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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.I for one, never even came close to giving up on Cunningham. He played a nice rookie year in 2010 and then lost his job due to the effectiveness of Andre Carter (duh) as a better option, and an unfortunate injury.
Those who gave up on him were way too quick to do so in my opinion.
I think he certainly has potential and made some nice strides.
Even if we go from terrible to average I will be happy. Watching those huge pass plays on 3rd & long game after game was so frustrating!
I have to say, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic - not overly homeristic, but cautiously optimistic - about the secondary for the first time in a long, long time. At least since the beginning of 2011, probably since early 2010, maybe longer. The emergence of Alfonzo Dennard. McCourty's play at FS. And the Talib trade. It just seems to like the storm clouds are suddenly shifting and some light is finally beginning to shine after a long period of darkness. I realize that it could all be an illusion, especially with Talib's off field history. But I'm cautiously optimistic.
How does Arrington fit into the optimism ledger?
I could be totally off with this so feel free to give feedback either direction. I think the #1 reason the trade was a great one is not Talib but actually McCourty at FS.
Last season when he made that move is when the defense made the drastic improvements.
McCourty has the skill set and work ethic to develop into a Ed Reed type playmaking FS.
Then you look at how he allows is to play with 7 front players on the field more because he can cover man to man.
Personally I'm playing him and Wilson deep and using Chung as a LB a lot more.
According to Mike Lombardi the Pats will be moving McCourty to safety permanently:
New England Patriots move Devin McCourty to safety
According to Mike Lombardi the Pats will be moving McCourty to safety permanently:
New England Patriots move Devin McCourty to safety
That's not a report of what he was told, but rather a reiteration of what he believes. He knows how Bill likes to operate and construct his team. He knows that the Patriots wanted McCourty as a Safety this year but didn't have another valuable Cornerback. Now they have 2, in Talib and Dennard.
He is simply connecting the dots, it seems. He could be right as we all think, or he could be wrong. The title of the analysis is a bit misleading in that regard.
So far through 8 games the Pats' overall defense has been somewhere between mediocre to respectable, ranking 12th in points allowed (averaging 21.3 PPG) and 23rd in total yardage . The run defense has been outstanding, ranking first in least YPA (3.5) and 8th in YPG (88.6). And they rank 3rd in the NFL (and 1st in the AFC) with 20 takeaways (11 fumble recoveries, 9 INTs).
The pass defense has been another story. The Pats rank 28th in passing YPG (281), and in yards per attempt (8.0). They rank 27th in opposing QB rating, allowing an average rating of 96.8. The 17 passing TDs which they've given up is tied for 2nd worst in the league. And they rank 23rd in opponent 3rd down conversion rate (43%). By all measures our secondary play has been poor. And what we've witnessed is commensurate with what the numbers suggest.
I think that's about to change. Recent history has shown that teams can go from having poor pass defenses to very good ones in a very short time. The 2010 San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks were among the worst pass defenses in the league, and the 2010 Houston Texans set records for the most passing yardage allowed. All 3 teams were markedly better in 2011, and are among the best in the league this year. And I think there's a good chance that we're about to be the next team to make that switch.
There are 4 reasons why I think things are about to change:
1. Upgrades in personnel. The Pats' secondary has been paper thin. Pat Chung and Steve Gregory have been out. Ras-I Dowling was banged up before going on IR. Kyle Arrington has been hobbled. Things seem to finally be improving. Gregory was almost back for the Rams game, so he should be back after the bye week. Hopefully Chung will be back, and some time off will benefit Arrington. Alfonzo Dennard has just begun to emerge over the past few weeks as a bona fide starting CB. And the acquisition of Aqib Talib immediately upgrades our personnel at CB by a considerable margin.
2. Devin McCourty as the deep FS. McCourty has played FS for the past 2 games, and BB has noted that the deep protection was improved from previous weeks. The Pats haven't had a FS with deep cover skills since Brandon Meriweather was cut, and Meriweather lacked the discipline and selflessness to play that role well. McCourty in man coverage is a liability. McCourty patrolling the deep part of the field with everything in front of him and making sure nothing gets by could be an Earl Thomas kind of anchor for the secondary, allowing the CBs to play more man-press and the front 7 to attack more aggressively. It may take a few games for McCourty to make the adjustment, but by the end of the season I think we'll see a huge difference in big pass plays and long 3rd down completions. I personally think that BB's comments plus the acquisition of Aqib Talib is a clear sign that DMac will stay at FS. The position is too important, and no one else has the skills to handle it.
3. Coherence in the secondary. For years now it seems like the secondary has lacked cohesiveness, coherence and communication. Having DMac as the deep safety and captain of the secondary should help. He will play the same kind of role that Jerod Mayo plays for the front 7. In addition, having 2 CBs who are suited to playing press-man coverage will allow the secondary to have a coherent approach for the first time in a long time. It seems like the secondary has been too busy applying band-aids to put 4-5 guys on the field to have any consistency or coherence. Remember last year when the safeties seemed to change every quarter? With 2 outside CBs who can play press-man and a solid deep cover FS, the coaching staff can mix and match with the other parts, using Chung, Wilson, Gregory, Arrington and Cole as the situation dictates, without giving up basic defensive coherence or cohesion.
