Tokadub just nailed exactly how I was thinking.
And yeah, I think depending on Harvin scares me. The only reason I don't worry more is because we won the SB and when you decide to go all in to win it all - you cannot really complain about the cost after if you do win it. There was a cost, we knew we were going to lose players and we did.
But Tate was a BIG part of this ride, and deserves the accolades as much as anyone.
Baldwin made the incredible plays that saved us in a few games, but Tate was consistently a producer that we generally could count on more except for those playoff games, where I still contend the reason was the increased scrutiny from the defense (and that opened things up for other players). We probably couldn't have matched but I don't see a reason we cannot acknowledge how much he meant to this team and how much he contributed to the climb up the ladder.
Also, part of the attitude of this team, that "put it on my back, I'm good" mentality, came from him.
I don't understand how we think we are just going to move forward without missing a beat with so many important cogs removed from the machine. The average WR takes 3-4 years to start producing at a reasonable level (even Golden took 3). But then again, we won and maybe it makes sense to drop expectations a bit since in general SB teams get stripped and weaker shortly after winning, in this new era.
Guys like Tate and Browner and even Red, they were an important part of what makes up attitude and fire that fed this team. The question will be whether we can just pile all this on Wilson alot with some vets and hope to get the same kind of motivation from the team. And I still remain skeptical that we can just hope to replace the offensive production we lost in both starting receivers (Tate and Rice) out and hoping our #3 can be our #2 and our #1 can actually stay on the field.
