Positive From Last Night: We Have Our Mayo Back!

I think Tavon Wilson was playing some sort of in the box safety as a linebacker with coverage ability.

mgteich said:

What we seem to be celebrating is that Mayo was very good in the base defense, a defense that we play in frequently. Is that correct?

I would expect Mayo to play in the base when Collins is back.

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Yes, I would say against base run he looks as improving each week now.

Passing situations, I would go with Hightower/Collins in a 4-2-5 alignment (Chung or Tavon is like having another LB).

The weekly improvement is now noticeable. It wasn't during the first half of the season.

Joker said:

I told Tunescribe during the game that Mayo was noticeably slow in coverage and whiffed on a couple of chances to make tackles on Tyrod he would have made preinjury. He's back but he's nowhere close to the all pro Jerod Mayo we knew. The Pats desperately need Collins back.

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Agree. At this point in time he is a shell of what he was. I think the points made about him progressing are fair but the progression been alarmingly slow.

Think we should try Tavon Wilson at the nickel CB spot?

Wheelman said:

I think Tavon Wilson was playing some sort of in the box safety as a linebacker with coverage ability.

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He was playing some nickel corner. He didn't look awful at it, either.

IIRC, Mayo used to be pulled in sub packages sometimes even when he was the team's consensus best LB. This was surprising since I thought he had excellent measurables, which in turn were part of why he was drafted high.

As for Wilson -- Richards got zero snaps. That was a reversal. I imagine it was more about game planning and skill sets rather than health, but I don't know that for a fact.

mgteich said:

What we seem to be celebrating is that Mayo was very good in the base defense, a defense that we play in frequently. Is that correct?

I would expect Mayo to play in the base when Collins is back.

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I think we'll see him in 3 LB formations with Collins and Hightower, but I think it's kind of a historical relic to call that the base defense. The Pats most frequently have 2 LB on the field these days, and when that's the case I don't expect we'll see much of Mayo.

Fencer said:

As for Wilson -- Richards got zero snaps. That was a reversal. I imagine it was more about game planning and skill sets rather than health, but I don't know that for a fact.

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I think Wilson has developed into sort of a pseudo-LB in his own right, so when Chung moved to nickel corner (which is a whole separate issue and something I hope they throw out of their gameplans), Wilson took Chung's usual role as a safety who plays close to the LOS and makes plays in front of him.

BradyFTW! said:

I think Wilson has developed into sort of a pseudo-LB in his own right, so when Chung moved to nickel corner (which is a whole separate issue and something I hope they throw out of their gameplans), Wilson took Chung's usual role as a safety who plays close to the LOS and makes plays in front of him.

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So you're saying that Wilson is Chung's backup, who was needed because Chung had a different role?

Mike Reiss Verified account ‏@MikeReiss
Bill Belichick on Tavon Wilson: "Had opportunity to play more and did a good job with it. Corner-type [responsibilities]."

Mack Herron said:

Mike Reiss Verified account ‏@MikeReiss
Bill Belichick on Tavon Wilson: "Had opportunity to play more and did a good job with it. Corner-type [responsibilities]."

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BB likes to blur positional distinctions when he can. I suspect that's what's happening here. Butler will always be a CB and Harmon (when on the field) will always be a free safety, with only the rarest of exceptions, but opposing QBs will have a harder time predicting the role on any given play for some of the other DBs.

Bill Belichick on D&H: ‘Peyton Manning is a player I would never underestimate under any circumstances’


BB on Mayo at some length. Definitely doesn't sound as if BB thinks he's all the way back from injury.

Fencer said:

So you're saying that Wilson is Chung's backup, who was needed because Chung had a different role?

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That's what it seemed like to me, although not quite that cut-and-dry. Take that with a huge grain of salt though, of course.

robertweathers said:

The dude played 16 snaps. Thats it.

While he did play decent, hes not "back".

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Give tackles in 16 snaps is a little better than decent. Hopefully he can start playing more

BradyFTW! said:

I think Wilson has developed into sort of a pseudo-LB in his own right, so when Chung moved to nickel corner (which is a whole separate issue and something I hope they throw out of their gameplans), Wilson took Chung's usual role as a safety who plays close to the LOS and makes plays in front of him.

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I'm guessing that Chung was playing in that role due to the injuries with our CBs, and no other reason. Let's hope that Coleman comes back soon (yes, I just typed that).

Belichick and staff have been doing an excellent job at hiding his weaknesses in coverage to this point. It would seem odd to change it up now. At least they went this route rather than throwing Melvin out there, so I'm guessing it was the old "lesser of two evils" situation.

Fencer said:

IIRC, Mayo used to be pulled in sub packages sometimes even when he was the team's consensus best LB. This was surprising since I thought he had excellent measurables, which in turn were part of why he was drafted high.

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You're right, as pass coverage was always one noticeable weakness in his game.

We all used to rip on Spikes for his inability to cover anyone, but Mayo really wasn't that much better in my opinion.

Hope people here are aware that Collins will most probably be on a limited snap count next week. First game back after fighting a virus for three weeks at Mile High doesnt sound like the ideal scenario. It will take a few weeks to get his conditioning back to where it was.

TheGreatestEVER said:

About Tavon Wilson, I was wondering the same thing. That was so unexpected of him, especially since Harmon emerged. A pleasant surprise. Hopefully it isn't a mere flash in the pan.

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McCourty and Harmon provide the FS play, do that Chung and Tavon can play as in-the-box Safeties which is where their talent is.

Wheelman said:

I think Tavon Wilson was playing some sort of in the box safety as a linebacker with coverage ability.

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Bingo! He can performmore than adequately there, but fails when given deep FS responsibilties, as he doesn't have the speed.