NFL Predictions: Peyton Manning and 10 Players Most Important to Their Teams

The NFL preseason is now heading into Week 2. 

The main goals of preseason for most teams are to get their starters tuned up, get the young ones some experience, evaluate fringe players, and most importantly, make it through as healthy as possible

After Week 1, it has become obvious that certain players are extremely important to their team's overall success.  Without them, their team just isn't the same or it could possibly even be the difference between a winning and losing season.

Let's take a look at 10 such players and how important they are to their team. 

First up, Peyton Manning.

QB Peyton Manning, Colts

The Colts lost their preseason open in horrible fashion to the upstart St. Louis Rams, 33-10.  The worst part about this game was that it showed just how much Peyton Manning means to the Colts.

Second-string QB Curtis Painter completed three out of six passes for 55 yards and an INT.  The interception came on only the third play of the game and it set the Rams up for an early score.

On the Colts' third possession, in came QB Dan Orlovski and he started out much like Painter did with an INT on his first attempt.  Orlovski went on to complete four out of 10 passes for 111 yards, one TD and two INTs.

Colts fans know that Peyton Manning is the guy who steers the ship for Indianapolis.  All reports indicate he shouldn't be in danger of missing any regular season time, which is a true blessing for the team.

A Manning-less Colts team this season would put them in the running for the highly coveted division crown...err, I mean the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft.

RB Chris Johnson, Titans

Chris Johnson is still holding out and has even foregone a year of accrued service (by not reporting by August 9th) to plead his case.  Titans fans have a reason to be a little edgy here.

Tennessee doesn't exactly have a history of giving players lucrative contracts.  Many of their star players are eventually let go or traded before a mega deal is on the horizon; the likes of Steve McNair, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Albert Haynesworth and Stephen Tulloch come to mind.

However, Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt has stated recently that they are planning to make Johnson the "highest paid running back in the history of the NFL". 

There are those that doubt this, but if in fact this is true, it is unknown as to why Johnson hasn't signed yet.

The Titans have added the steady but fragile Matt Hasselbeck at QB, and he should provide some much-needed leadership and experience to the team.

Make no mistake though, the face of the Titans is Chris Johnson.  Javon Ringer and Jamie Harper are "okay", but neither are in the same league as Johnson. 

The Titans are not exactly a dynamic team on offense and would be downright anemic without their star player.

RB Adrian Peterson, Vikings

Adrian Peterson is the league's best running back.  He can run around you, through you and jump over you.  He can beat you inside and outside.  He can catch passes out of the backfield and take it to the house.

He has power, speed, vision and instincts.  Basically, he is the prototype running back every team would love to have.

Peterson didn't get much work in his preseason debut, but he doesn't need it.  Just like Chris Johnson in Tennessee, Peterson is the face of the Viking franchise.

His main backup is Toby Gerhart, the 2010 second-round draft pick out of Stanford.  Gerhart was a nice runner in college but is still mainly an unknown in the NFL at this point.  Last year he averaged four yards per carry on 81 attempts which isn't bad.

The Vikings also have Lorenzo Booker who was their leading rusher in the first preseason game.

However, there is a drastic difference between them and Peterson.

The Vikings lost WR Sidney Rice and have brought in QB Donovan McNabb, so there is a little bit of flux going on with the offense. 

Without Rice as a weapon and now having Captain Checkdown (McNabb) at QB, Peterson will be even more important to the team's success this season.

QB Tom Brady, Patriots

When Tom Brady went down with a knee injury during opening week in 2008, everyone thought their season was over.  Matt Cassel stepped in and amazingly guided the team to an 11-5 record.

However, it is highly unlikely that Brady's current backup could pull off that same feat.

Brian Hoyer was signed as a undrafted free agent in 2009.  Last season in mop-up duty in Week 17 he completed 7 of 13 passes for 122 yards, one TD and one INT.

In last week's preseason game against the defensively-challenged Jaguars, he completed 15 out of 21 passes for 171 yards and a TD.  Not bad.  But again, it was against the Jags and it is preseason.

Rookie third-string QB Ryan Mallett also looked good against the Jags in completing 12 out of 19 for 164 yards and a TD.

With that said, I'm sure Patriot fans would not want to see Hoyer or Mallett in any games that count this year.  The Patriots go as Tom Brady goes.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals

Who's the first player that comes to mind when you think of the Arizona Cardinals?  Hamza Abdullah?  Not quite.  Max Hall?  Maybe, but not for reasons you'd like as a Cardinals fan.

Larry Fitzgerald is the only true bona fide star on this team.  Don't get me wrong, they have other players who are good, but Fitz is the man in the desert right now.

This became especially true after the departure of Anquan Boldin.  The Cardinals like and respect Fitzgerald so much that they traded for his preferred QB this offseason in Kevin Kolb.

They have also already paid him a ton of money and are looking to do so again this year.

After Fitzgerald, what other wide receivers does the team have?  Isaiah Williams, Chansi Stuckey, Andre Robert and Early Doucet would be your answers.

Not exactly a league of extraordinary gentlemen there is it?

