***** The meal I would enjoy most can only be provided by the Patriots "feature RB". I desperately want him to make me eat the words I'm about to write!
***** Here's a note from Reiss' Blog, with an "open letter" from me to Mr. "Macaroney" to follow:
Maroney on running style
FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots running back Laurence Maroney drew a crowd in the locker room today at Gillette Stadium. Once again, his running style was a topic of conversation.
The question of whether Maroney dances too much behind the line of scrimmage – and doesn’t enter the hole with authority – seems to have struck a nerve with him. When told that some critics believe Maroney hesitates too much, he asked: “How many of those people have actually played running back?”
“It’s like me trying to critique you all about how to ask questions or how to do an interview,” Maroney continued. “You aren’t really going to listen to it, because I’ve never did it before. Just like I’m not really going to pay attention to what someone says about running north-south because you never know what I see out there or what is happening – like if a guy is coming free in the hole, what do you want me to do? I’m trying to make plays, trying to make it happen, so it might look like I’m dancing, but I’m really trying to make something happen.
“So I’m not going to get into that, go back and forth, that I’m running north-south, that I’m running laterally. I’m just out there to make plays and that’s what I try to do.”
***** Well, I'll tell ya what, Mr. Macaroney, MAKE A FEW PLAYS running the ball from behind the LOS, and maybe you won't have to "get into that"!
Maroney has made some plays. Someone mentioned that he actually had one of the highest success rates at gaining 1st downs in the league.
***** Let's review, shall we? You have carried the ball 118 times for 511 yards (4.3 YPC). Your LONGEST run in those 118 carries was for 19 yards! You have scored a total of 2 TDs in those 118 carries! Just how many of those carries would you classify as "making a play"?!
Obviously you are NSA's idiot brother.
Lets review a few things you've skipped.
1) Maroney is just 22. He's got 2 years less experience than Joseph Addai.
2) The O-line still isn't great in using the zone blocking.
3) Against the Steelers, ALL of Maroney's carries were for positive yardage. Since you love stats, the Steelers are the BEST run defense in the league.
4) The Pats use a multi-back system with defined roles within the game plan. Maroney - 1st/2nd down back. Faulk - Pass catching RB. Morris - All-purpose back, including short-yardage. Evans has since picked up the short yardage stuff, though Maroney has taken in his 2 as well.
***** Just how would you define those 118 carries in comparison to the performances of "journeyman backup", Sammy Morris; who, before his injury, had 85 carries for 354 yards (4.5 YPC), with a long of 49 yards, and 3 TDs?! He actually HAS played running back! His "style" is go where the play is designed to go, and, if there's no hole immediately apparent, to MAKE ONE, by putting his shoulder down, driving forward with his legs, and HITTING SOMEBODY!
Obvioulsy you are clueless and don't understand that Sammy Morris and Laurence Maroney are 2 different styles of running back. Maroney is NOT a power back. He never has been. He has run with power, but that doesn't make him a power back in the mold of Corey Dillon.
***** Hell, Kevin Faulk has a better YPC (4.4) than you do. He's 9 years older, 3" shorter, and 18 pounds lighter than you, Mr. Macaroney; and who do the Patriots turn to for a critical 3rd down run, as they did in last week's game against the Ravens? It's Kevin Faulk. And how does he run that play? He makes one quick cut, drops his shoulder, and drives straight ahead for, guess what, a FIRST DOWN!
*ROFLMOA* WOW. You are an idiot. Faulk has 9 years experience and is one of the best (if not the best) 3rd down back in the league. Of course he's going to be out there on a critical 3rd down moron. He's got the experience.
***** That, Mr. Macaroney, is how to play RB in the NFL, particularly on this team. Oh, do you wonder about that name I've chosen for you? Well, I consider it a name which accurately describes YOUR running style - that of a wet noodle! I, for one, am tired of it. And I'm tired of you stubbornly, and ignorantly, refusing to accept the coaching, yes, and even the external criticism, that has repeatedly pointed out to you that "what you see out there" isn't what should determine your next move. The design of the play is what should determine that next move.
***** I've never played RB, Mr. Macaroney. But I've been watching people play it in the NFL for over 50 years. In all that time, in all those hundreds, perhaps even thousands of games, I've seen only ONE successful RB who consistently ran with "dancing" and "lateral movement", rarely going "north-south" from behind the LOS. That was Barry Sanders. And, if you'll read a bit, or watch a few old NFL films, I will bet that you'll discover that he never went for 118 consecutive carries with a "long run" of 19 yards. And, while I don't have such stats at my disposal, I suspect that he never went for 118 consecutive carries with less than 3 TDs!
The fact that you've never been a RB is proof positive you are clueless as to what you are talking about.
Barry Sanders played in an offense that relied on a single RB. So, you're right, he probably never went 118 consecutive carries without a TD. Its pretty idiotic to compare Maroney to Sanders when they weren't even close to being in a similar system.
***** So DROP your arrogant retorts to the press, Mr. Macaroney. You are not even close to having the production in your record to justify such an attitude. You are, to this point in your career, a TOTAL BUST as a Round 1 pick. If it were up to me, I would have signed Corey Dillon weeks ago, and given him time to work himself into shape for Playoffs. Then I'd bench your sorry ass for the playoffs, and put in a pro, who knows how to drive for a few extra yards when needed to make a 1st Down, or a TD!
Who the hell are you, with your IDIOCY to claim that Maroney is a bust? Maybe you should STFU, learn something about the game other than sitting on your lazy fat arse and thinking you know a damn thing about the game.
The fact that you would bench Maroney shows how dumb you really are. The fact that you compare him to guys with 8 and 9 years experience as if they were EQUALS shows how you truly don't deal with the facts.
***** OK, Mr. Macaroney. I'm still hungry. Come on, make me eat my words! I am, above all else, a Patriots fan. As long as you wear that uniform, I want nothing but the utmost success for you. I am convinced that you will not achieve any significant level of success on this team by "trying to make something happen" your way. By now, it should be as evident to you as it is to me, and thousands of other observers, some of whom probably HAVE "actually played RB", that either what you think you see is wrong, or you simply don't have the moves required at this level to get to the places you think you need to get to in order to "make a play".
You aren't a Pats fan. You are a friggin troll who's got nothing better to do than to rip a kid who isn't meeting your uneducated and unrealistic expectations.
Maroney is already smarter than you.
Maroney is 22. Why don't you STFU and grow up yourself.
Maroney is allowed to have the attitude. In fact, its hilarious that schmucks like you think you have a damn clue and can read into his ATTITUDE as if you've known him his whole life.
STOP PLAYING "MARONEY" FOOTBALL, AND START PLAYING PATRIOTS FOOTBALL!
How do you know he's not playing Patriots football? How do you know he's not doing exactly what Belichick has told him to do? You don't.