Whats more important to keeping the "window" open?

[mantal]

No such thing as a window anymore in the NFL. You don't have to go any farther than Atlanta and Miami this year to know that. But defenses win championships...

[CharlotteBeer.com]

What's all this window talk?

Wouldn't it be easier to just barge through the front door?

[hepcat]

There are examples of all of the above being able to carry a team even through changes in other areas.

Great Defense: Baltimore (2000-present)

Great Coach: Philadelphia Eagles/New England Patriots (2001-Present)

Great FO: Indianapolis (1998-present)

Great QB: Green Bay Packers (1993-2007)

[thefuzz]

I just think that if you have a great QB that will last 15 years, you will be in contention for many of those years.

See Brady, Manning 1, Montana, Young, etc.......

[Kurb]

FO

Coach

QB/D

In that order.

[thefuzz]

I hear ya Kurb, but I think that the player that touches the ball moreso than any other is the most important part of a CONSISTANT super bowl calibre team.

[rodeo]

I'm going to say defense. The Ravens success this year is an example that the other factors mentioned do not have to be great.

i don't know. the ravens season was full of boring low scoring games and they got knocked out because they had no offense.

i don't think you can have just 1 of any of these puzzle pieces and get by. you need to have them all.

great qb - colts, sitting at home.

great coach - pats, sitting at home.

great defense - ravens, sitting at home.

great FO - (shrug)

both the teams in the super bowl are good in all of those areas (at least in the playoffs).

[Mesmer]

No such thing as a window anymore in the NFL. You don't have to go any farther than Atlanta and Miami this year to know that. But defenses win championships...

I'm glad somebody gets it.

The whole "window theory" came along with the salary cap. Teams believed they had a window to win it all before they were banished to salary cap hell. (Most) Teams have learned to operate under the salary cap so that they can field good teams without mortgaging their future on high priced free agents, etc.

Our window is closing? Please. If you're going to use that stupid excuse, it's probably more accurate to say it's just opening.

[Fireball77]

Kurb and rayzor hit it on the head of course. Starts with a GREAT owner though who knows how to hire the right people (not an easy task)...AND LEAVE THEM THE EFF ALONE unless his input is needed (hear that Jerry J? lol).

[King Taharqa]

Give me the great FO. Because the great FO is gonna know its identity and be good at identifying the pieces it needs to shape that identity. Yeah teams may jump up and turn around from worst to first fast. But can they sustain that dominance? Great FO's do.

[guyinchesapeake]

It's always nice to have a 'great' anything. 'Great' to me as far as the NFL implies Hall of fame potential. That said, of the 4 aspects of a team metioned, you have to be at least GOOD in all of them to build for a particular year, as most teams do now days. This was supposed to be OUR YEAR depending on the source. But that said, you'll never know if a FO action, like signing a particular player, or trading for a particular draft pick, worked out until after the fact. How many free agent signings or draft picks turn out to be busts?

I think Fox is a good coach, but I think his time is realistically up here in Charlotte. He may be like a number of other coaches who have shown an ability to get a team in the right direction after they've had adversity, but he hasn't proved he's capable of building a consistent winner. However, any coach who has a long tenure is going to have losing seasons as well as winning ones, Cowher, Landry, Noll, Halas, etc., all had them. The truly smart ones KNOW when their team is shot and it's time to walk..Lombardi knew this with the great Packer teams of the 60s he had, he realized that after 1967 expectations were not realistic for achieving the success they had become used to.

A great QB is always nice, but what defines greatness? Is it numbers and stats? Heck, Brees was one of the best ever this year, but they ended up only 8-8. If the other aspects of the team aren't up to snuff, a great QB season can be wasted.

As for a great defense, that is proved even more so. The Ravens got to the championship game on the strength of their defense, but even that stellar defense couldn't overcome their rookie QB's limitations. A team needs to be good in all 4 aspects of the game presented at the start of this thread, any of them that is truly 'great' is a bonus indeed. The Cards have been plagued by the worst ownership in sports (with the possible exception of the NBA's Clippers) until recent years, they are a great example of how everything ultimately will fall apart if the ownership isn't committed to being a winner. They, after all, own the contracts of all the other ones...FO, coach, players, etc.

[DWill]

Good/Great---- QB

Good/Great---Coach

Good/Great---Defense

Good/Great-----FO

Which we don't have. Please Cowher please.

[Chaos]

If you want the window to remain open, you should not run the air conditioning or heat at the same time. My mom always would tell me that.