December 14, 2009

Tom Brady's also quick to defend Moss.

Honestly, how the Panthers can disappoint yet again this season and find the nerve to talk smack after a loss is quite remarkable.

posted by dfleming at 02:11 PM on December 14, 2009

It's been a couple of games now that people have been riding Moss for giving up on routes, alligator arming and not blocking downfield.

posted by NoMich at 03:02 PM on December 14, 2009

I don't know, dusted, if Moss really does that or just look like he does it. He makes being a wide receiver look effortless and he always has. I don't believe that Belichik would be playing him if he was really dogging it.

posted by bperk at 04:01 PM on December 14, 2009

Moss is a great receiver and if the Panthers think he doesn't play I suggest they don't double team him next time they play and see what happens. The nerve of the Panther players. I mean maybe Moss did not have a good game so that makes the score for the year for bad games Moss 1 and Panthers 8.

Coming from a team that is 28th in the league in passing I guess that Panther players and coaches are not experts on how receivers should have good games.

A bit of career advice to Panther pass coverage players, next time you are asked why a reciever only had one catch against you, just say we did a good job taking him away from the offense and acknowledge that like any good offense they killed you somewhere else on the field while you handling one guy.

Plenty of teams this year have managed to keep Adrian Peterson under control but his presence in the offense opens up so much more that even when he has a relativel low yardage game he still has a major impact on the other offensive players success. The same is true for Moss, if you don't stop him, he will kill you, if you double team him and keep him under control, the resourses you commit to stoping him will certainly cause the other receivers to be open a lot more. A pity they are too dumb to control their mouths or recognize that Moss was a big part of them loosing even with only one catch, just by being on the field.

posted by Atheist at 04:52 PM on December 14, 2009

It looked to me (again, not a regular NFL watcher, so YMMV) like Moss was barely jogging off the line when the play was not going to him. Is that normal or is a receiver expected to sell the play?

Sadly, I think this is more *normal* than people think. I don't think there's a receiver playing football today that gives his all out on every route of every play. Even when people talk about guys like Hines Ward who give "their all on every play"..it's mainly an exaggeration. I mean physically these guys just can't do that play, after play (sprint and cut for 40+ yards, rest 30 seconds, repeat)...especially if you throw in the physicality that's required in blocking, etc. It's also very easy to do a "50% effort" fade release in man coverage on a play your pretty sure is going short or to someone else, because you know the DB's going to turn and run with you, basically taking him out of the play anyways which allows you to conserve some energy for your next *sprint*.

So my personal take is that Moss does indeed take plays off...and the media can certainly pull up these examples and SHOW how he does, game after game. But if they really wanted to, they could do the same for Hines Ward (though they have no bone to pick with them so they choose not to)

posted by bdaddy at 06:32 PM on December 14, 2009

A wee bit off topic, but I liked how Brady took responsibility for the interception. Tom Brady's also quick to defend Moss. I do get tired of hearing the women call him a Pretty Boy, but that statement had class, cause it had truth.

posted by outonleave at 07:17 PM on December 14, 2009

I don't see how anyone can really and truly complain about Moss' performance in NE. He's been great and from what I can see, not much of an attention whore or primadonna. Plus he and Kimbo Slice are competing for "Best Beard EVAR."

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:09 PM on December 14, 2009

like Moss was barely jogging off the line when the play was not going to him. Is that normal or is a receiver expected to sell the play?

I'm a big Pats fan and a big Moss fan. I do think he takes some plays off (he had a shitty block in the second half of this week's game; enough to spring Welker for an extra 5 yards, but a full block could have meant 10, 20 or all the way). That said, you can't judge his effort by the jog off the line; it's apparently a pretty common technique in his game. CBS showed a few examples of it in the Pats-Dolphins game 2 weeks ago, where Moss would jog off the line until the corner let up, then he took off.

I think it's telling that not only did Belichick respond to questions about Moss yesterday, but he talked shit back at the Panthers players.

posted by yerfatma at 08:49 AM on December 15, 2009