NFL: NFC North Semi-Final Game - ALL POSTERS CAN VOTE

[Say Hey Kid]

Detroit Lions

QB - Steve Young
RB - Marshall Faulk
RB - Marcus Allen
WR - Terrell Owens
WR - Tim Brown
TE - Rob Gronkowski
LT - Willie Roaf
LG - Bruce Matthews
C - Jim Otto
RG - Zack Martin
RT - Ron Mix

DE - Deacon Jones
DT - Joe Greene
DT - Warren Sapp
DE - Carl Eller
LOLB - Bobby Bell
MLB - Joe Schmidt
ROLB - Derrick Brooks
CB - Jimmy Johnson
CB - Mel Blount
SS - Jack Christiansen
FS - Yale Lary​

VS

Minnesota Vikings

QB - Peyton Manning (3/15)
RB - Adrian Peterson (14/112)
WR - Jerry Rice (1/1)
WR - Randy Moss (2/14)
WR - Antonio Brown (10/81)
TE - Antonio Gates (16/128)
LT - Walter Jones (8/64)
LG - Randall McDaniel (9/80)
C - Jeff Saturday (21/159)
RG - Larry Little (22/172)
RT - Joe Thomas (12/96)

LE - Willie Davis (19/145)
DT - Aaron Donald (9/65)
DT - Bryant Young (20/158)
RE - Bruce Smith (4/28)
LOLB - Rickey Jackson (17/129)
ILB - Patrick Willis (15/113)
ROLB - Terrell Suggs (18/144)
CB - Champ Bailey (6/48)
CB - Charles Woodson (7/49)
SS - Troy Polamalu (13/97)
FS - Ed Reed (5/29)​

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[DaaaaB's]

These results are very surprising to me. I feel like the Vikings D would really struggle with my west coast offense because of those linebackers. Suggs and Jackson are out of place as 4-3 linebackers and would struggle badly in coverage. Suggs in particular should not be playing the Will linebacker role.

I also think I have the stronger defense overall and a better OL. He's got great receivers/TE but my cover 2 defense could contain them to a certain extent especially with how good my linebackers are in coverage.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

These results are very surprising to me. I feel like the Vikings D would really struggle with my west coast offense...

I like Young and 2 top 5 receiving RBs all time imo Allen and Faulk in your West Coast Offense.

 

[Trap Jesus]

These results are very surprising to me. I feel like the Vikings D would really struggle with my west coast offense because of those linebackers. Suggs and Jackson are out of place as 4-3 linebackers and would struggle badly in coverage. Suggs in particular should not be playing the Will linebacker role.

I also think I have the stronger defense overall and a better OL. He's got great receivers/TE but my cover 2 defense could contain them to a certain extent especially with how good my linebackers are in coverage.

I agree about the LB, but I think you're underselling versatility; it's not so regimented or impossible to play for a lot of guys even if it's not ideal. Suggs is insanely versatile, that's his calling card; he played 11 different positions on the Ravens at some point. Willis isn't a 4-3 guy either but is versatile and smart enough to play it and be very effective. LB were always going to be the sore spot of my team leaving them til late but I opted to draft for talent and versatility rather than scheme fit with lesser players, which is a calling card of some other guys on my D like Reed and Polamalu.

I think the tipping point is my skill position players on offense and I'm assuming most are voting for my team because of it. I don't know how any team is equipped to deal with it or contain it like you said. It's just one of those situations where it's a talent overload. Peterson keeps defenses honest by the mere threat of him running it, with Peyton thriving off of play-action, but I think the receiving talent is enough to just be a match-up nightmare against any team. Moss is a staple on the outside that almost always demands double coverage and can burn you with deep routes at any time, Rice is just the all-around stud on the other side that can burn you with any type of route and has the versatility to move into the slot in certain packages with Brown flipping with him. And IMO the key is Antonio Brown out of the slot as a 3rd option. Especially with no nickel corner, I think whoever you put on him is a massive mismatch. This is a guy that absolutely torched the hands down best nickel corner in the league Chris Harris Jr. I got him in the 10th round but I'd put his career up against the WR that went 3rd in this draft, Calvin Johnson (and I took the first 2 guys). He's a completely different type of WR but that works perfectly for me running him out of the slot, which he's already done so much in his career. Gates is just an afterthought but will cause a ton of match-up problems on his own with his athleticism, and will be a monster in the red zone. Peyton reading what the D is giving him with those weapons at his disposal is just too much IMO, even in a draft where we're all drafting All-Pro, all-time players. The Vikings duo of Moss/Peterson are known as guys that can impact the game immensely even when doing nothing (ie. Moss always had to be double teamed, taking the top off the defense, yet AP almost always drew 8 in the box throughout his career). My goal in this was to just overwhelm in one facet of the game, and I think my skill positions on offense does that, with the rest of my team being good enough to round it out.

