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Pre-100th, is Moss already history?
By Daniel Brown
Mercury News
With his next touchdown catch, Randy Moss will have 100 for his career. And unless he endures a mammoth drought, he will get there in fewer games than any receiver but Jerry Rice.
That's faster than Steve Largent.
Faster than Terrell Owens.
Faster than Marvin Harrison.
As Raiders quarterback Andrew Walter put it: ``Randy is one of the greatest receivers ever.''
But the way Moss is playing lately, it's hard to remember that he keeps such fast company. Touchdown catch No. 100 seems more worthy of nostalgia than celebration, a chance to recall that he used to be one of the NFL's most astonishing talents.
Remember? Moss was an unstoppable force, the guy who could leap over small cornerbacks in a single bound. One-on-one coverage was unthinkable, a Cover 2 idiotic (he'd run right through it).
And now?
The Cleveland Browns on Sunday used backup cornerback Daven Holly on Moss one-on-one for much of the game. Moss managed one catch, a 5-yarder for career touchdown catch No. 99.
Moss' drop-off has plenty of extenuating circumstances: offensive coordinator Tom Walsh's schemes are so archaic they first appeared on cave dwellings; the offensive line is terrible, leaving little time for receivers to run deep routes; Jerry Porter's feud with the coaching staff keeps him off the field, leaving secondaries free to focus on Moss; the Raiders' quarterbacks have been erratic.
But at times against the Browns, it came down to the thing that Moss used to do as well as anyone in NFL history -- go get the ball. Walter would chuck it in Moss' direction and hope the receiver would do something spectacular. Like he used to do.
Moss is 6-foot-4; Holly 5-10. But only two of the eight passes thrown to Moss resulted in catches. (One was called back for holding.) Meet the new Moss. Not the same as the old Moss.
What he was
For the sake of nostalgia, here's what they used to say about that young supernova for the Minnesota Vikings:
Teammate Cris Carter: ``To me, Randy is the most gifted receiver of all time. Not only in the game now, but more than I've ever seen, anyone I've been to the Pro Bowl with, any one I've ever worked with, anyone I've seen on film.''
Coach Dennis Green: ``In a competitive situation, he can beat anybody.''
Broadcaster John Madden: ``Randy Moss is a field-tilter. How you handle him, I have no idea, because I don't think you do.''
Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn: ``If you fall asleep for one play, he will beat you.''
Ah, memories.
While in Minnesota, Moss had double-digit touchdown totals in six of his first seven seasons. Twice he had seasons of 17 touchdown catches, a number topped only by Rice (22 in 1987), Mark Clayton (18 in 1984) and Sterling Sharpe (18 in 1994).
In 1998, his rookie season, Moss had 14 catches of 40 yards or longer. (His longest catch this season is 20 yards.)
Of course, it helps to have quarterbacks such as Daunte Culpepper, Randall Cunningham and Brad Johnson and coordinators such as Brian Billick and Scott Linehan, as was the case with the Vikings.
What he is now
It's a different story with quarterbacks such as Kerry Collins, Aaron Brooks and Walter and a coaching staff that has struggled to win the confidence of the locker room. Over three games, Moss has seven catches for 84 yards -- numbers he'd get before halftime in his Minnesota heyday.
He had a chance for a big gainer against the Browns. On third-and-10 from the Raiders' 25 late in the first quarter, Moss got past Holly along the right sideline. Walter's throw was a tad long, but Moss didn't do him any favors by hesitating briefly in his acceleration. The ball slipped off his fingers at the Cleveland 45.
``Those things will happen,'' Walter said. ``For all the plays he's going to make, you can't fault him. Jerry Rice dropped a couple of balls in his day. We can't get down on a guy, because he's going to make more plays than not.''
Maybe his career fade route is simply the natural aging process. (Moss is 29, although Rice and Harrison hardly slowed at that age.) Maybe injuries are catching up with him. It's tough to say for sure because Moss declined to say anything after Sunday's loss. But a day later, he told Chris Myers on Fox radio that ``I'm doing good, man. I'm really not even concerned about football, man, I'm just loving life.''
He's not concerned?
``No, because it doesn't seem like anybody else is concerned, so why should I be.''
Is he dogging it?
``People can speculate and say what they want. I wasn't executing. I didn't make the catches they're used to seeing me make.''
Maybe his fire can be rekindled Sunday in San Francisco. The 49ers' pass defense ranks in the NFL's lower tier, surrendering 226 yards a game and eight touchdowns, with zero interceptions.
Maybe he can remind people why he inspired Travis Daniels, now a cornerback with the Miami Dolphins, to name a catch after Moss while in high school in South Broward (Fla.) County.
``Let's say that you went deep and caught a ball over a guy's head,'' he told the Palm Beach Post in 2005. ``When you told your friends later about it, you'd tell them, `I Mossed that guy,' and they'd automatically know what went down.''
