DOES 1 OR 2 PLAYERS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

CFL Talk
1

SO, just out of curiousity, I'm wondering what peoples thoughts on this are.

I have read a lot of posts from rider fans on other sites and even a couple on here saying just wait until we get FANTUZ back or wait until we get CHICK back... like do having these 2 players back, would it really change that much?

Let's be honest here, football is the ultimate team sport, in Hockey, a crosby or ovechkin could very well be the difference maker,in basketball a michael jordan or kobe could be a difference maker... in baseball, manny ramirez in his prime or hank aaron or name a home run hitter, perhaps they could make a difference... *penguins tho actually played quite well without crosby and malkin and how about that all star miami heat roster? didnt they lose to dallas?

Im just curious, see a lot of posts like this saying, just wait until this 1 guy is back.. or wait until these 2 guys are back.. personally, i dont think teams who are 1-7 are just 1-7 because of missing 1 or 2 or even 3 players.. i think the problems lie much deeper, i also dont think firing the coach and oc are the answer,i dont think changing the coach when its the players on the field not executing is the answer either.

i'm curious as to what others think..

i mean, winnipeg lost its sack leader, cfl sack leader,phil hunt to the eagles... this year they lead the league in sacks by a lot... does 1 guy really make a difference in football? thoughts?

2

When your problem is not having enough good receivers so the ones you do have face blanket coverage, getting another good receiver really does make a difference, yeah. It spreads the coverage out amongst more guys and opens up everybody a bit more.

3

I think one player can impact a team. Just ask the Colts when Peyton doesn't play. :roll:

4

I think the ATTITUDE of one or two key players can have the effect of rubbing off on others. Make people want to play their best.

5

I think it possible that one or two players can make a difference if the circumstances are right. In the case of this year's Riders, it may very well be the right circumstances. The theory is that if the offence could stay on the field more, the D would be better rested and play better and if our offence would score points, our D would be that much more pumped. (Our special teams (apart from last game's FG unit) have done a decent job this year so let's call that neutral.)

So, based on that premise, if you get a Fantuz in (which pushes a Robinson or a Nunn out) and a Koch in (which pushes the other out), the calibre of the weakest group (receivers) and the intangibles of it - the leadership and the confidence - goes up considerably. If the calibre and the intangibles go up, it might be all it takes to tip the scales. Remember, we are talking about profession-level here. There is often only a marginal difference in overall athletic ability between one team and the next so the difference is often psychological. It is often in their heads, their belief in themselves, each other, etc. - one or two players might very well be the difference.

6

Well Einsteinimnot, errr, I mean TheKillerisme, take away old Bucky from your lineup and you don't come close in a game again this season.

7

One or two players can make all the difference. The line between first and worst in the CFL is a very thin one.

Ricky Ray plays like a stud when he has confidence in his receivers, take that away and he becomes a dud, same with Durant. Also applies to a secondary, shut down corner or safety, middle and sam linebackers basically just about any unit on the team becomes 'better'. Opponents don't have as many options to exploit.

8

Perhaps we should say, outside your starting pivot, does one or two players make the difference. sometimes the one extra player can bring a real spark to a team. i woulda like to have seen what marshal could do with all the players healthy and players returning. So Miller gets his players back and looks like a hero? not so sure about that. but they still have to win.

9

Absolutely. Is it any coincidence Montreal is in a fight for second and a mile out of first the first season after Cahoon retires? A team loses a top lineman and that can throw off the entire offense. As bad as the Argos are right now wait and see how well they do now that Murphy is out. If it's the right player(s) it doesn't matter the position it can make a huge difference.

10

With respect, Cahoon’s retirement has had the least impact on the team. If you look at the games, we’re not losing because we can’t score points. For example, we lost 31-38 against Calgary, whose quarterback was named offensive player of the week. Over and over again on this forum, there is a perception that Cahoon’s loss was some kind of crippling blow to the Als, and it’s simply not true, if only because in 2010, Cahoon was already splitting time at slotback with S.J. Green.

What’s been truly crippling for us are the injuries to our secondary.

Training camp: Our projected starter at safety, Marc-Olivier Brouillette, is injured, and we’re forced to put him on the 9-game IR to start the season. Seth Williams looked to have made the team but was also injured, forcing us to release him and put him on the PR. He is only now (this coming Monday) going to be making his regular-season debut for us.

