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waah posted:In "The Miracle in Michigan” play, Carruth made a cameo, he's number 21. Carruth is initially the deepest receiver. He helps tip the ball up and Westbrook catches it. I am not going to look for an individual highlight for him. This is my favorite hail mary ever   to everything else.
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Feb 18, 2015 02:31
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waah posted:Fear Of A Black Cat Pt 2 - If you can't beat 'em, convince Rae Carruth he impregnated 'em... Quoting the whole thing since my reply was on a new page.
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Feb 18, 2015 02:32
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Adding to that hosed-up-ness, the hitman sends his prison checks to Carruth's kid, feeling that because he didn't get the job done the kid has to suffer with CP now and that's not fair. Couldn't make that up if I tried.
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Feb 18, 2015 13:44
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C. Everett Koop posted:Adding to that hosed-up-ness, the hitman sends his prison checks to Carruth's kid, feeling that because he didn't get the job done the kid has to suffer with CP now and that's not fair. That dude really, really wasn't ready to gun down a pregnant woman for cash.
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Feb 18, 2015 15:55
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Chilichimp posted:That dude really, really wasn't ready to gun down a pregnant woman for cash. There sure seems to be evidence to the contrary He just wasn't ready for that kid to live and have to suffer through the problems he's had throughout his life
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Feb 18, 2015 18:25
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Wasn't there a 30 for 30 or something about Rae Carruth's son? I remember watching it and it was just absolutely heart-breaking.
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Feb 18, 2015 18:58
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Intruder posted:There sure seems to be evidence to the contrary I don't know, I read things he says and it seems like the point of view of a guy who wish he hadn't done what he did. Maybe I'm being optimistic, though.
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Feb 18, 2015 19:17
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Chilichimp posted:I don't know, I read things he says and it seems like the point of view of a guy who wish he hadn't done what he did. Maybe I'm being optimistic, though. It has been over a decade since the murder. Most likely the dude is an entirely different human being than he was the day he pulled the trigger.
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Feb 18, 2015 19:26
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axeil posted:Wasn't there a 30 for 30 or something about Rae Carruth's son? I remember watching it and it was just absolutely heart-breaking. Yeah, it was Outside the Lines, not 30 for 30 but thanks for reminding me. I meant to add it in, but I ended up with so much stuff I forgot about it. The full version is mysteriously gone from ESPN's website. http://youtu.be/wBsYOs-LIJU
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Feb 18, 2015 19:34
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Chichevache posted:It has been over a decade since the murder. Most likely the dude is an entirely different human being than he was the day he pulled the trigger. Also he got caught, who knows how he would feel about it if he had gotten away with it
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Feb 18, 2015 20:33
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Intruder posted:Also he got caught, who knows how he would feel about it if he had gotten away with it Exactly. For all we know Dostoyevsky was right and he would have gone mad and turned the gun on himself after fully realizing the implications of what he had done. P.s. Fyodor was wrong
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Feb 18, 2015 20:40
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2018 seems way too early for Carruth to be released.
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Feb 20, 2015 00:51
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seiferguy posted:2018 seems way too early for Carruth to be released. Yeah I look this up every time he comes up and I realize he's about to be out of prison, basically he beat the first degree murder charge and I guess conspiracy to commit murder isn't that bad? No idea, I'm no lawyer. From wiki: quote:Carruth was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and using an instrument to destroy an unborn child. He was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison. He was found not guilty of first-degree murder, and so was spared the death penalty. Also Carruth's defense that the guy who shot her got pissed off and did it because Cherica flipped him off when he asked where Rae was (while he was stopped 2 inches in front of her car) is amazing. It's so dumb it almost swings around to true again, I mean look, he's right the gently caress there!
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Feb 20, 2015 01:40
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I0nYthuiRI
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Feb 20, 2015 18:04
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So its been 3 months. Oops. I've began working on part 3 and will have it up by the end of May. I am hoping that the new NFL partnership with youtube will make it easier to find highlights. Part 3 will be Smith, Muhammad, and Benjamin. This will hold me accountable to actually finish, and a quick bump to let anyone who missed out suffer through a bunch of words about bad wide receivers.
