Drafting is only part of the equation. A team must keep the right players, and must fill in the gaps w/ good players. That takes salary cap room. Any time you max out a contract, you are further limiting your ability to acquire good players.
Even an all-timer like Peyton Manning didn't win a title in Indy or Denver without a talented defense to help.
Yup. And still lost to good D's almost every year
Fwiw, the Colts won the Super Bowl with Manning and the 21st ranked defense.....or a defense ranked much lower than what we had last yer.
Lucky for them the opposing QB was Grossman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, but they were mostly without a healthy Bob Sanders until the playoffs, and that defense was completely different with him in the lineup.
And it was sorta strange. They really couldn't stop the run all year, but suddenly in the playoffs they did. Didn't even make sense. They were 32nd vs the run during the season.
Sometimes that happens. Like the 2007 Giants defense sorta struggled most of the regular season and got hot late (though I think they had some key guys out for good chunk of the year until late, as well).