4. Synergy with the front 7. Houston's secondary improved from 2010 to 2011 in part because of the acquisition of CB Jonathan Joseph, who provided a huge upgrade. But without a doubt the addition of JJ Watt and Brooks Reed and the return of Connor Barwin made at least as much difference. It's hard to play an aggressive defense when the secondary is getting strafed, and it's hard for any secondary to hold up in the NFL when there's no pressure on opposing QBs. If the deep safety coverage is reliable it will allow the CBs to play press-man and bump opposing receivers off their routes, knowing that someone has their back if their man gets past them. That allows the front 7 to attack more aggressively, generate more pressure, and create more disruption.
Theoretically, it should all come together. Of course, it never works exactly the way it should in theory. I'm sure there will be some bumps on the way. But I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that we'll see significant improvement in the pass defense over the next 8 games, so that by the end of the regular season it is almost unrecognizable from what we saw against Seattle, Baltimore, or the Jets earlier this season. I certainly hope so. I'm not worried about making it to the playoffs with what we've had up to now, but making it through without a significantly improved pass defense would have required an awful lot of luck.
EIf your pass rush is not good enough to get to the QB quick and your secondary is not good enough to give them more time, then you are in a stalemate: you cannot blitz much becouse you cannot afford to take players away from coverage, and on the other hand, you cannot put extra guys on coverage becouse you lack the necessary talent on the DL.
To fix the issue, you dont need to fix both parts of the team entirely. You just need to make both "good enough" so that they work well together. It can mean a great pass rush with a mediocre secondary, or a mediocre pass rush assisted by a great secondary. On the other hand, having both "solid" on the scale is just as good.
I think our pass rush is solid. Tools for greatness are in place but we are not there yet. All we need is a little boost to our secondary, and soon solid pass rush is all we need to have all-around solid pass defense.
Things like coverage schemes, pressure packages and disguise are important, but when you add all things together, it all comes down to two simple things:
1) How much time your pass rush needs?
2) How much time your secondary can give them?
If 2 is smaller than 1, then its a negative chain reaction. One part of your defense always fails to help the other, making both of them look bad in the process.
However if 1 is smaller than 2, then you are in for a positive chain reaction, where one unit helps another to create reputation. And when they have reputation, then no QB will step in front of them feeling all fuzzy and comfortable. That is the key to shutting down clowns like Sanchize.
That's not a report of what he was told, but rather a reiteration of what he believes. He knows how Bill likes to operate and construct his team. He knows that the Patriots wanted McCourty as a Safety this year but didn't have another valuable Cornerback. Now they have 2, in Talib and Dennard.
He is simply connecting the dots, it seems. He could be right as we all think, or he could be wrong. The title of the analysis is a bit misleading in that regard.
He's been off for weeks, and will lose another week or play/practice because of the bye. He can't play, or practice, until after the Bills game. He'll likely be trying to grasp the playbook and thinking too much in the Colts game. As a result, I'm looking at the Jets game as the first game where Talib should really begin feeling comfortable. That leaves him just 6 games and a small number of padded practices to get 100%. So, unless he's getting lit up like Santa's Village at Christmastime, I'll be looking more at how the other players in the secondary play around him than I will be looking at his game. As long as he's been fully integrated and is up to snuff by the playoffs, I'll be thinking more confident thoughts about this year's (likely) playoff run than I was at any time last season.
Moving McCourty to safety does lead to something I think is an interesting question for next year:
If you're BB, do you still draft a safety if McCourty and Wilson look as if they're clicking well and doing a decent job?
No one 'knows the Patriots wanted to move McCourty to safety". That is a much regurgitated, yet unsubstantiated OPINION of Boston sportswriters.
So far through 8 games the Pats' overall defense has been somewhere between mediocre to respectable, ranking 12th in points allowed (averaging 21.3 PPG) and 23rd in total yardage . The run defense has been outstanding, ranking first in least YPA (3.5) and 8th in YPG (88.6). And they rank 3rd in the NFL (and 1st in the AFC) with 20 takeaways (11 fumble recoveries, 9 INTs).
The pass defense has been another story. The Pats rank 28th in passing YPG (281), and in yards per attempt (8.0). They rank 27th in opposing QB rating, allowing an average rating of 96.8. The 17 passing TDs which they've given up is tied for 2nd worst in the league. And they rank 23rd in opponent 3rd down conversion rate (43%). By all measures our secondary play has been poor. And what we've witnessed is commensurate with what the numbers suggest.
I think that's about to change. ...
Theoretically, it should all come together. Of course, it never works exactly the way it should in theory. ...
Unfortunately, a lot of other teams are also planning to "get better" over the second half of the season.
I agree. The terms "knows" and "wanted" might be 100% true, but the term in between them "the Patriots", might mean a DB coach, Patricia, BB or Mayo for all we know.
Whenever reporters cite an organization instead of an individual, I always raise my eyebrows. Regardless of whether we talk about sports journalism or any other journalism for that matter.