Whitlock: Moss is more valuable than Brady

[Chester McFloppy]

Let's see some good arguments on this one...
<ps jason whitlock is still a douche>

No offense to Tom Brady, one of my favorite NFL players of all time, but Randy Moss is the MVP of the National Football League.

It ain't even close.

Seriously, denying Randy Moss this year's Associated Press MVP award would be borderline criminal. If Allen Iverson is the answer in basketball, Randy Moss is the question that no one in football can answer.
How do you stop him?

He can't be stopped; he can only slow himself, as he did for a couple of miserable years in Oakland.

Brady is on the brink of shattering every single-season passing record known to mankind and the Patriots are well on their way to smashing every scoring record. And we love nothing more in this country than showering superstar quarterbacks with awards, hype and credit.

But Randy Moss should not and cannot be denied this season. His impact on the football field is so obvious and so overwhelming that even Joe Buck should cast an MVP vote for Mr. Moss. The value of wide receivers has never been more evident than this season.

Terrell Owens earned Tony Romo a $67 million contract and paved the road Philly fans will use to escort Donovan McNabb out of town. Marvin Harrison went down with a knee injury, and Peyton Manning's feet got happy again and his interception total escalated.

Look, it's still a quarterback's league. Manning and McNabb are great players. Romo is headed for greatness. But they're significantly diminished without their favorite toys.

Moss is a kingmaker. This isn't the first time he made a good offense outstanding. The scoring record the Patriots are chasing is the standard Moss' 1998 Vikings established. In that same year, Moss, a rookie at the time, turned 35-year-old Randall Cunningham into the league's top passer. Cunningham threw 34 TDs and 10 INTs and the Vikings finished the regular season 15-1.

Denny Green looked as smart as Bill Belichick.

Randy, despite 17 TDs and 1,313 receiving yards, didn't win the MVP that year because Terrell Davis took a run at Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, cracking 2,000 yards.

Well, the excuse this year will be Brady's numbers. I'm not knocking Brady. He's an incredible player. He's just not as valuable as Randy Moss.

There's only one Randy Moss. When he shows up motivated, focused and ready to have fun, records fall, defenses quiver, quarterbacks have once-in-a-lifetime seasons and his teams win ... by lots of points.

Moss is doing more for Brady than Brady is doing for Moss. The same thing could be said about Cunningham and Jeff George, who both looked Elway-esque winging footballs to Moss.

This week George pointed out to me what makes Moss different from every receiver who has ever played the game.

"Intimidation," George explained. "Defensive backs are trained to turn and play the football. Guys are too scared to turn away from Randy. You'll see two DBs running with Randy, but they'll never turn and find the football because they're too afraid to take their eyes off Randy. As a quarterback, you just throw it up to Randy no matter the coverage because you know he'll be only guy looking for the football."

How many times have we seen that this season - two guys wrapped around Randy and Brady floating a ball into traffic?

This isn't a co-MVP situation. It's not a slap at Brady, one of the three best QBs of all time.

It's long overdue recognition for Moss. It's long overdue acknowledgement that receivers - given today's rules about defensive-back contact and the prevalence of three- and four-receiver offenses - can have as much impact on a game as quarterbacks.

Moss reminds me of Shaquille O'Neal. We took O'Neal for granted during his prime on the basketball court, and he won just one MVP award. In retrospect that's ridiculous. O'Neal's impact on the NBA far exceeds Steve Nash's, and Nash has won multiple MVP awards.

Moss isn't likely to surpass Jerry Rice as the greatest of all time. Rice was too consistent and was a driving force in the 49ers dynasty. Rice vs. Moss will be like the Bill Russell-Wilt Chamberlain debate. Except we didn't deny Wilt a few MVP trophies.

Let's no longer deny Randy Moss. Yes, he used to be extremely immature. His effort at times was atrocious. None of that matters this year. With defenses doing everything within reason to slow him, Moss has 16 TD receptions, more than 1,000 receiving yards, the Patriots are 10-0, and, most important, Moss has made Tom Brady the second-most-valuable player in football.

 

[RyGuy45]

I see the points for both sides really.

But one can also say, take said player away from the team and how much worse would that team be off? In that sense I would say Brady is the MVP of that team.

Still ive always said Brady plays a ton of games where he is litterally untouched for 60 minutes. A great QB can become greater when he can sit back and rockall day with very little pressure in his face.

 

[justhotkicks]

Without Moss, the Pats would still be good, but not nearly as good as they are now. Moss puts them WAY over the top. Brady has done a helluva job makingsomething out of nothing, but Moss is clearly "something", and he just makes all those plays. Getting open and making sick catches is all credited toMoss.

But besides the whole MVP talk, i'm just glad Moss is in a position to win a ring. He's been one of my fave players for a long time.

