BradyManny

Look, I know at some point you just have to a) ignore Felger b/c he's an attention-whore b) acknowledge that sometimes media members have to bring up certain things just to fill an article/write something, but Maroney as a "disappointment"?

Felger has been anti-Maroney for a while at this point, but even folks on this board who have been hating on Maroney have to look at his overall season (835 yards, 4.5 YPC, 6 TDs, 116 REC yds in 13 games) and think he's had a very solid second season.

I start this thread b/c I was just about to start a thread with the idea that if you look at Maroney's entire body of work for the season, you have to be happy, and you have to be excited about the rest of his career. Folks might come back with "but if you look at what he did against good run defenses" blah blah blah, if you did that for every RB, you'd still see it.

Bottom line - 800+ yards, 4.5 YPC, sharing time, missed a few games - I think Maroney had a very promising regular season, and for all the crap he took from here and in the media, it's definitely worth acknowledging.

Specifically, to breakdown Felger's stupid argument:

STUPID POINT #1: The notion that it's easier to run on a team that is respecting the run isn't entirely true. First, we ran 3 or 4 wide spreads a lot, there wasn't even an RB on the field a decent portion, if there was, it was Faulk. You can't fault Maroney for not being on the field and you can't fault him for the style of offense and play-calling they play. Second, while nobody was up stuffing the box or anything, plenty of teams chose to blitz against Brady, and if you line up and run, you'll run right into the blitz. So in the end, guess what, the teams with good run defenses, we didn't run against them. Is that a surprise considering we have the best passing offense in history?

STUPID POINT #2: Again, for those weeks Maroney was getting criticized, we were playing teams where run defense was a STRENGTH for them. BB has made it clear over the years he won't bother running against teams that are stout against the run.

STUPID POINT #3: He missed 3 games, and at times, they were just being extra-cautious. Makes sense considering the real season is just beginning and it's these 3 games we need him healthy for.

MRBLAZE

People are too hard on him.

He's a really talented back, and I'm sure he will perform whatever role assigned to him during the playoffs just fine. Hopefully that will silence some of his big critics.

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STFarmy

My biggest disappointment is that an 18-wheeler hasn't gone barrelling over Felger yet.

ClevTrev

Felger? He's nothing to me. I stopped reading him long ago. Therefore, he can write anything he wants, as the truth is out there.

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The Boston Patriot

Borges Light.....

'Nuff said!

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Deus Irae

When you patronize a writer, store, paper, etc... that you do nothing but complain about, you look foolish. You don't force change or improvement and you keep that person/company in business. The people who keep complaining about Felcher and the rest, be they PFT, Peter King or whomever, are just driving traffic towards those people.

Bottom line: If you don't like someone in their job, look elsewhere for your satisfaction.

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BradyManny

Felger is only meant to be a jumping off point for a discussion on Maroney in this thread. If for no other reason than a thread with Felger in the title will get more views than one that says "hey, Maroney's great!"

hambone1818

Playing devils advocate here, who would you select as biggest disappointment? Maroney missed a few games, actually looked worse than Morris when both were healthy, and didn't do a hell of a lot despite--as Felger pointed out--teams mostly playing for the pass. I don't think he was necessarily a disappointment but to me it wasn't an improvement over last season, which is something you'd expect from a second year player. He had almost the same year (185 carries, 835 yards, 6 TD's) this year as he did last year (175, 745, 6 TD's), and this was an offense that should have allowed for a ton of big runs with all the receiving weapons.

As far as disappointments go, I'd have to stick Hobbs or Meriweather in there ahead of Maroney. Maybe I got too excited about a rookie coming into a decent secondary and a very veteran defense that runs pretty complex and varied schemes, but Meriweather did nothing this year to make you believe he'll be ready to start next season, and he came off as a hot head more often than not. Hobbs regressed, plain and simple. Just one INT, got burned far, far too often and generally seemed late on the ball, allowing far too many uncontested receptions.

BradyManny

Meriweather clearly got stronger as the year went on, he had a good game the other night against the Giants. I actually thought I saw him check himself out on that last drive with some kind of tweek (haven't heard anything about it), and after that, they scored the TD.

Biggest disappointment? I'd skip the damn section, we were 16-0.

TeamPats

While I have not read the article, if he was doing a biggest disappointment on the season section for thie Patriots team...who would you put then? You have to put someone, so then who? Adalius Thomas? Dante Stallworth? Richard Seymour? No matter what answer is given, in a 16-0 season it is going to be a bit of a reach. There are many who felt Maroney would have done more at the start of the season, I don't know why this is such a big deal.

Maroney is showing to be a capable and talented back who has improved with time, but I will be the first to admit I expected more from him at the start of the year with no Dillon. I think Sammy Morris's early success had a lot to do with the Maroney criticism as we did not seem to have such a pass oriented offense until Morris went down and the show was Maroney's. He was a 1st round pick and looking around the league there have been several others that have accelled at a faster rate.

I think the main area I was disappointed with Maroney was during passing downs he was never on the field. Faulk is a much better RB/WR in these scenarios, but I was hoping as the season went on Maroney would be in the backfield to help keep a run threat at times. But he is young and this is often the last thing a RB improves upon on entering the NFL.

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