Tag: Randy Moss (Page 8 of 15)

      Trade to Vikings could rejuvenate Randy Moss…again.

      October 6, 2010 /
      EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 02: Randy Moss of the New England Patriots looks on against the New York Giants on September 2, 2010 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants defeated the Patriots 20-17. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

      Now that I’ve waxed poetically about the genius that is Bill Belichick, I should probably tackle what the Randy Moss trade means to the Vikings.

      Three years ago, Moss wanted out of Oakland – bad. So he agreed to restructure his contract in order to join the Patriots, who had Tom Brady, a winning attitude, a Super Bowl-winning head coach and great fountain drinks in their player clubhouse.

      In his first year with the Pats, Moss hauled in 98 passes for 1,493 yards and a whopping 23 touchdowns. His production dropped a bit in his second year with Matt Cassel at quarterback, but he still racked up 69 catches for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns.

      Last season, Moss caught 83 passes for 1,264 yards and 13 TDs after Brady successfully returned from knee surgery, but following New England’s season-opening win over the Bengals this year, he said that he felt “smacked in the face” that the Patriots hadn’t offer him a contract extension.

      Less than a month later, Moss is a Minnesota Viking again after the Patriots intentionally or unintentionally fazed him out of their offense the past two weeks. Whether or not he was starting to check out mentally like he did in Oakland is up for debate, but the bottom line is that he’ll be donning purple and white come Monday night (rhythms – they just make you feel good) when Minnesota travels to New York to take on the Jets.

      Nobody will be more elated to see Moss in the same huddle than Brett Favre, who has looked every bit of his age during Minnesota’s first three games. Sidney Rice is out with a hip injury and Favre can’t seem to get on the same page as Percy Harvin or the rest of his receivers. But with Moss, he doesn’t have to worry about that.

      Favre is a gunslinger by nature. He wants to chuck the ball up and have his receiver make a play, which is exactly what Rice did last year and what Moss will do the rest of this season. Moss wants his quarterback to give him a chance on every play, so the duo will work well together in theory (not unlike when he first arrived in New England and Brady targeted him early and often in games). He’ll also make Harvin, Adrian Peterson, Bernard Berrian, Visanthe Shiancoe and everyone else around him better.

      As long as he’s motivated, Moss can be just as dangerous as he was earlier in his career. He still commands double teams and he still has the athletic ability to best defensive backs that are either too small or too slow to match up with him in coverage. If the Vikings show a commitment to him financially (and why wouldn’t they after they gave up a third round pick to acquire him?), then this could be another dream scenario for Moss.

      Heads up, NFC North.

      External Sports, NFL

      Moss trade proves that Bill Belichick is still smarter than all of us

      October 6, 2010 /
      FOXBORO, MA - SEPTEMBER 26: Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots reacts after defeating the Buffalo Bills, 38-30, at Gillette Stadium on September 26, 2010 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

      I don’t know if it was coincidence or by design, but if it was by design it was a genius move by Bill Belichick.

      Following the Patriots’ season-opening win over the Bengals, Randy Moss said he felt “smacked in the face” because New England hadn’t offered him a contract extension yet. Two days later, Moss appeared on SportsCenter and said that he wouldn’t be talking about his contract anymore because Belichick told him to “watch what he says.”

      On Monday night in Miami, Moss was targeted just one time in the Patriots’ 41-14 win over the Dolphins and was held without a catch. A day later, he was dealt to the Vikings in exchange for a 2011 third-round pick.

      This is where the coincidence or by design part comes in. Did Belichick purposely design his game plan so that Moss wasn’t targeted? Was he trying to prove that the Pats could win without their No. 1 receiver? Was Moss already starting to check out mentally like he did in Oakland and that’s why he was only targeted four times in the past two weeks? Because if the trade was by design, then Belichick is even smarter than any of us originally thought.

      Think about it: this trade was shocking – nobody saw it coming. Why would the Patriots trade their top receiver with Wes Welker just 8 months off major knee surgery? Furthermore, does anyone question the deal now after New England put up 41 on Miami and moved the ball without Moss? (Granted, special teams played a huge role in New England’s win, but the Pats’ offense still had zero trouble moving the chains without Moss being involved.)

      Consider this as well: the Pats acquired Moss from the Raiders for a fourth round pick in 2007. Three years later, they ship an older Moss to Minnesota for a third round pick.

      I’m going to ask you to put on your thinking caps again for a second: it’s like Belichick purchased a used car for cheap, and then sold it three years later for more than what he originally paid for it, even though the car had depreciated. And don’t forget that part of the deal to acquire Moss from Oakland was that he had to restructure his contract. So Belichick got even more of a discount when the Pats acquired Moss from the Raiders three years ago.

      Again, this may have all just been a coincidence. Maybe the Pats had intended on trading him since the offseason and once he complained about his contract, it offered them a window to execute the deal.

      That said, everything fell into place too smoothly for it all to be coincidence. Belichick knew that the Vikings have been drowning without a receiver and that Brett Favre had begged the Packers to acquire Moss the same year the Patriots did. So what does he do? He targets the Vikings as the perfect patsies and then bends them over for a third round pick. (Moss may once again be rejuvenated once he gets to Minnesota, but he hasn’t given max effort since the season began.)

