Best Player in the NFL, Sweet 16

[RazorStar 4,025]

Here we are, the sweet 16, half the teams in the NFL have fallen to the wayside, and only the best of the best remain. Who will come out the champion between these marvelous players? It's up to you the members of TGP to decide.

 

Tom Brady, QB, :Patriots:

Round of 128: Defeated Logan Mankins 15-0

Super 64: Defeated Vince Wilfork 15-0

Round of 32: Defeated Jon Beason 16-1

 

vs.

 

Trent Cole, DE,

Round of 128: Defeated Miles Austin 14-1

Super 64: Defeated LeSean McCoy 14-1

Round of 32: Defeated Jamaal Charles 9-8

 

 

Larry Fitzgerald, WR,

Round of 128: Defeated Nate Clements 11-0

Super 64: Defeated Steven Jackson 14-0

Round of 32: Defeated Julius Peppers 11-6

 

vs.

 

Darrelle Revis, CB,

Round of 128: Defeated Vontae Davis 15-0

Super 64: Defeated Jerod Mayo 15-0

Round of 32: Defeated Adrian Peterson 15-2

 

 

Drew Brees, QB,

Round of 128: Defeated James Anderson 12-0

Super 64: Defeated Charles Johnson 14-1

Round of 32: Defeated Mario Williams 11-6

 

vs.

 

Philip Rivers, QB,

Round of 128: Defeated Elvis Dumervil 9-0

Super 64: Defeated Brandon Flowers 13-0

Round of 32: Defeated Justin Tuck 13-4

 

 

Troy Polamalu, SS,

Round of 128: Defeated Alex Mack 18-0

Super 64: Defeated Joe Haden 15-3

Round of 32: Defeated James Laurinaitis 17-0

 

vs.

 

Joe Thomas, OT,

Round of 128: Defeated Ray Rice 17-1

Super 64: Defeated Ed Reed 13-5

Round of 32: Defeated Maurice Jones-Drew 13-4

 

 

Andre Johnson, WR

Round of 128: Defeated Arian Foster 13-0

Super 64: Defeated Reggie Wayne 12-1

Round of 32: Defeated Champ Bailey 19-1

 

vs.

 

Calvin Johnson, WR,

Round of 128: Defeated Greg Jennings 15-1

Super 64: Defeated Brian Urlacher 12-2

Round of 32: Defeated Kyle Williams 13-7

 

 

Aaron Rodgers, QB.

Round of 128: Defeated BJ Raji 16-0

Super 64: Defeated Tramon Williams 14-0

Round of 32: Defeated James Harrison 16-4

 

vs.

 

Patrick Willis, ILB,

Round of 128: Defeated Earl Thomas 11-0

Super 64: Defeated Lofa Tatupu 14-0

Round of 32: Defeated Roddy White 19-1

 

 

DeMarcus Ware, OLB,

Round of 128: Defeated Brian Orakpo 15-0

Super 64: Defeated Tony Romo 15-0

Round of 32: Defeated Nick Mangold 18-2

 

vs.

 

Haloti Ngata, DT,

Round of 128: Defeated Mike Wallace 18-0

Super 64: Defeated Terrell Suggs 17-1

Round of 32: Defeated Peyton Manning 12-8

 

 

Nnamdi Asomugha, CB,

Round of 128: Defeated Derrick Johnson 9-0

Super 64: Defeated Ryan Clady 13-0

Round of 32: Defeated Jason Witten 18-2

 

vs.

 

Justin Smith, DE,

Round of 128: Defeated Chris Long 9-2

Super 64: Defeated OJ Atogwe 10-4

Round of 32: Defeated Carl Nicks 14-6

 

Alright, vote away people.

[Maverick 791]

Brady - Best QB in the game.

 

Revis - Best CB in the game.

 

Brees - This was a tough one. The two QBs put up very similar numbers and are both Top 5 at their position, so I gave the edge to Brees' leadership skills for leading his team to a Superbowl.

 

Polamalu - The toughest matchup. Joe Thomas is the best player on his team and at his position in the NFL. Troy Polamalu is the best player on his team and at his position in the NFL. The best way was to give the edge to who was the biggest playmaker, which is unfair to compare a SS vs LT. Ultimately, I asked myself which team would suffer more from losing the respective player, and that's the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

Calvin - Another difficult battle. This may be a controversial pick, but Calvin Johnson got my vote over Andre. If you switched the teams both Andre and Calvin were on, no doubt in my mind CJ would put up just as good if not better numbers that Andre puts up. I don't think Andre would do as good as Megatron does with what he has to work with in Detroit. You may think it's unfair to play the "if" game, but Calvin Johnson is a freakish talent that would beast even more on any other team.

 

Patrick - Best MLB in the game.

 

Ware - Best OLB in the game.

 

Asomugha - 2nd best CB in the game and shuts down his side of the field. Smith is a great DE don't get me wrong, but he just doesn't put out the dominance that Nmandi does.

Edited April 21, 2011 by Maverick

[RazorStar 4,025]

You can tell just how hard it is considering I voted differently in 7 of the 8 matches and can still see solid reasoning for other votes.

