How do we cover the tight end?

[Absurdly Metro]

No way Keller is catching all those balls last night with Rodney on him. IMO, Pats will have real problems vs. teams with pass catching tight ends (like Pitt) because we don't have anyone who can cover the underneath middle now that Rodney's out. Other teams will copy what the Jests did last night.

The question is how do we counter it? The 3rd and 15 conversion jumps out at you but the truth is that guy killed us all night repeatedly. Whenever they needed it it was there. Kind of reminded me of the 2006 AFCCG vs. Indy in the 2nd half when Clark absolutely torched Eric Alexander the whole 2nd half with Rodney out. So what's the answer? More blitzing? Should we have brought big time pressure on that 3rd and 15 in OT? And who is being groomed to take over Rodney's role in coverage on the TE's?

 

[VJCPatriot]

Throw baloney at the wall and hope it sticks? I don't know. Tight ends have been killing us for a long time. The answer to that might not be on the current roster.

 

[BradyManny]

I don't think Rodney fared much better. And it might have to do w the faith in the CBs, to me it looks like the Pats are keeping both Meriweather and Sanders back, which is leaving the seams open for tight ends. Just my 02 cents, anyone seeing this as well?

 

[captadamnj]

We need a difference maker at safety. Rodney filled this role for as well for a few years. IMO, this is what the defense needs most. The d-line is good, the linebackers are getting younger and faster and I like what I seeing coming up there, and I believe the corners could hold their own with a difference making safety, someone that could rush the quarterback, scare a receiver of really getting walloped when going downfield, and someone that makes a would-be 6 yard run a 3 yard run and stops the guy on 3rd and 15 short of the stick.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Rodney had not been as dominant as in his earlier days in covering tight ends in the past so I doubt things would have been any different last night.

 

[cstjohn17]

Rodney had not been as dominant as in his earlier days in covering tight ends in the past so I doubt things would have been any different last night.

I disagree, last year they locked Harrison 1:1 with both Whitten and Dallas Clark with pretty good success. This year they are trying it more with the newer faster LBs with mixed results. The Safeties are playing back to protect the CBs, I don't think any of us want to Delta Staurks 1:1 with anyone (see SD game).

For most of the game they were content with a dump off to a TE, the LBs were taking deep drops opening up the middle. Damn I would love it if our TEs would drift 5 yards into an open spot and stop. Instead they run down the field like a chicken with their heads cut off, sometimes you get a big play, most times you get a really difficult angle to throw the ball into a tight spot. There must have been 5 crossing patterns to Watson that were missed, very difficult and low percentage plays. The Jets just took what the Patriots gave.

As for the 3rd and 15, that was a blown coverage, plain and simple. Vrabel lined up over the TE but rushed the QB without even disrupting his route. The ILB (Guyton I think) must not have know that Vrabel was rushing and he let Keller get away. Keller is very fast for a TE and once he got a couple of steps was wide open down the seam.

To answer the question? How do we cover a TE? We are probably better equipped to stop a TE now than we have been since Roman Phifer, both Mayo and Guyton can cover the short area and with Safety help overtop the TE is eliminated. Or we could put Merriweather 1:1 with a TE but that leaves a WR in single coverage, our CBs cannot hold up for long 1:1.

 

[captadamnj]

We don't need the Rodney from 3 weeks ago at safety, we need the Rodney from 3 years ago.

 

[BradyManny]

I disagree, last year they locked Harrison 1:1 with both Whitten and Dallas Clark with pretty good success. This year they are trying it more with the newer faster LBs with mixed results. The Safeties are playing back to protect the CBs, I don't think any of us want to Delta Staurks 1:1 with anyone (see SD game).

I dunno, Harrison's coverage skills were really in decline. I first noticed it when he struggled in a few really key plays in the SB, and this season, an awful lot of passes were being completed in his direction, and he wasn't breaking anything up. I love Rodney, but they were asking a lot of him to match up w TEs or WRs in the slot.

Meriweather has been great in coverage this year, but a) I don't think he's big enough to cover the bigger TEs and b) he's doing a good job roaming the deeper part of the field, so I'd keep him there. Not sure what the answer is, but it's probably not Rodney. Not having a healthy AD doesn't help the cause either, as he is pretty decent at staying w those big TEs.

 

[JoeShmoe]

I think all season we've got torched in the secondary. Merriweather is gettinf better and IMHO Mayo and Guyton will become good or very good ILB's with side to side coverage speed but next year 1st round we have to go safety or corner

 

[Joker]

Hey, Keller is already the best TE in the AFC...great pick by Tannebaum