Mike Dussault

I’ve been finding it incredibly annoying how the main talking point these days is “can Deion Branch replace Randy Moss”? Isn’t it kind of obvious that Branch has never been nor will he ever be the player that Randy Moss is? 

Then there’s those like Tom E. Curran, he of awkward hand gestures, that think acquiring Branch won’t help the Pats at all. So in a nutshell, if Deion Branch can’t do what Randy Moss did on the field there’s no point in adding him to the team? Maddening.

Unlike many in the media I actually played team sports through the collegiate level, so I have some understanding of how things work from the inside to some degree. From much of the coverage we get on the Pats you’d think that the only thing that makes teams great is having great players. That’s it. Draft the most talented player at the highest spot you have, acquire the biggest Free Agents you can at whatever cost they come at, and you’ll win the Super Bowl.

I don’t know how this myth keeps getting perpetrated. 

I’ve been on teams where we had the most talent, but couldn’t win a championship because we all didn’t really get along, and when it came down to crunch time we were all on different pages. I was also on a team that wasn’t necessarily the most talented, but we won a championship due in large part to the fact that the entire team was like a big family. 

I’m not saying you just need to put together a group of good dudes who all get along and you’ll win a championship. Of course you need talent. But talent is really only 75% of the equation at most.

So are the Patriots a better team right now than they were with Moss? No way. But I see the Moss move as taking a half step back to hopefully take a full step forward by the end of the season.

But how will the Patriots stretch the field?!?! That’s the question that those without a lot of football knowledge can’t seem to understand. Just because Randy Moss was the greatest downfield receiver of all time doesn’t mean that no one else can run deep routes and be respected by a defense.

Moss has to be game planned around by every defense he faces, but let’s remember the Patriots won a lot of games from 2007 thru last Monday night when Moss was held largely in check. 

While extremely talented, Moss was also extremely high maintenance. I don’t think you can underestimate the positive effect of no longer having to perform that maintenance on and off the field can have.

Let’s remember the receiver who the Patriots won three Super Bowls with. Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Givens, and David Patten were the primary guys. Can anyone really tell me that the current receiving corps is light years behind those Super Bowl receivers? It’s not about having one guy who can sprint down the field every play and pull coverage. It’s about having a collection of receivers who all execute and are on the same page as Tom Brady.

I don’t mean to minimize Randy Moss’ effect on the Patriots, but even without him this can still be a championship offense. Deion Branch doesn’t need to be Randy Moss, he just needs to do his job, run the right routes, and catch the ball when it’s thrown to him. If he does that he will have a positive impact for the Patriots and that’s all they need.