A look at where the Ravens had success against the defense

[Rob0729]

I rest my case the numbers don't lie some of you so called "experts" need to apologize to Curran and those like myself who claim that ha ha shut down CB Devin McCourty was the goat.

I agree the numbers don't lie and if you read them correctly, Curran owes everyone who read his column an apology for a completely incorrect article that fly against the facts.

 

[goheels22002]

During the last drive, Flacco threw at McCourty exclusively. One when Smith was on his side (which was a completion), and again when Jones was over there (Jones drew a penalty after badly beating McC at the LOS).

If McCourty had looked the ball in on one or both of the dropped interceptions, they wouldn't have targeted him as much as they did. McCourty came incredibly close to having a great game. If he'd picked off one or both of those balls, the nail-in-the-coffin pass interference probably would have never occurred.

If Arrington had not slipped on the floater to the deep left side, the Patriots win that game. That play was a killer. Arrington was in precisely the right place to make that interception.

 

[BlueThunder]

A good CB makes one, if not both those INT's...

At this stage, McCourty is not that good.....he's barely average if that.

As said before, until drastic improvement in coverage and ball skills is shown, I'm off the bandwagon for him. Last year I gave him the benefit of the doubt but no longer.

Arrington at least sees the ball.

JMHO

 

[Ring 6]

Because you would say Arrington played worst don't dismiss the fact that he wasn't thrown against when it counted at the end.

So yuor response to the numbers dont lie is what you think I would say, but didnt say?
Arrington was thrown at as well on that drive.

AJ the fact that McCourty is a First Round prospect doesn't mean that he's better than Arrington.

Who ever said it did?

I cannot wait for McCourty to be BENCHED so you all would change your tunes.

This is the problem with guys like you. You want to see a Patriot fail so anyone who disagrees with you will turn out to have been wrong. Poor prioirties.

McCourty is like box of chocolate what you seen is what you're going to get.

You can't even get a Forest Gump quote right. That says a lot.

if he on Stevie Johnson on Sunday he will be turned every which way and loose. No Game is a gimme for the Patriots if Devin McCourty is Strating at CB.

Yet the Patriots are something like 30-9 when he starts.

His supporters will come to their senses soon enough and I am not one of them.

I'm sure he is fine with that.

 

[Ring 6]

The entire secondary played poorly, Andy. Not just McCourty. You've stated as much yourself in regard to the defense.

So why are you drifting off topic and saying it?

And can you quote me where I stated that I wasn't paying attention?

You said you didn't know who was covering Smith. If you were paying attention to it, you would know, wouldnt you?

I watched the entire game, but couldn't tell you with confidence who Smith matched up with most of the time. I know he was against McCourty at the end, but I couldn't tell you who he went against most the entire game with a straight face. I was watching other members of the total of 22 players on the field and couldn't keep an eye on Torrey Smith the entire time.

So you weren't paying attention to it. Thats what I said.

And yes, the numbers support that McCourty was targetted the most out of any other corners on the field on deep passes. How you could possibly argue against that given the data, I'm not sure.

6 passes out of 39 is not being targetted. You know that.

 

[jsull87]

Penalties are a whole different topic. This topic is about the raw data in regards to where Flacco's passes were going and how much success he was having throwing to different areas of the field. The penalties are irrelevant in this case.*

*Sorry if you were agreeing and I just misunderstood your post.

That side of the field? yes. Whether it was McCourty's man or not you would need this data to be extrapolated further.

I usually side on the players side in these situations as if McCourty catches those 2 INT's we would all be going "HE'S BACK" (he didn't i know) but he got himself in good position and broke up 3-4 other balls.

In all honesty the only part of the Pats D i hated was when McCourty and the Saftey wiffed on the tackle for the TD and the last couple of minutes where they basically just ran to the right sideline and flaco put it up for the catch.

 

[Ring 6]

That side of the field? yes. Whether it was McCourty's man or not you would need this data to be extrapolated further.

I usually side on the players side in these situations as if McCourty catches those 2 INT's we would all be going "HE'S BACK" (he didn't i know) but he got himself in good position and broke up 3-4 other balls.

