PatsPropaganda

Well it’s certainly not hard to trust a player like Moss who is arguably the greatest vertical receiver in the history of the game. I don’t think the deep ball has ever been a strength of Brady’s, but of course the collection of receivers he’s had certainly don’t have that strength either.

Last year in the AFCCG he tossing up a long one to Matthew Slater of all people. You’d love to be able to challenge the deep part of the field and we’ll always see the Pats take shots from time to time to keep defenses honest. Hopefully Dobson can develop and stretch things vertically a bit.

But I don’t think the Pats view the deep ball as an integral part of a successful attack. Their offensive success over the last decade despite near-continuous turnover bears it out.

The most important thing is playing to Brady’s historic strengths – reading the defense and making the right throw on the money.

I think terms like these get a little too generalized when really shutting down half the field might be more applicable to some one like Richard Sherman than Darrelle Revis. 

Sherman tends to stay on his side of the field, while Revis (or Talib) might more often find themselves following a single receiver wherever he lines up. So Sherman might “shut down half the field” while Revis might “shut down the opposition’s top target”.

Both are somewhat hyperbolic, but the general idea is the same, that a cornerback is so good passes can’t be thrown at them.