Williams did catch three passes for 50 yards and a score in the first preseason game against the Raiders.  At this time he is the leading candidate for the No. 2 receiver position.

However, there is a tremendous drop off between he and Fitzgerald.  Even if Kevin Kolb turns out to be the next Tom Brady, without Fitz the Cardinals offense becomes one-dimensional (and that dimension isn't all that good either).

QB Michael Vick, Eagles

The Eagles have one of the NFL's most potent offensive attacks, and Andy Reid is considered somewhat of a QB guru.  Or at least he tends to make average quarterbacks look good in his offense.

The Eagles traded their highly profiled backup QB Kevin Kolb this offseason.  If they hadn't, Michael Vick does not make this list.

The QB position is the most important position on every NFL team.  However, with Andy Reid's pass-happy philosophy, the QB position is even more important with this team than many others'. 

Now that the valuable security blanket in Kevin Kolb is no longer around, the Eagles would have to turn to the likes of Vince Young and Mike Kafka.

In the Eagles' first preseason game against the Ravens, Michael Vick only played one series and led a quick touchdown drive right down the field.  After that, the Eagles offense could only muster six more points the rest of the way.

That is indicative of how the Eagles offense would be without Vick—low scoring.

QB Aaron Rodgers, Packers

Aaron Rodgers catapulted himself out of the shadow of Brett Favre last year and won the Super Bowl.  He has cemented himself as a top QB and is now mentioned in the same conversation as Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.

How would the Packers do if they lost Rodgers for an entire season?  They would still compete to a certain degree because they have an all-around good team, but their offense would be severely downgraded.

They have Matt Flynn you say?  Well, he did just put up a 100.7 passer rating against the Browns in last week's preseason game where he went 11 out of 18 for 126 yards and a TD.

When Rodgers was out for two games last season, Flynn made a slight blip on the radar when he put on a good show against the Patriots and nearly emerged victorious.

However, nobody wants to remember the other game Flynn played against Detroit where the Packers lost 7-3.  In that game, Flynn threw for 177 yards, one INT and posted a passer rating of 62.5.

Over the course of an entire season, my guess is that the Packers offense would look more like they did against the Lions last year than against the Patriots.

Make no mistake, Aaron Rodgers is more than just the man in Green Bay.  He's their golden child.

CB Johnathan Joseph, Texans

A cornerback as the most important player to a team?  In the Texans' case, yes, absolutely.

Houston's problem has not been their offense with star players in Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Arian Foster.  Defense has been their Achilles heel.

Pass defense, specifically.

The Texans had the 33rd-ranked pass defense last season (yes, I known there are only 32 teams).  In 2010, they gave up a whopping 267.5 yards passing per game and allowed an average of two TD passes per game.

To say they needed help in this area is an understatement.

After attempting to lure Nnamdi Asomugha, the Texans quickly turned their attention to the second-best CB on the free-agent market and landed Johnathan Joseph.  He is expected to be the cure to what ails the Houston pass defense.

If he doesn't have the impact that is hoped for, Houston may very well wind up having yet another disappointing year.  Their offense is playoff caliber and Johnathan Joseph gives sudden credibility on the defensive side.

Let's hope it pays off for them.

QB Matt Cassel, Chiefs

The Chiefs offense is built to run the football.  But as we all know, in this league you can't have an offense that is one-dimensional.

One does not need to look any further than the first preseason game for the Chiefs against Tampa Bay.  Cassel didn't play much and didn't attempt a single pass.  But let's take a look at what his backups did...

Both Tyler Palko and Ricky Stanzi, perhaps the weakest pair of backup QBs in the league, both threw for the same exact numbers: 4 out of 8 for 34 yards.  Wow.  I know offenses are typically "vanilla" in the preseason but this was sugar free vanilla.

With Matt Cassel at the helm, the Chiefs have a viable air attack.  Dwayne Bowe is an outstanding receiver and Jamaal Charles is a significant threat catching passes out of the backfield.

If Cassel were to go down for the entire season, the Chiefs may set an NFL record for fewest points scored.

QB Joe Flacco, Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens believe they are ready to challenge for an AFC conference title.  I can certainly agree with that sentiment.

They are also a team that is built to run the football and play good defense.  But if they want to truly contend in the AFC, they have to be able to throw the ball too.

Joe Flacco hasn't exactly lit up the stat boards since he came into the league, but he has provided Baltimore with stability and solid play at the game's most important position.

He appears ready to take that next step in his maturation process.  However, is there anyone behind him who can keep the ship afloat for a few weeks if need be?

Right now, Flacco's two backups are Hunter Cantwell and rookie Tyrod Taylor, neither of whom has ever attempted a pass in a regular season NFL game.

In last week's preseason game against the Eagles, Hunter Cantpass, err, Cantwell (or is it Cantpasswell?) went exactly 0-1 for zero yards passing.  Taylor played most of the game and completed 19 passes for 179 yards and two INTs.

Taylor was also seen running for his life most of the game.

In any regard, Baltimore better pray that Flacco doesn't miss any time this year or their chances for a Super Bowl run will be about the same as getting struck by lightning while carrying the winning Powerball ticket.