re: Moss post-game(merged X3)
Damn, the Pats look good once you're on the Vikings again, right?
I dunno if Randy can be a role-player. That's what it's down to. In 07, it was pitch-and-catch. In 08, it was the make-Cassel-look-good project. In 09 the bloom started to come off the rose - and this year, he tripped up, and didn't go after what he wanted "The Patriots Way." That means for anybody except Tommy Boy, giving a great deal of credence to the front office's budgeting logic, and shutting the heck up even when you disagree with the coaching staff -- even the lowliest of the coaching staff. Can he do all that? Can he turn some attention to grooming his replacement? Can he be someone else's Cris Carter? Can he live with 10 TDs a year, when the opportunities arise? Can he - gasp - come off the bench to contribute, if called on to?
Those are the kinds of conditions that it would come down to for him to be part of "something special" in NE again, I really think.
Emotions are one thing. I have a lot of nice emotions for all those golden moments Moss gave us, and that feeling that we could strike for a TD any time, from anywhere on the field, especially that insane 2007 ride. He obviously knows NE was the high point of a career with a lot of high points in it. He grew into behaving like a leader, but reverted to type when things weren't as easy.
I would LOVE for the Pats to sign moss in '11 for decent but not crazy WR money, after he works harder in the off-season than anybody in the NFL. I would love for him to occupy Revis every play, and get his one catch to torch the Island every Jets game... hell, I'd love for him to have a renewed sense of purpose and come out better than before. Other wideouts have stayed effective into their late 30s. But he's not the superstar in his prime he was when we first signed him.
Can he get all that?
Don't really know. For now, he's a Viking. How much would it hurt to watch the Pats get ring #4 to round out 2001-2010?
PFnV