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Pastimes : Football Forum (NFL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (10754)	12/27/2001 1:02:51 PM
From: Annette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45639

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To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (10754)	12/27/2001 1:04:13 PM
From: Annette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45639

VEGAS HAS NO LINE ON THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To play or not to play? Moss keeps others, not Packers, guessing By TOM SILVERSTEIN of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: Dec. 26, 2001 Green Bay - The Las Vegas oddsmakers have chosen not to issue a line on the Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings game Sunday at Lambeau Field. Contrary to public belief, it's not because they're waiting for Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss to declare whether he is going to play this weekend. Rather, the line is being held because the Vikings don't know if quarterback Todd Bouman's injured thumb will allow him to play. But you better believe there are oddsmakers all over Las Vegas who would like to know Moss' intentions. Ever since telling the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that "I play when I want to play," the Vikings' game-breaking wide receiver has cast doubt about his effort level. Did he want to play when he caught just three passes for 34 yards Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars? Did he take the evening off when he caught four passes for 25 yards against Chicago? Did those 22 catches for 446 yards and four touchdowns in the three games in between come on days when the spirit moved him? A lot of people would like to know. "The guy says he plays when he wants to, but I can't foresee him coming into a football game and not playing," Packers rookie safety Bhawoh Jue said. "I think that's just a statement he made out of frustration and maybe some anger in the fact they weren't doing as well as they want to be doing. "Randy Moss is going to come out and play no matter what. The only thing that's going to stop him from playing is not being dressed and not being on the field. But especially in Green Bay, I think the rivalry between the two teams, Randy Moss is going to show up." You can expect the Packers to disregard anything Moss might say to the contrary. They merely have to reflect on the 38 catches for 826 yards and seven touchdowns Moss has produced in seven games (an average of five catches and a touchdown per game and 23.6 yards per catch) to know what he can do. If there's anything the Packers must worry about against a team that has lost four of its last five games and appeared to quit in a 33-3 loss to Jacksonville last week, it's that Moss might decide to play. As bad as the 5-9 Vikings are in other places, they still have the single most dangerous athlete in the game. Favre would use him "If I was the coach of the Vikings, I would line him up and throw 20 balls to him deep," quarterback Brett Favre said. "I don't care the coverage. Just throw it to him. And obviously that would keep him excited about it. And you may incomplete 10 of them, but you're probably going to get a pass interference every other one. "And he's going to catch most of them. He's that good." The overriding issue is whether Moss really meant what he said. Both Favre, who shares the same agent with Moss, and Vikings receiver Cris Carter insist that Moss didn't mean exactly what he said, although each publicly criticized the notion of not giving 100% on every play. When you consider that Moss got on a conference call with reporters the week after he made his original statement and said he meant everything he said, there isn't much choice but to take him at his word. He hasn't spoken publicly since then and the lasting impression is that he really does turn it off and on whenever he wants. Carter has stopped defending Moss and admits that the comments are a reflection on the job he has done mentoring the fourth-year receiver. "For me, it's personal," Carter said. "It's like, to me, I ask myself the question, 'Is that what you taught him, or did you teach him something else? So to me, I take personal offense to it because that's not the way you approach the game. You play when they make the schedule." Carter said he understood what Moss was trying to say, but that he has quit worrying about the criticism and whether Moss can live up to his superstar status. He said it was ultimately Moss' job to prove that he plays hard all the time. Packers expect his best The Packers have no choice but to think Moss will be at his best Sunday, but they might not give him the due they did the last time the two teams met. In that game, the Packers limited Moss to eight catches for 73 yards, but were gashed everywhere else. They devoted safety Darren Sharper to playing over the top on Moss and making sure that he was double-covered every time he went deep. With the Packers devoting so much help to Moss, the Vikings were able to produce a season-high 196 yards rushing, including 71 by quarterback Daunte Culpepper. This time around, the Packers won't be facing Culpepper and might not even have to face Bouman, the backup who is nursing a bad thumb. They could be going up against third-stringer Spergon Wynn, who would be making his second career start. But the Packers don't want to get caught suffering the same fate as last time and will try to play more to their own strengths without losing sight of what Moss can do. "He's explosive, but you start doing things just to take him out of the game, other players start doing things and making plays," Jue said. "I think our big thing is to stick with what we do and realize there's a great player out there and do whatever we're going to do to slow him down and also know there's 10 other people out there that we have to defend."

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (10754)	12/27/2001 1:12:50 PM
From: Oral Roberts	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45639

Minnesota (+11.5) @ Green Bay 1. Carolyn – 9-6 2. Gloop – 8-7 - Vikings - Pack will win but wont cover the spread 3. Jeff Roberts – 11-4 Packers- I don't like the line, but I wouldn't pick those other pricks for anything:) 4. DSpetry – 6-9 5. Lost1 – 9-6 6. Bill – 7-7 7. Sandintoes - 9-6 8. OMD - 9-6 9. Ish - 9-6 10. Master - 9-6 11. TomC - 8-7 12. RobertFNewton - 9-6 13. Annette - 8-7 PACKERS!!! The ViQuueens get theirs on Sunday. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! 14 SE - 6-9