MMQB on Moss and Brady

[MoLewisrocks]

2. Bill Belichick has one of the biggest challenges of his coaching career on his hands, and how he handles it will go a long way in determining the 2009 fate of the Patriots. I detail Randy Moss' canine performance against Carolina Sunday in Goat of the Week, but suffice to say he's not playing hard and is totally useless in the lineup. So if you're Belichick, you know these things:

You have only one receiver, Wes Welker, who can get open against man coverage when Moss is a bum like this ... Your tight ends are useless as receivers ... Your screen game isn't effective because defenses know you have to use it so much that they're waiting for it constantly ... And Moss is a total head case.. So your options are to draw the hard line and bench him and play Sam Aiken opposite Welker and hope the career special-teamer strikes gold. Unlikely. Or you can baby Moss along, keep him as one of the captains, pretend he's just going through a tough stretch, and expend an incredible amount of energy making him feel like he's still your go-to guy. Clearly, Belichick's going to have to try the latter.

New England could lose at Buffalo, particularly if the Bills -- if Perry Fewell is smart -- double Welker on every snap underneath and over the top, and belt him around in the five-yard bump zone. I remember Bill Parcells preaching to the beat guys who covered the Giants (and I'm sure he beat his assistants over the heads with it in the '80s, including Belichick) that his job was to get the most out of each player, and that meant he wasn't going to treat everyone the same because everyone didn't react to coaching the same way. That's where Belichick is now with Moss.

3. You've got to like Tom Brady trying to put the pressure for the Patriots' performance down the stretch on his shoulders. "Put it on me,'' he said over the cell phone on his way home from Foxboro on Sunday evening. "That's where I want it -- on me.'' You asked for it, you got it. We talked for maybe 15 minutes, and I'd have thought he'd be exasperated by a few things -- Moss, how poorly they were playing across the board the last month, the fourth-down-conversion problems, the Adalius Thomas fiasco. But no. Brady was ridiculously optimistic. "It's like a heavyweight fight,'' he said. "A boxing match. We just gotta keep fighting. We're not the same team as we were last year or the year before, but I haven't lost faith in us at all. It's just that our margin of error is so small.'' Whereas in 2007, Brady had a couple of professional receivers, Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney, as his third and fourth wideouts after Moss and Welker, now he's got the green Aiken and Julian Edelman (who's been hurt consistently).

New England's 8-5, a game ahead of the Jets and Dolphins, with the Bills, Jags and Texans on the schedule to finish up. Not too hard, not too easy for the old Patriots, but for these Patriots, where everything comes hard? "We're 7-0 at home,'' Brady said. "We just put up 470 yards of offense against a good defense in Miami. We got the best coach in history. Shoot, once the playoffs start, if we're fortunate enough to make them, anything can happen. We were 18-0 and didn't win the Super Bowl. You never know. Don't lose faith in us.'' When I got off the phone with him, I thought: That's what he's going to say to his team this week.

Saints chase perfection; Colts plan to rest starters; more NFL - Peter King - SI.com

 

[BelichickFan]

Ben Watson certainly isn't "useless as a receiver". He's under used if anything.

 

[Mark.]

Ben Watson certainly isn't "useless as a receiver". He's under used if anything.

Totally agree-He was huge in the first Buffalo game. Don't know why we haven't used him more.

 

[Willie55]

Totally agree-He was huge in the first Buffalo game. Don't know why we haven't used him more.

He had a good game yesterday too, including a touchdown catch.

 

[emoney_33]

Welker would struggle to get 3 receptions passed the LOS if you take Moss out of this lineup. This is a pile of trash piece. His teammates voted him as captain because he's a baby right? Good grief, you all can say it as many times as you want, it's not going to make it true. They are not coddling or babying Moss to prevent him from "quitting" or "tanking". But the naysayers need an out, when he inevitably breaks out for another big game they can point to the "coddling" as bringing him off the "edge". It's so ridiculous, setting up the tired failed argument of Moss being a quitter.

 

[swheeler23]

Who is MMQB?

 

[Tunescribe]

Moss doesn't seem to respond to positive reinforcement. He seems to get worse with negative reinforcement. He doesn't seem to perform consistently in very cold weather. What's a coach to do? Maybe BB should bring in a spiritual mentor for the players like Jim Brown, or that Dr. Harry whatshisname who works with the 49ers players. Maybe Randy is injured, depressed, lonely -- who knows? What an odd predicament.

