Ian Allan
I’m not sure how much of the blame should be attributed to each guy, but Tom Brady and Randy Moss didn’t have the same kind of rapport last year. They weren’t nearly as effective as in 2007 (when Moss caught a record 23 TDs).
There were a few plays where it was easy for an trained eye to see which guy screwed up. Brady simply missed Moss on some potential big plays early in the year. And Moss, particularly late in the year, failed to catch a few balls in traffic – the kind he seemed to make in the past. At Miami, Moss didn’t try hard enough to break up an end zone throw that was intercepted – Moss seemed to give up on that ball.
But I deal in numbers. Consider these stats, which are ones that we cook up on our own (logging all plays around the goal line).
When the team was inside the 10 in 2007, Brady went 15 of 20 when throwing to Moss. That’s 75 percent completions, as well as the league-high 15 receptions.
When the team was inside the 10 last year, Brady went only 6 of 15 when throwing to Moss. Only 40 percent. That’s a big dropoff.
At 33 and entering a contract year, it seems, Moss needs to perform much better this season if he’s going to convince the Patriots (or some other team) to give him a big contract next season.
(For what it’s worth, by the way, Moss also wasn’t effective inside the 10 in 2008, catching only 3 of 13 passes, but that was with Matt Cassel at quarterback).
—Ian Allan
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