have to admit..joe misses OLD versions of Mason and Heap

obviously,this year's versions of Mason and Heap are trashbins.But they were the 2 best possession AND route runners AND red zone receivers possibly in the history of the franchise,and 2 of the best poss and route runners in nfl for their positions.and its visble that the oppositons receivers always are better route runners than ours.Joe's percentage is down,and td's as well.........do the math...it was inevitable anyways,they wouldnt have done it this year...but he def misses "ye olde versions" of those guys......my take on it anyway

Truth.

They were a great crutch for him, even if the actual talent has improved.

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Originally Posted by FadeToBlack

even if the actual talent has improved.

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Huh?

Beyond Torry Smith as the previously missing deep threat, where's the improvement?

"have to admit..joe misses OLD versions of Mason and Heap"

You mean ..have to admit..joe misses YOUNG versions of Mason and Heap ... Bc

As for improvement, Heap missed time last year and even more time this year. He had less than 300 yards and 1 TD while Dickson had Pitta over 900 yards and 8 TDs including big ones where Pitta won games with TDs vs SF and Cinci and Dickson scored a big TD vs Pissburgh with TP lagging far behind him. Someone must have missed that.

That is the improvement over Heap and Mason who often, too often, disappeared in the POs like vs the Dolts both in Indy in 09 and here in 06.

Joe doesn't miss anything.


Ref: www.nfl.com/players

Well, unfortunately Heap has been hurt most of the year, so had he stuck around he may not even have played much and it would be Dickson and Pitta anyway.

It was obvious that Mason was on the decline and it was even more obvious with the Jets and Texans. I'm sure Joe misses the consistency and reliable hands, but this team purged a lot of age at the skill positions and are still in the mix for the Super Bowl and one of the last 4 teams standing. That is a really good thing for the future.

I will say that a lot of the issues with the offense can be attributed to miscues and miscommunication, but I just don't think this coaching staff has really prepared the team well enough the entire season to really succeed when it counts. That has to get better this off-season. Has to.

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Originally Posted by BcRaven

"have to admit..joe misses OLD versions of Mason and Heap"

You mean ..have to admit..joe misses YOUNG versions of Mason and Heap ... Bc

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man,u know what im sayin!!!!!!...LOL....tomato,tomato...were all in the same purple gang

Get enough 3 and Outs, you almost start to beg for those short but completed passes that Flacco had last year with Mason. At least they moved the chains.

People would laugh about Mason's Out-routes, or those patterns when he came running back tot he QB to make himself a target. But it WORKED! They guys we have now are younger and faster, but I don't think any of them work as hard as Mason did to get open. Plus, they don't seme to catch as many tough catches as Mason did. Maybe I'm looking back with rose-colored glasses. But it turns my stomach when it looks like the WRs are just trotting along while the pocket is collapsing around Joe.

Mason was a pain in the ass at times, but the man worked consistantly hard to get open. Sure, evans had a nice one-handed grab. But Mason consistantly worked and ran crisp routes to get open.

I agree. Joe is really missing those guys. Heap is injury prone but neither TEs have run the same down the middle routes that he did.. he was great at that. We don't have a receiver who runs his crisp and well timed routes as Mason. Joe knew Mason would be where he needed to be each time. And he would go up and make plays for Joe also.

Yeah, I pretty much wrote the same thing in the now epic Reed/Flacco thread.

Mason ran such precise routes that Joe could always count on him being exactly where he expected him to be. I just don't think Flacco has that same trust with any of the present receivers. That is partly Joe's problem because he wants his WRs open when he's throwing it, as opposed to throwing it to a spot knowing/expecting them to be open. He was comfortable doing that with Mason, because he had 100% trust in him, but not with anyone else (it seems).

I believe (and pray) that things will get better after an entire offseason for Joe to work with Smith and the others. Once they get it together, its going to be awesome.

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Originally Posted by BcRaven

"have to admit..joe misses OLD versions of Mason and Heap"

You mean ..have to admit..joe misses YOUNG versions of Mason and Heap ... Bc

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Actually it is perfectly logical either way.