 

[doublejs07]

Over the course of his career, Moss has made some "good" QB's look GREAT. However, Brady and the Pats have been winning long before Randy Mosswas even thought of to play in NE. Randy Moss is a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. There WILL be other QB's who will come along in the mold of Tom Bradyin years to come. However, when talking about what Moss brings to the table as far as his skill set, he is pretty much unmatched. In Brady's defense, hehas put up good #'s with a mediocre at best WR corps over the years. I think the addition of Moss brought a new dimension of swagger to an alreadyconfident team. It's a tough debate, but did anyone consider that Randy Moss needs a GOOD QB to look great? This can kind of go both ways. Moss was anafterthought in Oakland, and it is no coincidence that his play suffered due to his 1) attitude, 2) QB play, 3) lack of motivation. I'm kind of curious tosee what you all think of the article as well...

 

[bridouble]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

Over the course of his career, Moss has made some "good" QB's look GREAT. However, Brady and the Pats have been winning long before Randy Moss was even thought of to play in NE. Randy Moss is a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. There WILL be other QB's who will come along in the mold of Tom Brady in years to come. However, when talking about what Moss brings to the table as far as his skill set, he is pretty much unmatched. In Brady's defense, he has put up good #'s with a mediocre at best WR corps over the years. I think the addition of Moss brought a new dimension of swagger to an already confident team. It's a tough debate, but did anyone consider that Randy Moss needs a GOOD QB to look great? This can kind of go both ways. Moss was an afterthought in Oakland, and it is no coincidence that his play suffered due to his 1) attitude, 2) QB play, 3) lack of motivation. I'm kind of curious to see what you all think of the article as well...

i agree.
its pretty much boils down to this:
Moss needs a NE more than NE needs a Moss. period

 

[nyk buc]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

Over the course of his career, Moss has made some "good" QB's look GREAT. However, Brady and the Pats have been winning long before Randy Moss was even thought of to play in NE. Randy Moss is a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. There WILL be other QB's who will come along in the mold of Tom Brady in years to come. However, when talking about what Moss brings to the table as far as his skill set, he is pretty much unmatched. In Brady's defense, he has put up good #'s with a mediocre at best WR corps over the years. I think the addition of Moss brought a new dimension of swagger to an already confident team. It's a tough debate, but did anyone consider that Randy Moss needs a GOOD QB to look great? This can kind of go both ways. Moss was an afterthought in Oakland, and it is no coincidence that his play suffered due to his 1) attitude, 2) QB play, 3) lack of motivation. I'm kind of curious to see what you all think of the article as well...

i think b4 moss came here, NE's identity is more defense than brady. NE won w/ 80% defense and 20% offense.

 

[doublejs07]

i think b4 moss came here, NE's identity is more defense than brady. NE won w/ 80% defense and 20% offense/


yeah you could say that, but the comparisons of Brady to Montana are not far off....there is ice water that runs through his veins, and this has been the dealsince he took over for Bledsoe back in 01'. Not to mention his playoff and Super Bowl resumes are ridiculous. Brady's exploits shouldn't beoverlooked, because he was integral in getting the NE franchise to where they are today. That is HIS team.

 

[swendro]

swendro88: No he isn't

 

[aepps20]

The real MVPs of that team is that line. Brady has all day to throw. Without that line neither Moss nor Brady would be doing much.

 

[baik]

I think he should have mentioned the offensive line in the article at least once...Brady literally gets a good 25 seconds in the pocket to sling that ball
Brady is a great QB but his work has been a lot easier since Moss arrived

 

[tupac jordan]

The CAMERAMAN for MVP

 

[gerber baby 44]

just give them co-MVP's. they're both valuable to the team. i'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind sharing the MVP trophy.

 

[nyk buc]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

i think b4 moss came here, NE's identity is more defense than brady. NE won w/ 80% defense and 20% offense/

yeah you could say that, but the comparisons of Brady to Montana are not far off....there is ice water that runs through his veins, and this has been the deal since he took over for Bledsoe back in 01'. Not to mention his playoff and Super Bowl resumes are ridiculous. Brady's exploits shouldn't be overlooked, because he was integral in getting the NE franchise to where they are today. That is HIS team.

true, but the defense allowed him to achieve all that. i mean look at the playoff scores that NE won w/ in their super bowls, most of them were VERY lowscoring games where the defense pulled it out and dominated for the most part.

 

[dmbrhs]

How did Brady do last year with terrible receivers? How's he doing this year with a great receiver? That's why Moss deserves it. The other receiversare nice, but they're a product of the system because Moss commands so much attention. It reminds me almost of USC when Reggie Bush was there. He was runas a decoy half the time and they'd eat you up with other serviceable players.

 

[ouchrislitt]

I was about to say "at least he got through a whole column without mentioning Jeff George."

