Is Moss good at crossing routes?

[Phokus]

I was thinking about this... Moss is mostly known for dominating vertical routes while T.O. gets a ton of praise for his ability to tear it up on crossing routes. Moss was wide open on a crossing route against the Jets and made a very large gain. Is Moss commonly known for this? I'm thinking Moss could do a ton of damage either by getting wide open on those crossing routes, or he creates so much havok against defense by drawing linebackers and safeties on those routes that Watson/Faulk/Welker get WIDE open in the middle. Whatcha guys think?

Edit: I guess this is a better question to ask vikings fans, but every time i saw highlights of moss back in his viking days, it was on deep vertical passes.

 

[BelichickFan]

He's not been known for it but he's looked consistently good this year. After one of the games Collinsworth commented on him running patterns with incuts for the first time in his career. It's kind of scary that while he may have lost half a step that he might be becoming a more complete WR. If DBs have to honor all routes that makes his job getting open either short, medium or deep easier.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I was thinking about this... Moss is mostly known for dominating vertical routes while T.O. gets a ton of praise for his ability to tear it up on crossing routes. Moss was wide open on a crossing route against the Jets and made a very large gain. Is Moss commonly known for this? I'm thinking Moss could do a ton of damage either by getting wide open on those crossing routes, or he creates so much havok against defense by drawing linebackers and safeties on those routes that Watson/Faulk/Welker get WIDE open in the middle. Whatcha guys think?

Edit: I guess this is a better question to ask vikings fans, but every time i saw highlights of moss back in his viking days, it was on deep vertical passes.

I made a statement in the pre-season that Moss was only good at deep routes.

A Viking Fan came on to correct me that he was actually very good at running routes. My guess is that what we normally see on TV that looks like it was simply a deep route can often involve Moss running, slowing, possibly turning - but then beating his man with his speed and height.

The clip we see in the end is just him beating his man deep - but yes, at least one Vikings fan corrected me when I said his skill was limited to deep routes.

 

[PantsB]

I made a statement in the pre-season that Moss was only good at deep routes.

A Viking Fan came on to correct me that he was actually very good at running routes. My guess is that what we normally see on TV that looks like it was simply a deep route can often involve Moss running, slowing, possibly turning - but then beating his man with his speed and height.

The clip we see in the end is just him beating his man deep - but yes, at least one Vikings fan corrected me when I said his skill was limited to deep routes.

Your Viking friend was mistaken. The major flaw in Moss over the years (not including character issues) was poor route running. He's still not Troy Brown or Wes Welker but he's so far paying more attention to getting exactly where he's supposed to be. Some WR (Brown, Welker, Harrison) become very good/great because of their route precision. Moss isn't one of them, but the Patriots system might be making Moss understand how important that can be.

 

[jaytyme]

belechikfan is exactly right.

moss running a crossing route will draw the safety and leave the vacated side of the field defenseless against watson or faulk releasing short or deep down the sideline.

running crossing routes will not only make moss a bigger threat but will open other holes his teammates can exploit. just one more example of randy the team player.

p.s. this strategy is only good if a strong safety doesn't blow him up over the middle and end his season. stategy needs to be used cautiously.

 

[Ring 6]

Your Viking friend was mistaken. The major flaw in Moss over the years (not including character issues) was poor route running. He's still not Troy Brown or Wes Welker but he's so far paying more attention to getting exactly where he's supposed to be. Some WR (Brown, Welker, Harrison) become very good/great because of their route precision. Moss isn't one of them, but the Patriots system might be making Moss understand how important that can be.

I TOTALLY disagree. Watch Moss play. He is EXCELLENT, maybe the best Ive seen at selling the route. He sets up the defender prior to his cut, again, maybe the best Ive ever seen.
Because he caught a lot of deep balls, common MISperception is that this is all he can do. Take a look at the numbers he put up in Minn. He may have caught 1 or 2 long balls a game, and that is a small portion of his overall production.

 

[3RINGS@COUNTING]

Moss is great at everything as long as he's moivated. Moss is in a league of his own I watched TO while living in philly and he'll go over the middle and run deep but he'll also drop a lot balls unlike moss.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Moss is great at everything as long as he's moivated. Moss is in a league of his own I watched TO while living in philly and he'll go over the middle and run deep but he'll also drop a lot balls unlike moss.

I'm someone who was opposed to Moss coming here when the rumor was floated in 2006... the main reason being the knocks on him about dogging it on certain plays when the ball wasn't coming to him.

Well, look at the stats here - he's on the field for 80% of the plays - and obviously not all are coming to him.

It would be unrealistic for Moss to go full speed each and every play - one wouldn't want him to lest he burn himself out and not have his full speed available when he needs it -

In fact I could make a case that he might benefit from mixing it up here and there - juking past a defender who might think the play isn't initially going to Moss only to burn by him for the open pass.

I love it when I'm wrong like this!

 

[FlyingElvis75]

Not sure about deep crosses but he's definitely run (and completed) plenty of slants so far. I agree with the comments above saying that the highlight reels tend to be long balls, but he's caught passes pretty much everywhere so far this season. Not as many underneath as Welker, but a good number, in important situations.