 

[Kontradiction]

I disagree on the points about Watson. He's very effective as a receiver when he's allowed to run routes, which is what we're going to need him to do in the last quarter of the season and in the playoffs. Disagree with Moss being "totally useless in the line-up". At this point, he's the best wide receiver we have and, even if he isn't catching the ball, he's a great decoy. Without him, defenses shut Welker down.

As for the parts I agree with, I agree with his stance about Stallworth and Gaffney over Aiken and Edelman. I really wish those two were still with us. It's still a completely mystery to me, to this day, why they supplanted Stallworth with Gaffney in the starting line-up in 2007 when Stallworth was more effective at drawing double coverage than Gaffney was. But eh, that's over with. Also agree that, if Fewell is smart, he doubles both Welker and Moss and makes the other guys beat him. As much as it hurts this offense, I actually hope teams do that more to force Brady to spread the ball around to guys like Edelman, Stanback, Aiken, and Watson if they are open. While we're hurting for a respectable (that is, a guy that can draw double coverage over Welker) third receiver that make make defenses pay deep, these guys are not all bad options. Edelman is an effective slot receiver, Watson is a good tight end when used correctly, and Aiken and Stanback are capable of getting open in the intermediate routes.

 

[Willie55]

Who is MMQB?

The know-it-all Peter King.

 

[swheeler23]

The know-it-all Peter King.

Now I know why I don't know the name.

 

[SVN]

i have been losing respect for king a lot. Moss was useless yesterday catching the ball but take him out of the lineup yesterday and we wouldve seen how much attention welker and faulk receive. king doesnt seem to have much more football knowledge than any other armchair analyst. Moss is the goat of the week even though the pats won the game. how about the kicker for the cowboys ? Easy to pile on moss because a) his history b)he doesnt respond in the media.

 

[Synovia]

Moss doesn't seem to respond to positive reinforcement. He seems to get worse with negative reinforcement.

This is the problem with people who don't actually understand modern football.


Randy Moss demands double coverage on every play. As long as he demands consistent double coverage, he is helping the offense, whether or not he gets the ball thrown to him. The Panthers doubled him all day, and that left welker, faulk and Watson all in single coverage, and sometimes in no coverage.


I'll believe Moss is "dogging it" or playing poorly when teams start leaving him uncovered, like they routinely do with Welker.


That INT was a terrible terrible throw.

 

[Kontradiction]

That INT was a terrible terrible throw.

Agreed. I think Brady forced that ball into double coverage because he was trying too hard to get Moss involved in the game. Though interceptions like that are typically the fault of the wide receiver, I never blamed Moss for that yesterday. Moss did dog it out there (alligator arms), but that wasn't his fault. Brady even admitted as much yesterday.

 

[Rob0729]

Welker would struggle to get 3 receptions passed the LOS if you take Moss out of this lineup. This is a pile of trash piece. His teammates voted him as captain because he's a baby right? Good grief, you all can say it as many times as you want, it's not going to make it true. They are not coddling or babying Moss to prevent him from "quitting" or "tanking". But the naysayers need an out, when he inevitably breaks out for another big game they can point to the "coddling" as bringing him off the "edge". It's so ridiculous, setting up the tired failed argument of Moss being a quitter.

I disagree with a lot of this. Yes, if Moss left with this receiving corp (either Aiken or Edelman being the #2 WR behind Welker), I say that Welker would struggle to get 3 catches. But if they had a decent starting WR, Welker would be just fine. Remember that Brady has done very well with receivers like Branch, Givens, and Troy Brown and none were as good as Wes.

Moss does have a history of getting frustrated in games and if you take him out early he does dog it. That is a fact for his career. That is why I was hesitant for the Pats to get him in the first place. Moss dogged it yesterday. There is no defense for that. He has dogged it several times this year. Is he quitting like he did in Oakland? No. But he isn't giving his best effort every game either.

 

[FalconHeavy]

You've got to like Tom Brady trying to put the pressure for the Patriots' performance down the stretch on his shoulders. "Put it on me,'' he said over the cell phone on his way home from Foxboro on Sunday evening. "That's where I want it -- on me.'' You asked for it, you got it. We talked for maybe 15 minutes, and I'd have thought he'd be exasperated by a few things -- Moss, how poorly they were playing across the board the last month, the fourth-down-conversion problems, the Adalius Thomas fiasco. But no. Brady was ridiculously optimistic. "It's like a heavyweight fight,'' he said.