These days, nobody knows what that means.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/football/nfl/oakland_raiders/15673434.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Daniel Brown
Mercury News
With his next touchdown catch, Randy Moss will have 100 for his career. And unless he endures a mammoth drought, he will get there in fewer games than any receiver but Jerry Rice.
That's faster than Steve Largent.
Faster than Terrell Owens.
Faster than Marvin Harrison.
As Raiders quarterback Andrew Walter put it: ``Randy is one of the greatest receivers ever.''
But the way Moss is playing lately, it's hard to remember that he keeps such fast company. Touchdown catch No. 100 seems more worthy of nostalgia than celebration, a chance to recall that he used to be one of the NFL's most astonishing talents.
Remember? Moss was an unstoppable force, the guy who could leap over small cornerbacks in a single bound. One-on-one coverage was unthinkable, a Cover 2 idiotic (he'd run right through it).
And now?
The Cleveland Browns on Sunday used backup cornerback Daven Holly on Moss one-on-one for much of the game. Moss managed one catch, a 5-yarder for career touchdown catch No. 99.
Moss' drop-off has plenty of extenuating circumstances: offensive coordinator Tom Walsh's schemes are so archaic they first appeared on cave dwellings; the offensive line is terrible, leaving little time for receivers to run deep routes; Jerry Porter's feud with the coaching staff keeps him off the field, leaving secondaries free to focus on Moss; the Raiders' quarterbacks have been erratic.
But at times against the Browns, it came down to the thing that Moss used to do as well as anyone in NFL history -- go get the ball. Walter would chuck it in Moss' direction and hope the receiver would do something spectacular. Like he used to do.
Moss is 6-foot-4; Holly 5-10. But only two of the eight passes thrown to Moss resulted in catches. (One was called back for holding.) Meet the new Moss. Not the same as the old Moss.
What he was
For the sake of nostalgia, here's what they used to say about that young supernova for the Minnesota Vikings:
Teammate Cris Carter: ``To me, Randy is the most gifted receiver of all time. Not only in the game now, but more than I've ever seen, anyone I've been to the Pro Bowl with, any one I've ever worked with, anyone I've seen on film.''
Coach Dennis Green: ``In a competitive situation, he can beat anybody.''
Broadcaster John Madden: ``Randy Moss is a field-tilter. How you handle him, I have no idea, because I don't think you do.''
Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn: ``If you fall asleep for one play, he will beat you.''
Ah, memories.
While in Minnesota, Moss had double-digit touchdown totals in six of his first seven seasons. Twice he had seasons of 17 touchdown catches, a number topped only by Rice (22 in 1987), Mark Clayton (18 in 1984) and Sterling Sharpe (18 in 1994).
In 1998, his rookie season, Moss had 14 catches of 40 yards or longer. (His longest catch this season is 20 yards.)
Of course, it helps to have quarterbacks such as Daunte Culpepper, Randall Cunningham and Brad Johnson and coordinators such as Brian Billick and Scott Linehan, as was the case with the Vikings.
What he is now
It's a different story with quarterbacks such as Kerry Collins, Aaron Brooks and Walter and a coaching staff that has struggled to win the confidence of the locker room. Over three games, Moss has seven catches for 84 yards -- numbers he'd get before halftime in his Minnesota heyday.
He had a chance for a big gainer against the Browns. On third-and-10 from the Raiders' 25 late in the first quarter, Moss got past Holly along the right sideline. Walter's throw was a tad long, but Moss didn't do him any favors by hesitating briefly in his acceleration. The ball slipped off his fingers at the Cleveland 45.
``Those things will happen,'' Walter said. ``For all the plays he's going to make, you can't fault him. Jerry Rice dropped a couple of balls in his day. We can't get down on a guy, because he's going to make more plays than not.''
Maybe his career fade route is simply the natural aging process. (Moss is 29, although Rice and Harrison hardly slowed at that age.) Maybe injuries are catching up with him. It's tough to say for sure because Moss declined to say anything after Sunday's loss. But a day later, he told Chris Myers on Fox radio that ``I'm doing good, man. I'm really not even concerned about football, man, I'm just loving life.''
He's not concerned?
``No, because it doesn't seem like anybody else is concerned, so why should I be.''
Is he dogging it?
``People can speculate and say what they want. I wasn't executing. I didn't make the catches they're used to seeing me make.''
Maybe his fire can be rekindled Sunday in San Francisco. The 49ers' pass defense ranks in the NFL's lower tier, surrendering 226 yards a game and eight touchdowns, with zero interceptions.
Maybe he can remind people why he inspired Travis Daniels, now a cornerback with the Miami Dolphins, to name a catch after Moss while in high school in South Broward (Fla.) County.
``Let's say that you went deep and caught a ball over a guy's head,'' he told the Palm Beach Post in 2005. ``When you told your friends later about it, you'd tell them, `I Mossed that guy,' and they'd automatically know what went down.''
These days, nobody knows what that means.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/football/nfl/oakland_raiders/15673434.htm
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