Life without wide receiver Randy Moss begins this week for the New England Patriots, and football fans are eager to see how the franchise will fare.
The Ravens, who will be the first opponent to meet the Moss-less Patriots, will be just as curious.
"In my opinion, it's up in the air," cornerback Chris Carr said Wednesday. "Since the trade, they had a bye week, so who knows how they're going to look. … So it's going to be interesting to see. We're going to find out just like everybody else how different their offense is going to be."
So while the shock of New England's decision to ship Moss to the Minnesota Vikings for a third-round pick in next year's draft has subsided, the questions over how the offense will take advantage of quarterback Tom Brady's strong arm without a downfield threat like Moss continue to fly.
What won't be debated is Moss' still-unfolding legacy. A seven-time Pro Bowler, Moss ranks second in NFL history with 152 career touchdowns, fifth with 14,685 yards, 10th with 939 catches. He caught 50 touchdowns in 52 games for New England, including an NFL-record 23 touchdowns in 2007.
At the age of 33, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Moss may have lost a few-hundredths of a second on his 40-yard time, but he's still fast, tall and crafty enough to force opposing defenses to be wary of fly routes and deep posts.
That, according to Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington, may be the most glaring impact of Moss' departure from the Patriots offense.
"I don't think they're going to take as many shots anymore because with a guy like Randy Moss, that's what he does," Washington said. "You throw it up and he catches the ball as we've seen Monday night [when Moss caught four passes for 81 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown against the New York Jets]. That's what he does."
Added linebacker Ray Lewis: "You don't prepare differently for them, but you do prepare [knowing] you're not playing against Randy Moss. And that's always huge."
One effect that Moss, who caught 12 passes for 132 yards and scored twice in three career meetings against the Ravens, had was to shift opponents' coverage to his side of the field, which opened possibilities for receivers Wes Welker and Julian Edelman.
Carr said the addition of Branch might entail a shift in coverage schemes.
"With Randy Moss, you might need to protect the deep ball more and play deeper on routes because they're going to take more shots," he said. "With a player like Deion Branch, they might run a lot of cuts, maybe a lot of dig routes, a lot of crisp route-running that you're going to have to stop that could be equally as difficult. So I guess it just presents something that's different. I wouldn't say it's easier or harder. I just think it's different."
Either Branch or second-year speedster Brandon Tate will likely fill Moss' role, but the lack of a credible vertical option would seem to place a tremendous amount of pressure on Brady, who must now operate what some might call a toothless offense.
His coach, Bill Belichick, did his best to deflect some of that attention from Brady.
"I think every week is its own challenge to go out there and compete against whoever the opponent is," Belichick said during a conference call with Baltimore media Wednesday. "Again, the Ravens are a great defensive football team. So that's a challenge for all of us. It's not one guy against the rest of the team. It's about our team against their team. That's the way it is offensively and defensively in the kicking game. Everybody's got to do their job, execute the plays, and hopefully, do it a little better than the Ravens can do it."
Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs cautioned against underestimating the Patriots due solely to the absence of Moss.
"Any other team, that would hurt them a lot," Suggs said. "But like I said, with one of the greats in the game under center, I don't think they're going to miss a beat. So we've already eliminated that factor. You've still got to play, and they're still going to show up to play."
Ravens coach John Harbaugh told the New England media during his conference call that he is anticipating the same explosive offense that many have seen in recent years.
"I don't think their offense will change," he said. "I think it will be the same offense. The personality of the offense sometimes takes a turn with different players that you have playing, it kind of goes in one direction or another. I think they'll run the same plays. They'll just put guys in position to do the things that they do well. Tight ends have made a big difference for them. Their offense is evolving even with the players that they have with the young guys."
Sunday's game will answer a lot of questions and maybe even eliminate the scrutiny that the organization is dealing with.
Nose tackle Vince Wilfork was brief and matter-of-fact in his assessment of Moss' absence on the Patriots.
"We're way past Randy," he said. I mean, it's about the Patriots and Baltimore Ravens right now. So that's old in this locker room."
edward.lee@baltsun.com