I don't necessarily disagree with this. The entire source of my idea was long-term gains. I think that having the draft pick asset you gain from a Moss trade, and having a solid WR corps with Welker-Edelman-Tate-Price for years to come is an appealing proposition at the expense of a short term loss (Moss). The fact of the matter is - and MoLewis touched on this - Brady doesn't need Moss to be good. We saw six or seven years ago that he can be an elite quarterback just throwing to the open receiver (as long as they can catch the ball; 2006 proved what happens if they can't). It may not have the glamour of the 2007 offense, but it's still pretty damn effective, and as I have argued, probably more effective when defenses force you to go to second, third, and fourth options. Again, not having Moss in the short term is obviously not an upgrade, but I think balancing long and short term needs is more important.
Tom Brady: Career Stats
The last 2 of Brady's seasons have been his best in virtually every statistical category. The stat that sticks out the most is his plays of 40+ yards. They are drastically bigger than previous years (only once in 2004 did he hit double digits with 10). Randy Moss accounts for 9 of the 15 in 2007 and 7 of the 12 in 2009. Randy is a huge asset to our offense. I'd draw the coorelation to Wes's numbers but that's already been hit on.
Now to argue against myself...
Stats since 01:*SB year*/^Moss year^
Rank in Points scored per game/Points allowed per game
*2001: #6(23.2)/#6(17)
2002: #10(23.8)/#17(21.6)
*2003: #12(21.8)/#1(14.9)
*2004: #4(27.3)/T#2(16.2)
2005: #10(23.7)/#17(21.1)
2006: #7(24.1)/#2(14.8)
^*2007: #1(36.8)/#4(17.1)
^2008: #8(25.6)/#8(19.3)
^2009: #6(26.7)/#5(17.8)
Our best 5 defensive years are 2006, 2003*, 2004*, 2001*, 2007*^. Of those years, we won 3 super bowls, lost 1 super bowl (because of our defense) and lost 1 afc championship game (because of our defense).
Our best 5 offensive years are 2007*^, 2004*, 2009^, 2008^, 2006. That comes with all 3 Moss years, even the one without Brady! Unfortunately that group only has 1 ring, and the 2 losses previously mentioned.
So I guess I'm saying Moss helps the offense, and makes Brady better, but unless our defense steps up we won't win when it counts.