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May 22, 2015 02:13
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Funchess is gonna own
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May 22, 2015 14:05
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FizFashizzle posted:Funchess is gonna own Why on earth would you say that?
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May 23, 2015 20:57
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zimbomonkey posted:Why on earth would you say that? Sometimes you just have to have hope
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May 23, 2015 21:12
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zimbomonkey posted:Why on earth would you say that? Because chess is fun
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May 23, 2015 21:15
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Metapod posted:Because chess is fun TBF, the game of Carolina receivers is more like Tic Tac Toe against someone that knows how to never lose.
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May 24, 2015 01:26
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zimbomonkey posted:Why on earth would you say that? Because he will.
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May 25, 2015 02:43
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BlindSite posted:Because he will. Had anyone seen something out of him to lead to this conclusion or...?
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May 25, 2015 17:16
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Blind homerism aside he's joining an offense tailored to his skill set. They are trying to be what Chicago was a few years ago with the huge bodies guys. They've got an arsenal of big guys now.
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May 25, 2015 20:13
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zimbomonkey posted:Had anyone seen something out of him to lead to this conclusion or...? I was kind of being a dick but yeah, I went back and watched everything I could find on the guy. He's far from 100% ready, but he's good enough to contribute as a rookie and if he doesn't take his brain out and isn't a lazy slob he'll be fine in a year or two. He's a lot smoother than you'd think given his size and reminds me a lot of Aaron Hernandez with the ball in his hands yeah hernandez was a tight end but he split wide and lined up in the backfield quite a bit, he's not going to out run everyone, but he's got a decent little step on him and is good enough to at least make someone miss. It all comes down to whether or not he can be taught to aggressively track and bring down jump balls. He's either going to be come an automatic first down machine on short downs or he's going to be waiting on the ball or allowing it into his body getting it tipped or intercepted. That being said there's plenty of highlights around the place of him working back to and high pointing the ball. I think it's like most rookies who drop into the 2nd and 3rd rounds, he's inconsistent. He's got all the tools to do well, it's just whether or not he develops further from where he is now and partly, if Cam get become a little more accurate. Some places compared him to Kelvin Benjamin pre-draft, others thought he was more of a tweener type move tight end player. Either way there's no reason to expect him to fail completely. It's just whether or not he becomes good or just mediocre.
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May 26, 2015 06:03
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There are plenty of reasons to think he will fail completely, actually. He's not a great catcher. There's actually nothing natural about it: his hands, his timing, his concentration. All below average. If it's a close call against a better suited defender, he's losing the battle and you're seeing tips and picks. Benjamin was great at timing both his jump and his routes. Funchess is a great piece of clay to work with but I watched him VERY closely (I knew Miami was in the receiver market so obviously) He's a red zone beast though. He plays even bigger than 6'4 230
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May 26, 2015 13:22
