Was Moss used correctly in the playoffs??

[Xzibit23]

I was watching Inside the NFL and they were fairly critical of McDaniels and how the Pats used Moss in general. They felt by keeping him outside the entire time they sorta left him oiut to dry and in the 2nd half when they FINALLY had him playing inside running shorter slants he had 50 yds and a TD. Their point was when teams take away a player like Moss, its upto the OC to find ways for him to still get open, not just upto Randy.

I had to agree with their reasoning, all we've been hearing is "what happened to Moss in the playoffs." IMO, 2 things happened..a)the team got conservative and decided to not take any chances throwing into double coverage and b)they were not creative in their usage of him and essentially had him running the same routes. A weapon like that you have to move around, you have to find ways to keep him involved. I remember they did that against Indy in the regular season and it payed dividends, he had 145 Yds and was the reason they won. But for some reason he was forgotten about in the playoffs, and their was a perception that there was nothing wrong with him staying as a decoy, I read it here everyday. But the reality is that the team was not as effecctive without him being a big part of the action, and only when it was evident that changes needed to be made during the SB did that point hit home.

 

[Sivy]

i kept screaming for them to just THROW IT TO MOSS, HE'S MOSS! But they didnt listen, the only time they did that was when there was 35 seconds left to play...and honeslty, I think they should have thrown it to stallworth. Come on, if your a D. and you know they need a huge play, who is the one guy you're gonna send everyone on? Freakin MOSS! there is something fishy about that game kids, something fishy.

 

[nittanylions52]

I don't know what happened. Maybe the offense was too confident that they could just get a big play when they needed it. There was too many 3 and outs for the offense. They definitely should have used Moss more.

 

[signbabybrady]

I think Moss was taken out of the Jags and Chargers game...But I think we expected the giants to show him all types of attention and they did not show him as much as the other two playoff opponents did but it seemed like as we were expecting them to that our game plan was to have the other guys by the primary read.

I did no real study of this as it would have been frustrating but it really seemed as though we stayed away from Moss especially in the first half due to the attention he recieved in the other games. Although the Giants were not giving him as much attention as the other teams were.

 

[BelichickFan]

I guess the offseason will tell. My gut says something's a bit fishy that we threw to him in double/triple coverage in the regular season and then stopped completely in the playoffs. Was it Brady going back to being Brady and throwing to the open guy ? Was Moss a little banged up and not able to elevate ? Or was there some issue with Moss' personality/attitude ?

My guess is (b) - something happened and he was healthy but not 100% healthy but it's nothing more than a guess.

 

[Xzibit23]

I think Moss was taken out of the Jags and Chargers game...But I think we expected the giants to show him all types of attention and they did not show him as much as the other two playoff opponents did but it seemed like as we were expecting them to that our game plan was to have the other guys by the primary read.

I did no real study of this as it would have been frustrating but it really seemed as though we stayed away from Moss especially in the first half due to the attention he recieved in the other games. Although the Giants were not giving him as much attention as the other teams were.

Well, part of it was Brady didnt have enough time to get Moss on the deep routes. He was beating their corners all day deep, but the OLine couldnt give Brady the time he needed to complete those plays. What they should've done then was use Moss on shorter routes where he can be just as effective of a weapon, which they finally began doing in the 2nd half.

 

[pheenix11]

I'd like to see Moss run a lot more slants and crossing patterns over the middle like Jerry Rice used to. Maybe he isn't too fond of those, but tough shyt.

 

[Xzibit23]

I'd like to see Moss run a lot more slants and crossing patterns over the middle like Jerry Rice used to. Maybe he isn't too fond of those, but tough shyt.

They few times they made him do it this year, he was very effective. Thats all that should matter when determining how to use him.

 

[SVN]

its strange . People criticized brady for looking for moss too much towards the end of the regular season. seems like he took it to heart during the post season.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I was watching Inside the NFL and they were fairly critical of McDaniels and how the Pats used Moss in general. They felt by keeping him outside the entire time they sorta left him oiut to dry and in the 2nd half when they FINALLY had him playing inside running shorter slants he had 50 yds and a TD. Their point was when teams take away a player like Moss, its upto the OC to find ways for him to still get open, not just upto Randy.

