Thread: Moss? the difference maker?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by sdvikefan

Kind of off the subject, the article brought up how Moss vowed revenge against the teams that passed him over. Well, Green Bay was one of those teams and I think it's safe to say he has gotten his revenge!
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I copied the above quote from sdvikefan out of the thread discussing why Moss will be missing the pro-bowl. The quote got me thinking (I know, that can be very dangerous for a Packer fan) so I decided to do a little research to find out if the Vikings (and Moss) have in fact exacted the "revenge" on the Packers that sdvikefan spoke of in his quote.

Not only is this off-subject but it is incorrect. I'm curious what your definition of revenge is because the way I see it. The Packers, Tampa, and Vikings have all had their fair share of success since Moss was drafted in 1998. But since you decided to call out the Packers on this one...Let's look at how things have turned out since then:

1998 - Vikings won a record 15 games to win the division at 15-1. Green Bay finished second in the division at 11-5. Vikings lost in the NFC title game while Green bay lost in the wild card round. Tampa missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record - Advantage Minnesota, followed by Green Bay and then Tampa

1999 - Tampa won the division (11-5) with the Vikings finishing 2nd (10-6) and Green bay finishing 8-8 during their horrible experiment gone bad named Ray Rhodes. Tampa lost in the NFC Championship game while Minnesota lost in the divisional round. - Advantage Tampa followed by Minnesota and Green Bay

2000 - Minnesota was first in the division at 11-5 followed by Tampa (10-6) and Gren Bay (9-7) Tampa lost in the wild card round while Minnesota lost in the divisional round. - Advantage Minnesota followed by Tampa and Green Bay.

2001 - In their "Miracle" year, Chicago won the division (13-3) followed by Green Bay (12-4), Tampa (9-7), and Minnesota (5-11). Green Bay lost in the wild card round as did Tampa. Since the Bears mean nothing in this analysis and Green Bay finished higher in the regular season standings - Advantage Green Bay followed by Tampa and Minnesota

2002 - This is the year that the divisions changed putting Tampa in the NFC South where they went 12-4. Green Bay won the North at 12-4 with Minnesota in second at 6-10. Green Bay lost in the wild card round while Tampa went on to win the Superbowl - Advantage Tampa followed by Green Bay and Minnesota.

2003 - We all know what happened this year. Green Bay won the regular season crown at 10-6 with Minnesota 2nd at 9-7 and Tampa falling off the planet at 7-9. - Advantage Green Bay followed by Minnesota and Tampa.

Just based on the above (very unscientific) data, Each of those 3 teams finished first twice, second twice, and third twice (with respect to each other.

Now let's look at their overall team record since Mr. Moss was drafted.

Minnesota - (reg. season) - 56-40
Green Bay - (reg season) - 62-34
Tampa Bay - (reg season) - 57-39

Advantage - Green Bay followed by Tampa and Minnesota

Minnesota - (post season) 3-3
Green Bay - (post season) 1-4
Tampa Bay - (post season) 4-3

Advantage - Tampa followed by Minnesota and Green Bay

Since Mr. Moss joined the Vikings, Green Bay has been the best of the 3 during the regular season with Tampa being the best of the 3 during the post season. I realize that a lot more factors come into play than what I presented here but I am just not seeing where Mr. Moss has gotten revenge at all on his two chief rivals since he arrived in the land of 10,000 lakes. Maybe I'm missing something here but it appears as though Mr. Moss has simply helped the Vikings keep up rather than being the difference maker.

Let me conclude that from a pure raw talent standpoint, Randy Moss is an amazing player and there is not a team in the NFL that would not love to have him catching passes for them (including Green Bay). His shift in attitude this year has made him even more attractive as long as he can keep it up. This post was in no way intended to slam Randy Moss but instead, a starting point for a discussion about his impact on the success of the vikings relative to Green Bay and Tampa. My contention is that without Moss, the Vikings would not have even been competitive in the division and that with Moss, they have simply kept up with the big dogs.

I am curious as to everyone else's thoughts on this subject.