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Originally Posted by Redskins8588
Also, Patten may or may not be the answer as our #2 WR, the thing is we dont know and will not know until next year. I say this because until teams started to double cover Moss, Moss was the go to guy. We really never had a chance to to have Moss, Patten, Cooley, Sellers, Portis, and even Royal in games where Gibbs knew that opposing D's were going to double cover Moss. I would like to think that later in the season Patten would have proven his worth, like when teams knew that #89 had to be double covered, or he would make them pay...
Another point, did anyone else notice that our offense lost a step after Thomas went down? I am not trying to say that Ray Brown did bad for us, he did extreamly well for being 43 and playing guard in the NFL, where most of the guys that he lined up against were still shiting in there diapers when he was in his prime. But lets face facts football is a violent sport and Brown is 43 playing at one of the sports most violent postitions. I commend Ray Brown for his effort, courage, and will and I am damn sure glad that he was on our team, like someone else mentioned Cory Raymer, what was that!!! Injuries are part of the game, but with a healthy Thomas I think we beat seattle.
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I agree with you on Patten. I also think it's a bit ridiculous how the big complaint about this offense is no "credible #2 receiving threat." We had the #2 WR in the entire NFL this season in #89. He was a measly 80 yards behind Steve Smith. I would say that clearly Santana Moss being double covered or "shut down" did not hurt his production in any way if he manages to be the #2 guy in the league. The problems run a bit deeper or at least more complex than simply having a real #2 guy. Sure it would help, but what do you expect is going to happen - add a #2 threat and everything is magically solved? Arizona with their two top ten WRs sure didn't do well this season. St. Louis didn't make the playoffs and they have to excellent WRs. Hell, the Colts with Harrison and Wayne (arguably the best tandem in the league right now) just got knocked out of the playoffs.
The "magic bullet" isn't a #2 WR. Hell, there IS no magic bullet.
Another good point with Ray Brown as well. I am definitely not one for singling one guy out to place all the blame, and Ray did an amazing job all things considered. But we did seem to lack that tough, "slobberknocker" kind of spark on offense after Randy Thomas went down. Our offense seemed to be really taking off up until that injury. Is that the SOLE reason we lost? Of course not. I would say it was a major contributing factor, and just goes to show how important the offensive line is.
I'm all for getting Patten back or signing a good #2 WR. I'm all for signing any quality player at any position. I think the BEST improvements can be made to the offensive line, whether it's a choice signing here and there, or just letting the guys get healthy and play as a unit longer.
It all starts with the offensive line. We saw yesterday that Peyton Manning looks like a little girl when his line is getting scorched. We see teams like the Chiefs and Broncos plug in virtually any running back or quarterback and have great success simply because their O-lines are fantastic.
It sure ain't a glory position playing down in the trenches, but it's where every offensive play starts and it's a hell of alot more important than signing some big name WR or TE or whatever other quick fix people are looking for.