Bob's your Information Minister
09-19-2005, 12:31 AM
Moss can put on a show, but Oakland can’t count on him
JOE POSNANSKI
Kansas City Star
OAKLAND, Calif. — Two plays explain Randy Moss. The first happened in the third quarter Sunday, with the Chiefs beating the Raiders by a touchdown. Moss, Oakland’s big-money wide receiver, raced by former Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain. He soared over former Pro Bowl safety Sammy Knight. He pulled the ball in, ran away from the defenders, 64 yards in 11 seconds. He scored the tying touchdown.
He was Superman.
The second play happened in the fourth quarter with the Chiefs up by a field goal. It was third and 7. Moss, Oakland’s big-money wide receiver, ran precisely 6 yards, cut to the sideline, caught the ball and eased out of bounds without even making the slightest effort to pick up the first down.
He was Superdog.
Well, this is what you get when you build your team around Randy Moss. You can always tell a team’s character by its star. There wasn’t much that separated the Chiefs and Raiders on Sunday night in front of a classic Oakland sellout crowd that featured a few thousand empty seats. The Raiders more or less shut down the Kansas City running game.
The Chiefs just outclassed the Raiders, 23-17.
The Chiefs won because Trent Green hit some key passes, because the Kansas City defense tightened at the end zone and because Priest Holmes, the Chiefs’ core player, got the first down that put the game away.
More, though, the Chiefs came into Oakland and won because the Raiders have absolutely no idea what to do with Randy Moss. They were so thrilled to get him. Moss jerseys sold in Oakland. People were dreaming Super Bowl. There are some, even with the Raiders 0-2, still dreaming Super Bowl.
Let me tell you: Randy Moss is the dancing frog from the cartoon. You’re sure he’ll make you millions. But when the lights are on, he clams up.
Oh, Moss will get his numbers: The guy’s one of the great talents to ever play professional football. Sunday, Moss caught five balls for 127 yards and that special touchdown. Another touchdown was taken away by an offensive pass-interference call that was, let’s just call it, questionable. He was, without a doubt, the focal point of the game.
But the Raiders were down six points with about 5 minutes left. They started at midfield. They ran nine plays to win the game — four of those from the shadow of the Kansas City end zone.
Here’s what they did: They threw to Jerry Porter three times. They tried to get the ball into the hands of running back LaMont Jordan six times.
And they did not throw the ball to Randy Moss once.
Why? Well, there were different opinions on that.
Opinion 1: Good Chiefs defense: “We did a pretty good job covering him,” Knight said.
Opinion 2: There were other open receivers. “I guess they didn’t want to force the ball into him,” Surtain said.
Opinion 3: The Raiders don’t know what they’re doing. “Yeah, I was surprised they didn’t throw to him,” Chiefs safety Greg Wesley said.
I have a fourth opinion. The Raiders coaches and quarterback Kerry Collins have no idea whether they can count on Randy Moss. They know he might do something amazing, something you’ve never seen before. And they know he might stop running in the middle of his pattern for no reason at all. And since they can’t count on him, they didn’t.
Look: Chiefs president/general manager/CEO/godfather of soul Carl Peterson was watching Moss a lot during the game. He noticed, as all of us noticed, that when the ball wasn’t going his way, Moss would take two steps and stop.
After the game, several Chiefs players were laughing about how Moss constantly waves his hand while he’s running his patterns — “I’m open!” he seems to be shouting — the way the annoying kid on the playground does.
It’s one thing to be an individual. It’s one thing to want the ball. It’s one thing to even care more about your own personal stats than you do victory.
But what makes Moss so difficult is, when it came down to it, the Raiders did not know what to expect from Moss. It was fourth down at the Chiefs’ 10, game on the line, and the Raiders called timeout. Collins went to the sideline. He came back out, Moss was lined up to the left, the ball was snapped. Everybody in the stadium was looking at Moss. Everybody except one guy. Collins never even gave Moss a passing glance. He looked right the whole way, tried to squeeze a pass in to Porter. The ball was knocked away, almost intercepted.
The Chiefs’ offense came on the field. The Chiefs gave the ball to their longtime star, Priest Holmes. He gained 2. Then he gained 14. That was a first down. That was the ballgame.
That’s a player you can count on.
“Randy Moss is a special player,” Knight would say, and that’s a good word. Special. He can do special things. But in the 0-2 Raiders’ locker room, Moss wasn’t talking. He had a Raiders bodyguard keeping people away. He’s a special guy.