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So I intended on doing Smith, Benji, and Moose all in one post, but the more I dug, the more I realized how much Muhammad destroyed people. It wouldn't be fair for him to be lumped in with the others, so I guess all 3 will be getting their own post. Shoot me now But honestly, I really did forget how good Muhsin Muhammad was, and I am very glad to have been reminded. Enjoy part 3 of: Fear of a Black Cat: A Series That is Rapidly Approaching Wheel of Time Length Muhsin Muhammad  Credit: https://www.thepafi.org/2012/05/nfl-verteran-muhsin-muhammad-announced-as-franchise-summit-speaker/  Credit: http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Muhsin+Muhammad/Atlanta+Falcons+v+Carolina+Panthers/9sOTcot 1996 2nd Round Michigan State Muhsin Muhammad, affectionately called Moose by his fans, played 11 years of his 14 year career for the Carolina Panthers. In 2005, Moose left Carolina to spend 3 years of his career playing for the Chicago Bears. In 2008, Muhammad returned to Carolina to finish his career, though he was nowhere near as potent of a weapon he once was. Upon resigning with Carolina, Moose was quoted in an issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, “[Chicago is] where wide receivers go to die.” Given the scope of this thread and receivers examined so far that’s pretty damning for Chicago. Muhammad is Carolina’s second leading receiver in franchise history. He is a 1-time NFL All-Pro (2004), 2x Pro Bowler (1999, 2004), and the league receiving touchdown and receiving yardage leader for 2004. Moose was also the record holder, which has been since broken, for the longest touchdown pass in Super Bowl history: an 85 yard TD reception from Jake “Barn.gif” Delhomme in Super Bowl XXXVIII (38). This is one of the few records Muhammad has over Steve Smith, as his 85 yard touchdown reception is the longest in franchise playoff history. The other franchise record that Muhammad holds over Steve Smith is for single season receiving touchdowns. Muhammad was a franchise building block, a very good receiver, completely un-coverable at times, a beast of a blocker in the run game, and the second best receiver drafted by Carolina ever. Muhammad was 6’2”, 217 lbs and used is size to spend a career catching overthrown balls from the likes of Jake Delhomme and Kerry Collins. In his early years, Moose thrived under George Siefert’s “Just throw the ball on every down and distance” coaching style. Moose put up three 1,000 yard seasons in Carolina (1999*, 2000, 2004), and a single 100+ reception year (103 in 2000). He also had 2 other seasons of 90+ receptions (1999*, 2004), and 2 seasons just shy of 1,000 receiving yards (1998, 2008). Moose’s ability to block is something that obviously doesn’t show up on stat sheets, but if you care about PFF gradings, back in 2013 for PFF’s 5 year mark, Muhsin Muhammad was ranked the best blocking wide receiver over their 5 year grading period of 2008-2013. Incidentally, 2008 was Moose’s first season back from Chicago and the season where Carolina produced two 1,000 yard rushers in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. *Muhammad only played 15 games in the 1999 season. The following are the receivers in NFL history with 16 touchdowns in a season. Take a guess at who they are, obviously of them is Muhammad.  Rec 1 – Dez Bryant, Rec 2 – Braylon Edwards, Rec 3 – Muhsin Muhammad, Rec 4 – Calvin Johnson, Rec 5 – Jimmy Graham, Rec 6 – Terrell Owens That’s some pretty amazing company ain’t it? Of course since Carolina can’t have nice things, a perpetually drunk Kerry Collins got too adjusted to living in the south. All that sweet tea, open land, and southern heat made Collins think he was General Lee, and in Collin’s mind the good General Lee could not only call Muhammad the n-bomb and have it be okay, but be celebrated for doing so as the south rose again. Yeah, about that. In addition to having a teammate drop the n-bomb as casually as one of Psy’s choruses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTT9MT0rMhU&t=0m54s, Muhammad had the pleasure of testifying at trials involving two teammates, Rae Carruth and Fred Lane. Carruth would be convicted of murder, and Lane would be found murdered by his wife. Muhammad would also have the pleasure of dealing with a coaching staff that didn’t seem to appreciate him after he dragged a lifeless, Super Bowl hungover team to more wins that it deserved. His 2004 season is one of the more impressive seasons for a wide receiver in the NFL. His touchdowns that season match the combined career totals of 11/17 receivers (65%!!!!) drafted by Carolina while playing for the Panthers. Jim Turner 0, Donnell Baker 0, Rae Carruth 4, Joe Adams 0, Keloaha Pilares 1, Donald Hayes 7, Walter Young 0, Ryne