Thank God For Laurence Maroney

[antimennai]

I thought LoMo ran the ball poorly as usual. Suprisingly, however, he was actually a factor in the passing game. He had an ok game. I don't know why people are doing cartwheels over it though. The guy had 44 yards rushing, a couple nice pass gains, and zero TDs. He played well overall, but he still was a dissapointment running the ball. Even the biggest pats homer in the world(Fred Smerlas) was saying Maroney stutter steps too much and Kevin Faulk hits the hole harder on the postgame show on WEEI.

Well once again you show your absolute ignorance. Why are we doing cartwheels over him? WITHOUT HIM STEPPING UP, WE WOULD HAVE LOST THE GAME!!!!. GET IT THROUGH YOU FAT HEAD. The two plays were huge.

BTW can you at least try spellcheck? Suprisingly? dissapontment? Oh yet even more ignorance. But like you say, you cannot polish a turd.

 

[KoolAidDrinker]

Re: Than God For Laurence Maroney

I also think that the Pats need to show more looks of Maroney in the passing game so the D doesn't automatically think run when he is in.

I agree. He's presently behind Faulk (who isn't!) on third down and most passing packages, but he's getting better with experience. But you're right; right now, when he's in, it usually a running play. This will change with time.

 

[antimennai]

Re: Than God For Laurence Maroney

I agree. He's presently behind Faulk (who isn't!) on third down and most passing packages, but he's getting better with experience. But you're right; right now, when he's in, it usually a running play. This will change with time.

I was thinking about it this morning a little more. I would like to see the old running game from our first superbowl set it place. Faulk seems to be running and catching so well, let's go ahead and use some dink dunk to Faulk and Maroney and use that as our running game. They both have the talent for it.

I think teams are going to blitz more and more to get Brady. The RB on the outside can do some real damage on the blitz.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I agree... with winds picking up and temps dropping, those gluey hands Moss showed at the start of the season have hardened up a little... with all the blitzing, there's less time to get the ball downfield... and our main rb doesn't excel between the tackles. Well, Evans and Eckel do fine in that role, so use them there. Role players. Interchangeable parts. You know the drill.

Get Maroney in space where he does the most damage, and remind yourself he's still better than Antowain Smith.

I also agree he's improving. But some backs just never are "that guy" who can break off a 90 yard run, and then plow the ball in for the score 2 plays later. LoMo is improving, and we still don't know the ceiling on him.

But the key here is that he's good. Not that he's great. Not that you need Ladanian Tomlinson, Randy Moss, Tom Brady AND Antonio Gates on the same team. You DON'T.

You don't have to go back to the well and try to "fix" a running game that's "pretty good," when you're springing leaks on D.

Of course it all depends on value when our pick comes up. I say get a bucket of lower picks for that 2 overall.

PFnV

 

[sieglo]

Re: Than God For Laurence Maroney

Here's my read on Maroney's performance.

- Running. Still looking tentative out there. Plays often take too long to develop. He doesn't attack the line the way Faulk does. But he still manages to pick up decent yardage. Needs improvement, though.

- Blocking. Maroney's best game blocking EVER. Starting to look like Faulk out there.

- Passing. Maroney is a poor route runner. POOR. He can't get separation at all and his hands are more Russ Hochstein than Randy Moss. If you can get the ball to him in wide open space, he's electric.... But it takes him a while to make the catch, turn, and get up steam. Luckily, that's exactly what happened on his two big plays.

The reason we don't see Maroney in the passing game more is that Faulk is elite in this situation and Maroney is average at best. That being said, I think McDaniels needs to work him in more in this way, otherwise the defense just keys off his presence in the backfield.

 

[PrairiePat]

You may be right about his routes/hands/etc, but wow, when he caught those 2 swing passes and turned upfield, he looked to be in a different gear than everyone around him.

 

[TeamPats]

Re: Than God For Laurence Maroney

Here's my read on Maroney's performance.

- Running. Still looking tentative out there. Plays often take too long to develop. He doesn't attack the line the way Faulk does. But he still manages to pick up decent yardage. Needs improvement, though.

- Blocking. Maroney's best game blocking EVER. Starting to look like Faulk out there.

- Passing. Maroney is a poor route runner. POOR. He can't get separation at all and his hands are more Russ Hochstein than Randy Moss. If you can get the ball to him in wide open space, he's electric.... But it takes him a while to make the catch, turn, and get up steam. Luckily, that's exactly what happened on his two big plays.

The reason we don't see Maroney in the passing game more is that Faulk is elite in this situation and Maroney is average at best. That being said, I think McDaniels needs to work him in more in this way, otherwise the defense just keys off his presence in the backfield.

