DocHoliday
In the Starting Line-Up
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Totally agree.
BB wouldn't trade Gronk for Jerry Rice in his prime.
Let's not get carried away here.
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Totally agree.
BB wouldn't trade Gronk for Jerry Rice in his prime.
"Stud WR Won't Fix Anything" - wonder how many Ravens fans inaccurately were saying that same thing before they drafted Torrey Smith?
Maybe you noticed while the Ravens were beating the Pats - Smith fixed almost everything for that offense.
A healthy Gronk fixes the problems we saw Sunday. A big bodied and athletic WR that runs all the routes and threatens every level of the field to go along with Gronk and Welker puts us over the top and makes this offense damn near unstoppable.
"Stud WR Won't Fix Anything" - wonder how many Ravens fans inaccurately were saying that same thing before they drafted Torrey Smith?
Maybe you noticed while the Ravens were beating the Pats - Smith fixed almost everything for that offense.
Torrey Smith had a mediocre year for a deep threat WR (49 catches for 855 yards and 8 TDs). He went 10 games without a TD and 7 games where he had two or less catches during the regular season.
Against the Pats, he had 4 catches for 69 yards and no TDs. Smith wasn't anything special on Sunday. Boldin was the guy who killed the Pats (5 catches for 60 yards and 2 TDs) and Pitta was also about as important as Smith (5 catches for 55 yards and 1 TDs).
Flacco's longest passing play was to Boldin for 26 yards. It wasn't the deep threat that beat the Pats.
Smith was awesome on a few plays vs. the Broncos (3 catches for 98 yards and 2 TDs), but he wasn't anything special vs. the Colts (2 catches for 31 yards and 0 TDs) or the Pats.
They had the opposite problem - strong defense and a weak offense. That's why it made sense.
Even then, Smith is the perfect argument against a big "stud" WR as your starter. Smith is the model of inconsistency. He can be a stud for one game and disappear for the next three. As a deep threat "stud" WR, he had two games in the regular season where he had over 100 yards and two games where he had two or more TDs.
I mean Gronk played 11 games this season and had three games where he had over 100 yards and three games where he had 2 or more TDs. In those 11 games, he had 6 more catches, 3 more TDs, and 65 less yards than Smith had in 16 games.
Again, Smith is the perfect example of why a deep threat is overrated. Way too inconsistent unless you are a true stud.
The Ravens completed 1 pass to a WR in the first half. We need a deep threat to get to the SB.
Smith is a deep threat but not physical. Dennard was bullying him all game.
Press coverage will completely neutralize him.
Yeah, I thought Dennard did a great job on Smith. Beat him up. Too bad the Pats didn't have Talib to do the same with Boldin.
The Pats had a deep decoy like that in 2010, and they thought so highly of him that they traded him and replaced him with Deion BranchSo what if Smith didn't go nuts on the Pats? He did on the Broncos and that was enough to make the Pats game plan against him.
The legitimate threat of a deep pass being completed. Smith may be inconsistent - he's also capable of being deadly, just ask the Broncos - but he's enough of a factor to change a defense. The Ravens played up and crowded the short to medium routes all game making life difficult for Brady.
To say getting a guy like Smith - big and very fast - who can get open more often than Smith and can catch the ball more consistently wouldn't help the Pats makes zero sense. Every player who can get free makes trouble for the opposition. Getting open down field generates more opportunity.
One of the main reasons Gronk is so effective is because he's open further down field than most TE's all the time. He changes the O for the better, as would a legit deep threat.
So what if Smith didn't go nuts on the Pats? He did on the Broncos and that was enough to make the Pats game plan against him.
The legitimate threat of a deep pass being completed. Smith may be inconsistent - he's also capable of being deadly, just ask the Broncos - but he's enough of a factor to change a defense. The Ravens played up and crowded the short to medium routes all game making life difficult for Brady.
To say getting a guy like Smith - big and very fast - who can get open more often than Smith and can catch the ball more consistently wouldn't help the Pats makes zero sense. Every player who can get free makes trouble for the opposition. Getting open down field generates more opportunity.
One of the main reasons Gronk is so effective is because he's open further down field than most TE's all the time. He changes the O for the better, as would a legit deep threat.