At the end of the day this is nothing more than a bunch of mini-nems who think they know more about what this team should do and the game plan should be than BB and Josh, let alone the rest of us.
When they drafted Maroney perhaps they saw him as a split back, albeit one with exceptional talent when utilized properly. Only the back he was split with aged out after one exceptionally powerful season (when we needed it, I might add). And their plan to rotate Olinemen according to blocking scheme for two very divergent styles proved unwieldy and unmanageable, so they stuck with what they knew and what Dillon could do.
Morris will be back. Maroney, Morris, Faulk, Evans and Eckle's mere existence tells me that RB is not going to be a concern to be addressed in 2008 or likely 2009, sad to say for all the I want the can't miss RB of the 2008 draft fans. Upgrading the Oline to multitask, along with replenishing talent on defense and maintaining/retaining talent on offense will be the off season goals for the forseeable future.
Bill has been asked the balance question hundreds of times this season. He doesn't ascribe to the theory that you must be balanced to win because he understands all that really matters is you must score to win. If we had a back to spare we might be more inclined to force the issue situationally, but we don't since Morris went down. Wouldn't it be great if we opted to force the issue only to lose Maroney and/or Faulk? We're not dependant on the running game because we don't have to be. We have 186 WR's on the roster, most of whom could play if not start anywhere else. We are playing to our strength THIS SEASON.
Teambuiding is a process and it occurs each season. This team found itself with perhaps the deepest and potentially highest powered offense in the history of the league. But it still takes time to build the kind of rapore that makes winning a given. That is why we focus on passing even in blowouts. Bill and Josh are committed to game planning to win first and foremost and to build the necessary rapore between Brady and his receivers that will pay dividends throughout the playoffs. You don't see them bringing CJ in to this WR mix to evaluate him for next season, do you. He got a shot at earning some reps in the return game, where we need to give our regulars a blow lest we impact their starting performance down the stretch, and he quite possibly blew that. They will likely worry about him next year, and hope to be pleasantly surprised (but not hold their collective breath...).
They know what Maroney is capable of doing in optimum circumstances. They also know what he is less capable of doing when circumstances are not. They are not interested in beating the crap out of him unnecessarily to prove a moot point, no matter how much the fans and media clamor for them to. They've talked about making adjustments to the blocking scheme to better suit the skill set of the player they drafted. He's only 22, so they have a little time yet to get to that. This year the line has it's hands full pass blocking to take advantage of an historic passing offense. They quite possibly need another off season to make a zone blocking transition, and that may even require upgrades along the line that will pay dividends in the pass blocking down the road.
So kvetching about Maroney's performance this season is just that, little nemites who are sure they know better who can't be reasoned with because it's not about winning for them, it's about being perceived as somehow smarter than the braintrust and the rest of us koolaid swilling homers. Arguing with those kind of irrational blowhards is a total waste of time and energy because their opinions were etched in stone the day they first spewed them. If Bill showed up here and told them they were totally off base, they would insist he's lying or in denial.