My O-line is also excellent, I don't see that as a point of weakness at all. I think I may have reached on Jones by a bit more than I should have but McDaniel, Thomas and Little were all great value. Saturday is a step down from those guys, but I drafted him in part due to the Peyton connection.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I agree about the LB, but I think you're underselling versatility; it's not so regimented or impossible to play for a lot of guys even if it's not ideal. Suggs is insanely versatile, that's his calling card; he played 11 different positions on the Ravens at some point. Willis isn't a 4-3 guy either but is versatile and smart enough to play it and be very effective. LB were always going to be the sore spot of my team leaving them til late but I opted to draft for talent and versatility rather than scheme fit with lesser players, which is a calling card of some other guys on my D like Reed and Polamalu.

I think the tipping point is my skill position players on offense and I'm assuming most are voting for my team because of it. I don't know how any team is equipped to deal with it or contain it like you said. It's just one of those situations where it's a talent overload. Peterson keeps defenses honest by the mere threat of him running it, with Peyton thriving off of play-action, but I think the receiving talent is enough to just be a match-up nightmare against any team. Moss is a staple on the outside that almost always demands double coverage and can burn you with deep routes at any time, Rice is just the all-around stud on the other side that can burn you with any type of route and has the versatility to move into the slot in certain packages with Brown flipping with him. And IMO the key is Antonio Brown out of the slot as a 3rd option. Especially with no nickel corner, I think whoever you put on him is a massive mismatch. This is a guy that absolutely torched the hands down best nickel corner in the league Chris Harris Jr. I got him in the 10th round but I'd put his career up against the WR that went 3rd in this draft, Calvin Johnson (and I took the first 2 guys). He's a completely different type of WR but that works perfectly for me running him out of the slot, which he's already done so much in his career. Gates is just an afterthought but will cause a ton of match-up problems on his own with his athleticism, and will be a monster in the red zone. Peyton reading what the D is giving him with those weapons at his disposal is just too much IMO, even in a draft where we're all drafting All-Pro, all-time players. The Vikings duo of Moss/Peterson are known as guys that can impact the game immensely even when doing nothing (ie. Moss always had to be double teamed, taking the top off the defense, yet AP almost always drew 8 in the box throughout his career). My goal in this was to just overwhelm in one facet of the game, and I think my skill positions on offense does that, with the rest of my team being good enough to round it out.

My O-line is also excellent, I don't see that as a point of weakness at all. I think I may have reached on Jones by a bit more than I should have but McDaniel, Thomas and Little were all great value. Saturday is a step down from those guys, but I drafted him in part due to the Peyton connection.

Versatility is nice but it's best to play guys to their strengths imo. Especially when you're up against a team of world class players. Suggs is best suited to be an edge rusher, could probably do alright as a Sam in a 4-3 but as a Will I dont see it. He may have some snaps at 11 different positions but he only excelled at one. I also can't imagine he ever lined up at corner or even safety so I don't know what the 11 positions would be. I agree on Willis, he'd do fine in a 4-3.

There's been plenty of corners contain Rice and Moss over the years, it's certainly not impossible and with the secondary I have I'd say its do-able. Blount wouldn't need help covering Moss imo. I've got 3 of the best coverage linebackers of alltime who all have wheels. They would make life tough for AB and if he got past them there's two safeties with great range and tackling ability waiting for him. Peterson almost always had a lead blocker during his prime. He might not be so effective without one plus he's gotta get by Greene and Sapp.

Saturday isn't a top 10 center alltime imo so I consider him a bit of a weak link. Thomas has also never played right tackle and while I'd imagine he'd do fine I'm not a fan of drafting guys out of position.

I'm not knocking your team, I think it's excellent just like all the teams drafted. I was just surprised to be losing so badly especially after winning the #1 seed.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Versatility is nice but it's best to play guys to their strengths imo. Especially when you're up against a team of world class players. Suggs is best suited to be an edge rusher, could probably do alright as a Sam in a 4-3 but as a Will I dont see it. He may have some snaps at 11 different positions but he only excelled at one. I also can't imagine he ever lined up at corner or even safety so I don't know what the 11 positions would be. I agree on Willis, he'd do fine in a 4-3.

There's been plenty of corners contain Rice and Moss over the years, it's certainly not impossible and with the secondary I have I'd say its do-able. Blount wouldn't need help covering Moss imo. I've got 3 of the best coverage linebackers of alltime who all have wheels. They would make life tough for AB and if he got past them there's two safeties with great range and tackling ability waiting for him. Peterson almost always had a lead blocker during his prime. He might not be so effective without one plus he's gotta get by Greene and Sapp.

