Crononaut

I've personally seen a lot of improvement from McCourty this year. Obviously he hasn't been perfect, but from what I've seen so far on short to mid-range throws he usually has tight coverage on the receiver and the QB has to make a tight throw. When he HAS been beaten in this area of the field, it's usually because the QB has all day in the pocket (pass rush issue). His tackling after the throw has been very good.

Obviously his biggest weakness has been on longer range throws, where he always seems to be behind the play. Given that a) they're playing a zone coverage and b) he's being coached to play the receiver in these situations unless he's in an advantageous position, you could make an argument that responsibility for any deep throw should be shared with the safeties, and possibly the coaching. IMO by far his most egregious errors have been the DPI's that, coaching or not, he can not make.

I think a lot of people on this board have confirmation bias when it comes to DMC. If you decide to buy an iPhone over an Android, you will naturally seek for reasons to justify your purchase. Because he had a bad year last year, people instantly focus on any mistake he makes as "proof" that he's still terrible. It also doesn't help that good cornerback play, by definition, usually won't be shown on camera unless it's a spectacular play because the QB won't be targeting the covered receiver.

VrabelJr

You guys watch games through some weird lenses. McCourty played very good in the Baltimore game, he just gave up a bad penalty right at the end.

Jangles

It would be easier to count how many time he's not getting beat.

supafly

As mentioned earlier in the week, Shalize Manza Young and Greg Bedard both stated that the initial plan in the offseason was to move McCourty to safety full-time, but they ended up changing their minds due to what they saw as a lack of depth at the CB position.

That's the story that they are reporting, and I think (not 100% sure) that Tom Curran may have also mentioned it too as the 3rd reporter to make that statement. Curran's assessment was the the potential downfall/backslide at the CB position from moving McCourty to safety was so slim that they probably would be better off permanently moving him. In other words, McCourty really hasn't been playing that much better than the other options at CB--at least in Curran's opinion.

It will be interesting to see what happens not only tomorrow, but also down the line.My personal feeling is that we need to immediately shore up the safety position, and moving McCourty there will do it.

And for the OP, mgteich---the much better question would be "what to do with Kyle Arrington?" You somehow point out the Sterling Moore has been so bad (notice you didn't feel that way after he did well with proper safety help on Larry Fitzgerald holding him to 1 reception for 4 yards on a total of 4 targets)

I agree that Moore hasn't looked too good for the most part (outside of the first 2 games where he looked totally fine, and the other game that he missed), but I also think that the scheme where he was beat with Demarius Thomas was due to a blown safety assignment. There just isn't any way that Bill Belichick is pathetically stupid enough to put Sterling Moore one-on-one with the super speedy young WR1 from Denver without giving him any safety help at all. I just could not imagine someone so smart and seeing him in practice every day purposely accepting the fact that he'd be going one-on-one against Peyton Manning and his #1 target...do you?

Arrington, on the other hand--has looked ridiculous. He's giving up a perfect 158 opposing QB rating, and that's coming off last year where he was the 2nd worst CB in yardage allowed, behind your "much better option at CB---Devin McCourty."

How much worse can it really get having Moore out there as opposed to Arrington? Honestly?? At least we'd know that Moore is only going to be out there about 50% of the time, whereas Arrington is going to move to the slot when Moore comes in anyway, thus equaling almost every single snap.

They both aren't going to be the answer, so it really doesn't matter. The team is going to have to make due with what they have.

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patsfan-1982

McCourty is the best CB on this team but thats not saying much. the fact is he's not a Ty Law type corner he's not going to take away one side of the field he's more of a poor man's Asante Samuel he's a zone corner back that needs a good FS over the top so he can play the ball so way not play him at FS where he can play the ball

VrabelJr

Cool thing about Sterling Moore is his "it" factor. He seems to make plays.

DarrylS

The defensive backfield that is anticipated to start today has less than 5 years total NFL experience.. so if you start from that vantage point, it makes no difference how good everyone else is in this team sport.

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AndyJohnson

I think until Gregory or Chung are back, we have no one else to play safety.
You are the only person I see who considers Moore a safety in any way. The team certainly seems not to.
I agree we are better at corner with McCourty, but we are atrocious at S without him.
Ebner is not an NFL safety.

Joey007

Thats why I would't mind him sticking around in NE. Can't say the same about Arrington.

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Joey007

Thats his issue he rarely played on defense to start with at OSU. So now we should expect Ebner to magically turn into a superstar safety?? People really hyped this kid up a little much in the preseason.

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