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The original post - comparing Watson to Windslow, Troupe, et al., was a little less far reaching than some of the followups. Think about this...
Okay, I have to preface this with the fact that I did not see him play yesterday (which will be the jumping off point for much derision,) but I've seen just about every other Pats game this season, and my guess is he's showing more of the same, but with more of the coverage rolled over onto Moss.
Watson has acted like a superstar tight end this season. I'm not saying that won't continue... and now he is obviously the beneficiary of the stretched field. Put everybody on Moss, and voila, Watson looks brilliant.
But against the likes of Gates and (still) Gonzales, you have to look at years of production. You also have to understand that the Pats will drop the Watson looks like a hot potato, if he's drawing the coverage. That's the Patriot way: take what the D gives you. Truth be told, they've been hard pressed to cover anybody on this team, the result of an infusion of talent and speed in the receiving corps. Romeo reached back to the Rams super bowl, and decided they needed to take away one guy, and this time in the Marshall Faulk role, it was Randy Moss. The result was not the same, though.
What comes next? Probably on many Sundays, the same thing. Probably, Watson has a fantastic season... but think about Gates, having fantastic seasons year in and year out, despite the lack of a Brady throwing to him, despite the lack of a Moss/Welker/Stallworth receiver stable playing with him. Same with Gonzales, if you take away last year.
As a combo, complete tight end, Watson is among the best, but it's still Kyle Brady we call on as the road grader, unless there were indications to the contrary yesterday (again, didn't see that game.)
Just playing the devil's advocate, as usual.
He's one of the best, and that's enough for me... the "better than Gates" idea seems all wet to me.
But back to Patschick's original post... Watson still has time to become that... this year may be the start of it.
PFnV
Okay, I have to preface this with the fact that I did not see him play yesterday (which will be the jumping off point for much derision,) but I've seen just about every other Pats game this season, and my guess is he's showing more of the same, but with more of the coverage rolled over onto Moss.
Watson has acted like a superstar tight end this season. I'm not saying that won't continue... and now he is obviously the beneficiary of the stretched field. Put everybody on Moss, and voila, Watson looks brilliant.
But against the likes of Gates and (still) Gonzales, you have to look at years of production. You also have to understand that the Pats will drop the Watson looks like a hot potato, if he's drawing the coverage. That's the Patriot way: take what the D gives you. Truth be told, they've been hard pressed to cover anybody on this team, the result of an infusion of talent and speed in the receiving corps. Romeo reached back to the Rams super bowl, and decided they needed to take away one guy, and this time in the Marshall Faulk role, it was Randy Moss. The result was not the same, though.
What comes next? Probably on many Sundays, the same thing. Probably, Watson has a fantastic season... but think about Gates, having fantastic seasons year in and year out, despite the lack of a Brady throwing to him, despite the lack of a Moss/Welker/Stallworth receiver stable playing with him. Same with Gonzales, if you take away last year.
As a combo, complete tight end, Watson is among the best, but it's still Kyle Brady we call on as the road grader, unless there were indications to the contrary yesterday (again, didn't see that game.)
Just playing the devil's advocate, as usual.
He's one of the best, and that's enough for me... the "better than Gates" idea seems all wet to me.
But back to Patschick's original post... Watson still has time to become that... this year may be the start of it.
PFnV