that with a defense like this, I'd probably be forced into double covering the other team's best WR. I can live with that, because my front-3 + the OLB can provide a very good pass rush in and of themselves. But if I was allowed to add a sixth Pro Bowler, it would very likely be a CB. Then my defense could do some real damage! :)

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If the other team has a Larry Fitzgerald or a Jerry Rice, your defense has four options. 1) Double cover him. 2) Single cover him with a shutdown CB like Antoine Winfield or Darrell Revis. 3) Single cover him with a normal CB and have your pass rush arrive almost instantly. 4) Single cover him with a normal CB and get killed.

 

Option 3) won't always be practical, especially not if the other team has a good OL. Option 4) is obviously a bad idea. Against the better teams--such as the ones you're likely to encounter in the postseason--it's going to be a choice between double covering their best WR with normal CBs, or single covering him with a shutdown CB. Obviously the single coverage is better if you can do it, because you're freeing up a defender for use elsewhere.

 

You could reasonably ask why, if these were my opinions, I didn't select a CB as one of my five players! :blush:

 

One of those five players had to be a QB--obviously. Whether your offensive supporting cast is good or bad, a good QB makes a huge difference.

 

Then I chose a LT, on the theory that the more time a QB has in the pocket, the more effective he becomes. Also a Pro Bowl LT is nice to have on running plays! :)

 

On defense, I wanted a Pro Bowl NT to anchor my 3-4. You need a guy like Ted Washington or Pat Williams--a guy who can consume two blockers while still being productive. I also wanted two very good pass rushers, on the theory that if the offense shut one pass rusher down, the other could do some major damage. My two best pass rushers would be my RDE and my OLB. With three Pro Bowlers in my front-7--including two defensive linemen--it would be hard to run against this defense.

 

I admit that with a defense like this, I'd probably be forced into double covering the other team's best WR. I can live with that, because my front-3 + the OLB can provide a very good pass rush in and of themselves. But if I was allowed to add a sixth Pro Bowler, it would very likely be a CB. Then my defense could do some real damage! :)

 

I agree with this entire post, other than the assertion that Antwoine Winfield is a "shut down corner." You might want to re-think that one and come up with a name such as Deion or Mel Blount. :)

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I agree with this entire post, other than the assertion that Antwoine Winfield is a "shut down corner." You might want to re-think that one and come up with a name such as Deion or Mel Blount. :)

Maybe shut down corner is too strong a phrase to describe Winfield. What I was searching for was a phrase which implies, "you can leave this CB on an island with the other team's #1 WR. That WR will get his catches here and there, but over the course of the game he's not going to get out of control." I think Winfield is or was good enough to do that, though I agree he's not in the same category as Deion or Mel Blount. If "shut down CB" is too strong a phrase to describe Winfield, do you have any other suggestions to describe CBs in his category?

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Maybe shut down corner is too strong a phrase to describe Winfield. What I was searching for was a phrase which implies, "you can leave this CB on an island with the other team's #1 WR. That WR will get his catches here and there, but over the course of the game he's not going to get out of control." I think Winfield is or was good enough to do that, though I agree he's not in the same category as Deion or Mel Blount. If "shut down CB" is too strong a phrase to describe Winfield, do you have any other suggestions to describe CBs in his category?

Champ Bailey.

 

WRs would spread butter and jam on Winfield before they toasted him. His best pass coverage came against the run.

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I'd rather have five ALL Pros than five Pro Bowlers and I would just follow the time-honored approach of Bill Polian when it comes to constructing a team. I'm not sure if the game's evolution has altered his thinking, but given what he's done in Indy since '98, I don't think so.

 

QB

DE

LT

RB

WR

 

That's would be Polians' long-term outlook. But he's a great short term thinker as well and has always understood that if you are not the front runner in your division then your first goal has to be to do what you must to win it. In our case, that's beating NE (much like Polian's first task was beating Miami back in the 80s).

 

I'd still go with:

 

QB

DE

LT

 

but I'd add a rush OLB and a good corner to the mix before the WR and RB in order to beat NE. My CB would be an excellent slot corner, too. I'm amazed at the number of CBs that can line up on the outside but can't play the slot worth a damn.

 

None of this is a linear process so you take blue-chip playmakers at any position when you can get them. Because, as we all know, playmaker is always a position of need.

 

GO BILLS!!!

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I'm surprised with so many people going corner over safety. With how reed, bob sanders, polamaulu just change games. I'd rather get the big plays than make the game 10-10 if I haaaave to choose. Get a pass rush, clog the middle and last up, get your qb of the secondary and turnover machine

 

The more I think about it, I follow the ravens D with ngata, Thomas, Lewis and reed type molds, and add the probowl qb. 3 in the front seven, two being very versatile and a playmaker in the back to scoop up the ball. Add a qb and your looking good.

You mentioned 3 safeties that can no longer stay healthy or change games. We would all love to have a killer safety, but you just can't play that particular position the way those guys have played it without your body breaking down ahead of schedule. Since their lucrative contract extensions they have fallen off both in health and impact.

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QB-RB-WR-LB-LB

 

The pro bowl is a popularity contest, and they're going to vote in the QB with the best rating, the RB with the most yards, the LB with the most sacks, and the WR with the most TDs. My guys will have all that because of the hard, underappreciated work of the guys in the trenches, who are passed over despite their talents for old guys with name recognition.

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