Rodney Harrison: Worst secondary in 10 years

[Darolyn72]

I guess Rodney must be not a "true" Patriot. He must be a Jets fan. He must not be making up fake statistical analysis to make his point.

Oh no that's right, he one of the best football analysts in the country and he knows how bad this secondary is.

 

[Rob0729]

I guess Rodney must be not a "true" Patriot. He must be a Jets fan. He must not be making up fake statistical analysis to make his point.

Oh no that's right, he one of the best football analysts in the country and he knows how bad this secondary is.

No. Rodney isn't a Jets fan, but you are.

 

[PatsDeb]

I guess Rodney must be not a "true" Patriot. He must be a Jets fan. He must not be making up fake statistical analysis to make his point.

Oh no that's right, he one of the best football analysts in the country and he knows how bad this secondary is.

Neither I nor anyone on here is a highly paid football analyst and we could have come (or already have some time ago) to the same conclusion as Rodney. When do we start making the big bucks?

 

[neuronet]

I guess Rodney must be not a "true" Patriot. He must be a Jets fan. He must not be making up fake statistical analysis to make his point.

Oh no that's right, he one of the best football analysts in the country and he knows how bad this secondary is.

petty much?

 

[BelichickFan]

For accuracy, he said the worst Patriots secondary in 10 years, not the worst secondary in 10 years.

If you're going to quote or paraphrase a guy - get it right.

Edit - if you got the quote right I apologize, Chris Price quoted the same as the O.P. When I saw it he DEFINITELY said worst Patriots secondary but maybe he said it differently a different time.

 

[DefenseRules]

For accuracy, he said the worst Patriots secondary in 10 years, not the worst secondary in 10 years.

If you're going to quote or paraphrase a guy - get it right.

He's right. I have finally crossed over to the dark side on this one.

 

[randomk1]

Well...the quote seems to say that it is the worst secondary of the last 10 years in Rodney's opinion. He also mentions that Brady might be feeling extra pressure because of the D.

 

[BelichickFan]

He's right. I have finally crossed over to the dark side on this one.

Me too although we still have Chung to come back which could make it a little better. Clearly we'll need to outscore teams to have a chance against decent offenses and I'm wondering if Tebow might get 300 yards next week

 

[everlong]

I think we've had worse corners but with Chung out it's by far the worst we've been at safety. Rodney and say what you will about James Sanders put other players in the right position. They are lost at times. Getting Chung back will help but they still don't have a cover safety who gets the system.

 

[olschool]

He's right. I have finally crossed over to the dark side on this one.

Finally crossed over ? This pass defense has been on the dark side since Ty Law left.

You don't have to be an "expert" to see that a defensive backfield playing with street free agents and two special team / wide receivers, out of desperation, is going to look like the Keystone Kops on a regular basis.

I just don't understand how BB has let it get to this point, and wonder how
the "defensive genius " can sleep at night.

The pressure is all on Brady and it's beginning to show. He has to go into every game knowing that he has to put up at least 30 points. I guess that's why he get's the big bucks.

 

[Rob0729]

I think we've had worse corners but with Chung out it's by far the worst we've been at safety. Rodney and say what you will about James Sanders put other players in the right position. They are lost at times. Getting Chung back will help but they still don't have a cover safety who gets the system.

Ihedebgo played decent earlier in the season. He clearly is playing through a shoulder injury. If he can heal that while playing, he will improve the secondary too.

I do agree though that it is the safeties that are the bigger problem. It clearly was the bigger problem yesterday. Everyone was all over McCourty (who struggled in the first half and was approaching to 2010 in the second) for giving up big plays, but several of those plays were because the over the top support was not there from the safeties.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

...When do we start making the big bucks?

igsfly:

10 char

 

[everlong]

Ihedebgo played decent earlier in the season. He clearly is playing through a shoulder injury. If he can heal that while playing, he will improve the secondary too.

I do agree though that it is the safeties that are the bigger problem. It clearly was the bigger problem yesterday. Everyone was all over McCourty (who struggled in the first half and was approaching to 2010 in the second) for giving up big plays, but several of those plays were because the over the top support was not there from the safeties.

I commented on McCorty in another thread and the most disappointing play was the penalty on 3rd and 18 on a ten yard in cut. Situational football at it's worst. I know he's hurt but I expect more out of him in this regard.