      If that’s not genius (relatively speaking, of course), tell me what is. (Granted, some may argue that a genius wouldn’t have traded away his top receiver, but with the emergence of Brandon Tate and Aaron Hernandez, something tells me Belichick already knows he can make due without Moss.)

      External Sports, NFL

      Fantasy implications of Randy Moss to the Vikings

      October 6, 2010 /
      New England Patriots Randy Moss (R) and quarterback Tom Brady (L) sit on the bench in the final minutes of their NFL football game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, September 19, 2010. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      The Boston Herald is reporting that a Moss-to-Minnesota deal could be finalized by Wednesday.

      Wow, this one sure came out of nowhere. Though I suppose we should have seen the writing on the wall given Randy Moss’s preseason griping about the fact that he doesn’t have a long-term contract. While a move away from Tom Brady and the Pats’ pass-happy offense might seem like a hit to Randy’s stock, it isn’t. He was targeted a total of four times in the last two weeks and his goose egg in Week 4 is alarming. In fact, he is #41 amongst WRs in total targets (22, or 5.5 per game), and even with his 3:1 completion to TD ratio, that’s not enough work to justify his first or second round ADP. As a Packer fan, I cringe at the thought of a happy and motivated Moss back in the purple and gold, but as a fantasy owner (in two leagues), I’m happy he’s getting a change of scenery. I’d expect him to get all of Sidney Rice’s targets (7.7 per game, maybe more) as long as Rice as out.

      For the Vikings, this is a big bump for the entire offense, save for Visanthe Shiancoe, who probably won’t enjoy quite as many looks now that Brett Favre can chuck it downfield with more confidence. Farve obviously gets a bump, Percy Harvin should have more room to roam, and there should be one less man in the box trying to stop Adrian Peterson.

      For the Patriots, I’d expect Brandon Tate and Aaron Hernandez to pick up most of the slack, but Danny Woodhead, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski should get a bit of extra work as well. The Patriots are getting less vertical with this move, so it’s going to hurt Tom Brady a little because he’s going to have one less weapon in his arsenal. And it was one of his big weapons, for sure. This could mean the running game will be featured more, as BenJarvus Green-Ellis seems to be coming into his own.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, News, NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Randy Moss reaches 150 career touchdowns in win over Bills

      September 26, 2010 /
      FOXBORO, MA - SEPTEMBER 26: Randy Moss of the New England Patriots greets teammates during drills before a game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on September 26, 2010 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

      Randy Moss only caught two passes on Sunday, but they went for touchdowns in the Patriots’ 38-30 win over the Bills in Week 2.

      His first TD of the day allowed him to join Jerry Rice (197) as the second player in NFL history to reach 150 touchdown receptions in a career. Moss added another score midway through the third quarter just to show off. (Actually, he made the catch with about 60 people around him to give New England the lead again at 24-16.)

      And wait, how have we not talked about this yet? The Bills hung with the Patriots? In New England? With Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback?

      Outside of the two interceptions he threw, Fitzpatrick turned in a pretty solid effort. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns, while showing remarkably better awareness and pocket presence than Trent Edwards while nearly leading the Bills to the upset. He’s not Jim Kelly, but he at least gives Buffalo a fighting chance every week.

      The Patriots have to do something about their pass rush. They got to Fitzpatrick only once today and produced only three QB hits. That’s not going to get it done on a weekly basis.

      External Sports, NFL

      War of words continues between Darrelle Revis and Randy Moss

      September 16, 2010 /
      FOXBORO, MA - NOVEMBER 22: Darrelle Revis #24 of the New York Jets defends against Randy Moss #81 of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on November 22, 2009 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

      Back in January, Darrelle Revis was all like, “Randy Moss is a slouch.”

      Then Randy Moss was all like, “He can say whatever he wants to, but we’re coming to burn house this Sunday.”

      And now Revis is all like:

      “If that’s what he said, I guess that’s what he’s been preparing for all offseason,” Revis said. “He said it with a laugh, but it’s been on his mind for the whole offseason. Randy speaks the truth. He speaks how he feels. Obviously, if he said that, it was on his mind in the offseason.

      “I called him a slouch because I felt he played like a slouch (in the first game). They tried to come after me in the second game. He wasn’t a slouch in the second game, (but) . . . if I said it in January, whenever I said it, you guys know I said it. That’s how I felt at that particular time.”

      Whatever. If you really care about the full story, then the Boston Herald has the whole thing here. But if Mark Sanchez can’t figure out how to throw a ball further than three and a half yards, then it won’t matter who wins the Revis v. Moss matchup. It’ll be irrelevant.

      Last year, Rex Ryan and the Jets were refreshing (uh, to non-Patriot and non-Giant fans). This year, the media has taken even more of a liking to them and they’re starting to become annoying. And if they continue to lose, then all of their “Hard Knocks” fans are going to start throwing metaphorical stones at them, too.

      This is a big game for the Jets. Even if Revis and the defense shuts down Moss and Tom Brady, Sanchez is still going to have to make plays at some point – especially if New England takes away the Jets’ run game.

      How Sanchez performs is the true storyline here, although what Moss and Revis say to each other through the media will continue to get most of the attention, I’m sure.

      External Sports, NFL

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