85 is pretty good vs. a defense allowing only 51 ypg on average.
Okay, Maroney's a solid receiver out of the backfield. Is that his position? Can you understand the frustration with Maroney?
I'm not asking to be a jerk. I really want to figure out how best to utilize him, because he has yet to show (since late 2007) the potential we've all been waiting for.
Belichick had a plan in mind. It didn't work because he could not adapt this OL to zone block the way he long admired Denver doing. He knows that the harder a RB works for his own yards the shorter his career and the more time spent on injury lists. He wanted the home run talent in the open field. Not the player Dillon became after one hardfought 1600 yard season. The guy with no speed left who could be chased down from behind when he did break free by any defender with half decent speed. Everyone got hurt in the process.
Maroney isn't a great fit for this OL. But this OL is aging out and initial replacements are already in the pipeline. They look a little different than the small, smart and quick technicians the league has in some ways caught up with. Maroney is only 24. And oddly despite all the wailing from the fan base Maroney has started 3 of the first 4. And before yesterday he was averaging the same solid 4 per as the others.
And don't forget since late 2007 when he did carry the load after Morris was lost for most of a season due to injury, he also lost most of a season due to injury. Taylor got dinged averaging 3 yards a carry yesterday and that is what BB wanted to avoid after 2005. Reliance on the guy who moves the pile and makes his own holes succombing to the effects of that grinding it out approach.
Through it all this OL has remained the lone constant (and an inconsistent one at that). Nobody runs well behind them for long. But perhaps with a couple of bigger youngsters in the pipeline and 4 more 2nds and a first and two firsts already in 2011 and some talent in the secondary and some solid young DL and LB emerging we will finally assemble OL the team has long deserved, the one that wins it's own battles in the trenches so the RB and TE as well as WR can fully benefit from the existence of a HOF QB as opposed to blocking and chipping. And Maroney did block well yesterday if you notice that kind of thing (and Bill likely does...).
Bill finally said last week that the OL executed better against Atlanta than they had in the first two games and as a result there were more holes for the RB's. Of course they were facing an easier task and Maroney didn't get to reap the rewards in the second half because they sat him after his thigh injury. But just the same, he acknowledged they are complicit when the running game here disappoints. Why fans can't grasp that is beyond me. They alternately want to lambaste Light and Kaczur and even Koppen, until it comes time to acknowledge the overall effect their performance has on a RB or QB...
There were a couple of holes yesterday, but not on Maroney's shift. And not consistently. Morris and Faulk both got dropped behind the LOS too.
Dale just made me chuckle as he observed that the EHIII haters in his section were lamenting his loss yesterday. It's just the nature of the beast here, because winning has spawned a spoiled and even meanspirited kneejerk fanbase. We won't be trading Maroney any more than Ian will trade some of the worthless posters here to some other unfortunate board.