Friday, May 11, 2012

Randy Moss - comeback

I just read an article at nfl.com see http://blogs.nfl.com/2012/05/11/understanding-what-you-are-watching-when-wr-randy-moss-practices/

and though this is good insight I think when you're watching the game. It isn't so much if the WR is open for the QB to toss one his way, but whether the QB has lost confidence in his WR.

Take any QB in the nfl past or present, they alway develop with a favorite WR and this can last for years, sometimes it seems to last for only a season or two or as short as a game or two.

If we're using NE as an example with Brady and Moss, they hooked up early on, but D's started to adjust and Brady is not known for forcing the ball, when he did so with Moss he was bitten badly with interceptions and incompletions. I suspect the same thing will happen this year with Smith to Moss, maybe 3 to 4 consecutive games of good numbers but after the first month, D's will be ready and Smith will return to the inside game with TE Davis. Hopefully Smith will target (force) Moss in the endzone where his abilities were on clear display with QB Culpepper while they were a duo in MIN. This is what Brady didn't do with Moss in the endzone, I'm not blaming either it could be the OC just didn't want to call 'jump ball' plays, but I would have especially if I suspect D's will continue to double cover Moss in the end zone.
Most likely a front and back bracket, but here's where a good QB can get his WR to either stretch right or left, to go with play can get the score, just like in basketball. Interestingly enough, you see this type of play in the nfl with NO TE Graham and on occasion with NE TE Gronk, but I do recall, watching SD TE Gates and ATL TE Gonzales completing the same type of play in past years.

Think of it, it's just like a point guard getting the ball to his power forward or center to the left or right of basket while being double guarded or bracketed with a player fronting and a player behind the 'scoring machine'. The point guard always knows his guy is going either left or right and tosses that pass to the open area where his guy gets the ball and turns and scores. The same could be done in the endzone, especially with a WR like Moss and this is far simpler than basketball, because WR catches the ball, stays in-bounds and it's counted as a TD.

I hope we'll see these types of plays with Smith to Moss and if not perhaps with some other tandem. They both need to be on the same page and once it reoccurs with some frequency, look for other teams to emulate it, after all this is a copycat league, right?

No comments: