ShareThisFOXBORO, Mass. - Miami Dolphins rookie cornerback Vontae Davis already had one interception and had his eye on another as he ran down the right sideline alongside New England Patriots' receiver Randy Moss.
But, as Tom Brady's long, high pass came spiraling down, Davis felt Moss' left arm fending him off, creating space, and then saw Moss reach up with his right hand and pull the ball in at the 1-yard line.
"Welcome to the NFL," Davis said afterwards in the Miami locker room. "I was amazed at how he caught that.
"That was a veteran move," Davis continued, more in admiration than exasperation. "He's been around a long time. He does the little stuff that helps him make the catch. On that play, he held my arm, than caught the ball with his other arm."
Davis knew better than to hope for help from the officials.
"Away from home," he said, "I wasn't expecting to get that call."
What he had a right to expect -- but didn't get -- was more help covering Moss.
While Davis, a first-round draft choice out of Illinois, is a promising young talent, Moss is a future Hall of Famer who set an NFL record in 2007 by catching 23 touchdown passes. Four of those came against the Dolphins, two in each game.
Although Moss' TD total dropped to a still-very-respectable 11 last season, with Matt Cassel playing QB in place of the injured Brady, three of his scoring catches came at Miami in November, when the Pats avenged an earlier upset loss to the Dolphins in Foxboro in September.
Moss said he felt "disrespected" by the Dolphins in that second game, because they seldom employed double-coverage against him.
"If I see single coverage," he said that day, "I can beat anybody in this league. Any time I feel disrespected, I want to go out there and make it happen."
Yet Miami coach Tony Sparano Sunday elected once again to cover Moss primarily man-to-man -- with the rookie Davis frequently drawing the assignment.
After what happened -- six catches for Moss, for 147 yards and the game-winning, 71-yard touchdown in the Pats' 27-17 victory -- it seems all but certain Moss will get plenty of respect, and double-coverage, when the two teams meet again next month in Miami.
Asking a rookie corner to cover Moss 1-on-1 is the football equivalent of when the Polish cavalry trying to stop German tanks in the Blitzkrieg that opened World War II.
Not only did Moss make that one-handed grab to set up the Patriots' first touchdown, but after Miami tied the score with a 16-play scoring drive that consumed the first 10:09 of the second half, he also burned Davis for the decisive TD.
"They were in man coverage," Brady said. "Randy and Wes (Welker) ran crossing routes. When the safety favored Wes a little bit, I threw to Randy, who caught it going the other way."
Stiff-arming the pursuing Davis at the Miami 40, Moss took the pass all the way to the end zone.
"He's so fast. There aren't many guys who can catch him," Brady said.
Davis might have caught him had not Moss, for the second time, kept him at bay.
"He sprinted across the middle," Davis said. "I was right behind him. Then he held me off with a stiff-arm. I tried to make the tackle, but missed."
Davis knew he was going to be in for a tough afternoon against Moss.
"As a cornerback," he said, "I'm out there on an island. All I could do was try to compete. That's Randy Moss. He's going to make plays. You just try to limit what he does."
The problem is that there seems to be no limit to Moss' talents. He's tall (6-4), fast, smart -- Bill Belichick last week called him "the most intelligent" receiver he's "ever been around" -- has great moves and even better hands.
Sparano came into his post-game press conference wearing dark sunglasses. There was reason to wonder if he'd been wearing them when he was watching the Patriots' game films and decided not to give Davis help with Moss.
"I know it's asking a lot," Sparano acknowledged, "but you can't double 'em all."
True enough. But, if you're going to double-cover somebody, shouldn't Moss be your first choice?
"I don't know right now how Vince played," he said. "I'll have to watch the film."
What? He wasn't watching the game?
"Obviously," Sparano continued, "Randy caught some balls on him. But he catches balls on a lot of people."
"When you cover Randy Moss," Davis said, "it's not enough to make one play. You have to make play after play after play. We'll play them again. This was something to learn from. I've got to watch film and learn from it."
Perhaps Sparano will, too.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Providence Journal