I had to agree with their reasoning, all we've been hearing is "what happened to Moss in the playoffs." IMO, 2 things happened..a)the team got conservative and decided to not take any chances throwing into double coverage and b)they were not creative in their usage of him and essentially had him running the same routes. A weapon like that you have to move around, you have to find ways to keep him involved. I remember they did that against Indy in the regular season and it payed dividends, he had 145 Yds and was the reason they won. But for some reason he was forgotten about in the playoffs, and their was a perception that there was nothing wrong with him staying as a decoy, I read it here everyday. But the reality is that the team was not as effecctive without him being a big part of the action, and only when it was evident that changes needed to be made during the SB did that point hit home.

There could be a couple of other factors at play too. Like Randy isn't really comfortable inside, so sending him there is the last resort, and like how Randy tends to lose focus when he isn't involved early but rather drawing coverage downfield, and how down the stretch when they did try to hit him in coverage, he didn't make the incredible plays on the ball he was making in October. I wondered if he was dinged, and apparently he now is, and I wonder if his off field situation didn't disrupt his focus.

Did they happen to mention he did what he did once the Giants pass rush was gassed?

Oddly the Giants spent years trying to involve Shockey, as all the insiders said they must, only to achieve the ultimate success while he got hammered in a luxury box, which many opined down the stetch amounted to addition by subtraction. Although some of them are now saying they can't just jettison him and have to retain him because he can be such a force...

Second guessing is easy in hindsight.

I've heard some of the same pundits claim that Randy's skillset isn't precision route running and he doesn't respond well to taking a beating running inside.

 

[upstater1]

This is easily explained.

The Pats were waiting all game for the OL to protect and give Brady the time to go deep.

In week 17, the Giants got a huge pass rush on Brady most of the game. But the OL picked it up in spots, and Brady went deep to Moss.

If you're waiting for 2 extra seconds to hit Moss deep and they never come, you're going to look like you misused Moss.

And that's what happened to the Patriots, until the last drive when they just gave up on the idea of him going long.

 

[Ring 6]

I think there is a factor at work here that no one is giving creedence to.

Following their philosophy the Patriots were 18-0 going into the SB.
Everyone is asking why they didn't change this, or change that. Why would they. What they did got them to 18-0, why would you then change what you do?
As far as Moss, what they did all year long was play Moss in a position and throw to the open receiver. If that is your philosophy, its contrary to what you do to think "How do we get Moss the ball".
At its most basic level the Pats belief is all 11 players do their job, and the play unfolds. Whoever is open gets thrown to. Remember the "Randy Ratio"? Some teams believe that they have to get the ball to certain players. The Pats never believed that. What in the results leading up to the SB would make them want to change?

 

[Ring 6]

This is easily explained.

The Pats were waiting all game for the OL to protect and give Brady the time to go deep.

In week 17, the Giants got a huge pass rush on Brady most of the game. But the OL picked it up in spots, and Brady went deep to Moss.

If you're waiting for 2 extra seconds to hit Moss deep and they never come, you're going to look like you misused Moss.

And that's what happened to the Patriots, until the last drive when they just gave up on the idea of him going long.

It was 2 seconds either it was SPLIT SECONDS. There were at least 10-12 plays where Brady had open recievers for big plays, often Moss, and he was hit in the throwing motion. If Brady had a half-second more on every pass play, we probably score 35 points. I don't know that a game plan for a passing game is bad if it only failed by a half second of protection from an OL that was the best in the NFL at giving that QB the time all year long.

 

[blackglass3]

i kept screaming for them to just THROW IT TO MOSS, HE'S MOSS! But they didnt listen, the only time they did that was when there was 35 seconds left to play...and honeslty, I think they should have thrown it to stallworth. Come on, if your a D. and you know they need a huge play, who is the one guy you're gonna send everyone on? Freakin MOSS! there is something fishy about that game kids, something fishy.

Nothing fishy. The Giants weren't scared of getting killed by our offense like most other teams this year were. THey figured "Screw it, we're not even supposed to be here. Let's just bull rush Brady and see if we can get to him before he has time to throw. If it works we win, if not we get torched a couple of times. We have nothing to lose."