AFC teams whose players you simply cannot lose to make it to the Super Bowl

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Here are the predicted MAIN AFC contenders and who I think is the player that NONE of these teams can lose for 3/4 of a season or more if they want to get to the super bowl....

New England - Tom Brady easily the most unreplaceable

New York Jets - tough call but I say Laverneus Coles who makes penningtons job look so easy at times

Miami - Barely makes this group but they have a good D so they are included - with the Dolphins Jason Taylor cannot be replaced

Baltimore - Ed Reed is the glue that holds that D together

Cincinnati - Carson Palmer - without his great accuracy and arm,the bengals would be toast

Indianapolis - Peyton Manning - who else?

Jacksonville - going to say last years rookie Drew is needed here although some of thier D-Line players are great too

Pittsburgh - Alan Faneca (yes he IS the best player on that team,even though its an offensive lineman,may be the most disagreed in this post)

Denver - Champ Bailey by a whisker over Cutler

San Diego - so many good players but Ladanian Tomlinson's yardage on the ground cannot be duplicated


Which ones do you agree/disagree with and why?

 

[patriot lifer]

Coles on the Jets would be a big loss, but I think that if Pennington went down they'd be sunk. I'm not sure how Clemens is doing in camp (I think I heard he's doing decent) but Pennington is good enough a passer that they'd really miss him.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Coles on the Jets would be a big loss, but I think that if Pennington went down they'd be sunk. I'm not sure how Clemens is doing in camp (I think I heard he's doing decent) but Pennington is good enough a passer that they'd really miss him.

Is Patrick Ramsey still with the Jets?

I think he would be a decent backup if he still is

 

[patriot lifer]

Is Patrick Ramsey still with the Jets?

I think he would be a decent backup if he still is

actually he's in Denver now

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

actually he's in Denver now

OK Didn't know that..Thanks

BTW: That makes my pick of Bailey on Denver a bit of a wider gap

 

[Rob0729]

I'll forgo the teams with obvious ones (Manning, LT, Palmer, Larry Johnson, Brady, etc.):

Baltimore: Willis McGahee. I ain't sold on the guy, but I think their defense is good enough to lose any one player and I think their passing game is so-so eventhough McNair got tons of pub.

Pittsburgh - Willie Parker. Pittsburgh is still a run first team. Roethlisberger is an efficient QB, but I don't think he can carry the team game in and game out

Jacksonville - Byron Leftwich. I think if he can keep himself together and stay healthy, the Jags have a shot to take the division.

NY Jets - Dwayne Robertson. Ok, don't laugh. He isn't a great NT in the 3-4, but who do they have behind him. The Belichick 3-4 system is built around that NT position. Without a NT to tie up blockers there are no one to make plays.

Miami - Ronnie Brown. I don't like their QB options and Ronnie Brown is going to have to carry that offense. Maybe Jason Taylor becaus he is the guy that teams have to gameplan for.

Denver - Champ Bailey. Still think he is the only CB in the league that people gameplan around.

Tennessee - Vince Young. Their options at RB are scary and not in a good way for them.

 

[desi-patsfan]

Roethlisberger is an efficient QB

I have absolutely no stats to back this up but i refuse to believe that this is a true statement.

 

[Rob0729]

Roethlisberger is an efficient QB

I have absolutely no stats to back this up but i refuse to believe that this is a true statement.

Roethlisberger played like crap last year, but I will chock it up to his bike accident and his appedixitis. Otherwise, his other two years he completed over 62% of his passes each year and had QB ratings over 98 each year. That is efficient.

Him being a great QB is definitely debatable, but he is efficient for a run first type of offense.

 

[stinkypete]

I'm going to disagree about San Diego. LT is a beast but they could still win games with Michael Turner at RB.

I'm going to say Jamal Williams is the most irreplacable guy on the Chargers. He's the league's best NT, and depth behind him is thin. If he goes down, you can run on the Chargers. If you can run on the Chargers repeatedly, you can take Merriman out of the game.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I'm going to disagree about San Diego. LT is a beast but they could still win games with Michael Turner at RB.

I'm going to say Jamal Williams is the most irreplacable guy on the Chargers. He's the league's best NT, and depth behind him is thin. If he goes down, you can run on the Chargers. If you can run on the Chargers repeatedly, you can take Merriman out of the game.

