Throwdowns > Completed

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  • June 27, 2008 09:25 PM ET

Re-Do NMI Tourney Round 4, One-Loss Bracket (Cheezhead vs. "Cincy"): Best NFL Linebacker From 1970-1999

Cheezhead: Is Most Likely Gone (130-96-5) vs (Cincy) (37-45-10)
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3
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8
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3
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Listen everyone, my CPU was lagging in our original throwdown so when I submitted my 2nd argument it also forfeited me somehow, don't ask me how though. So Cincy and I have decided to re-do this. I told the mods about the other one, maybe they can delete the throwdown. Anyway:



We'll list first so we have two even shots at one-another.

I'm going with Lawrence Taylor.

Good luck.


Gotta go with the man who led the legendary Bears defense.

Mike Singletary

Good luck to you as well


The easiest way to show who played better is stats. So here's some numbers for you.

Lawrence Taylor:

13 seasons
1,088 tackles
142 sacks
9 interceptions

Mike Singletary:

12 seasons
1,488 tackles
19 sacks
7 interceptions


Sure, Singletary had more tackles (by 400, I'll let you decide how huge that is), but LT killed in the sacks column and had more picks along the way. But sometimes stats don't tell the whole story. That's when we get to accomplishments:


Lawrence Taylor:

10-time Pro Bowler
10-time All Pro
2-time Super Bowl Champion
Member of NFL 75th Anniversary All-time team
Member of 1980's All-Decade team
1981 Defensive Rookie of the Year
1986 NFL MVP
1986 Bert Bell Award
2-time NFC Defensive Player of the Year
3-time AP Defensive Player of the Year
Hall of Fame Inductee


Mike Singletary

10-Time Pro Bowler
9-Time All-Pro
One-Time Super Bowl Champ
2-time AP Defensive Player of the Year
1980's All-Decade Team
Hall of Fame Inductee


So, if the stats didn't favor my boy Lawrence Taylor, the achievements and accomplishments definitely give him the edge. Your turn, Cincy.


Okay,INT's can't mean that much for two guys who didn't even have twenty combined in their careers.It's also VERY,hard to distinguish who is better by Tackles and Sacks,as they were about as different as Linebackers could get.Taylor was a very aggresive LB,and had unbelieveable speed to rush,and stay back.Singletary was just the good old fashioned Linebacker,prototypical.But he may have been the best of all time.

Taylor was in one more pro bowl,in two more years in the league.Taylor was on more complete teams than Singletary.The Giants had one of the league best LB corps,as well as Chicago had the league's best defensive at the time.But the Bears never had the offense the Giants had,or the leader in Phil Simms.(psh,Jim McMahon).If this was a QB challenge,SB's may mean more here.

Mike Singletary was actually a three time NFC defensive player of the year.

Singletary recorded 885 solo tackles,alone.Now remember,Singletary was heads above the rest of the defense,even though they were great throughout the '80's.He also led or was second on the team in tackels for 11 of the 12 seasons he played for Chicago.

These were two great LB's but I give the edge to Mike.


If sacks, picks, and tackles don't really matter, what's left to tell us who the best linebacker is? You look for tackles and sacks in all of your linebackers, sometimes picks in certain ones. But since these guys weren't into interceptions, you can assume tackles and sacks are the deciding factor.

LT had the killer instinct. And you can see that when you look at his career sack column. He had so many sacks, and that is what distinguishes him from the rest of the all-time linebackers.

Taylor is also called by many the greatest defensive player of all time. I threwdown before in that subject saying White, and my opponent said LT. He won. In every other one that I saw, LT was used. I don't remember seeing Singletary too much. That might not seem like it matters, but a bunch of fans saying the same thing probably know what they're talking about.

Anyway, you can still see LT is better past the stat column. Just look at his list of accomplishments and achievments. Yes, Mike over there does have an impressive list, but when you look at LT's it's like comparing the Mac to the PC in those commercials that drive us crazy.

LT is the best linebacker of that era, and of all time.


Forfeited Turn

June 27, 2008  09:56 PM ET

Ouch Taylor is going to be hard to beat. Lets see the argument Cincy.

June 28, 2008  01:09 PM ET

Yea that would be a good idea, but I think he's gone for the weekened at 4-H camp.

June 28, 2008  01:09 PM ET

im holding my vot

June 28, 2008  02:14 PM ET

I'm about to leave,I probably won't get in my last arg,just to tell you.

June 30, 2008  07:22 AM ET

Cheezhead had slightly better arguements, plus, Cincy's forfeited turn hurt him a lot. Vote left.

 
June 30, 2008  10:04 AM ET

Cincy started behind with Singletary and then a forfeitted turn....gotta vote for Cheez.

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