Robinson 0, Dwayne Jarrett 1, Armanti Edwards 0, David Gettis 3) The Year the Moose Got Let Out of the Bag Moose’s monstrous 2004 season happened before fantasy football was as popular as it is now in 2015, so it’s easy to forget how amazing it really was. In addition, the numbers Moose put up that season still don’t tell the whole story, so you have to really dig into that 2004 season to appreciate what actually happened. Carolina was the classic example of a team with the dreaded Super Bowl hangover. The Panthers also welcomed a steak of bad luck befitting of a team with a black cat as a mascot. Carolina’s breakout star from 2003, Steve Smith, was injured in the 4th quarter in the 2004 home opener. Smith’s injury during garbage time against the Packers would essentially seal Carolina’s fate for the season, as later in the week Smith was ruled out for the entire season. He would be the first of many major contributors from the 2003 Super Bowl squad to be lost to injury.  This image is enough to make most Carolina fans drink heavily The news crushed Carolina and its fan base. Even though the Panthers managed to beat the Chiefs in week 2 to go 1-1, Carolina would lose their next six games. Possessing at 1-7 record, with a sputtering offense, no motivation in the locker room, and appearing to be on the verge of giving up on the season, Carolina was destined to be one of the three worst teams in the league. For many Panthers fans, the wounds from the 1-15 season in 2001 were too raw. It was going to be another long, long, long year. Both the stat sheet and the number of balls thrown his way showed that by the end of week 9, the John Fox and Dan Henning offense just could not find a way to make effective use of Muhammad. The Fox and Henning tried to ride Deshaun Foster, Stephen Davis, and a stout running game as hard as the coaching staff did in 2003. Davis was never truly healthy and only played 2 games the entire season. Foster had flashes of brilliance, but broke his clavicle in week 4, and was lost for the rest of the year. Games against the Eagles had Delhomme throwing as many inceptions as he could, while the Panther’s coaching staff tried to ride Stephen Davis’s other healthy game of the year to victory. It did not end well, and a revamped Eagles team featuring Terrell Owens exacted revenge for the previous year’s loss in the NFC Championship game. With Davis gone, Fox and Henning called on Brad Hoover had to carry the load against the Chargers in week 6. The Panthers lost that game 6-17 as they literally tried the 2 yards and a cloud of dust offense from 1945. Hoover would average 2.4 yards a carry (24 attempts, 99 yards), and Delhomme would put up stats similar to a frustrated Madden player, completing 17/36 attempts (47%) for 155 yards and 1 interception. Moose would be targeted 8 times that game, but only catch 3 of them.  Credit: https://www.chargers.com Yeah, it was that kind of day. Against Shaun Alexander and the Seahawks, Fox and Henning finally decided to utilize a game plan of doubling down on Muhammad, but only because at that point the team was forced to trot running game that relied on a three headed monster starring Nick Goings, Joey Harris, and Brad Hoover. Despite having Muhammad having his best game of the season by far (8/106/2) the Panthers continued a long standing tradition of losing the game, but padding receiver stats in garbage time, as one of Moose’s touchdowns came with 1:39 left in the game. Carolina was down 17-23 with no timeouts left. You can guess how the onside kick went. Week 9 against Oakland proved that Moose was still a viable #1 receiver as he put up respectable numbers in a heartbreaking loss to the Raiders. But most importantly, this marked the first game where John Fox realized that he might not have a job in 2005 if he went 1-15. Mercifully, the three-headed monster of Hoover, Harris, and Goings only ran the ball 16 times that game for 30 yards.  