 

Cole, Fitzgerald, Rivers, Joe Thomas, Andre Johnson, Rodgers, Ngata, and Asmougha here.

[Maverick 791]

You can tell just how hard it is considering I voted differently in 7 of the 8 matches and can still see solid reasoning for other votes.

 

Cole, Fitzgerald, Rivers, Joe Thomas, Andre Johnson, Rodgers, Ngata, and Asmougha here.

 

I noticed that, lol you and I were different on all except one.

 

Like you said, that just says it right there at how close these are...

[AllYouNeedIsLovie 377]

Brady, Revis, Brees, Polamalu, Andre, Willis, Ngata, Asomugha

[Bay 2,003]

Brady over Cole. This one shouldn't be close.

 

Revis over Fitzgerald. 2nd best CB in the game over the 3rd or 4th best WR in the game.

 

Rivers over Brees. Look what Rivers had to work with this year and still put on passing clinics.

 

Troy over Joe. Joe is great but you can't overlook what a game changer Troy Pa is.

 

Andre over Calvin. This was tough by Andre over a smidgen.

 

Aaron over Patrick. Willis is a monster but an Aaron Rodgers led team is going to own a Patrick Willis led D most of the time. Not Patricks fault. He can't do everything.

 

Haloti over DeMarcus. Haloti makes everyone on that front seven better when he's in the game. This was also really tough.

 

Nnamdi over Patrick. Justin Smith is a freak but Nnamdi is lock-down every single week. Best CB in the game.

[badgers 380]

Brady - Cole is good and underrated but Brady is Brady. No-brainer for me.

Fitz - It was a toss up for me. I think Fitz is a more established player so I voted for him.

Rivers - I think he'd have better stats than Brees if he had a better team/coach.

Polamalu - I feel really bad here. I hardly know who Joe Thomas is . I have to vote for Polamalu because of this. Troy is good though, so I think he deserves the vote.

Andre - Both players are at the top of their position, but Andre leads the pack almost every year.

Rodgers - Willis is probably the best MLB but I agree with Bay. An Aaron Rodgers offense will beat a Patrick Willis defense most of the time.

Haloti - Ware is an awesome OLB, but Haloti is probably the best DL in the game.

Asomugha - Asomugha shuts down receivers.

[Barracuda 629]

I hardly know who Joe Thomas is

 

Wha?

 

Brady, Fitz, Rivers, Thomas, Andre, Rodgers, Ngata and Aso.

Edited April 21, 2011 by Barracuda

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

Trent Cole

Larry Fitzgerald

Philip Rivers

Troy Polamalu

Andre Johnson

Patrick Willis

DeMarcus Ware

Nnamdi Asomugha

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Tom Brady > Trent Cole

Both players are elite in the regular season, though both have developed some playoff choking habits in recent years. Brady hasn't won a playoff game since before 18-1 and Cole doesn't exactly have a reputation of getting that big sack when the defense needs it. Overall, though, the body of work is just far superior when it comes to Brady. I love Trent, and I think he's still underrated a little bit, but I can't go against Brady in this situation.

 

Darrelle Revis > Larry Fitzgerald

This is awesome, a wide receiver versus a cornerback. Both guys are obviously dominating at their respective positions, and maybe Fitzgerald isn't getting the credit he deserves because the quarterback situation in Arizona is, well, fucking awful. Nevertheless, Revis has earned a reputation as a corner who shuts down the best receivers in the game.

 

Drew Brees > Phillip Rivers

This one was extremely tough. Give me either of these guys to lead my franchise and I'm a happy guy. I initially wanted to vote for Rivers because Brees threw a lot of interceptions last season, but I think that was more a product of the Saints' offensive tackles allowing a lot of pressure. Keep Brees comfortably in the pocket and he does dirty things with the football. The accuracy is so good it's literally scary. And when it's said and done, only one of these guys has playoff success on their resume.

 

Troy Polamalu > Joe Thomas

Oh, a Steeler against a Brown. Nifty. This one is a harder choice than it might seem, because Joe Thomas is a hell of a football player. But Polmalu is one of the most dominating defensive players I've ever seen. Watch a Steelers game; every time there's a big play, Polamalu was part of it. The only thing going against him is that he was a no-show in the playoffs last year, but I think that was due to a nagging injury more than anything.

 

Andre Johnson > Calvin Johnson

Battle of the Johnsons! Another tough choice, but I'm going with Andre for the simple reason that he puts up more production than Calvin. Yes, he has Matt Schaub and a lot of other offensive weapons around him, but Matt Stafford and Shaun Hill aren't exactly on Derek Anderson's level. When I think of Calvin, I think of a phenomenal athlete with elite height and speed; when I think of Andre, I think of a dominating wide receiver who can make plays from anywhere.

