BB "I love Laurence Maroney"

[spacecrime]

That is a direct quote from BB from last nights Real Post game show. Pete Shepard asked BB about the absence of Maroney in the 1st half. BB said it was strictly based on the game plan, he loves Maroney, has no problem with him, calls him a tough kid and would like to have a lot more LM's on the team.
Never heard BB outwardly praise a player in such a strong manner.

Well, don't count on BB's opinion changing the alleged minds of the "Maroney sucks" internegators.

Without reading further in this thread, I'm sure it is full of "I'm sure that privately BB doesn't like Maroney and would like to get a better back" ignoring the fact the BB could have traded for a back before the deadline or could still sign a FA back if he thought there was one better than Maroney. When Morris went down, Eckel was brought up as a replacement and that has been the extent of RB roster modifications.

If BB signs someone like Barlow and starts making Maroney inactive, then I'll believe the doom-and-gloomers. Until then I'll use BB's words and actions (and lack of actions) as the best indication of what he thinks.

 

[PromisedLand]

I made this same point in another thread. I think this is the reason Maroney gets blown up so often on his plays - defenses are keying the run whenver he's in the game. He definitely needs to work on his receiving skills to keep the D honest...

I agree with you, but I think this may say more about his pass blocking skills than his receiving skills - there is nothing wrong with keeping a running back in to block on passing plays - we do this with little Kevin Faulk several times per game. But definitely, the defense knows it is going to be a run at least 80% of the time when Maroney is on the field...

 

[aluminum seats]

Agree w/some others here about the lack of play action--you can't have everyone knowing you're running the ball when you run it, which is the case now.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Another thing.

Last night did the Pats even call that run play to Faulk when Brady is in shotgun?

 

[Dragda]

Well, don't count on BB's opinion changing the alleged minds of the "Maroney sucks" internegators.

Without reading further in this thread, I'm sure it is full of "I'm sure that privately BB doesn't like Maroney and would like to get a better back" ignoring the fact the BB could have traded for a back before the deadline or could still sign a FA back if he thought there was one better than Maroney. When Morris went down, Eckel was brought up as a replacement and that has been the extent of RB roster modifications.

If BB signs someone like Barlow and starts making Maroney inactive, then I'll believe the doom-and-gloomers. Until then I'll use BB's words and actions (and lack of actions) as the best indication of what he thinks.

This is a good post. I think the Barlow point is a good one. BB will do what's best for the team. If we draft a RB with a high pick, I'd bet that is a sign we aren't getting what they hoped from LM. Look back to the drafting of Ben Watson. It was obvious that Graham wasn't the receiving TE they had hoped, so they picked up someone who fit that mold.

 

[fozziewazzi]

Maroney has been playing long enough to have accumulated a large enough body of work to judge him on. He's not an elite RB, and it doesn't appear he has the speed or cutback ability to ever be one. He's serviceable though, enough so that he can keep opposing defenses somewhat honest. Long term I don't see him becoming our franchise RB if other opportunities present themselves.

That said the running game wasn't the big issue last night. The Pats offense still managed to score points (though not as many as the Eagles offense). The problem was a porous defense. Not sure what happened there but I'd like to chalk it up to a fired up Eagles team combined with mismatches at the line of scrimmage.

 

[VJCPatriot]

This is a good post. I think the Barlow point is a good one. BB will do what's best for the team. If we draft a RB with a high pick, I'd bet that is a sign we aren't getting what they hoped from LM. Look back to the drafting of Ben Watson. It was obvious that Graham wasn't the receiving TE they had hoped, so they picked up someone who fit that mold.

That's a great point with the drafting of Watson. I've made this point before but have always been ignored. The draft will be where the truth comes out. If the Pats draft a RB, it will become obvious that they feel they need more depth at that position. And with where the Pats will be drafting, they are in position to take perhaps the greatest RB we've seen in years.

 

[bradmahn]

That's a great point with the drafting of Watson. I've made this point before but have always been ignored. The draft will be where the truth comes out. If the Pats draft a RB, it will become obvious that they feel they need more depth at that position. And with where the Pats will be drafting, they are in position to take perhaps the greatest RB we've seen in years.

What NFL team runs the Wishbone?

 

[JaredOfNazareth]

Maroney is very useful in play action, considering how little he is used. IIRC, that deep ball to Moss was a play action that bought Brady a lot of time.

 

[DaBruinz]

Yeah, darn that "scoring every offensive possession" in the first half thing. And the 31 offensive points we scored (I'm counting the 7 the refs took away) - that sucked too. Can't win with 31.

Why not call it 34 because of the FG that Gostkowski made that the refs blew the call on?

While the Pats scored on every offensive possession in the first half, they struggled to do so. You are fooling yourself if you say otherwise.

