Prior to the start of the 2012 NFL Season, I said a lot of negative things regarding San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Randy Moss. I said that he had nothing left, and that he'd quit on the field after he didn't catch a pass on the first play of the game. From the moment of the signing, there was nothing but utter negativity from me, including a self-obsessed feature that began with a title that began with "The Randy Moss Delusion: ..."
I'm not here to apologize or suggest that I'd say different things if given the same situation. I'm here to say that I'm wrong and make sure you know just how happy that makes me.
Being wrong is not always a bad thing, especially when one is generally a pessimist. Given the level of play we've had in San Francisco prior to the 2011 season, pessimism is totally justified, and will continue to be until the 49ers go out there and appear in a few more NFC Championship games and maybe win another Super Bowl or two.
On Sunday, Moss had four receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown grab was pretty excellent, though it was more a product of blown coverage than it was of Moss being awesome. Don't get me wrong, we put up a commentary on it because of the cumulative awesomeness, but there was a clear miscommunication in the Green Bay secondary.
His numbers don't jump out at you, but if you remove the frankly unrealistic and unwarranted hype from this offseason, there weren't any real expectations for Moss. He's coming off a couple poor seasons in which he was traded and cut a few times, and showed only that he was a problem in the locker room. Coming out and catching four passes for him is actually a pretty huge deal.
Who knows what his numbers will look like at the end of the season, but what Moss showed more than anything on Sunday was that he needs to be accounted for when he's on the field. If he's not, he'll grab a touchdown, and if he is, then Michael Crabtree might be freed up to grab another seven receptions for 76 yards. Either way, it's a win-win for San Francisco, who considered Moss a low-risk, high-reward player. That's what he's turning out to be, at least through one week of NFL action.
For more on the San Francisco 49ers, join the discussion over at Niners Nation. You can also check out everything we have to offer at SB Nation's NFL hub.