OK, now did Brady really talk to this Drama Queen over the cell phone after the game ? I never understood why players would call him.

Assuming this is true, Brady has nothing productive to do while going home

 

[NSpatsfan]

Y'know its really hard to believe that a guy who is one of the tops in the league in a number of categories, and playing for a divisonal leading team that is 8-5 would get so much crap. I know that he has had his ups and downs this year but so has Brady, reminds me of the whole "body language" debate about Brady a few years back, maybe we should have dumped Brady then yeesh
Its a long season with ups and downs, Moss was a monster in the Indy game, and hauled in a TD pass last weekend, and that is just a taste of how he is done this year, so he had a bad game, so he had two, who elso are you gonna put out there? Someone else mentioned that without him Welker is lucky he gets three passes his way, and I really believe that to be the case. The micoscope this team is under right now is freakin crazy, for those out there that remember, to be leading the division in december is not a right of the New England Patriots. I know that for some you have to criticize, not be happy, because you want more, and I understand that, but wholly hell lay off the man already lets see where we are at at the end of the year, there is still lots of football left!!!

 

[Tunescribe]

This is the problem with people who don't actually understand modern football.


Randy Moss demands double coverage on every play. As long as he demands consistent double coverage, he is helping the offense, whether or not he gets the ball thrown to him. The Panthers doubled him all day, and that left welker, faulk and Watson all in single coverage, and sometimes in no coverage.


I'll believe Moss is "dogging it" or playing poorly when teams start leaving him uncovered, like they routinely do with Welker.


That INT was a terrible terrible throw.

You're a jerk for that "understand modern football" crap. The issues I posed regarding Moss extend above and beyond what's happening on the field. He has a history of such issues, so don't suggest it's all a matter of between the lines. Everyone knows he draws double coverage on a consistent basis, but this offense has wrinkles designed to put him in favorable matchups (i.e., running him out of the slot, etc.). He should be making more than one or two catches a game, regardless. His short-arming a perfect pass on that slant yesterday is one glaring example of something amiss with the guy. I'm a big fan of Moss, but yesterday he did not play with much effort because he either is playing injured or struggling emotionally, or both. I would never suggest taking Moss out of the lineup, but something needs to be done to light a fire under his butt.

 

[Mark.]

The micoscope this team is under right now is freakin crazy,

Drives me nuts-Randy's play is getting more attention than the 13-0 Colts and Saints-Why?

 

[NSpatsfan]

Drives me nuts-Randy's play is getting more attention than the 13-0 Colts and Saints-Why?

Haters just hatin.............

 

[emoney_33]

I disagree with a lot of this. Yes, if Moss left with this receiving corp (either Aiken or Edelman being the #2 WR behind Welker), I say that Welker would struggle to get 3 catches. But if they had a decent starting WR, Welker would be just fine. Remember that Brady has done very well with receivers like Branch, Givens, and Troy Brown and none were as good as Wes.

Brady is doing better this season than he has any other season aside from 2007. I know Brady is amazing and can make do, but let's not fantasize about things. We had plenty of low scoring defensive games with Branch, Givens, Troy etc...

Moss does have a history of getting frustrated in games and if you take him out early he does dog it. That is a fact for his career.

A fact? Or a media-driven opinion? Funny even with this fact he still puts up monstrous numbers throughout his entire career. According to this fact, all you have to do is double/triple him early and then he'll shut down the rest of the game. Yet he still puts up the numbers he does over his career, funny how that works. Teams focus on him ALL game, the only way not to is with constant pressure on Brady.

That is why I was hesitant for the Pats to get him in the first place. Moss dogged it yesterday. There is no defense for that. He has dogged it several times this year. Is he quitting like he did in Oakland? No. But he isn't giving his best effort every game either.

You think he dogged it because the media has branded him as a player that dogs it. Thus you attribute things to him dogging it. Other players could give the same body language and it would be completely ignored by your subconscious. Moss had a bad game, EVERYONE has bad games. Remember the "Brady body language" season, that was just as much rubbish. But people need something to complain about and someone to blame things on.