The low points

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Here's what New England got from Moss when he played his "worst games" :

* Stats: 1 catch for 16 yards against Carolina last year. Accused of "quitting" in this game in a NE victory.

Big NE pass plays in the game:



Wes Welker is left wide open in the middle of the field - while Moss is doubled & has a deep safety on the warning tracks to prevent the deep ball.




A triple team on a Moss deep ball leaves both Wes Welker and Ben Watson in 1-on-1 match-ups. Watson makes a rare huge gainer. He's a Cleveland Brown now.



Getting behind a Panther triple team on the deep ball.

The Patriots running backs rushed for 187 yards in this game. You think the positioning of the Carolina safety's had anything to do with that? Hard to stop the run with guys who are on the warning tracks in centerfield.


* The key play that turned the Jets game in the week #2 road loss.



Brandon Tate - an explosive open field runner who has returned two kickoffs for TD's this year is wide open coming across the field - only a very deep safety to beat for a TD if the balls on time and he catches it in stride.

The deep saftey - who should be crapping his pants about the prospect of trying to make an open-field tackle on Tate - instead ends up with an INT off of a deflection in a play that turns the game.


* And of course the Dolphins game where he got shut-out as a decoy. Brady's completion percentage was sky high - and the lone TD pass to Woodhead was set-up by him and Welker both drawing double teams.


For the most part - Moss was really only running 3 different routes this year and constantly attacking the deep part of the field. If you give a competent NFL corner deep safety help - he should be able to hold his own with anyone if the guy he's covering is so predictable.

Welker and all these exciting new weapons underneath got to exploit open space and coverage - their routes were not as predictable and they were doing a lot of creative things. That's why they all were catching 80% of their targets.

Even at his supposed worst - the mere threat of the Moss deep ball made the underneath passing game and running game much better. That's a recap of the "low points" of the Moss years in NE.