Record with AJ this season: 5-7. He's one of the top WR's in the league but not near important enough to give you a 4 win diff in a given season just because he's playing. Davis came off the practice squad last year after AJ got hurt and did a nice job and we found ourselves a nice kick returner/WR.
hows about this season? 5-7. and the season before last? 6-10? what about 2005? 2-14. '04? 7-9. '03? 5-11 so, let's see... without him: 2-5. with him: 31-54. yes, indeed - too bad he's not a gamechanger...* (*i, of course, don't hold him anywhere near responsible for their overall record.)
As meager as our winning percentage is with him, its even worse without him. It's a small sample size, but last year's losses and the games he missed in the 05 season (he wasn't healthy for much of 2-14) show how important he is (we've won two games of the 10 or so he has missed). We lost to the Falcons and needed a last second field goal to beat the 1-15 Dolphins at home without him. With a running game that generally has ranged from terrible to mediocre and a self-sacking quarterback for much of our existence, No.80 has been the one thing on this team that has been consistently good to great. Another 1,000 yard season, soon to be a second 100 catch season in 3 years all while taking all the attention a wide receiver can get. What more exactly can he do by himself to be considered a "gamechanger"?
But it can be a good place to start. In regards to "changing games", what more can you ask for other than changing wins to losses or vice versa?
they're a better team with him, sure - he's a very good player and very good players tend to make teams better - especially when you have more than 1 or 2 of them dotting your roster. but this notion that they lost "better" with him or "worse" without him is flimsy. like i said much earlier in this thread: i hate this because i wind up dogging a player i really like a lot. i have absolutely no problem with andre johnson. none. zero. great player, seems like a great teammate, works hard, plays hard, keeps his mouth shut - you'll never hear one single complaint about what he does from me. but i hesitate to call him something he's not; not as a dig... just... as a matter of opinion.
It's a terrible place to start. Football, more so than any other major American sport, is a team game. Wins and losses happen as a team, and often in spite of a player--whether he's the greatest or the worst. AJ, for example, had nothing whatsoever to do with the Colts loss this year. "Gamechanging" is a weird adjective, anyway. Jacque Reeves is "gamechanging"--defenses change their strategy to, "throw at Reeves". MW is a "gamechanger"--defenses plan for him or hurt from him. At any rate, everything NFL players do is far too interdepent upon one another to rate a guy using W-L, IMO.
There is no such thing as a "game changer" in football. If I had to pick one, I would pick Devin Hester in his dominant years. Teams were absolutely scared of kicking to him and even willingly took penalties kicking it out of bounds.
oh sure there are: deion sanders was another; lawrence taylor, earl campbell, jerry rice... if a player is wreaking so much havoc that you have to design something specifically for that player - even at the cost of other players stepping into the void - then that's a gamechanger. johnson was that by default. they had absolutely nothing else; shut down the other team's one and only good player, you're going to win. easy enough. but it was a far cry from, "holy ****... how are we going to keep taylor out of our backfield..." i don't think teams feared/fear johnson to that degree.
Last comment on this and I'm done. I think you're wrong here. I remember Jeff Fisher talking about AJ a few years back (when we came back and beat them at home), and he mentioned his team feared AJ so much they breathed a sigh of relief every time he didn't touch the ball on a play. I remember Kubiak after his first year saying teams played coverages on AJ he had never seen before in the NFL because of how good he is/how little else we have. He still caught 100 passes. We don't have much sample size without AJ (thankfully), but it seems pretty clear we are a good/mediocre team with him and a terrible one without. Pretty cut and dry. Anyway, you think he's really good, I think he's great. Lets just be happy he's on our team.
Mario has not had a sack in 5 of the last 6 games. Looks like his numbers are going to be down from last year. So much for a pro bowl appearance or the first team all defensive. Hopefully this thread will come in handy next year after we pick up someone who can sack the QB more than once a year.
Dwight Freeney's 2006 was one of the most dominant seasons I've ever seen a defensive player have. He had 5.5 sacks, three of which came in one game. Sacks are a terrible, terrible way to evaluate a defender's production. If you double or triple-team someone all day, no, they're not going to get sacks -- I don't care who they are. But they are going to help other players (see Okoye today) have better opportunities to succeed. Even so, Mario Williams has 11 sacks in 14 games, and that's pretty damn dominant. He's also #1 in the fan voting for the Pro Bowl and considered one of the top players in the game, so you better believe he'll be in Hawaii.
Yes, I agree sometimes, statistics are not th best way to evaluate a performance. for example: with a CB (any CB), you say oh he played bad, because he has no INTs, in the last few games, he hasnt any fumbles forced or recovered, but if you see the game, you can see that the opposite team, dont throw the ball to the player who this CB is covering, so thats when you know he is a great CB.
^^Take it easy man. I know how dominant he has been playing, i been watching him all year. This is a sack tally thread, i just sayin his tally looks like it is goin to be down this year. Why do you guys have to b**** about every comment. I never said he isnt having the best season of his career. Another dominant player would help his numbers though, free him up.
My point exactly (in another thread). If Mario had a partner in crime (like Robert Mathis is for Dwight Freeney), then you would really see Mario unleashed to wreak maximum havoc.
Mario might not have been in on every play, but his presence was certainly felt. Even so, it was really nice to see Okoye play so well, so the line could have a good game without Mario playing out of his mind.