#3 CB - What should the Pats do

I have several friends who are avid Eagle fans and know Fletcher very well. The common theme from all is that he sucks! He sucked for the Eagles and I'm not seeing any difference with the patriots

DaBruinz said:

BTW, before people lament about having let Arrington go, the Ravens are o-2.. Just remember that..

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This is called a non-sequitur.

You might equally have said that the patriots are 2-0, and therefore have no problem at corner.

Jeff Howe‏@jeffphowe
Here are my coverage stats through two weeks

JMC00 said:

Least he hasn't been as bad as the $64m Byron Maxwell

targeted 19 times
15 catches allowed
240 yards allowed
2 TD
158.3 QB rating against.

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Other than Suh, this was definitely the FA flop that should've been obvious from a country mile away.

Apparently, Logan is our slot/nickel corner. He had 50 reps on Sunday.

Fletcher is clearly our #4 CB, the all around backup who comes in when someone is nicked or needs a rest. Fletcher sucks as a backup outside corner.

However, it seems that Belichick prefers Fletcher to Swanson in that role. We'll see about Coleman.

JackBauer said:

Other than Suh, this was definitely the FA flop that should've been obvious from a country mile away.

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Yep. But i'm somewhat thankful for it because if the Eagles don't give it they may have decided to offer McCourty more.

Sign rg3 to corner and Tebow to full back and see how long it takes for the world to crumble to pieces.

Zuma said:

Jeff Howe‏@jeffphowe
Here are my coverage stats through two weeks

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Still think that 8 of 9 for 124 and TD was pretty impressive. 3 catches, 53 yards and the TD came on the last drive. So for 57 minutes Butler held Brown to 5 of 6 for 71 yards

When did Butler give up a TD yesterday?

If they are talking about the 32 yard pass to Robert Woods, he was clearly covering Percy Harvin on the outside. And tried to come over when he read the pass and break it up, but unfortunately he just missed knocking it down.

Logan Ryan started the play on Woods, but it appears he was in zone and passed Woods off to McCourty.

Here is the video for anyone who wants to see: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-...yrod-Taylor-finds-Robert-Woods-for-32-yard-TD

patsfan06 said:

When did Butler give up a TD yesterday?

If they are talking about the 32 yard pass to Robert Woods, he was clearly covering Percy Harvin on the outside. And tried to come over when he read the pass and break it up, but unfortunately he just missed knocking it down.

Logan Ryan started the play on Woods, but it appears he was in zone and passed Woods off to McCourty.

Here is the video for anyone who wants to see: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-...yrod-Taylor-finds-Robert-Woods-for-32-yard-TD

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That's the second time he's done that. He also got beat by Antonio Brown in the endzone, even though he was right up on the receiver and was in a perfect position to break up the pass.

Is it a timing issue with him?

DaBruinz said:

That is what happens when a #2CB gets matched up with a #1 WR and has no help over the top..

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Last night I spent some time listening to Philadelphia sports radio while driving down the NJTP. It was brutal. Host ended the first segment with a comment about talking his listeners down off the bridge, then went on a ten minute rant that sounded like he was ready to jump himself. Then he started taking calls, one of them gave Maxwell the same love, and got the same observations about expectations and help. So we should be counting our blessings that it's our #3/#4 CB that's the problem!

Zuma said:

Jeff Howe‏@jeffphowe
Here are my coverage stats through two weeks

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Have to say I'm impressed with Brown and how he has done so far.

JMC00 said:

Still think that 8 of 9 for 124 and TD was pretty impressive. 3 catches, 53 yards and the TD came on the last drive. So for 57 minutes Butler held Brown to 5 of 6 for 71 yards

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Also, yesterday Brown's line was 9 for 11, 195 yards and a TD. At least Butler did a good bit better than that, especially breaking out that last drive.

Logan Ryan gets my vote. I am most likely the biggest Ryan supporter on this board. I even saw him as a 1st rnd pick around the draft so you get the idea of how much I liked him. His problem is that he guesses wrong in short yardage situations. He sits at the sticks and then gets burned deep. Flacco tried to take advantage of this in the playoffs and was picked by our safeties twice. With more playing time everyone will stop hating on him when he starts guessing correct on a more consistent basis.

Fletcher should be banned from playing press outside of the redzone. Im still not ready to cut him but he is one of the least athletic corners I have seen. I even question his leaping ability because if he had some ups maybe Dez wouldnt have caught those short fades so easily last year. I want him on the bench for the most part.

Another idea could be to let Tavon play the slot. Yes I said Tavon. When I rewatched a few games I saw that his man coverage is solid. He gets too much hate for his rookie year when he couldnt defend a deep post in back to back games. That was long ago and I even think he is worthy of being a starter now.

The D played great yesterday. 8 sacks, 3 INT. The score doesn't reflect how much the D dominated the Bills.

Many on this forum were poo pooing the front 7 a week ago. Some wanted to dump Chandler.

Thank God BB doesn't listen to anyone on this forum. Chill and enjoy the ride.

Angelpats said:

Sometimes Harmon has to sit when Chung and mccourty are in so just a suggestion to let him try the cb3 spot. Can't be any worse than fletcher but would not mind Coleman, Ryan or Swanson be given a chance first.

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I think our safety depth is much better than corner depth, so I could see this happening. Or really switch it up, have McCourty move down to corner and put Harmon back deep in the centerfield role. Maybe do that in zone, where McCourty had a lot more success as a corner. I know he hinted how much he disliked it during the pre-season, but you're a captain Devin, act like it.

If Chung's coverage is an issue at the other safety spot, why not try out Richards or Wilson, who had a pretty good preseason?

As for potential trade targets, there are some, but we don't have enough cap room for Joseph or Hall or Carr or Amukamara. One guy to keep an eye on would be Marcus Cooper. He had a good start to his career but fell apart at some point. He's proven he can play at this level, but has fallen out of favour in KC. The Chiefs kept 10 DBs, partly because Sean Smith is suspended the first 3 games, but he may be available after next week for nothing. I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on him.

Chiuba E. Obele said:

That's the second time he's done that. He also got beat by Antonio Brown in the endzone, even though he was right up on the receiver and was in a perfect position to break up the pass.

Is it a timing issue with him?

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Sometimes the QB makes a fantastic throw, not much you can do about that.

Chiuba E. Obele said:

That's the second time he's done that. He also got beat by Antonio Brown in the endzone, even though he was right up on the receiver and was in a perfect position to break up the pass.

Is it a timing issue with him?

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Yes.

He looked like he was playing zone on that play.

Does anybody recall who did or didn't have combine/Pro Day numbers with great agility marks?

That aside:

• McCourty is the most accomplished CB among the Patriots safeties. Duh.
  
• Chung has been used as slot corner in the distant past. I have no detailed recollection of when, and no idea of why. I don't think it worked out very well.
• I like the Wilson idea, but not when he has a dubious hamstring.

JMC00 said:

Still think that 8 of 9 for 124 and TD was pretty impressive. 3 catches, 53 yards and the TD came on the last drive. So for 57 minutes Butler held Brown to 5 of 6 for 71 yards

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LOL, I don't think 5-6 for 70 yards is "holding" anybody.