X’s and O’s: Randy Moss’s One-Handed TD Grab Over Darrelle Revis, Week 2, 2010

Over the next several days, I’ll be taking a look back into the 2010 regular season at the X’s and O’s of the New England Patriots’ most memorable touchdowns. The Patriots’ Official Website put together a list of 2010′s most memorable touchdowns, and these will be the basis for the plays that will be analyzed. These X’s and O’s pieces, like the ones I did during the season, diagram the play and explain how it worked.

Today, we’ll take a look at former Patriots WR Randy Moss’s one-handed touchdown grab over Darrelle Revis from the New York Jets in Week 2. This was probably the highlight of the year for Moss because two weeks later he was traded to Minnesota and he never really recovered for the rest of the season. This was an amazing catch by Moss though, even if Revis was hurt. It was the Jets’ confidence in Revis’s ability to cover one-on-one that, at least in part, lead to this play’s success.

The image above shows the Patriot and Jet formations before the snap. Tom Brady is lined up in the shotgun with RB Kevin Faulk in the backfield. The Pats have three wide receivers on the field in Brandon Tate wide left, Wes Welker in the slot on the right and Randy Moss wide left. TE Aaron Hernandez is standing up just off the end of the offensive line on the right side of the formation. The Jets are lined up in the nickel defense. Randy Moss gets single coverage from Darrelle Revis, lined up directly across from him.

The image above is a diagram of the Moss touchdown play. The only route that was not clear in the film was Tate’s (#19) because he was mostly off-screen, but I’m fairly certain he ran a quick slant. Kevin Faulk ran wheel route out of the backfield, Hernandez ran a deep-in route, Welker ran a curl route while Moss ran a post pattern. The Jet defense converged on the middle of the field, leaving Revis alone on Moss going deep down the field.

As you can see in this image, the Jet defense were focussed solely on the receivers in the middle of the field. Whether it was by design or by the team’s confidence in Revis’s abilities, their ignorance of Moss let him get behind Revis and get enough separation for Brady to float the ball over the top. Moss finished the play off with an amazing one-handed grab, completing the touchdown play.

To view footage of this play and other highlights from this game, click HERE.

Previous X’s and O’s of the Patriots’ Most Memorable Touchdowns of 2010:

• TE Aaron Hernandez’s second touchdown against the Green Bay Packers, Week 15
• ILB Gary Guyton’s INT returned for a TD against the Cincinnati Bengals, Week 1
• TE Rob Gronkowski’s first career catch/touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals, Week 1
• The Law Firm’s first TD vs. the New York Jets, Week 13
• RB Danny Woodhead’s TD run vs. the Chicago Bears, Week 14
• RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis’s cartwheel touchdown vs the Minnesota Vikings, Week 8
• TE Rob Gronkowski’s first TD vs the Steelers, Week 10
• TE Rob Gronkowski’s TD catch vs. the San Diego Chargers, Week 7