jterrell;2868003 said:
The problem with your stat here is that it is merely descriptive of a down season, not an illusion to any real condition that exists with T.O. necessarily.
Our own RW11 had one great season while T.O. had one bad one. I don't think we can use either example as evidence of their talent levels. It takes a much broader look.
I don't expect T.O. to be amazing this year or ever again as I don't expect he gets the weapons and offense around him ever again he had in 2007. But he may well have more than he did in 2008 as a Bill this upcoming season. I would expect that young Bill QB eventually grows to hate T.O. but right now like a young Tomy Romo, T.O. can bring him stardom and recognition. As T.O. does silly end zone rituals, it's understood the guy throwing the passes gets mentioned as well.
TO wasn't particularly efficient the year before, although certainly more efficient than last year's abomination. But this isn't a normal WR we're talking about, this is a 35 year old one. It's not surprising to see this dramatic of a decline at that age. The rate of decline isn't always a steady rate ... often times old players fall off a cliff. TO suffered because Romo was out 3 games with injury and the OL struggled, but he still had 13 games with a QB with a 90+ QB rating and the games best TE working down the middle of the field. Andre Johnson and Roddy White, just to name two, would have gladly changed places with TO. (and speaking of Witten, he still had a very high conversion rate, dealing with the same problems TO had).
Also, I recognize your point that TO still saw an inordinate amount of defensive coverage, but really how much of that is the defense reacting to the Cowboys playcalling tendencies? If Im a defensive coordinator Sam Hurd doesn't scare as an offensive weapon, but if the Cowboys have continually demonstrated they are going to stubbornly throw a vast amount of their pass targets to him to keep him happy... of course I'm going to roll coverage his way. The more defenders I put into the area that the Cowboys are forcing the ball into, the more likely I am to get an easy interception. It's not necessarily a bad thing defenses aren't going to roll coverage to just one of our players anymore. It's much more of a strain on a defense to cover the entire field.
Putting aside TO's rabid defenders ... I think even the casual fan has some sort of subjective bias toward TO and give him a pass (on the field) because he still passes the eyeball test. He still looks like a body builder and a freak of nature, and we ignore the obvious fact that he is a very, very old player. But muscle mass has no effect on quick twitch quickness ... which I think TO has lost in spades and a big reason he can't get off against press coverage off the snap anymore. I wonder if people would be nearly as quick to justify TO's decline on the field if he had Torry Holt's body. Not accusing you in particular, just saying in general. I think TO still has the capability to be a very strong #2 WR .. unfortunately, his temperment and ego will never allow him to be a #2 WR. And as Stephen said, as his body and physical ability continues to decline he's not going to just admit he's getting older and slower ... it's going to be someone else's fault. He's not going to be Jerry Rice who goes to Oakland and agrees to be the #2 guy behind Tim Brown, and then goes to Seattle and Denver to play as nickel WRs. IMHO, Buffalo is making a very big mistake holding parades for TO and treating him like some sort of franchise savour, because now they've cemented in his brain that he's still going to be "the man" and the key piece of the offense (if not the franchise). Buffalo would have been much better off if they would have used the low key approach New England used on Randy Moss his first offseason there.