Did a find in the article, what do you know? He mentions his boy -- AGAIN. You can't say "it's not a slap at Tom Brady" and then essentiallylump him in with Randall Cunningham and JEFF-FREAKING-GEORGE.

Whitlock used to have a spark, but so many of his columns are off base now that it's painful.

 

[platinumfunk]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

i think b4 moss came here, NE's identity is more defense than brady. NE won w/ 80% defense and 20% offense/

yeah you could say that, but the comparisons of Brady to Montana are not far off....there is ice water that runs through his veins, and this has been the deal since he took over for Bledsoe back in 01'. Not to mention his playoff and Super Bowl resumes are ridiculous. Brady's exploits shouldn't be overlooked, because he was integral in getting the NE franchise to where they are today. That is HIS team.

Montana >> Brady

And there are at least 2-4 quarterbacks in between.

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by nyk buc

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

i think b4 moss came here, NE's identity is more defense than brady. NE won w/ 80% defense and 20% offense/

yeah you could say that, but the comparisons of Brady to Montana are not far off....there is ice water that runs through his veins, and this has been the deal since he took over for Bledsoe back in 01'. Not to mention his playoff and Super Bowl resumes are ridiculous. Brady's exploits shouldn't be overlooked, because he was integral in getting the NE franchise to where they are today. That is HIS team.

true, but the defense allowed him to achieve all that. i mean look at the playoff scores that NE won w/ in their super bowls, most of them were VERY low scoring games where the defense pulled it out and dominated for the most part.

True, but the defense didn't drive down the field in the final minutes and set up field goals. Are you going to say that Vinateri was the main manin the 3 super bowls? He was the winning difference each time right?

It is clearly Brady's team. Zero doubt, just as it was Montana's team, or Peyton's team, even though they had Rice and Harrison.

DoubleJ's was right though, Moss is a one time and one time only guy. There are only a couple like that that are just different, it can't beexplained, they are just different. Almost not human. Michael Vick is one. Randy another. LT I think belongs there. Not Ladanian, the real LT. A fewyears ago i would have said Kearse, but he fell off hard and real fast.
Moss changes the way a game is played. Every QB ever is taught to throw the open man, or at the very least, don't throw to a guy who is covered. Over theyears, how many QB's have looked out at Moss, seen him double or triple covered, and STILL threw the ball to him? Do you realize how ridiculous that is? Throwing it up for the hell of it before you get sacked is one thing, actually choosing to throw to a guy who is triple covered (meaning someone else has to beall alone out there) is unreal. And how many times does Moss win the battle over the defenders? All the time.

If you took Moss off the team, the Pats are still going to be 8 - 2, maybe 9 - 1. they're still a good team. If you put Moss on the team, and took Bradyoff..........they would be a good team, but not like they are now. The Raiders are proof that if you don't have a smart QB who can deliver the ball, Mosscan only do so much. So the value stays with Brady. They make each other better obviously, but nobody in Oakland even went to a pro bowl as the QB throwingto Moss, he didn't all of a sudden get really good in one offseason.

 

[TheGift23]

Originally Posted by Tupac Jordan

The CAMERAMAN for MVP

 

[marleysprotege]

when it comes down to it, the line and the system is the reason brady and moss are good ... insert peyton manning, tony romo, brett favre, big ben, donovanmcnabb, and carson palmer and you would see very similar results ... however, you can't realy insert anyone except maybe TO for randy cuz no one has thesize and speed of Moss except TO ... thats why I say TO gets the MVP by default lol ... naw but forreal Randy should get it I'm sick of Tom Brady

 

[nychiphophippo]

as much as i wanna say moss, i gotta go with brady. the addition of moss obviously increased the level of the patriots offense ridiculously, but moss getsscrewed since he came into a patriots team that was already an elite team under the leadership of brady.

 

[gusyouout]

i remember seeing someone write this in the other thread, and they got it right on in my eyes: without moss, new england is still a good team, but withoutbrady, new england isn't a good team. you take away moss and the pats still have a dangerous team that are super bowl contenders, but you take away bradyand the team could probably fall apart. he made that team great with a bunch of mediocre guys; only difference now is that they have great offensive playersmaking great plays.

 

[j rain 23]

i'm going to keep it short and sweet. moss was doing this longggggg before brady came along. brady wasn't doing this before moss arrived. that'sall i gotta say.

 

[j rain 23]

and you know what else? i'm not even gonna get caught up in the hype of who should be mvp. because as corny as it sounds, i know moss could careless aboutit. all he wants to do is win, and the same goes for brady. but i still think moss should win it outright

 

[DeadsetAce]

we would be winning without moss (not by 30, but winning nonetheless), but we'd be .500 at best without Brady. im sure Matt Cassel would do a great jobgetting Moss the ball.

 

[you big dummy]

Originally Posted by gerber baby 44

just give them co-MVP's. they're both valuable to the team. i'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind sharing the MVP trophy.