The homer in me say Wilfork is better

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I'm going to utter heresy here, both in terms of the board and in terms of conventional wisdom "out there."

Brady is irreplaceable. But with this roster, and this team's discipline, his loss does not disqualify the NE Patriots. If one of the QBs has enough oomph to keep the box from being stacked, and this D continues to be a top-5 unit, a Brady-less SB is a possibility. By the way... this year, a lot of QBs could have enough "oomph". Obviously the supposed "sure thing" becomes a long shot... just like when we lost Drew... but the point is, it could be done.

There, I said it. (And I know, in Indy they say the same thing about Sorgi having "what it takes.")

PFnV

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I'm going to utter heresy here, both in terms of the board and in terms of conventional wisdom "out there."

Brady is irreplaceable. But with this roster, and this team's discipline, his loss does not disqualify the NE Patriots. If one of the QBs has enough oomph to keep the box from being stacked, and this D continues to be a top-5 unit, a Brady-less SB is a possibility. By the way... this year, a lot of QBs could have enough "oomph". Obviously the supposed "sure thing" becomes a long shot... just like when we lost Drew... but the point is, it could be done.

There, I said it. (And I know, in Indy they say the same thing about Sorgi having "what it takes.")

PFnV

If Brady goes down,the Patriots odds of winning the SB go from 2-1 to 100-1easily - Brady means that extra 98-1 odds,Cassell is NOT a SB QB in anyway shape or form and as for now we don't know if he is actually even NFL caliber because he has not been on the field except in garbage time..I could care less of what the other guys can do without Tom...take away Brady and you lose a HUGE piece of the puzzle - You are definately one of the few who thinks Cassell can win a super bowl as starting QB at this early point in his career.

Those of you who think Cassell can do the job may be spoiled because of what Brady did when Bledsoe went down,its something you may never see again within the same season...its a definate longshot,near miracle to not only see something like that happen again but in the same franchise.

Your optimism about that scenerio takes guts more than brains IMO

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I don't think Cassel would win a super bowl in this scenario; he would just be good enough to not lose it.

I am not so sure you go to 100-1 if Brady goes down, but I would have to look at the teams playing at that level. I think we go from a 12 to 14 win club to, say, an 8-10 win club... but at the top of that curve, you're in the dance.

You might not catch teams from behind. But the Bolds, Colts, Ravens and Broncs would still be the sum total of teams I think would be hands-down better. Plenty of equivalent teams in the muddled middle, but only those 4 would be prohibitively better, IMO.

Think about that... we lose THE indispensible guy, and we're still in that kind of category. Not bad... but beyond that, the Jets type teams still hope every year that they've got the stuff, if they get to where we are IF Brady goes down.

It would suck to be pulling for that kind of cindarella performance... but hell, it would beat the "no how no way" scenario.

I just don't see that.

PFnV

 

[Gon_Trevil]

I was going to make a comment, but PFIV beat me to it...

With this roster, and this team's discipline, Brady's loss does not disqualify the NE Patriots. If one of the QBs has enough oomph to keep the box from being stacked, and this D continues to be a top-5 unit, a Brady-less SB is a possibility.
PFnV

I don't think Cassel would win a super bowl in this scenario; he would just be good enough to not lose it.

I am not so sure you go to 100-1 if Brady goes down, but I would have to look at the teams playing at that level. I think we go from a 12 to 14 win club to, say, an 8-10 win club... but at the top of that curve, you're in the dance.

You might not catch teams from behind. But the Bolds, Colts, Ravens and Broncs would still be the sum total of teams I think would be hands-down better. Plenty of equivalent teams in the muddled middle, but only those 4 would be prohibitively better, IMO.

Think about that... we lose THE indispensible guy, and we're still in that kind of category. Not bad... but beyond that, the Jets type teams still hope every year that they've got the stuff, if they get to where we are IF Brady goes down.

It would suck to be pulling for that kind of cindarella performance... but hell, it would beat the "no how no way" scenario.

I just don't see that.

PFnV

 

[Jacky Roberts]

Denver - Champ Bailey by a whisker over Cutler

Cutler is basically a rookie and has never played in a playoff game. He couldn't beat SF at home to earn a playoff spot. Bailey is the guy, not Cutler in Denver.