What happened to Chung?

TheBostonStraggler · Sep 22, 2014

upstater1 said:
He is playing well. But he is also playing among a host of other studs in the secondary.

When the other players in the secondary are "doing their jobs" then the QBs job becomes that much tougher, and the QB finds himself throwing long to fullbacks out of the backfield.

When that happens, mediocre players like Chung find themselves in a position to succeed.

Revis, Dennard, Browner, Ryan, Arrington, Butler.
McCourty, Chung, Harmon, Ebner, Wilson.

The Patriots have devoted a lot of resources to their DBackfield.

My exact thoughts. I hope Chung's seasoning has made him a smarter player and we are seeing the results of a veteran now attacking the game with greater efficiency. Yet since he has been poor on D for several straight seasons coupled with he is now playing with Revis, DM, Dennard, even Arrington, it's likely Chung is being buoyed by a rising tide.
With that said, I'm glad to see Chung making the most of his opportunity regardless of the reason. He's a tough guy and appears to attack the game with the kind of enthusiasm I like to see.

mgteich · Sep 22, 2014

For three years, Belichick has been trying to solve the problem of S2. He has drafted in the 2nd and 3rd round. He brought in vets: Wilson, Gregory and Chung. There hasn't been a huge amount of talent available.

And the Belichick had an aha moment. Perhaps the best way to deal with the relative lack of talent at S2 is to upgrade C2. Then S2 could be a position shared by more than role player. So, we now have Revis, Ryan and Browner to come.

IMHO, this solution is a good one. Chung can play S2 most of the time. However, we have Wilson/Harmon in pure passing situations. We even have Ebner as a dime back, with Dennard and Browner not available.

Deus Irae · Sep 22, 2014

mgteich said:
For three years, Belichick has been trying to solve the problem of S2. He has drafted in the 2nd and 3rd round. He brought in vets: Wilson, Gregory and Chung. There hasn't been a huge amount of talent available.

And the Belichick had an aha moment. Perhaps the best way to deal with the relative lack of talent at S2 is to upgrade C2. Then S2 could be a position shared by more than role player. So, we now have Revis, Ryan and Browner to come.

IMHO, this solution is a good one. Chung can play S2 most of the time. However, we have Wilson/Harmon in pure passing situations. We even have Ebner as a dime back, with Dennard and Browner not available.

He's "solved" the problem of S2 by having Dennard, McCourty and Revis make S2 a minor position that is functioning as a homeless man's Chancellor. That's not really going to be a fix against teams who are deep at WR, and it wasn't a fix when Ryan was in there against the Raiders.

I wonder if people realize just how much less pressure would have been on that defense if Dennard had been healthy on Sunday.

mgteich · Sep 22, 2014

Deus Irae said:
He's "solved" the problem of S2 by having Dennard, McCourty and Revis make S2 a minor position that is functioning as a homeless man's Chancellor. That's not really going to be a fix against teams who are deep at WR, and it wasn't a fix when Ryan was in there against the Raiders.

I wonder if people realize just how much less pressure would have been on that defense if Dennard had been healthy on Sunday.

Is your point that the S2 position will be even less of a problem when Dennard and Browner are playing?

Deus Irae · Sep 22, 2014

mgteich said:
Is your point that the S2 position will be even less of a problem when Dennard and Browner are playing?

No. My point is that they are able to cover for the weakness against bad teams, as long as they have the other starters in place. McCourty and Revis can cover a lot of space. Dennard is not lock-down, but he's very capable, and that lets McCourty cover the area that this team's crappy S2s can't, basically making the S2 an undersized LB.

Stick a team like Denver out there, though, and that's going to change.

Nunchucks · Sep 23, 2014

Really simple. Chung is only being asked to do things he is good at.

voluntarysaftey · Sep 23, 2014

Nunchucks said:
Really simple. Chung is only being asked to do things he is good at.

And Chung excels at the exact things we need a SS to do with the good FS and CBs.
If Chung was below average in/near the box and great in coverage, he would be a better overall SS but not as good for this team. It's sort of the perfect match.

DocHoliday · Sep 23, 2014

Just wish we would see more of his playmaking instinct like we saw against Miami several years ago. Feels like he's been burned and berated so many times he's trying very hard not to mess up.

1960Pats · Sep 23, 2014

Sicilian said:
His role is being carefully controlled. He's playing closer to the line of scrimmage and is being asked to play mostly run support or very short distance coverages (not much if anything over the top). They can do this with him now because they have McCourty covering the deeper zones and talented corners that don't need constant two-deep safety help.

I think Chung is very much the same player he's always been. He just doesn't have to be anything more than that at the moment, which is a good thing.

I'm glad that I spotted you here Sicilian. In another thread you asked me why I thought that Chung still stinks. I forgot which thread that was so I can answer you here, now that I watched that game and another one.

The reason I was down on him at the time was because he messed up on the TD in the Minny game. There was another instance I was thinking of but it turned out to be another player. All in all, I may have overreacted and Chung isn't as bad as I made him out to be at the time.

What happened to Chung?

TheBostonStraggler

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

mgteich

PatsFans.com Veteran

Deus Irae

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

mgteich

PatsFans.com Veteran

Deus Irae

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Nunchucks

PatsFans.com Supporter

voluntarysaftey

Third String But Playing on Special Teams

DocHoliday

In the Starting Line-Up

1960Pats

PatsFans.com Supporter

Similar threads