BelichickFan

Surely this makes them easier to defend. I thought this would be the case but I wanted numbers to prove it. This is, by year, the % of Indy passing yards going to Wayne and Harrison combined :

2003 : 50.5%
2004 : 50.3%
2005 : 53.7%
2006 : 62.1%

(regular season only, I didn't bother adding playoffs)

Now, I know those guys are great and tough to defend but these numbers show how, especially this year, the targets Manning is looking at are closing in and must make him more defendable.

Before anyone throws Dallas Clark and his injury this year at me, in the game in which he played this year (including playoffs) he's averaged 3 catches for 37 yards per game this year.

maverick4

Well, going by passing yards may be a little misleading. Do the catch numbers go up, or did Wayne's and Harrison's yards per catch go up?

Oswlek

I will throw Dallas Clark back at you, but in a different way. Indy's offense was much more dangerous when they had Stokely in the slot and Clark playing the traditional TE posiiton. Clark is not as good as Stokely in the slot and Moorehead and Utech are not as good as Clark playing his old position.

So even with Clark back, Wayne and Harrison are still the main targets.

BelichickFan

I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at but both of their per catch averages are up this year from last, around what they were in 2004.

My point, though, wasn't that they aren't threats - they're the best WR combo in the league. But when trying to slow them down, it would seem a lot easier to do without having to worry as much about the other guys.

BelichickFan

Agreed. Remember in 2003 when they had Wayne and Harrison but also Stokely as the #3 WR plus Clark and Pollard at TE. Now they have Wayne and Harrison with Clark basically as the #3 WR. That's the exact point I'm making - Harrison and Wayne are an awesome pair but the defense can look more at them without worrying as much about the other threats.