MooseKnuckles
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Caldwell was ok, he might have been even better if Branch was here.. We have to still get another WR next yr ..
Final stats not collated, but Caldwell also had more first downs, more receptions over 20 yards, and more receptions over 40 yards than Givens had last year.
And the consensus around the league is that Brady has had an off year. If Brady returns to 2003/4 form and we pair Caldwell with another decent receiver or two, his total production might or might not be up, but he surely would be even more productive on a per play basis.
He will likely never be as productive as Branch was here, but Caldwell is a solid #2 and could be a great #3.
The problem this year's WR game has been (a) loss of Branch, (b) disruption from simultaneously losing Givens, (c) Brady's mysterious problems. Not Reche Caldwell.
I guess I just cannot understand where you are coming from. Reche deserves major props for coming this far, however I don't know where you are getting that the league consensus is that Brady is having an off year. In fact, it is just the opposite. The consensus was that he should not have been snubbed for the ProBowl. The majority of media outlets, espn, foxsports, nesn, si, cbs sportsline, all talk about our poor WRs. The offensive problems are no mystery. Just listen to what the major media is saying and not silly Boston sports radio. For most of the season the WRs have not picked up the timing or the routes. Brady throws to a particular spot and expects the WR to be there. For much of the season they have not been there. Reche has come around to the new system and is doing very well.
The comparrison of Reche to Dieon is ridiculous. You need to look past the stats and get a grip on the actual situations.
Read more carefully. I've consistently compared Caldwell to Givens, never to Branch.
I don't live in the Boston area; I suspect it's you that needs to get some outside perspective. Read some non-Boston media; pay attention to non-Boston fans. Ponder why it is that players and coaches didn't vote for Brady this year. Look at your own sig line. Use your own eyes. Brady is off this year. His accuracy isn't what it was 2 years ago. Sure his WR's aren't a great group, but he's sometimes missing them when they are wide open. He's not hitting them in stride as much as he did in the past. He's not quite himself. Still very good, but not Brady great.
To be clear: I believe the bulk of the fall off in the passing game productivity is because we lost Branch and didn't replace him. It would be convenient to stop there, but it also appears that Brady's contribution is down a bit this year as well, as evidenced by slightly reduced accuracy.
I'm not the only one on this board who who feels that way.
I've actually not posted any statistical analysis about Brady's year. Nor will I. I only came to the defense of Caldwell when what I saw on the field didn't support the scathing attacks on him in this forum. When I looked, stats supported what I observed, so I posted them. I wrote a while ago that Caldwell looked like a decent replacement for Givens. Period. That irritated some here who wanted to blame the front office for all the problems the passing game has had this year.
But perhaps you believe that Brady can do no wrong? That he can never have a down year, only up years? That he gets full credit for all success, but is immune from any criticism? If so, I'm certainly not going to argue with you.
I think Brady's great, but he's only human. It looks to me that he's not having a great year by his standards. Some of the responsibility is his. Sorry if you find that thought offensive.
I've actually not posted any statistical analysis about Brady's year.
I will, see below
But perhaps you believe that Brady can do no wrong? That he can never have a down year, only up years? That he gets full credit for all success, but is immune from any criticism? If so, I'm certainly not going to argue with you.
I think Brady's great, but he's only human. It looks to me that he's not having a great year by his standards. Some of the responsibility is his. Sorry if you find that thought offensive.
I'm talking about the kind of breakaway speed off the line that allows Brady to hit a receiver in stride and get big YAC numbers. It seems to me that we haven't seen that type of play this year - am i wrong?
Read more carefully. I've consistently compared Caldwell to Givens, never to Branch.
And you choose to compare him to 2005 Givens which was not his best or one of this teams best seasons but whatever works... And the adage that statistics are just a tool is even more evident in football than what I believe is your forte, baseball. Context is everything in this game where 11 guys have to perform in unison consistently, in this case within a very specific system, for stats to amount to much of anything. At the end of the season, when BB reviews these players performances, he does it on a game by game basis and evaluates not just what they did, but asseses what they did in relation to what they were supposed to do and how that effected the overall unit and team performance as a whole. Which is one reason Gabriel is no longer with us.
I don't live in the Boston area; I suspect it's you that needs to get some outside perspective. Read some non-Boston media; pay attention to non-Boston fans. Ponder why it is that players and coaches didn't vote for Brady this year. Look at your own sig line. Use your own eyes. Brady is off this year. His accuracy isn't what it was 2 years ago. Sure his WR's aren't a great group, but he's sometimes missing them when they are wide open. He's not hitting them in stride as much as he did in the past. He's not quite himself. Still very good, but not Brady great.
The outside perspective on this team has consistently been overly simplistic and off the mark. The just don't get it factor - because we aren't sexy enough and don't put up eye popping albeit empty absent the context stats that catch the limited attention of the national media on offense or defense. They have been divided this year between those who predicted Brady could not possibly perform with no significant WR and those who parroted the his favorite receiver is the open one theme, until they realized none of these guys was getting open with any consistency. Same goes for players whose voting record where the pro bowl is concerned is acknowledged to be a half-assed effort bassed as much on recent media spin as anything. And our local media obsessing on body language did him a huge disservice, as they often do in an attempt to dispel any appearance of homerism. Brady un-nerves them all on many levels, and in no small part because of his team first and cap friendly aw-shucks approach to a me-centric game where quantifiable talent is supposed to be valued over the intangibles that result in a 6th rounder showing them all up. Brady is navigating a season where 80% of his WR corps turned over, mostly on the fly, in a precision and timing based, read and react offense. Behind a line whose performances in pass protection alone have been inconsistent to say the least and abyssmal against speed rushers. (Did you hear the broadcast nitwits yesterday touting that units performance in the Brady era...
He fronts an offense with not a single player who even sniffs a pro bowl nod through five playoff seasons in 6 years winning 3 championships. And you believe it's suddenly some deficiency in him that precludes routinely hitting guys who have struggled all season to be open let alone where they were supposed to be in stride? LOL
To be clear: I believe the bulk of the fall off in the passing game productivity is because we lost Branch and didn't replace him. It would be convenient to stop there, but it also appears that Brady's contribution is down a bit this year as well, as evidenced by slightly reduced accuracy.
I'm not the only one on this board who who feels that way.
Or it could be unfamiliarity with a revolving corps of JAG WR's, but as you say that explanation may just be too simple or convenient for some of our deep thinkers to grasp. And we all know the significance of the feelings of internet board posters in effectively analyzing player performace.
I've actually not posted any statistical analysis about Brady's year. Nor will I. I only came to the defense of Caldwell when what I saw on the field didn't support the scathing attacks on him in this forum. When I looked, stats supported what I observed, so I posted them. I wrote a while ago that Caldwell looked like a decent replacement for Givens. Period. That irritated some here who wanted to blame the front office for all the problems the passing game has had this year.
But perhaps you believe that Brady can do no wrong? That he can never have a down year, only up years? That he gets full credit for all success, but is immune from any criticism? If so, I'm certainly not going to argue with you.
I think Brady's great, but he's only human. It looks to me that he's not having a great year by his standards. Some of the responsibility is his. Sorry if you find that thought offensive.