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Moss' Playoff Fade Pattern Continues

BY SEAN JENSEN,
Posted: 2008-01-16 14:55:29
Filed Under: NFL
Sports Commentary

Randy Moss is one of the greatest athletes to ever grace an NFL field.


Blessed with a rare combination of size and speed, he holds several NFL receiving records, including most touchdowns in a season (23), he boasts some of the most dominant offensive performances, including six, three-touchdown games, and he touts the distinction as the common denominator in the two highest-scoring offenses in league history.

A regular-season Joe, he is not.

In the postseason, though, Moss is more of a mortal.

On Saturday, in a 31-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Moss caught one pass for 14 yards. The catch came midway through the first quarter, on the Patriots’ opening offensive drive, on a fourth-and-five from the Jags’ 40-yard line. For the remainder of the game, Moss was cast a decoy, nary a pass entering his zip code.

The Moss I covered for six of his first seven NFL seasons would have had a meltdown, or moped on the sideline. He would have mentally checked out of the game, as he did in the NFC Championship game in January 2000, when his Minnesota Vikings were embarrassed 41-0 by the New York Giants (he finished the game with two catches for 18 yards).

For all of the gaudy statistics, Moss hasn’t asserted himself when it matters most: in January.

His signature games transpire before the New Year, with the lone exception a nine-catch, 188-yard, two-touchdown outburst in a shootout playoff loss to the St. Louis Rams on Jan. 6, 2000. In his three other playoff losses, Moss has a modest 11 catches for 144 and just one touchdown.


If the Patriots punctuate the most dominant season ever by defeating the San Diego Chargers Sunday and the NFC champion on Feb. 3, in Super Bowl XLII, Moss will earn the ring he has long coveted, and he will receive a fair share of the credit. Another quiet postseason cannot erase arguably the best season an NFL receiver has ever had: 98 catches for 1,493 yards and 23 TDs.

Moss is doing his part, commanding double teams, which provides everyone else, at most, single coverage. That opened up the field for slot receiver Wes Welker (nine catches for 54 yards and a touchdown), tight end Ben Watson (two touchdowns) and the running backs (seven catches for 76 yards).

And how did Moss react?

Maturely.

He never got frustrated or flustered, even throwing key blocks on running back Laurence Maroney’s three longest runs (nine, 22 and 29 yards).

Just to bolster my impression, I watched a replay of the game, although my perspective was limited by the television footage. So I sought the unfiltered opinion of ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski, who watched the entire game from coach’s tape, which enables him to see all 22 players.

“For the most part, their game plan was to shut Randy Moss down,” Jaworski said of the Jaguars, “and they did.

“But (Moss) did not become disinterested.”

A critic of Moss’ effort in the past, including this season, Jaworski said the All-Pro receiver gave a consistent effort on Saturday, noting that he was elated when Welker scored his touchdown. That was telling, Jaworski said, because Moss appeared to be the primary target on that first-and-goal play from the Jaguars’ six. Lined up in the shotgun, running back Kevin Faulk appeared to take a direct snap. But quarterback Tom Brady sold the fake, holding onto the ball for a moment, and he darted a pass to Welker in the back of the end zone.

“That was designed to get the ball to Randy,” Jaworski said. “ But (safety) Sammy Knight didn’t take the cheese, and Randy was covered. But Welker busted his tail on the backside.”


Jaworski said Moss was doubled for nearly the entire first half, as the Jaguars allocated all of their resources to forcing the Patriots to dink and dunk their way down the field. Brady did just that, completing an unheard of 26 of 28 passes, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Brady was content to dump the ball off underneath, with his first and only deep passing coming with nine minutes remaining in the game, on a 53-yarder to receiver Donte Stallworth.

By the time the Jaguars started to blitz Brady, thus giving Moss more single coverage, they were trailing by at least 11 points.

Jaworski said Brady missed Moss twice, once when the receiver beat a linebacker and had space in the middle of the field. But both times, Jaworski said, Brady was under duress.

And how did Moss react?

“You didn’t see him throw his hands up,” Jaworski said. “He played a great game.”

Afterwards, Moss provided the perfect spin, insisting he wasn’t ever frustrated.

“They just didn't really want me to bust the game wide open, putting two or three guys on me,” Moss told reporters. “But, like I said, we win as a team. I've never been a greedy guy; I'm not going to start now. So hats off, 17-0, what else can you ask for?”

But surely Moss wants to make an impression during the Patriots’ championship run, with an eye toward challenging the plethora of postseason records owned by Jerry Rice. On Sunday, though, Moss may have the most challenging individual matchup he has yet to face this season. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie is 6 foot 2, 203 pounds, with long arms, and he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds.

A second-year player, Cromartie was a first-team All-Pro after intercepting a league-high 10 passes.

The spotlight will be squarely upon Moss, and he can take a step toward joining Rice among the elite receivers who excelled in the postseason, or he can take another step toward joining Marvin Harrison among the elite receivers who disappeared in the postseason (62 catches for 863 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games).

Either way, everybody will be watching.

Sean Jensen covers the Minnesota Vikings for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He can be reached at nothinbutlovefor@aol.com.

2008-01-16 12:26:04
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77 comments

bgurry 02:17:20 AM Jan 26 2008

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The entire United States will be rooting for the Giants, except for a small section of the Northeast around Boston. The Patriots are hated for a reason. Except, maybe the refs don't hate the Patriots, they get every call, including ones that don't exist (think tuck rule). The Patriots should not have even made it to the superbowl that year.

jfrag 08:38:00 AM Jan 23 2008

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does anyone know how many superbowl ticket are actually given to each team..
and of those how many go to the season ticket holders....
i know its very few to the ticket holders..
none of the media brings it up.. they get theirs. so the zip it

orionsgate4 11:33:57 AM Jan 20 2008

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Its a fact that we keep Randy Moss, didnt they say a while back that he would be franchised for the offense. or am I mistaken

windit53 01:39:34 PM Jan 19 2008

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Re: "who cares about the patriots"

Obviously you do, wfernd, otherwise, why else would you take the time to post on a Patriots related blog?

snugent682 09:39:12 AM Jan 19 2008

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Moss took double coverage in the jags game.......
Which opend it up for everyone else....
They don't have stats for that....It's a team game!
show me the stats on Chris carter in those other playoff games

wfernd 06:39:11 PM Jan 18 2008

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who cares about the patriots

xfactor2334 04:29:00 PM Jan 18 2008

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Playoffs- you play against defenses who aim to take away the most potent offensive players. It's no surprise that double and triple coverage can limit Moss's numbers.

jbroillet 04:23:00 PM Jan 18 2008

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today guys are team players so stop nidpicking.

singitnow2004 12:57:07 PM Jan 18 2008

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leoganz.....Moss is where he chose to be. He accepted 9 mil less than was offered elsewhere to come to the Patriots. He will be here next year, maybe he'll break his own TD recieving record.

kispoko2 01:26:11 AM Jan 18 2008

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You're just like the rest of the idiot "journalists" who write on Moss and haven't even bothered to do minimal research.

Randy Moss didn't "mentally check out" of the game against the Giants in 2000. He actually got injured early on in the game, and tried to play through it.

Trying to breathe with broken ribs in an NFL game isn't fun, Mr. Jensen. Or anytime else really.

Typically so, an instance where Moss actually deserves praise for displaying toughness and in fact, 'mentally checking in,' he instead gets criticized because some "professional" sports writer doesn't bother with facts, but instead relies on perception.

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