Wow, I hate to see what the posts would have been like if he had had a bad game. I think the biggest problem we got going on here is that we are comparing Maroney to Faulk. Faulk is a special RB who runs better routes then 95% of WR's. Faulk's negatives have always been durability and fumbilitis both of which seemed to have been corrected this year. So basically Faulk has been an AMAZING RB. Maroney has a lot to learn and today he demonstrated he is learning and improving. Let us rejoice.

P.S. I thought his best run of the day was that 2nd and 6 where we got the first down before it was called back for holding, I know we won but until we did I was cursing #67.

 

[sieglo]

Re: Than God For Laurence Maroney

Wow, I hate to see what the posts would have been like if he had had a bad game. I think the biggest problem we got going on here is that we are comparing Maroney to Faulk. Faulk is a special RB who runs better routes then 95% of WR's. Faulk's negatives have always been durability and fumbilitis both of which seemed to have been corrected this year. So basically Faulk has been an AMAZING RB. Maroney has a lot to learn and today he demonstrated he is learning and improving. Let us rejoice.

P.S. I thought his best run of the day was that 2nd and 6 where we got the first down before it was called back for holding, I know we won but until we did I was cursing #67.

I really didn't mean to be negative.... That was my honest assessment and I think it was pretty unbiased. Maroney is still a talent but he is RAW. And I agree with your points on Faulk -- he's a high standard to be comparing to in the passing game. Not many are better (he's Westbrook-like out there).

In a somewhat ironic twist, Maroney got his big yards because the Ravens didn't respect him on those passes / check downs. If that had been Faulk out there, he might have been covered.

And when Maroney is in the open field.... LOOK OUT. (Although I still think he could have taken that second play to the end zone. )

 

[JustWinBrady]

The pats did a poor job this off-season designing plays for lomo. They need to get him in open field more often. I would like to see some flare passes and some pitch outs to get him more in open space. As you can see from last night, once he is in the open field he has the speed and moves to be very dangerous.

 

[antimennai]

Re: Than God For Laurence Maroney

Here's my read on Maroney's performance.

- Running. Still looking tentative out there. Plays often take too long to develop. He doesn't attack the line the way Faulk does. But he still manages to pick up decent yardage. Needs improvement, though.

Fair enough evaluation. The question that "needs improvement" bring up is, "Is this a coachable issue or a skillset." IMO, it could be both. Right now, I think it is more of an issue that can be coached and taught.

- Blocking. Maroney's best game blocking EVER. Starting to look like Faulk out there.

This is top notch. He looked like a little Faulk out there. I wonder where he learned it from? Is is possible the coaches have been teaching him and letting Faulk mentor instead of throwing him to the wolves? Could it be the coaches know what they are doing instead of messageboard idiots?

- Passing. Maroney is a poor route runner. POOR. He can't get separation at all and his hands are more Russ Hochstein than Randy Moss. If you can get the ball to him in wide open space, he's electric.... But it takes him a while to make the catch, turn, and get up steam. Luckily, that's exactly what happened on his two big plays.

He doesn't need to be a good route runner right now, we have Faulk for that. He needs to slip out into open land and be a check down for the QB. I hate to say this, but look at Addai. Edge was the same way in that offense.

The reason we don't see Maroney in the passing game more is that Faulk is elite in this situation and Maroney is average at best. That being said, I think McDaniels needs to work him in more in this way, otherwise the defense just keys off his presence in the backfield.

Yes, and that makes sense. I really think the Pats take time to coach their young players. At the same time, these guys step up like last night, it isn't a surprise because the coaches know they have been working on it all season.

 

[antimennai]

I also agree he's improving. But some backs just never are "that guy" who can break off a 90 yard run, and then plow the ball in for the score 2 plays later. LoMo is improving, and we still don't know the ceiling on him.

The majority of backs are never that guy, not just some. In the league at any given time, there is only 3-4 at the most of those guys among all 32 teams.

It is unrealistic to think Maroney will be that guy (not saying you imply).

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I thought Maroney was decent in the rush game and excellent in the passing game where his open field running skills were obvious.

It was very nice to finally see the Pats use Maroney catching balls out of the backfield (better late than never I suppose) but, with defenses scheming to stop the Pats game, Maroney should be gashing defenses like no tomorrow along the ground. That hasn't happened ..... yet!

 

[D-cleater]

The majority of backs are never that guy, not just some. In the league at any given time, there is only 3-4 at the most of those guys among all 32 teams.

It is unrealistic to think Maroney will be that guy (not saying you imply).

I disagree, there are many backs that ARE that guy. Here's just a few, some are rookies or in their 2nd year.

LT
Addai (2nd)
Peterson (R)
M Lynch (R)
W Parker
McGahee
R Brown
L Johnson
R Johnson
B Westbrook
C Williams (2nd)
S Jackson
F Gore

Anyone running behind Denver's Oline

 

[37Harrison]

I thought I would chime in with my opinion...

