<TABLE class=Box__Tb cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="98%" border=0><TBODY><TR align=left><TD class=Box__Td width="100%">No One Makes An Impact Like Randy Moss
</TD></TR><TR align=left><TD class=Box__Td width="100%">Randy Moss came to New England with a reputation as just another petulant prima donna of a wide receiver.
The Picasso of pigskin, the Cold, Hard Football Facts, has painted quite a different picture.
They tell us that Moss has had – and you read it here first – the single most impactful career of any receiver or running back in NFL history. If you don’t agree, you will by the end of this story.
And they tell us that Moss is the MVP of the Patriots in what could have been a lost season for the team here in 2008.
Most observers would lend the honor of team MVP to mighty mite Wes Welker, who leads the league with 109 catches, or to quarterback Matt Cassel, who saved the season with a Pro Bowl-caliber performance off the bench.
But with all due respect to Welker, he’s not chewing up teams underneath to the tune of 100-plus catches per year if not paired with Moss.
And with all due respect to Cassel, he doesn’t make a creamy-smooth transition from career back-up to legitimate NFL starter if he’s not paired with Moss.
Sure, the uber-talented Moss has had better individual seasons on the stat sheet than he has had here in 2008. The 2007 season springs to mind (98 catches, 1,493 yards, 23 TDs). In fact, by comparison, this year’s campaign is rather humble: 68 catches for 995 yards.
Yet Moss quietly leads the NFL with 11 TD catches this year (tied with Arizona’s Anquan Boldin). And, given Boldin’s injury issues and Arizona’s stumbling offense, Moss is likely to finish the season atop the TD reception leaderboard for the fifth time in 11 NFL seasons.
And in sharp contrast to the petulant rep Moss had in Minnesota and Oakland, he’s been contributing in all facets of the game for New England.
There was Moss against Arizona on Sunday, for example, fighting off a defender 40 yards down field, diving to take out his knees, like a rookie trying to make the team, leading Sammy Morris up the right sideline for a 42-yard gain.
And then there was Moss early in the second half, galloping almost effortlessly across an icy field with his long-legged stride, defenders falling helplessly at his feet, turning a simple screen into a 76-yard touchdown and one of the longest scoring plays of his Hall of Fame career.
And there was Moss on an NFL Films video released days before the Arizona game, coaching up Bill Belichick himself as they practiced before facing Oakland, advising New England’s mastermind about some of the defensive tactics employed by the receiver’s old team.
The Patriots, meanwhile, suddenly lead the AFC in scoring (26.5 PPG) – a remarkable feat, maybe even an unprecedented feat, for a team led by such an inexperienced player at quarterback.
Even if his own numbers are not eye-popping, Moss is probably the biggest reason why the New England offense is firing on all cylinders – 47 points or more in three of its last five games – and why the team has a chance (albeit a small one) to capture its sixth straight division title despite a wave of devastating injuries on both sides of the ball.
In fact, here’s the deal about Moss that doesn’t get enough attention and why he is the most impactful non-QB in history and why he is the team’s MVP here in 2008: In stark contrast to the reputation he had before coming to New England, Moss’s contributions don’t always show up on his stat sheet.
More often than not, and more so than any other receiver who’s ever played, Moss’s contributions often show up in the win column and on the stat sheets of his teammates – as the examples of Welker and Cassel can attest.
Put most simply, Moss makes the players around him better.
Consider the case of Randall Cunningham. He had what was easily the best season of his 16-year career when Moss arrived on the scene in Minnesota in 1998 (106.0 passer rating).
Consider the case of Jeff George. He had what was easily the best season of his tumultuous 12-year career playing with Moss in 1999 (94.2 passer rating).
Consider the case of Daunte Culpepper. He had what was easily the best season of his 10-year career playing with Moss in 2004 (110.9 passer rating). In fact, Culpepper produced more yards of offense that season than any player in history (5,123 yards passing and running). Then he fell of the statistical planet when Moss left for Oakland and has never recovered.
Consider the case of Tom Brady. He had already pieced together a nice Hall of Fame resume. When Moss arrived on the scene, Brady pieced together what might have been the greatest season by any quarterback in history with a record 50 TDs and 117.2 passer rating, the second highest mark in history.
Need more evidence of Moss’s impact? Here a touchdown’s worth of exhibits:
ONE – Moss was the top receiver on the two highest scoring offenses in NFL history, the 2007 Patriots (589 points) and the 1998 Vikings (558 points).
TWO – Only five teams in history have won 15 or more games in a season. Moss is the only player who started for two of them: the 1998 Vikings (15-1) and the 2007 Patriots (16-0).
THREE – With 1 catch for 5 yards against Buffalo Sunday, Moss will have had 1,000-yard receiving seasons with a record six different quarterbacks: Cunningham, George, Culpepper, Kerry Collins, Brady and Cassel.
FOUR – Moss has been on the receiving end of the two of the five best passing seasons in history: Brady in 2007 (117.2 passer rating) and Culpepper in 2004 (110.9).
FIVE – If you include Cunningham’s 106.0 passer rating of 1998, Moss has been a fixture of three of the top 12 passing seasons of all time.
SIX – Moss averages 0.8 TD catches per game, the highest scoring rate for a receiver in the Super Bowl Era.
But for all the numbers in the past, remember 2008 as one of Moss’s finest seasons.
The Moss of petulant repute back in Minnesota or Oakland might have gone into a shell when his quest for a Super Bowl ring went up in smoke and Brady went down in a heap.
Instead, Moss quietly leads the NFL in TD catches. The New England running game (4.5 YPA) is as good as it’s been in 25 years. NFL reception leader Welker is heading to the Pro Bowl. Cassel has earned himself a big fat payday with a performance nobody would have predicted. New England fields the best offense in the AFC. And the Patriots just might earn another shot at the playoffs despite losing the game’s best quarterback way back in September.
None of it would be possible without Moss, the team MVP, who has shown over the years that he makes everyone around him better – the 2008 season simply provides further proof.
Kerry J. Byrne is the publisher of ColdHardFootballFacts.com. His self-congratulatory column will appear here each Wednesday during football season. Send fawning praise, death threats or pictures of your 19-year-old sister to contact@coldhardfootballfacts.com
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
