This hurts.
Rice has not made many catches but you have to evaluate that in context.
The catches he has made included some clutch drive saving plays, clutch sideline plays to keep momentum when Wilson basically threw out of bounds and some important red zone plays. I haven't really watched the blocking but he is a big WR so I have to believe that it affects that too.
I don't see how we can possibly look at this as anything but a big loss.
If nothing else, the whole game in Chicago where the light switch turned on for this team came about because of that last second play where he got nailed in the end zone and I would be shocked if that was not a concussion.
There is a whole lot of appreciation this fan base owes him, big contract or not. And now we are going to find out just how big of a difference having a big WR that can stretch the field vs a tiny one is going to be. Maybe Baldwin can become a bit more consistent, instead of just getting clutch catches maybe he can become a reliable option we use. Maybe Kearse can stretch the field more, but let's not pretend that Rice contributed nothing to this team because that is BS.
He might have been playing on one wheel this year, I don't know. But even this year I can count some very important catches he made and his tendency to lay out and make a catch on a ball that is clearly in the sidelines is hard to defend.
This is bad news, maybe not dream crushing but it will make the Saints and 49ers games more difficult, as well as the Giants game. Much less losing him for the playoffs....bummer. It is also going to make all those trips to the Red Zone harder on Tate because he is going to be priority #1 in coverage now unless Harvin bothers to play.
