Tom Brady is the most valuable player to the New England Patriots defense.  Steve McNair has greatly improved the Baltimore Ravens even if the pure numbers do not seem to jibe with that statement.  I should clarify, that is pure numbers to the uneducated eye.

If Michael Vick got injured and Matt Schaub took over as quarterback, the Atlanta Falcons would probably get more yards and points, but would not be a better team.

Dan Marino and Barry Sanders were the two most overrated players in the NFL during my lifetime.

All the above statements are true, have or had serious handicapping ramifications, and are all related.

There is no question that the best defense in football is a ball control, effective and efficient offense. We love quarterbacks like Brady, McNair and Ben Roethlisberger because they run an offense like water torture.  They slowly but surely matriculate an offense down the field, keep the other team from scoring by not letting them have the ball.

In the cases of Vick, Brady, McNair and Roethlisberger among others, they may have a backup who will point more points on the board.  The problem is, for both teams.  When handicapping the ramifications of a key injury, especially a quarterback and running back ,one must analyze not just how much of a talent drop-off there will be, but a comparison of the style of the player and his replacement.

That's why I made the statements about Marino and Sanders.  Both were too much of a feast or famine player. High powered offenses do have to “outscore the opposition, which at least in the figurative sense does not mean the same as score more points.

“Better offenses are not necessarily ones that can score the most points by any means, nor are the best players and schemes those that are the highest powered and explosive” agrees Stevie Vincent of the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

When handicapping skilled position players, note that the most effective in leading his team to victory is one who can keep help keep the other offense off the field, even if it means fewer points scored for his team.

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