If there was any overarching theme to Week 11 in the NFL, it was the standout performances of Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. Both went well over 100 yards, catching four touchdown passes, surpassing the 1,000 yard mark through 10 games. That’s not easy to do. And with Steve Smith and Marvin Harrison sidelined because of injuries, those two receiving stars stood out even more. So naturally, considering how similar their standout performances were, the question must be asked: who’s the better receiver, Moss or T.O.?
Obviously I’m a Randy Moss homer. I argued back in April that his acquisition meant a perfect season was imminent for New England, and I’ve also favorably compared Moss to Jerry Rice. But if you watched both player’s games on Sunday to see how they got their numbers, you would have noticed glaring differences. T.O. got his touchdowns because Tony Romo exposed faults in the Redskins zone defense. It’s not like Owens showed off great skills with his catches. His TDs were products of poor coverage. Moss’ touchdowns on the other hand, had a lot to do with his individual skills. On one, he caught a short slant, and reversed field, breaking a tackle to get to the endzone. On another, it was a short redzone pass where he broke away from one-on-one coverage to make the grab.
Clearly T.O. is a fantastic playmaker, and one of the most physical receivers in the league. But as far as individual skills go for a receiver, it doesn’t get any better than Randy Moss. It’s really incredible that there are such parallels between their volatile personalities and individual abilities on the field. All I’m saying is watch out Jerry Rice — you’re record is about to fall. Next week? Maybe not. In two weeks, you betcha!
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This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2007 and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Moss just has more natural ability than T.O., but its closer than the experts might think.
2 gets more after the catch, but Moss cannot be defended in the end zone by anyone.
THROW THE BALL TO TERRELL OWENS AND IT IS NO CONTEST. NOT THE HAIL MARYS THE ONES OVER THE MIDDLE, CROSSING ROUTES,THE HITCHAT THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE. THE CRUSHING BLOCKS AT THE PILON,CATCHING WITH A CAST ON HIS HAN, BROKEN ANKLE; GIVE ME OWENS ANYDAY. OWENS HAS A QUARTERBACK THAT WOULD NOT THROW TO HIM UP UNTIL THE OWNER PAID HIM 67MIL AND TOLD THROW THE BALL TO OWENS. I BET HE WILL BE FINDING T.O.OPEN FROM NOW ON OR HE WILL FIND HIMSELF WONDERING WHY HE IS OUT OF FOOTBALL
I’m still a Moss guy. He’s a little better, seems to be a little quicker with his cuts, and has better hands. Plus, the body control at the sideline is amazing.
Moss’s hands are twice as good as owens, moss is also faster, and can jump much higher. Randy Moss is definetly better.
I’ll take Moss. As stated above, he has better hands and better speed, and jumps higher.
The two things that TO does better are go over the middle in traffic and criticize his quarterbacks. Moss pales in comparison with the way TO can, and has, disrupted two teams thusfar.