UofApatsfan

Yeah agreed completely, people are microanalyzing and overthinking this preseason game way too much in certain ways. It's ridiculous the way some are throwing away the promising rookie season Butler had because of 1-2 bad preseason moments, and on the flip side it's dumb that some are anointing Aaron Hernandez the next Dallas Clark because of a preseason catch.

Nowadays the nickel corner is almost as important as the 2nd corner, so I'm just glad we have McCourty and Butler to fill those roles and aren't relying on Jonathan Wilhite (hopefully) and Shawn Springs like last year. The real icing on the cake would be if Wheatley could get past his issues and give them a quality dime corner. The god awful two minute defense they had last year would no longer be a concern if they had Bodden, Butler, McCourty and Wheatley all playing well.

DarrylS

Remember Hank Poteat and the rest of the walkons.... this is a nice thread

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

efin98

McCourty is a rookie in his first game...in the preseason. It's not time yet to start the bum rush against Butler starting just yet.

If Butler is having problems in game 2 and 3 then maybe you might have something here- but not yet. McCourty could just as easily foul up as badly as Butler did if not worse.

And Butler got his butt handed to him by Bush on the TD...but I don't believe he would have stopped him without help right away given how well Bush was rushing towards the goalline and how much momentum he was carrying. Bush would have mauled him over the line no matter what.

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"As long as we have Belichick, I always think that we're going to be just fine."...Tom Brady, in reference to his coach.

“It is what it is, but it ain’t what you think.”...Brandon Spikes

BradyFTW!

McCourty outplayed Butler last night, but I wouldn't read too much into one preseason game. Butler had one rough game, but he wasn't terrible, and the extra year in the system is a big advantage. I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if McCourty takes his starting job anytime soon.

pencilneckgeek

Meh. I see him as one of our top 5 DBs. That means he's a starter when pass defense is a priority. Good enough. I wouldn't be suprised to see him get a rotation as the No. 2 corner some week when we're going up against bigger receivers or want a sturdier run defense. I'm not concerned about picking between our 3 top CBs. I'm simply happy to see a secondary that has the potential to be the best the Pats have fielded in the age of the illegal contact rule.

BTW, those two mistakes by Butler are readily correctible mental errors. Having a season where those weren't prevalent, I'm comfortable expecting better of him next week and beyond.

RussFrancis

Maybe Butler is just better suited to play slot corner than McCourty. He certainly didnt look good playing right CB. But I dont think we lose a whole lot if Buter takes over in the slot because he'd still be on the field a huge portion of most games. McCourty is looking like he's gonna be a serious player.

pencilneckgeek

I've wondered about this. Butler is pretty damn good at making the quick turns that you'd want to out of someone trying to cover a Welker-type, but McCourty is no slouch in that department either and his solid tackling would be more useful over the slot receiver on run plays, so it may be a toss-up.

One-If-By-Sea

On Bush's touchdown I do not remember anyone setting the corner - who set the corner on the play? Are you saying that DBs are suppose to set the corner? Or was Butler in man-to-man and someone else was suppose to contain? Does anyone remember the play?

pencilneckgeek

Butler had outside contain, but Wright was supposed to set the edge and force the runner to turn upfield or go wide left. Wright was stiffed, which left Butler isolated, because Mayo was shooting the inside gap, Sanders was sealed off by the WR, and Spikes was flowing from the far side. Butler could have done better, but my money would be on Bush, even if Butler read the play correctly. If Wright had gotten upfield, Butler would have had time to slow-up Bush and Spikes might have gotten in on the play, although with Butler's misread, Bush still might have made it to the pylon.

One-If-By-Sea

Thanks pencilneckgeek! Exactly - Wright has to set that corner. Which is worse, getting knocked off the corner, or cheating inside? I don't see any mention of Wright anywhere. Butler is not McCourty - not a big guy, not going to be as good at tackling (although Wheatley looked great on that naked bootleg). Let's not heap a lot on one guy who cheated inside a bit thinking a corner was going to be set. If that corner is not set, Butler is not going to stop Bush 99 times out of 100. Bush was the 2nd pick in the draft for a reason.