BelichickFan

Evans is nothing more than a journeyman scrub. Faulk is AWESOME at what he does - the best in the league - but he's still just a pass receiving RB, not to be compared in any way to Dillon and Maroney.

shmessy

Exactly. I still don't understand the Heath Evans Fan Club.

If Patrick Pass is healthy by week 6, Evans should get a hearty handshake and thanks for the effort.

__________________
"They (Patriots) may be the greatest team ever" - Chris Mortenson, January 18, 2005 on espn.com

PATSNUTme

But, wait!

If Maroney starts getting as many reps as Corey and has sucess, that when Corey starts sulking and making trouble.

Isn't that what many of the media and some on this board have been saying?

So, this article flies in the face of convetional wisdom, right?

RayClay

You never know what could happen!

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...3064&t=TS_Home

__________________

scout

I'm going with the wisdom that Corey will think this kid is going to prolong his career. The Patriots will keep racking up wins and the RB tandem will keep racking up yards. Corey will most likely get the nod on short and goal and score some TD's. I really don't see him complaining about reps. But, who knows.

PATSNUTme

Bingo!

I never thought that Corey would be that way either. Yet, there were ample articles and posts saying that.

You don't see many of those anymore.

FSUPatsFan

Yeah, I agree. Remember when we played the Colts in 2004 and we had that 90+ yd drive that ate up over 9 minutes of the clock and virtually put the game out of reach? Then Belichick went on to say after the game something to the effect of "That was one of the best executed drives and half of football that this team has had all season" I hope that with our two headed monster, our monster TE, our other TE, Kevin Faulk, and the WR that we can have drives like that week in and week out. I'd rather win a game 21-10 where we just pound the defense the whole game and have control of the ball most of the game rather than winning Colts style and scoring in 12 seconds only to have our defense play most of the game.

hwc

That's why I suspect that Belichick planted the seeds for this article with Tomase. And, that he has probably already given Dillion and Maroney highlight DVDs of Czonka/Morris, Harris/Bleier, and Mack/Byner to inspire them.

Think about it. Dillion is a great running back, not far behind OJ Simpson in total yardage, but at an age where feeding him the ball 25 or 30 times a game will kill him (figuratively speaking). He's got a big contract, so you want to maximize his production for a couple or three years. Likewise, you don't want to run the rookie into the ground. What Marty is doing in San Diego, pounding Tomlinson 35 times a game, is just insane.

So, give them a challenge to do something that's only been done three times in the history of the NFL. Get them working toward the SAME goal.

---------

Keep in mind that Belichick pounded the ball with his two-headed monster on Sunday despite playing without a lead.
On the final drive, he was willing to kill the last 6:15 on the clock with a lead of only 2 points -- eight plays, one pass, seven consecutive Dillon and Maroney runs, including a run on 4th and 2 from field goal range. What that tells me is that he knew the two-headed monster had worn down the Bills defense. He knew it because he had watched his Giants defense get worn down by Mack/Byner in 1985.

He fed that story to Tomase, knowing that Dillon and Maroney (and the whole team) would read it. The two-headed monster becomes a "talking point" in the locker room.

Meanwhile, the defenses have to back off that all out pass defense they've been using against Brady for most of the last three or four years. Stay in nickle packages and Maroney/Dillion will run you into the ground. Fresh backs all day against a small defense? At some point, they've got to bring the safety up and go 8-in-the-box.

8-in-the-box against Tom Brady. Think about it. Hello Ben Watson!

Doing this from a base 2 TE set is particularly nasty because the Pats can run or pass from the same set.

Box_O_Rocks

It also gives Maroney time to learn more about the blocking scheme and develop his "vision." In the offensive breakdowns I've done, Maroney doesn't have the same timing with the O-line that Cory does. If you look at their actual per play production, Maroney's speed and shiftiness got him the long runs once he broke in the clear, but Cory was able to get extra yardage on his runs by having better timing with the O-line and a better understanding of how they were going to block the play. Maroney is going to be an even better runner long term for having been in Dillon's hip pocket.

__________________
"Avert thine eyes! You're not hot enough to be looking at me."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.