Credit: Chris Hannibal’s webpage: https://www.chrishannibal.com There were a few very dark weeks where this might have become the face of a franchise… Muhsin Muhammad entered the week 10 game vs. the 49ers with only 39 receptions for 490 yards, and 4 touchdowns, despite being targeted 68 times. Having Jake Delhomme as a quarterback can be brutal  ). The game vs the 49ers marked the beginning of the second half of Carolina’s season. Muhammad along with everyone else on the team was on pace for very pedestrian stats, an embarrassment of a season, and likely organizational wide changes. Through the first quarter, Fox and Henning continued to dumbly put their faith in Nick Goings, Ricky Proehl, and Keary Colbert. In fact, Muhammad was completely invisible until his first target and reception for 18 yards with 2:54 left in the 2nd quarter. It would be his only reception of the half, as one of Muhammad’s target was batted down by a defender and the other was incomplete. With only three targets, 1 reception, and 18 yards, all signs pointed to yet another disappointing day for Muhammad and the panthers. Tim Rattay and Kevin Barlow were going to be week 10’s Panther killers.Sometimes life imitates art. Sometimes there are moments when the world slows down and you have a moment of enlightenment. Sometimes there are moments in life when everything finally clicks into place. But most importantly, sometimes in life John Fox and Dan Henning learn to stop relying on stupid loving Nick Goings. Sometimes John Fox and Dan Henning get out their own way. And sometimes they tell Jake Delhomme to force feed the loving ball to Muhsin Muhammad, the only viable god drat offensive threat.  Credit: Jed Jacobsohn Muhammad would rack up 5 receptions, 105 yards, and THREE touchdowns all in the second half. This would finally be the catalyst for an amazing display of a player literally dragging the corpse of a team to victory. The Panthers would go on to win 6 of their last 8, as Muhammad became an absolute terror for opposing defenses, putting up 54 receptions, 915 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight freaking games. EIGHT! Muhammad single handed saved John Fox’s hide, but more on that later. Moose’s averages of the 1st half of the season vs the 2nd half: code:Muhsin Muhammad Weeks 10-17 2004: 8 games / 54 Rec / 915 yds /12 TDs Rae Carruth Career: 22 games / 66 Rec / 804 yds / 4 TDs Dwayne Jarrett Career: 32 games / 35 Rec / 428 yds / 1 TD Kelvin Benjamin Rookie Season: 16 games / 73 Rec / 1008 yds / 9 TDs Keary Colbert Career: 55 gamaes / 109 Rec / 1424 yds /9 TDs Drew Carter Career: 33 games / 71 Rec / 977 yds /8 TDs Wow. But I know what you’re thinking, “Those guys are a bunch of scrubs, and an unproven rookie who likes to play volleyball when he tries to catch. Moose’s 2004 season really wasn’t that special.” You may have a point, but look at this next group of names. These names are the players who participated in offensive snaps during the 2004 Carolina Panthers season, and I use the term participated very, very loosely. *Brad Hoover (when he wasn’t posting and pretending to be Hooverfan) *Nick Goings and his eyebrows  Credit: https://www.panthers.com *DeShaun Foster the season he decided to stop drinking milk *Stephen Davis and the Ghost of Stephen Davis’s knees *Joey Harris:  *Brandon Bennett: a cast off from the late 90’s/Early 00’s Bengals *Rod “He Hate Me” Smart, star of the XFL Las Vegas Outlaws *Ricky Proehl about 6 years too late *Keary Colbert refer to previous Black Cat entry *Kris Mangum - Generic *Mike Seidman - Blocking *Michael Gaines – Tight Ends *Karl Hankton – I get it now, John Fox was trolling the gently caress out of Jerry Richardson *Steve Smith (Injured in the 1st game against Green Bay for the season) So here’s a few questions to ponder: 1) On a scale from 1-10 how belligerently drunk do you think I got weekly when I looked at the offensive skill players on that roster? 2) What percentage of total offensive touchdowns did Moose Account for in the 2004 Season? a. 41% b. 53% c. 37% d. 26% 3) How much money would you throw at a 2004 Moose to play the next season with a healthy Steve Smith and totally destroy the league? Let’s find out the answers to these questions regarding this left handed football bat of season, and see if you understand why I was hungover for every Monday morning formation in 2004. Question 1 - My scale of being belligerently drunk was a solid 10. gently caress all of you guys, I’m getting mad about this poo poo right now. God loving drat it. I need a drink The immortal Nick Goings was the second best offensive weapon for Carolina that year. He inexplicably had 1,215 total yards from scrimmage. Yup, this guy again Keary Colbert contributed 5 touchdowns to the cause, on the few occasions Jake Delhomme decided that throwing to Moose in triple coverage was a bad idea. Question 2 - Moose contributed to 57% of Carolina’s receiving touchdowns, and 41% of their total offensive touchdowns. Question 3 - If you are Marty Hurney, king of terrible contracts, you look at your second best offensive weapon and you think: ”Marty Hurney” posted:
12 hours later, the Chicago Bears signed Moose to a $30 Million 6 year contract, with $12 Million guaranteed, and $16 million over the first 3 years. In all essence a front loaded contract for an aging wide receiver who likely only had 2 or 3 more good years left in him. It’s like Hurney was loving allergic to God drat common sense. I swear to loving God if I could go back in time and yell at this dumb muthafuck… Pardon me. To be fair, the two guys Hurney did sign in free agency with the money he didn’t give Muhammad were good investments for a couple of years. Ken Lucas and Mike Wahle were both really good in 2005, and less and less good as the years went on. But, we’re here to talk about wide receivers and balls so… Also Steve Smith broke Ken Lucas’s nose during a training camp fight in 2005, so maybe Hurney should have kept Moose to protect the sanctity of Ken Lucas’s face. Or maybe not, either way my bitterness level is low enough that we can finally move on. Counterpoint to How Special Muhammad’s 2004 Season Was:  -During the 1st half of the season, the teams Carolina faced had an average record of .602 vs .414 in the second half. -As per Profootball Reference, the Simple Rating Score (basic measure of how good a team is) for the 1st half of the teams Carolina faced was 2.56 vs -3.79  Counter-Counter Point: -The Passing Defense DVOA for teams in the 1st half of Carolina’s season was 8.24 vs 9.32 in the second half. In pure DVOA, the lower the score the better for defense. -The DVOA league rankings for teams faced during the 1st half of Carolina’s season was 18.88 vs 19.5 in the second half. This means over the course of the whole season, Carolina essentially played the 19th best (19.19) passing defense every game. Conclusion: Moose’s season was amazing, and he made a bunch of scrub teams pay and had some bad games against good defenses. In the playoffs, Moose caught 20 passes for 407 yards and 2 touchdowns. That makes him 2nd in both yards and receptions. However, as of January of 2015, Kelvin Benjamin has tied Muhammad for 2nd in franchise receiving touchdowns in the playoffs with 2. Truly, a tall mountain to climb. Other than Smith, the only player in Carolina franchise history that can even sniff at Muhammad’s 50 career touchdowns while wearing a Panther’s jersey, is tight end Wesley Walls at 44. If the Arizona Cardinals had 3 more games Delhomme in 2009, I am sure their defense could have come close. As of May/June of 2015, the closest Carolina Panther on the active roster is Greg Olsen, with his 22. Muhammad also joins Steve Smith as the only two drafted WR with over 50 yards per game average receiving. In fact, only 5 players in Panthers history have done so: Muhammad, Smith, Jeffers, Keyshawn Johnson, and Kelvin Benjamin. Keyshawn and Benjamin should be considered outliers as each only played one season with Carolina and Jeffers’s career was cut short due to injuries and team doctor negligence. Carolina Panthers team doctors were trying to ruin the careers of its players before Tampa Bay tried to take it mainstream by giving everyone MRSA Muhsin Muhammad Highlights: So I rambled about one season. Why should you care about Muhammad’s other 10 seasons? Was Moose really just a one season wonder? Hell no, but Moose sadly never had a quarterback who was anything better than “slightly above average.” The poor guy suffered through Beurlein, Weinke, Collins, Delhomme, and Peete while in Carolina, and Sexy Rexy in Chicago. However, we’ll look very closely at two plays that are similar routes at very different points of Muhammad’s career. Moose’s 60 Yard reception: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXDVK5ohWnM Original Credit: Youtube User Brandon Boys Holy poo poo. Did you see Moose completely destroy Aaron Ross? Ross was a 1st round pick by the Giants in 2007, and Moose makes Ross look like he belongs to the Northwest Iowa Tech JV team. Muhammad almost makes a grown man fall down on national TV. And as was par in Carolina, Jake “barn.gif” Delhomme massively underthrows Muhammad, yet Moose still has the concentration to catch the ball after the Ross’s catching ability proves why he’s playing defense. Watch Moose’s first seven steps, or basically watch the first second of the video over and over. It’s a thing of beauty. There’s very little to if any wasted motion there. Ross is playing a few yards off Moose, because Ross is 6’0” 190 lbs. There is no