1 Player Should Not Make That Much of a Difference

[Iron Shiek]

Oviedo said this the other night and it has stuck with me. You have a flawed system when losing one player makes your unit turn into a pile of crap. Case in point: the Ratbirds. Granted this is from a fantasy football article, but not only did they lose their focal point, Suggs, all year so far, but that is a lot of casualties beyond just him. Yet they've found ways to win. There's no excuse for that performance in Tennessee, they just have to do better.

• The Baltimore Ravens D/ST took body blows in the form of a shoddy run defense Sunday, and absorbed severe injuries to superstars. Lardarius Webb is reportedly done for the year with a torn ACL, Ray Lewis has a partially torn triceps that could cost him the rest of the season, Jimmy Smith left the game with a groin injury and couldn't return and Haloti Ngata left with a knee injury, though he did return. Considering reigning Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs is no sure bet to return from his torn Achilles, this is potentially a desperate situation for one of the league's more reliable fantasy defenses.

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=impressions121015

[NorthCoast]

One player makes a difference when the surrounding teammates are ordinary or average. One player doesn't make a difference if there are above average players to compensate.
Baltimore has a lot of talent. Webb is legitimate all-pro, Ngata same, Lewis (as much as I hate to admit) is a difference-maker. Their defense was shredded by Dallas and if it wasn't for a Romo-Garrett atrocity on time-management at the end of the game, B-more would be 4-2 today.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

ovi also says baltimore will take a step backwards every year, but it never happens.

they have drafted pretty damn well and have a better roster than the steelers top to bottom, IMO. I think the webb injury is by far the worst of the two and gives a small glimmer of hope.

[stopplayn]

ONE player ALWAYS makes a difference when they are dominant.

1. Troy Polamalu
2. Joe Montana
3. Shaquille Oneal
4. Michael Jordan
5. Lebron
6. Lawrence Taylor
7. Ray Lewis
8. Tom Brady
9. Peyton Manning
10. Kobe

11. Larry Bird

[D Rock]

ONE player ALWAYS makes a difference when they are dominant.

1. Troy Polamalu
2. Joe Montana
3. Shaquille Oneal
4. Michael Jordan
5. Lebron
6. Lawrence Taylor
7. Ray Lewis
8. Tom Brady
9. Peyton Manning
10. Kobe

11. Larry Bird


That's a pretty skewed list. QBs can't count like a safety..the roles of those players are just waaaay too different. NBA only plays 5 at a time...losing one superstar is 20% of the team.

[bostonsteeler]

Sometimes *having* one player can make all the difference. Marcus Gilbert! Case closed!

[stopplayn]

That's a pretty skewed list. QBs can't count like a safety..the roles of those players are just waaaay too different. NBA only plays 5 at a time...losing one superstar is 20% of the team.

Just listing DOMINANT players who made and make a difference (One man gangs so to speak)

[NorthCoast]

Ray Rice accounts for 30% of Ravens offense, so yeah, one guy can make a huge difference.

[ikestops85]

With Suggs out this year the Ravens defense has been very vulnerable.

[stopplayn]

I agree and lets not forget that we were all kids. When playing at recess didnt the BEST guy always make a difference? In middle school, High School, College and Professionally is no different. Examples? The Detroit Lions WITH Barry Sanders. Larry Bird as a rookie with the Celtics. 9ers with Joe Montana. Petyon Manning- Colts won 2 games without him. The list can go on and on and on. It will only become more obvious or not.