First quarter, season opener: We lose Jerald Brown, one of our best cover men, to a season-ending ankle injury.

A few games later, our backup safety Etienne Boulay sustains a concussion, forcing us to put him on the 9-game IR and platoon an undrafted rookie (Hecht) and a perennial third-stringer (Crawford) in Boulay’s place.

Last week, our other top cover DB, Mark Estelle, sustains a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the Calgary game. Burris goes on to victimize Estelle’s replacement, Paul Woldu, en route to a Calgary win.

Right now, our secondary is being held together with spit and glue, other teams know it, and they’re taking advantage of our DBs.

11

Generally in football, a few missing players don't really make much difference because of depth in quality players. However if replacement is inadequate, then missing players do matter. In team sports with a tiny roster such as basketball, one superstar can be a huge difference maker.

12

Depends of the position. Football is obviously the ultimate team sport, but certain players in certain position can really make the difference between winning a losing. Put pretty much every starting QB in that list, guys like Chad Owens on special teams or kickers. Aside from that, I don’t think ONE individual is that key.

In the riders case, I don’t think Fantuz is the missing ingredient and had they had him at the start of the season they’d be 7-1 instead of 1-7. You don’t get to that point simply because you’re missing one player. Having said that, I’m sure he’ll be a welcomed addition.

13

In the CFL with the smaller rosters, it can be hard be build depth at every position.

14

Chick is the guy that they miss the most. Much more than Fantuz. He would make things a whole lot easier for the secondary. Well, unless a year and a half of sitting on the PR set him back. Would it make them contenders? No, but Chick would definitely make their dysfunctional defense functional.

15

I was actually thinking the same thing. I’m not arguing that Marshall should not have been fired but if there was a reason to wait, that was it, getting those key players back that might have made the difference on the field. On the other hand, the I believe the riders’ problems were a combination of missing key players and coaching and if the riders do turn things around, we’ll never know if it was only one and not the other.

16

Obviously some other injured players to factor in, but ever since the Esks lost Stamps they've been brutal on offence. He missed 4 games last year too, and that's when the Esks got destroyed by calgary in the Ld and LD rematch like 55 to 5 or whatever.

17

bowman,stamps in edmonton.
fantuz,bagg,koch in sask.

that is a lot of injured receivers.. in Edmontons case, they have an excuse, its year 1 of a rebuild and stamps and bowman were having a great start to the year.. they were and are the 2 best in edmonton for sure.

SASK.. well, it's not a rebuild, its almost like a panic do or die we must must win mode and maybe a struggle to accept the fact that for the last 18 19 20 games outside of the playoffs last year.. they have not been very competitive.

gramps and fantuz were around for the start of it last season... it's more than that for sure.

dressler,getzlaf is better than anything edmonton or toronto have right now that's for sure.

i'd take a dressler anyday. one of the best in the league for a while now.

edmonton has barnes? he's ok but streaky, not consistent.. not stamps or dressler ya now?

18

Look, you won't satisfy killer with any logic. The only way he'll be happy is all of us bow down and kiss his feet and just admit Bombers are eternally awesome and more importantly, anything and everything to do with Saskatchewan eternally sucks rocks, they cannot be saved and ohh what a wonderful world it is that this is so.

So please, moronic Rider fans get it through your thick watermelon heads, that realism is not enough, you MUST wake up and realize that not even a little optimism is allowed. Swaggerville is just a little bit of fun, but jawing back at swaggerville is not fun at all, it is pure out and out hatred, sour grapes and the height of DISRESPECT. So go home kneel down, recite 5 God Bless Kenny Ploens and take your blue and gold boot up the ass like the little pansy that you truly are. 8)

You've been told. Thank you killer for showing us green and white the light.

19

I for one have never been sold on Adarius Bowman. the guy has failed in how many cities now?

and you'd be surprised in Football how one player can truly make a difference.

lets go back to when Montreal had Mike Pringle. imagine IF Pringle had gone down with a season ending injury back in one of those seasons! How good do you think the Als would have been if they had no running game?

20

look what happened to toronto after flutie left.