Time for the Pats to Play “Billy Ball”
Friday, October 15, 2010
Still, we all agree that going from Randy moss to Deion Branch is a downgrade in talent. But that doesn’t mean that the Patriots can’t be a better team in the long run.
It’s hard to knock the production of Randy Moss while with the Patriots. From 2007 to present he has arguably been the NFL’s most productive receiver. But he’s no longer here so the challenge for the Patriots offense is how to move on and be equally as productive without him.
What the Patriots need to do offensively from this point forward is simply play “Billy Ball.” Bill O’Brien, the team’s offensive coordinator needs to huddle up with his boss Bill Belichick and try to duplicate the Patriots offensive success from the middle of last decade.
Charlie Weiss was the offensive coordinator then and he was well known for his innovative approach and unpredictability. Weiss’s offense did a great job of creating mismatches and taking advantage of them. His play calling helped Tom Brady dink and dunk it down the field with passes within 0-10 yards of the line of scrimmage. In short, it was a defensive coordinator’s nightmare.
This is what O’Brien and the Patriots offense need to get back to. Forget about the homerun balls to Moss, it’s time to dink and dunk again. That’s not to say that an occasional deep ball to Brandon Tate or Taylor Price might not be warranted to keep opposing safeties honest, but those attempts should come much less frequently than they have over the past three years.
It’s no coincidence that a recent study showed that Tom Brady’s worst quarterback rating this year was when he threw to Randy Moss. His rating when he threw to every other receiver and tight end on the team is significantly higher. In addition, his only 2 interceptions of the season came when he was throwing to, you guessed it, #81.
It was written here back in July that the Patriots needed to get away from the quick 3-play, 80-yard touchdown drives this year in favor of 9 or 10-play scoring drives that consumed some significant time off of the clock. The reasoning behind this was to try to keep New England’s young and inexperienced defense off the field.
With the trade of Randy Moss, the offensive personnel almost dictates that this should be the approach. Hopefully the two Bill’s will not only understand that, but act on it because it is clearly in the best interest of this team.
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