JOE POSNANSKI
Kansas City Star
OAKLAND, Calif. — Two plays explain Randy Moss. The first happened in the third quarter Sunday, with the Chiefs beating the Raiders by a touchdown. Moss, Oakland’s big-money wide receiver, raced by former Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain. He soared over former Pro Bowl safety Sammy Knight. He pulled the ball in, ran away from the defenders, 64 yards in 11 seconds. He scored the tying touchdown.
He was Superman.
The second play happened in the fourth quarter with the Chiefs up by a field goal. It was third and 7. Moss, Oakland’s big-money wide receiver, ran precisely 6 yards, cut to the sideline, caught the ball and eased out of bounds without even making the slightest effort to pick up the first down.
He was Superdog.
Well, this is what you get when you build your team around Randy Moss. You can always tell a team’s character by its star. There wasn’t much that separated the Chiefs and Raiders on Sunday night in front of a classic Oakland sellout crowd that featured a few thousand empty seats. The Raiders more or less shut down the Kansas City running game.
The Chiefs just outclassed the Raiders, 23-17.
The Chiefs won because Trent Green hit some key passes, because the Kansas City defense tightened at the end zone and because Priest Holmes, the Chiefs’ core player, got the first down that put the game away.
More, though, the Chiefs came into Oakland and won because the Raiders have absolutely no idea what to do with Randy Moss. They were so thrilled to get him. Moss jerseys sold in Oakland. People were dreaming Super Bowl. There are some, even with the Raiders 0-2, still dreaming Super Bowl.
Let me tell you: Randy Moss is the dancing frog from the cartoon. You’re sure he’ll make you millions. But when the lights are on, he clams up.
Oh, Moss will get his numbers: The guy’s one of the great talents to ever play professional football. Sunday, Moss caught five balls for 127 yards and that special touchdown. Another touchdown was taken away by an offensive pass-interference call that was, let’s just call it, questionable. He was, without a doubt, the focal point of the game.
But the Raiders were down six points with about 5 minutes left. They started at midfield. They ran nine plays to win the game — four of those from the shadow of the Kansas City end zone.
Here’s what they did: They threw to Jerry Porter three times. They tried to get the ball into the hands of running back LaMont Jordan six times.
And they did not throw the ball to Randy Moss once.
Why? Well, there were different opinions on that.
Opinion 1: Good Chiefs defense: “We did a pretty good job covering him,” Knight said.
Opinion 2: There were other open receivers. “I guess they didn’t want to force the ball into him,” Surtain said.
Opinion 3: The Raiders don’t know what they’re doing. “Yeah, I was surprised they didn’t throw to him,” Chiefs safety Greg Wesley said.
I have a fourth opinion. The Raiders coaches and quarterback Kerry Collins have no idea whether they can count on Randy Moss. They know he might do something amazing, something you’ve never seen before. And they know he might stop running in the middle of his pattern for no reason at all. And since they can’t count on him, they didn’t.
Look: Chiefs president/general manager/CEO/godfather of soul Carl Peterson was watching Moss a lot during the game. He noticed, as all of us noticed, that when the ball wasn’t going his way, Moss would take two steps and stop.
After the game, several Chiefs players were laughing about how Moss constantly waves his hand while he’s running his patterns — “I’m open!” he seems to be shouting — the way the annoying kid on the playground does.
It’s one thing to be an individual. It’s one thing to want the ball. It’s one thing to even care more about your own personal stats than you do victory.
But what makes Moss so difficult is, when it came down to it, the Raiders did not know what to expect from Moss. It was fourth down at the Chiefs’ 10, game on the line, and the Raiders called timeout. Collins went to the sideline. He came back out, Moss was lined up to the left, the ball was snapped. Everybody in the stadium was looking at Moss. Everybody except one guy. Collins never even gave Moss a passing glance. He looked right the whole way, tried to squeeze a pass in to Porter. The ball was knocked away, almost intercepted.
The Chiefs’ offense came on the field. The Chiefs gave the ball to their longtime star, Priest Holmes. He gained 2. Then he gained 14. That was a first down. That was the ballgame.
That’s a player you can count on.
“Randy Moss is a special player,” Knight would say, and that’s a good word. Special. He can do special things. But in the 0-2 Raiders’ locker room, Moss wasn’t talking. He had a Raiders bodyguard keeping people away. He’s a special guy.