The 4 WR sets that the Pats used were vanilla.. after the 5th time running them, Philly knew what to look for..

The Pats didn't disguise anything. And they could have very easily. I was disappointed that the Pats didn't use screens more and didn't use Watson more. I was also left scratching my head over using EVANS late in the game as a WR.

 

[sebman2112]

The Patriots offensive playcalling is predictable, and I can generally tell you if they are going to run off left tackle, if they are going to run fake, and sometimes you can spot a few other things related to the running backs before the snap. Their offense has had some of this same predictability for a few years now, but the Patriots high talent level this season has been able to get it down, even when the opposing defense knows what's coming.

This is why a lot of the Patriots success in that Eagles game simply came down to Tom Brady's ability to find the open man even when getting pressured, and the Patriots top level receiving options being able to get open.

You can point to Maroney's perceived lack of receiving skills as a reason for their being so predictable, but that wouldn't be entirely true. Did you watch the Redskins game? Maroney cought both passes they threw to him rather easily, and picked up 37 yards receiving. He also cought 22 passes last year for 194 yards. Against the Eagles last night he dropped that one pass (which got me annoyed because he had realistate infront of him), but you can't just stop using him as a receiver because he dropped one pass. Heck, it seemed there were plenty of dropped balls to go around last night with Moss, Welker, and Stallworth all dropping receptions they should have made, so maybe there was some lack of focus last night? It would make sense, since many of the defensive players had their heads up their respective ***es.

The Patriots went into the game wanting to spread the Eagles out, and in those four wide packages Faulk is you're best option. This isn't because Maroney sucks as a receiver (he's slightly above average for a RB), it's just that Faulk is one of the best receiver's out of the backfield in the NFL, and he's also been able to make some key blocks for Brady in those situations.

NE ran the ball twice with Faulk. On those two carries he gained a total of 0 yards, and one of those rushes was a draw out of the spread.

When the Patriots brought Maroney into the game it was pretty much obvious they intended to use him, and I don't remember him getting any reps out of the spread? With the playcalling being ultra predictable Maroney was able to pick up 31 yards on 10 carries.
On more than one of those carries the Eagles had the run blitz in full effect, and on more than one carry the blitzer went unblocked. I remember one play in particular last night where Maroney received the handoff and the free blitzer was in his face within one step. That was very bad run blocking by the Patriots O-line, and had absolutely nothing to do with Maroney's ability as a RB. While averaging only 3.1 ypc, Maroney did pick up 4, 6, 7, and 10 yard gains on carries in very predictable situations. On the 4 yard TD he ran with speed, good pad level, showed some power, and refused to go down. Also, 3 of those 10 carries came at the end of the game when you're just trying to kill the clock.

So, given the situation I don't think Maroney did all that bad, and they probably should have used him a little more.

Really, I think Josh and BB have fallen in love with their passing attack, and I can't blame them since it is so good, but it would seem intelligent to start running the ball a little.

 

[emoney_33]

Well, don't count on BB's opinion changing the alleged minds of the "Maroney sucks" internegators.

Without reading further in this thread, I'm sure it is full of "I'm sure that privately BB doesn't like Maroney and would like to get a better back" ignoring the fact the BB could have traded for a back before the deadline or could still sign a FA back if he thought there was one better than Maroney. When Morris went down, Eckel was brought up as a replacement and that has been the extent of RB roster modifications.

If BB signs someone like Barlow and starts making Maroney inactive, then I'll believe the doom-and-gloomers. Until then I'll use BB's words and actions (and lack of actions) as the best indication of what he thinks.

Yup and you KNOW that if BB said ANYTHING negative about Maroney, these same doom-and-gloomers who don't "believe anything BB says to the media" would believe him then.

 

[PonyExpress]

I would like to see Maroney used in the spread instead of Faulk. IMO this comes down to trust in pass protection, and the staff has absolute trust in Faulk in that regard. Still, I would like to see Maroney used in that formation, and I expect it will happen next season. That would keep the defense honest and allow Maroney more opportunities in space. There are obviously in house reasons why BB is babying Maroney and limiting his touches. My belief is that BB is bringing along Maroney slowly on purpose, as a plan, and not out of any dissatisfaction with him. When the perfect season was on the line in the 4th quarter, Maroney was the one on the goal line, Maroney was the one running the ball. That tells me that BB has real faith in him, in addition to BB's postgame praise. The fickle nature of this fan base, which wants perfection in all things as soon as possible, is normal but at times regrettable. I remain steadfast IMO that Maroney will be a superstar and prove all his doubters wrong.

 

[VJCPatriot]

With the playcalling being ultra predictable Maroney was able to pick up 31 yards on 10 carries.

So, given the situation I don't think Maroney did all that bad, and they probably should have used him a little more.