I believe Maroney has elite talent however, I also believe he is very immature (pertaining to listening and doing as told) and indecisive. You can see his indecisivness when he "attacks" the line of scrimmage. Faulk doesn't look for a hole to open up he just runs right to the point where the hole is designed to be opened up by the O-line. It looks as though Maroney is looking for the hole to open up first (hence the dancing) and then run through it, but by then it's too late. Maybe he needs to slow down a *little* as he approaches the line of scrimmage to give the blockers that extra second and then burst through without hesitation at the point of attack.

Even in open space Maroney looks indecisive. He should've been able to beat that one defender but seemed unsure of which way to go. Compare Maroney to Peterson and you know what I mean. Peterson doens't look like he is thinking and is just reacting by putting moves on guys with confidence.

All in all Maroney had a good game but he should be having more of these games with the defenses focusing more on the pass.

 

[Oswlek]

Maroney had one run that could be considered "indecisive" in the entire game. One. The 3rd and one where he was stopped. And even on that play, the replay showed that he was trying to go behind Mankins who didn't get any push whatsoever. Despite that, I do believe that an elite RB gets that first down.

No RB is taking the long reception to the house, that is completely wrong. And Maroney got good seperation from Lewis on the first reception, so I don't see the big deal there. Besides, I think that those criticizing his route running are comparing him to Faulk, who is probably the best receiving back in the entire league. LdT would look like an average receiver next to Faulk.

 

[scout]

Give Maroney credit for those two plays. Anyone who states otherwise is foolish (my grandmother could make those runs). Because he made it look easy in the open field doesn't mean anyone could have made those plays (Fred Lynn never looked fast either). Brady did'nt look to good trying to pick up a yard, nor Evans. From the stats, looks like nobody runs on Baltimore, and last night it was difficult to pass first to set up the run. Of all the things to complain about last night, running the ball isn't near the top of my list.

 

[Grizzafted]

The Laurence Maroney that rushed for under 50 yards and a 3.3 YPC?

Yeah, he was phenomenal tonight. Our lack of a quality running game didn't have a lot to do with the ridiculous pressure on Brady.

You guys are crazy. You'll defend the wallpaper on the Titanic while it's sinking just to prove your point. Maroney's going to be a good Kevin Faulk. A #2 back and pass catcher. He'll never carry the whole load.

 

[abejarano12]

I like LM just think that he was not playing with alot of his heart this year last night he played with all of his heart and it helped us win I hope that he shows that same fire for the rest of the year.

 

[National Sports Advisors]

The Laurence Maroney that rushed for under 50 yards and a 3.3 YPC?

Yeah, he was phenomenal tonight. Our lack of a quality running game didn't have a lot to do with the ridiculous pressure on Brady.

You guys are crazy. You'll defend the wallpaper on the Titanic while it's sinking just to prove your point. Maroney's going to be a good Kevin Faulk. A #2 back and pass catcher. He'll never carry the whole load.

Exactly. Pretty sad when we are getting excited about a guy just because he had two receptions for long gains. Whoopdeedoo! He had a good overall game. Guess what? He still sucked running the ball. How come Kevin Faulk had a 4.7 YPC running the ball and SLoMo had a 3.4???? What's the excuse for that fellas? You guys just will never admit the guy is average as a running back. Kevin Faulk runs between the tackles better. How sad is that?

 

[primetime]

LT
Addai (2nd)
Peterson (R)
M Lynch (R)
W Parker
McGahee
R Brown
L Johnson
R Johnson
B Westbrook
C Williams (2nd)
S Jackson
F Gore

Anyone running behind Denver's Oline

Oh god, do you even watch football? I'll give you Peterson and Tomlinson, obviously. Addai, too, though he benefits from Manning just like Edge did. Westbrook, I'll give you.

Lynch, however, is a between the tackles banger, though a good one. Parker disappears for games on end. McGahee got run out of Buffalo by a mob. Ronnie Brown showed nothing until this year, then destroyed his knee. Larry Johnson's been pedestrian this year, at best, when not injured. Same for Steven Jackson. Rudi Johnson has been outshined by Kenny Watson; he's been terrible, as has Frank Gore. Cadillac Williams is chronically injured and has shown nothing of the sort of talent you're suggesting in his career.

If there's one bright spot to the Maroney business, it's that there's so many pedestrian running backs in the league that Maroney doesn't stick out that badly. The problem is, we used a first rounder on him, when a similar back like McGahee could've been had for a song, and guys who are as useful if not better are available in free agency like Sammy Morris, or in later rounds like Brian Westbrook or Frank Gore or so on. Using a first round pick on a running back was the mistake, not drafting Maroney in particular.