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Will Randy Moss have an impact on the New England offense?

 

The gridiron oracle called the Cold, Hard Football Facts responded with an emphatic “Yes!” Sunday afternoon, as New England’s Tom Brady carved out one of the greatest statistical games of a career that already has him destined for the Hall of Fame.

 

Moss’s acquisition by New England was the single most widely publicized move of the NFL off-season. The controversial but historically productive wideout responded with a cool, nearly effortless 9 nine catches for 183 yards and 1 TD.

 

It was the most productive single day by a New England wideout in the Tom Brady Era. The best previous output was Troy Brown's 16 catches for 176 yards and 1 TD against Kansas City back in 2002.

 

Brady, meanwhile, was nearly flawless with Moss, and several other new weapons, in his arsenal.

 

The undisputed best quarterback of the 21st century sliced and diced the N.Y. Jets offense like a gridiron ginsu in what turned out to be an easy 38-14 win over a team that went 10-6 last year and earned a playoff spot in the ruthlessly competitive AFC.

 

Brady has been dinstinguised in his career not by gaudy numbers but by mechanical efficiency and consistency. On this day, his first with Moss as a teammates, he was at his very, very best: cool, quiet, and deadly accurate. 

 

Brady Sunday:

Loyal readers of the Cold, Hard Football Facts know that passing yards per attempt is one of the single most important stats in football.

 

Brady averaged 10.61 yards per attempt Sunday. Only twice in his career had he exceeded that mark:

 

Date	Opponent	Result	Attempts	Yards	YPA
Oct. 9, 2005	Atlanta	W, 31-28	27	350	12.96
Nov. 22, 2004	Kansas City	W, 27-19	26	315	12.12
Sept. 9, 2007	N.Y. Jets	W, 38-14	28	297	10.61

 

 

Brady completed 78.6 percent of his passes Sunday. Only three times in his career had he exceeded that mark.

 

Date	Opponent	Result	Attempts	Completions	Percentage
Nov. 3, 2002	Buffalo	W, 38-7	26	22	84.6
Oct. 9, 2005	Atlanta	W, 31-28	27	22	81.5
Oct. 21, 2001	Indy	W, 38-17	16	20	80.0
Sept. 9, 2007	N.Y. Jets	W, 38-14	22	28	78.6

 

Moss scored just once on Sunday, a thrilling 51-yard reception in which he raced past three defenders to haul in a Brady pass at the goal line.

 

He remains the second most productive TD-catching machine in NFL history.

 

Moss has averaged .738 TDs per game in his career (102 TDs in 139 games). Only the immortal Don Hutson, the single most dominant receiver in the history of the game, scored TDs more frequently, averaging 0.853 TD catches per game (99 in 116 games).

 

The off-season hype peddled by the "pundits" rarely has merit. But in this case, at this early point in the season, there's reason to believe the Randy Moss Factor will have a profound effect on Brady's ability to slice and dice opposing defenses even more effectively than he has in a quarterbacking career that's already been among the very best ever.

 

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