And the excuse making for Maroney begins! Bottom line he totaled 31 yards on 10 carries for a 3.1 ypc AND in the previous game he gained 19 total yards. If McDaniels really had confidence in Maroney I would think the gameplan would have called for him more, particularly since the Eagles aren't know for a stout run D. The only other likely reason Maroney did not touch the football is that he was still nursing an injury that BB would not like anyone to know about. There you have it "low confidence" or "injury prone". Not exactly the attributes you want associated with your starting RB.

 

[emoney_33]

Agree w/some others here about the lack of play action--you can't have everyone knowing you're running the ball when you run it, which is the case now.

But that's when play action works, when everyone "KNOWS" you're running the ball.

The second time Maroney was in the game they went play action but Moss dropped it. The play action won't work effectively if you use it too much. I think BB and McDaniels know what they are doing.

 

[sebman2112]

I would like to see Maroney used in the spread instead of Faulk. IMO this comes down to trust in pass protection, and the staff has absolute trust in Faulk in that regard. Still, I would like to see Maroney used in that formation, and I expect it will happen next season. That would keep the defense honest and allow Maroney more opportunities in space. There are obviously in house reasons why BB is babying Maroney and limiting his touches. My belief is that BB is bringing along Maroney slowly on purpose, as a plan, and not out of any dissatisfaction with him. When the perfect season was on the line in the 4th quarter, Maroney was the one on the goal line, Maroney was the one running the ball. That tells me that BB has real faith in him, in addition to BB's postgame praise. The fickle nature of this fan base, which wants perfection in all things as soon as possible, is normal but at times regrettable. I remain steadfast IMO that Maroney will be a superstar and prove all his doubters wrong.

I agree with a lot of this. I wouldn't say their not using Maroney much against the Eagles was BB babying him though. Faulk is simply one of the best receiving RB's in the NFL, and he's also a good blocker, so you almost have to use him in that package. I just wish they had changed it up a little from drive to drive, and maybe they could have given Maroney a few of Faulk's snaps.

 

[bradmahn]

And the excuse making for Maroney begins! Bottom line he totaled 31 yards on 10 carries for a 3.1 ypc AND in the previous game he gained 19 total yards. If McDaniels really had confidence in Maroney I would think the gameplan would have called for him more, particularly since the Eagles aren't know for a stout run D. The only other likely reason Maroney did not touch the football is that he was still nursing an injury that BB would not like anyone to know about. There you have it "low confidence" or "injury prone". Not exactly the attributes you want associated with your starting RB.

Your agenda-driven drivel is bordering on ignorance.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Your agenda-driven drivel is bordering on ignorance.

Just the facts. This is a what have you done for me lately league.
Maroney's production the past 2 weeks: 31 yards and 19 yards rushing.
Sorry if I don't sugarcoat it the way you like it, but those are the cold, hard facts.

 

[Oswlek]

And the excuse making for Maroney begins! Bottom line he totaled 31 yards on 10 carries for a 3.1 ypc AND in the previous game he gained 19 total yards. If McDaniels really had confidence in Maroney I would think the gameplan would have called for him more, particularly since the Eagles aren't know for a stout run D. The only other likely reason Maroney did not touch the football is that he was still nursing an injury that BB would not like anyone to know about. There you have it "low confidence" or "injury prone". Not exactly the attributes you want associated with your starting RB.

The Eagles are #6 in defensive ypc. Maybe they would be "known" for run D if you actually did some fact checking?

 

[sebman2112]

And the excuse making for Maroney begins! Bottom line he totaled 31 yards on 10 carries for a 3.1 ypc AND in the previous game he gained 19 total yards. If McDaniels really had confidence in Maroney I would think the gameplan would have called for him more, particularly since the Eagles aren't know for a stout run D. The only other likely reason Maroney did not touch the football is that he was still nursing an injury that BB would not like anyone to know about. There you have it "low confidence" or "injury prone". Not exactly the attributes you want associated with your starting RB.

Way to chop up what I said. Notice how I said I was annoyed with his dropped pass (as I was with the other dropped passes in the game)? I did say he only averaged 3.1 ypc, but I also pointed out that he had a nice TD run with other runs of 6, 7, and 10 yards? I also pointed out the situations they were using Maroney in, and pointed out the run blitzer who went unblocked. I said he didn't do all that badly considering the situation. Basically, he wasn't great, but he wasn't bad either when you take in all the factors.

Sorry, that might seem like excuse making to you, since you're all over McFadden's jock, and it's obvious you don't like Maroney. Heck, in the past you made it seem like a 5 yard gain by Maroney where it took four defenders to get him down was a bad run. To people who have a solid perception of reality it's obvious I was trying to be fair and mention both sides of the coin.


Oh, and it's also obvious that McFadden has about a 0.5% change of becoming a Patriot in 2008.