possible way he is playing press man against the very physical Muhammad who has 2 inches and 30 pounds on him. Look at how Moose sells that 6th step. Wow. Ross’s ability to not completely falling down is absolutely Herculean. I’ll give Ross much respect for that and for not giving up on the play. Look at how fluid Muhammad stays throughout those first 9 steps, and how he is almost instantly up to top speed by step 11. Shake your head in disbelief as at basically the start of second 2, Moose has to immediately start to slow down for an underthrown ball by Delhomme. Muhammad is completely wide open, but spends 3 seconds adjusting and waiting for a prayer from heaven to fall down to earth. Did I mention that’s a 2008 Muhammad at age 35 completely clowning Aaron Ross who was 26 at the time. Carolina would lose that game 28 – 34 in an overtime classic. Of course that play should have warned us what was coming from Delhomme against Arizona, but I digress. The Super Bowl Touchdown Moose did catch a touchdown for the Bears when they played in the Super Bowl against the Colts, but I don’t care about that. If you want to hear more about that, look for someone to write way too many words about Chicago wide receivers. All I care about is the Super Bowl XXXVIII touchdown in 2004 vs the New England Patriots, and it is a touchdown worth talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IECTu4d7y18&t=232s Here’s Muhammad’s 85 yard touchdown catch, along with other assorted highlights. I embedded the video to start at a good spot to break down his catch, but it’s worth watching the whole video as it really gives you a good idea of Moose’s body of work, and how many bad balls from Delhomme he had to adjust to. Sadly the highlight videos never show the route being run, just the catch. It’s a shame because some of his routes were a thing of beauty, as you’ll see in the next highlight. In all honesty, the Super Bowl XXXVIII catch was pretty straight forward. To overly simplify it and if you don’t look closely, it just looks like Moose runs forward and Delhomme throws ball. But you really couldn’t be more wrong. It’s the subtlety in this route that really makes me happy to watch over and over again. Let’s start by talking about the pass coverage from the New England Patriots. Even after watching the play dozens of times, I can’t say for sure if the corner was supposed to sit down in his zone instead of staying with Moose. I can say with almost certainty, that the safety got caught looking in the back field as Jake Delhomme flailed around and never rotated to provide the corner help over the top. It’s also possible based on the look the defense gives at 4:12 that the Patriots were giving Steve Smith too much respect. Also a safety falls down too, so that’s always funny. At 3:52, you get to see Moose start his route. The route itself nothing special, Moose knows he’s going deep, and the motion from Proehl is there to use motion to help Delhomme read the defense’s coverage. But watch those long strides by Muhammad. The line of scrimmage is on Carolina’s 15, and Moose is lined up at roughly the 13. It takes him seven steps to cross the 25 yard line. Ideally, a very good sprinter should take about 3 steps for the first 5 yards, then roughly two steps every 5 yards from there. A recommended “sweet” spot for the 40 yard dash is 17 steps. By that metric, Moose is taking an extra step to get to the 25, (7 instead of the “optimal” 6), so why is that special? Moose chops his 4th, 5th, and 6th steps ever so slightly. If you can’t see it watch until he takes his larger step inside over and over again. He eases up just enough to sell the fake that he’s going inside and the corner correctly sits down in his zone as he’s supposed. If Moose runs an in, out, comeback, or curl route, the corner would be in great position to make a play. If Moose runs any deeper route, the corner is expecting to have safety help over the top. If the corner truly thinks Moose is going to go deep, the corner is in position to stay with him. Yet, because of those slightly chopped steps, the corner sits down to play a shorter route. In slow motion, you can see that somehow Moose manages to be accelerating into his fake, and this isn’t a typo. Watch carefully, he is already speeding back before his takes his fake step inside. By the time Moose takes his step at the 27 yard line, he’s already back up to max speed. The ability to be already back up to top speed within 2 steps is really quite amazing. This