NYJ DL Sheldon Richardson suspended for Bengals game

[Brownshoe]

(07-02-2016, 01:51 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Yes, because everything else was totally the same between 2013 and 2015. No variables there! No difference in opponents, or coaching, or anything. 

I could follow your logic and say something like "The Bengals were 5-2 without Atkins. They were 6-0 without Burfict. This easily shows that Atkins is our MVP on defense." but it would have the exact same problems as your previous statement.

Not even touching how Mike Zimmer (the D coach in 2013) knows how to get meh players to produce good results as a team.
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Instead I will play a game.. it's called "Is he the best at his position?"

Is Geno Atkins the best DT in the league? Yes.
Is Vontaze Burfict the best LB in the league? No.

Done.

Atkins isn't the best DT in the league, and Burfict is close to the best in the league. The last full year Burfict was healthy he lead the league in tackles. The only LB that would fit in our defense as a LB that would be better is Kuechly.

If you look at our defense ANY time Burfict is out of the game it's VERY VERY noticeable how much worse we are doing. If you look at 2014 when Burfict was playing we were doing great on defense. One of the best in points allowed. When Burfict couldn't get back on the field our defense looked like crap.

The defense plays good w/o Atkins and plays like crap w/o Burfict. It seems pretty obvious that Burfict means more to the defense than Atkins. Team records isn't following my logic at all. It's showing a team stat and not a defensive stat. Our defense could shut an opponent out and we could still lose.

Burfict is the MVP of our defense, and if you can't see it then you need to re-watch a lot of our games.