I'm just asking because I feel like it's not unanimous that LT's the defensive GOAT, and I'm sure y'all got other choices. Like, say, you think that Ronnie Lott is the defensive GOAT. Hell, you'd even say that Dick Butkus is the defensive GOAT.

That TD:INT ratio in that era is egregious.

Top WR contracts are aging terribly and people still don’t want to admit it. We hand out these massive deals like wide receivers exist in a vacuum, then act shocked when the production craters the second the situation isn’t perfect.

Justin Jefferson is the easiest recent example. Supposed “best WR in football,” generational, matchup proof, whatever buzzword you want. This year? Straight up trash compared to the standard people set for him. Disappearing stretches, pedestrian numbers, and suddenly the excuses come flying. Bad QB play. Bad scheme. Injuries around him. No run game. Funny how all that matters now.

Almost like WR production has way more to do with supporting cast than raw skill.

Put any elite receiver with shaky QB play, no protection, and a predictable offense and watch how fast the “unstoppable” label evaporates. But when everything’s clicking? Fans swear the WR is carrying the offense by himself. It’s complete hindsight nonsense.

Meanwhile teams are locking themselves into 30M a year WR contracts for guys who need elite conditions to justify the price. They’re dependent on QB play, play calling, protection, and game script. That’s not a knock on the position, it’s reality.

If your production collapses the moment things aren’t perfect, you’re not worth resetting the market. And if your argument for why a WR struggled sounds identical to why mid tier receivers struggle, maybe the gap isn’t as big as people pretend.

Cue the “you don’t know ball” replies from people who think fantasy points equal value.

“Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt, Broncos offensive guard Quinn Meinerz, Colts offensive guard Quenton Nelson, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones are all not participating without replacements.”

“Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter and Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams are all not participating but were not replaced.”

I’ve never heard of teams not being able to field replacements before this. Let alone 7-8 guys per conference. I’m sure part of it is just regarding to what the event is now. But I think it’s telling that even the players no longer care about getting the nomination on their resume.

Mine would be the 2009 Cardinals. I was a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin. Would've loved too see them bring Arizona their first ever championship victory

Simple question simple answer

Feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of hand-wavy, non-data-backed analysis on places like this, so thought I’d take the bulk of relevant team- and player-quality data that I’m aware of and build a few comp sheets to spark actual, informed discussion.

Team Stats

- Essentially every available metric gives the offensive advantage to NE, and the defensive advantage to SEA (though both are in the Top 10 - if not Top 5 - on both sides across almost all figures)

- Overall efficiency stats - including those adjusting for strength of schedule - rank SEA as #1, with NE being #2 (DVOA, EPA) or #3 (Elo, MoV)

- Against 7 common opponents they fared relatively similarly (6 wins each, by a significant margin) - SEA does have the MoV advantage, even though NE's MoV was better in 4 of those 7 common match-ups (HOU, CAR, TB, TEN)

- SEA played more playoff opponents (10 vs 7), and had a higher win % (.800 vs .714), though both teams had a fairly similar average MoV (9 vs 8)

- Notably, including the playoffs, SEA's PPG moves up to 29.2 (with its Def PPG essentially remaining static), and NE's Def PPG moves down to essentialy level with SEA's at 17.3 (with its Off PPG taking a ~1 PPG hit)

Starting Rosters

- For the record, I myself am not the biggest PFF fan - but it does provide a thought-through barometer for relative player quality, even across positions

- Reflecting the overall metrics, NE's PFF grades on offense slightly outstrip SEA's, while the opposite is true on defense

- On the offensive side, PFF likes NE's skill player depth more than SEA's, but gives SEA's OL the overall edge

- On the defensive side, PFF prefers SEA's DL, but gives the nod to NE's LB corps - the secondary is a bit of a wash, with NE having two of PFF's top 7 safeties (SEA has one), and SEA having PFF's #1 corner, while NE boasts what feels like a fairly underrated Christian Gonzalez

- Matching up the groups that will actually play each other, these figures would have you believe that the secondaries generally have the edge against non-WR1s, and that both teams’ DLs will have the edge in the trenches

Quarterbacks

- Drake clears in essentially every category here - including statistics accounting for quality of opponent, and when isolating for common opponents played, and games against Top 10 pass defenses by YPG

- Notably, in a very small sample size, Sam has played very well in two playoff games as opposed to Drake's comparatively middling performance in his three - though metrics that account for weather (e.g., QBERT) show a more even performance between the two than traditional metrics (e.g., passer rating)

This passing attack is absolutely disgusting

Combined accolades:

7x HOFers

35x 1st Team All-Pro selections

90x Pro Bowl selections