 

Aaron Rodgers > Patrick Willis

This is a really tough one. Willis is a dominating defensive player, and probably the best impact linebacker in the game. But don't forget that he has a really good front seven around him: Takeo Spikes, Aubrayo Franklin, Justin Smith, etc. A-Rod, meanwhile, will find himself in situations where his offensive line blows, or maybe his running backs are doing zero, or maybe his receivers are dropping balls left and right. But guess what? The guy doesn't give up until he makes plays. And that's what he does. He's a winner.

 

DeMarcus Ware > Haloti Ngata

Man, these are getting really tough. These two are both dominating players in very different ways. I watch a lot of Cowboys games as an Eagles fan, and Ware is a monster who wrecks havoc no matter where he is on the defense. Ngata is the exact same way. It's very hard to find a difference between these two, but here's mine: put both guys on separate defenses that are absolute crap. In my opinion, Ngata could be contained; Ware could not. I've seen the guy fight through enough double teams to know. He's near-unblockable.

 

Nnamdi Asomugha > Justin Smith

This was actually one of the easier ones this round for me. Smith broke onto the scene this season even though he's been a great player for awhile, but Asomugha is simply dominant. I guess I really go for shutdown corners. I think it really is the hardest position to play, and Aso does it better than almost anyone.

[Phenomenal TJ 28]

Brady, Revis, Rivers, Polamalu, Andre Johnson, Willis, Ware, Aso.

[RazorStar 4,025]

Bump it up.

[Turry 755]

Brady, Fitzgerald, Thomas , A Johnson, Willis, Ngata, Rivers, Aso

[FartWaffles 1,857]

Calvin - Another difficult battle. This may be a controversial pick, but Calvin Johnson got my vote over Andre. If you switched the teams both Andre and Calvin were on, no doubt in my mind CJ would put up just as good if not better numbers that Andre puts up. I don't think Andre would do as good as Megatron does with what he has to work with in Detroit. You may think it's unfair to play the "if" game, but Calvin Johnson is a freakish talent that would beast even more on any other team.

By no means am I dissing Calvin, I just find it hard for anyone to vote for him over Andre. Calvin is definitely a beast, but you gotta realize that Andre had to play his first four seasons in the NFL with David Carr as his quarterback, and historically one of the worst offensive lines of all time.

 

I decided to tally up Calvin and Andre's stats from their first four seasons...

 

Andre (2003-2006): 311 receptions for 3,953 yards and 17 touchdowns

 

Calvin (2007-2010): 270 receptions for 3,844 yards and 33 touchdowns

Andre (2007-2010): 362 receptions for 5,205 yards and 33 touchdowns

 

So we can gather that Calvin is a better deep threat and he is more of a threat in the endzone, but I can tell you with confidence that there is more than just a few times where Kubiak has taken Andre off the field in red zone situations, and I don't know what the fuck he is thinking when he does that...

 

Andre on the other hand, is a blue-collar tough guy that loves going over the middle for those tough to get yards risking his body against oncoming linebackers to get that first down.

 

When it comes to the Andre/Calvin debate it's always going to be a tough decision. I believe Andre is the more complete receiver, but Calvin is still young and it's definitely possible that he could surpass Andre with a competent (or healthy) quarterback throwing him the pigskin on Sundays.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I just want to point something out here:

 

Revis over Fitzgerald. 2nd best CB in the game over the 3rd or 4th best WR in the game.

 

Be careful with that logic. Comparing players that way isn't really fair, because when you do, you assume that all positions are equally skilled. Is Rahim Moore is a better draft prospect than Ryan Kerrigan because he's the best FS prospect but Kerrigan is only the 5th best DE? You see what I'm getting at.

 

For the record I agree with your selection of Revis; just use caution when you're using that logic to determine the better player.

Edited April 23, 2011 by SteVo

[Bay 2,003]

I just want to point something out here:

 

 

 

Be careful with that logic. Comparing players that way isn't really fair, because when you do, you assume that all positions are equally skilled. Is Rahim Moore is a better draft prospect than Ryan Kerrigan because he's the best FS prospect but Kerrigan is only the 5th best DE? You see what I'm getting at.

 

For the record I agree with your selection of Revis; just use caution when you're using that logic to determine the better player.

 

But a DE and a FS will never face each other, obviously.

[RazorStar 4,025]

Since we've already got so many votes I'll be closing this sometime around 3 in the afternoon my time. Think about 12 hours.

[RazorStar 4,025]

Final Results!

 

Tom Brady 18

Trent Cole 4

 

Larry Fitzgerald 7

Darrelle Revis 15

 

Drew Brees 9

Philip Rivers 13

 

Troy Polamalu 17

Joe Thomas 5

 

Andre Johnson 19

Calvin Johnson 3

 

Aaron Rodgers 14

Patrick Willis 8

 

DeMarcus Ware 15

Haloti Ngata 7

 

Nnamdi Asomugha 21

Justin Smith 1

 

So the Bracket for the Elite Eight is

 

Tom Brady

vs.

Darrelle Revis

 

Philip Rivers

vs.

Troy Polamalu

 

Andre Johnson

vs.

Aaron Rodgers

 

DeMarcus Ware

vs.

Nnamdi Asomugha