play is an amazing way to show the difference between 40 yard sprints in the NFL combine setting, and sprint speed during an actual game. In the combine, Moose ran a 4.52 40 yard dash. Players from the last few years who ran roughly a 4.52? Stedman Bailey, Terrance Williams, Robert Woods, Keenan Allen, Kembrel Tompkins, Mike Evans, Marquise Lee, Philly Brown, Bennie Fowler, and after a quick look at the 2015 class, anyone who ran within 2 hundredths of a second of 4.52 was a late round pick. However, Marcus Mariota did run a 4.52 so at least Titan fans should feel relieved that if Mariota can develop moves like Moose, Mariota might make it to year 4 of his career mostly in one piece. Yet in these highlights, you see Moose really turning on the burners at times. In addition, Moose seemed to really have a knack for being able to come back to the ball and use his hands well to catch the ball, there are multiple examples of this in the highlight video, but especially at 3:18 which shows Muhammad’s touchdown against the Eagles in the NFC championhip (same video again linked here for convenience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IECTu4d7y18&t=198s). Look at these highlights carefully, the best case scenario for Carolina fans is that Funchess or Benjamin, but also really appreciate how many of those routes involve Moose making a grab and then taking some punishment. It’s more probable that Funchess will be like Muhammad than Benjamin, but if either turn into a slightly slower version of Moose, in the way Moose blocked, the way he caught the ball, and the way he ran his routes then Carolina fans will have much to be happy about. If either one of them display the toughness show at 4:58 when Moose comes out of nowhere to come up with a fumble in the highlight video (same video linked here again for convenience [video type="youtube"]IECTu4d7y18#t4m58s[/video]) then Carolina will be alright. When it mattered for Carolina, Moose almost always found a way to step up in the big moments when his team needed him. You can’t ask for much more from one of your franchise players on the biggest stage of them all, and while Moose does not deserve to be in the NFL Hall of Fame, I personally look forward to the day when he is inducted into the Carolina Panthers Ring of Honor.  Credit: https://www.panthers.com Black Cat Rating: Life is better if you just give me the ball  Alternative Black Cat Rating: Feed Me  waah fucked around with this message at 01:28 on May 27, 2015 |
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May 27, 2015 01:14
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Moose was let go because he wanted too much money, he was a notorious contract year player, the Panthers had just invested long term in Smith, they didn't have the cap space with their plans to go big in free agency (which netted ken lucas). Not to forget the Panthers had a very promising rookie in Keary Colbert, and as you remember Keary has gone on to a HoF worthy career, with a super bowl ring for each finger.
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May 27, 2015 03:02
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FizFashizzle posted:Not to forget the Panthers had a very promising rookie in Keary Colbert, and as you remember Keary has gone on to a HoF worthy career, with a super bowl ring for each finger. Huh I'd forgotten the Chiefs signed his corpse in 2011 after he hadn't been in the league for two years. He caught 9 passes so he was as good as AJ Jenkins I guess.
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May 27, 2015 03:14
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you should do Patrick Jeffers. he came out of nowhere to have a great year opposite Moose, signed a huge contract and blew out his knee while the ink was still wet.
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Jun 7, 2015 02:33
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paperchaseguy posted:you should do Patrick Jeffers. he came out of nowhere to have a great year opposite Moose, signed a huge contract and blew out his knee while the ink was still wet. Yeah Jeffers was amazing and I hate his career was cut short by terrible doctors. My current focus is on the receivers that Carolina actually drafted. If I ever hate myself to do more of players that have simply played for Carolina, Jeffers will be one of the first.
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Jun 7, 2015 02:38
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