Saturday isn't a top 10 center alltime imo so I consider him a bit of a weak link. Thomas has also never played right tackle and while I'd imagine he'd do fine I'm not a fan of drafting guys out of position.

I'm not knocking your team, I think it's excellent just like all the teams drafted. I was just surprised to be losing so badly especially after winning the #1 seed.

AP's never had a passing offense like this though, and I'm not really relying on him at all, I just drafted him to keep defenses honest. His running talent is undeniable, it's going to draw attention no matter what scheme it's in or whether he has that lead FB blocker.

Teams have contained those WR before, but when they're all together like this? There just has to be some concession the defense will have to make that Manning should be able to pick up on. I think Moss is the biggest match-up issue of any WR. As gifted as Blount was, if you're just going to go man-on-man the entire game without the safety help, that'll break at some point. And I think with Brown out of the slot, it's one of those situations where he could be even more effective. Even though he was primarily an outside guy, his skill-set is perfect to do damage in the slot. I think that's just an example of drafting for talent over fit which I did a lot this draft. I definitely respect the angle of slotting guys into the roles they primarily played at, and it matters, but I think talent is transferable in a lot of ways.

I do think the LB group is by FAR what will do me in for any loss though, your points are really fair on them even though I think versatility can overcome some of it. I had to scramble with that group. I really like my D-line and secondary though.

 

[Trap Jesus]

I'm not knocking your team, I think it's excellent just like all the teams drafted. I was just surprised to be losing so badly especially after winning the #1 seed.

I do think it has to be said that the flashiness and recency of my roster is going to give me a big advantage when the vote is opened up to more people. I think my roster goes beyond that, but I bet more casual fans would probably see a player like Champ Bailey or Charles Woodson and just give me the advantage over a player like Blount who they're probably not as familiar with, or see a player like Polamalu and think they're better than Lott, things like that. My roster is tailor-made to rake in popular votes, it's like a high-flying fantasy team haha. Like last round I voted against my team because I hated how I matched up against the style he was going for, but I still trounced him in the vote 10-2, probably primarily because of the names like Manning/Rice/Moss/Reed/Polamalu that are so recognizable to all fans. If people in the league want to do a vote just among the people who drafted I'm cool with that.

 

[DaaaaB's]

AP's never had a passing offense like this though, and I'm not really relying on him at all, I just drafted him to keep defenses honest. His running talent is undeniable, it's going to draw attention no matter what scheme it's in or whether he has that lead FB blocker.

Teams have contained those WR before, but when they're all together like this? There just has to be some concession the defense will have to make that Manning should be able to pick up on. I think Moss is the biggest match-up issue of any WR. As gifted as Blount was, if you're just going to go man-on-man the entire game without the safety help, that'll break at some point. And I think with Brown out of the slot, it's one of those situations where he could be even more effective. Even though he was primarily an outside guy, his skill-set is perfect to do damage in the slot. I think that's just an example of drafting for talent over fit which I did a lot this draft. I definitely respect the angle of slotting guys into the roles they primarily played at, and it matters, but I think talent is transferable in a lot of ways.

I do think the LB group is by FAR what will do me in for any loss though, your points are really fair on them even though I think versatility can overcome some of it. I had to scramble with that group. I really like my D-line and secondary though.

That's fair regarding Peterson. Hard to say on the wide receivers. I get your point about containing all three 3 but they're also going up against D made up of 11 hall of famers. It would certainly be a difficult task. Blount would go man to man with Moss but being a cover 2 D there would be a safety back to help him deep. AB is definitely dangerous out of the slot and I think the Steelers played him there a fair bit over the years so it's a great spot for him.

You probably have a valid point about the flashiness and recency of your team helping in the vote. However, I'm losing 7-3 so I can't use that as an excuse. It might've got you an extra vote or two.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I like Young and 2 top 5 receiving RBs all time imo Allen and Faulk in your West Coast Offense.

They make a great pair for it. Besides both being great receivers, Allen was excellent in short yardage situations and was a good blocker while Faulk was pretty decent at blocking too. They're definitely no Payton/Sanders combo but they fit well into this offense.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

They make a great pair for it. Besides both being great receivers, Allen was excellent in short yardage situations and was a good blocker while Faulk was pretty decent at blocking too. They're definitely no Payton/Sanders combo but they fit well into this offense.

In your offense I'd take both your RBs over both of mine.

 

[DaaaaB's]

In your offense I'd take both your RBs over both of mine.

I agree. Payton/Sanders would be better in pretty much every other offense. Sanders is my favourite player of alltime and the reason I became a Lions fan. Watching him run was a thing of beauty.