Ihedebgo has had his moment but he looked awful a half dozen times yesterday making the wrong read. Again that's not physical. I don't even completely blame him on the trick play the Skins ran. That was well designed and a great call by Shanahan. Sometimes you just have to give the other guys the credit they deserve.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I disagree with Rodney. STATISTICALLY the secondary in 2005 was worse.

-31st in passing yards allowed
-30th is passing yards per play
-27th in QB rating
-31st in 20+ yard gains
-32nd in 40+ yard gains
-26th in INTs
-28th in passing TDs allowed
-32nd in YPC by receivers

Poor pass rush. No Law. 3rd yr starter Asante. Rookie Ellis Hobbs. Atrell Hawkins. Duane Starks cut. Rookie James Sanders. Wilson, Gay and Rodney all IR'd.

At least these kids force turnovers.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Well...the quote seems to say that it is the worst secondary of the last 10 years in Rodney's opinion. He also mentions that Brady might be feeling extra pressure because of the D.

I'll leave determining the exact wording of Rodney's remarks to others, but no matter how he worded it, the general idea is pretty hard to dispute.

What's beyond the weak powers of my poor, limited brain to comprehend is how a team with one of the three or four best QB's in the entire history of the NFL could end up in a situation where it has a D that is so "challenged" that it ends up putting pressure on him to perform at an heroic level week-in-and-week-out. I worry that Brady is going to hang in the pocket in the face of rushing trucks a second or two extra once too often because he feels the need to make it all happen himself.

 

[ralmat55]

Ihedebgo played decent earlier in the season. He clearly is playing through a shoulder injury. If he can heal that while playing, he will improve the secondary too.

I do agree though that it is the safeties that are the bigger problem. It clearly was the bigger problem yesterday. Everyone was all over McCourty (who struggled in the first half and was approaching to 2010 in the second) for giving up big plays, but several of those plays were because the over the top support was not there from the safeties.

On the deep completion to Stallworth, Ihedebgo was blitzing rather than playing the middle of the field.

 

[DefenseRules]

Finally crossed over ? This pass defense has been on the dark side since Ty Law left.

You don't have to be an "expert" to see that a defensive backfield playing with street free agents and two special team / wide receivers, out of desperation, is going to look like the Keystone Kops on a regular basis.

I just don't understand how BB has let it get to this point, and wonder how
the "defensive genius " can sleep at night.

The pressure is all on Brady and it's beginning to show. He has to go into every game knowing that he has to put up at least 30 points. I guess that's why he get's the big bucks.

I was hoping for a little improvement as the season went on. That's all. But man, I just don't think that this group is capable of it. I really don't. It's not their fault. They are what they are, IMO.

 

[condon84]

Well, at least McCourty played well: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/10/864196-ill-say-i-thought-mccourty-played-well.html

 

[Mike in 333]

Our secondary is bad, very bad; our coverage in an open field is awful and we've made some very marginal QB's look pretty good. We seem to have the ability to take DB's with potential and by their 2nd year with us they're average at best, in some cases they regress to the point where they're no longer here.
Rodney played here, he played the position and he knows the schemes and if he says it's the worst and there's no evidence to the contrary I'll take his word for it.
Having said that though some of the reasons are pretty obvious; Ihedigbo is hurt it's obvious when he gets hit he's in a lot of pain. McCourty is hurt, he can barely lift one arm but yesterday, in my opinion, he played the position the way we play it and I'm not sure what else he could have done better on the Stallworth reception. Chung is hurt and is sorely missed.
Once we compact the field into the redzone our defense becomes another animal that is pretty well designed to take away the touchdown and limit scoring to field goals.
That we give up a lot of yards is really not the problem; the problem is that we can't get an opponents offense off the field. Obviously this team is designed to take advantage of our offensive potential but that's all it is if the offense is on the bench. If our defense can't stop a team on 3rd down or get multiple turnovers we are going to see more games like yesterday where we rely on the other team to lose not on our team to win.

 

[randomk1]

That we give up a lot of yards is really not the problem; the problem is that we can't get an opponents offense off the field. Obviously this team is designed to take advantage of our offensive potential but that's all it is if the offense is on the bench. If our defense can't stop a team on 3rd down or get multiple turnovers we are going to see more games like yesterday where we rely on the other team to lose not on our team to win.

That is my biggest fear regarding the playoffs. What happens when we are down by some two scores and we need the D to actually start getting off the field. Can the D stiffen up when we need it?