In all honesty the only part of the Pats D i hated was when McCourty and the Saftey wiffed on the tackle for the TD and the last couple of minutes where they basically just ran to the right sideline and flaco put it up for the catch.

Good point on the difference of holding the Ints. It also would have resulted in a win, and eliminated the need of some to find a scape goat.

The tackle was bad, but Gregory missed the tackle, McCourtys crime was giving up assuming Gregory would make it.
The more I see it and consider it, the less the PI bothers me. Its easy to rip him for it, but when you consider the situation it gives a different perspective.
If I am a corner and its 3rd and 9 from the 34, I am thinking:
1) They are in game winning FG range
2) That is a tough FG
3) An incompletion leaves them with a FG they would rather not have, and even 5 yards greatly increases the chance of making it
4) A first down DRAMATICALLY increases the chance of making it and lets them get even closer
5) I need to take away the 1st 10 yards.
6) It isn't really smart of them to try a low percentage deep pass

It is very reasonable for a corner to overplay the short pass.
McCourty clearly was flat footed playing the sticks and surprised at the go route. I can understand why.
In this case it was wrong to do.
If he could have it to do over again, he should not try to break up the pass by interfering because that is a guaranteed ball on the 7. Being out of control and trying to play the man is never smart. If he catches it and you tackle him its the same as DPI. If he drops it or the throw is poor, it didn't matter what you do.

The 24 yarder on the first play of the drive bothered me a lot more, but I'd like to know the coverage. If McCourty was man on Jones, after they had thrown the deep sideline pass a few times, I can also understand why the intentional underthrow beat him. If there was safety help, he should have stayed in his hip. There isn't a single corner in the NFL that can stop and uintentional underthrow on a go route if there is no safety help, unless the guess and risk getting burned deep. As always, hard to judge the coverage if you don't know what the coverage assignment was.

 

[Sfpat]

McCourtney was targeted more because Flacco................. is right handed and right handed QB's tend to throw more balls to the right side (better vision) than the left or "blind" side. Since McCourtney covers the right side he will, by default, be targeted more.

 

[Ian]

Ok, so after watching the game, here are the totals of what I came up with:

The defender was the person that I saw in coverage on the play, or the guy who made the tackle and was closest to them. The reason I explain that is because the one thing we don't know (and until the all 22 is available it's tougher to break it down further) is who blew a coverage and who made up for it.

That being said here were the totals:

Brandon Spikes: Targeted: 1 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 27yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Chandler Jones: Targeted: 1 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 4yds, 0 First Downs, 0 TD
Devin McCourty: Targeted: 14 Times, 7 Receptions allowed, 97yds, 6 First Downs, 1 TD
Dont'a Hightower: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 16yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Jerod Mayo: Targeted: 4 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 18yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Kyle Arrington: Targeted: 6 Times, 5 Receptions allowed, 97yds, 3 First Downs, 1 TD
Patrick Chung: Targeted: 1 Times, 0 Receptions allowed, 0yds, 0 First Downs, 0 TD
Sterling Moore: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 64yds, 2 First Downs, 0 TD
Steven Gregory: Targeted: 3 Times, 2 Receptions allowed, 36yds, 2 First Downs, 1 TD
Tavon Wilson: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 23yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD

BY DIRECTION:

Deep Left:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 0 Receptions
Kyle Arrington: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 49yds, 2 First downs, 1 TD
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Receptions, 38yds, 1 First Down

Deep Middle:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 32yds, 1 First Down
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 41yds, 1 First Down
Steven Gregory: 1 Target, 0 Receptions

Deep Right:

Devin McCourty: 5 Targets, 1 Completion, 24yds, 1 First Down
Tavon Wilson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 17yds, 1 First Down

Short Left:

Jerod Mayo: 1 Target, 0 Completions
Patrick Chung: 1 Target, 0 Completions
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 5 Yards

Short Middle:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 11 Yards, 1 First Down
Jerod Mayo: 2 Targets, 14 Yards, 1 First Down
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 5 Yards
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 21 Yards, 1 TD

Short Right:

Brandon Spikes: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 27 Yards, 1 First Down
Chandler Jones: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Devin McCourty: 6 Targets, 4 Completions, 30 Yards, 5 First Downs
Dont'a Hightower: 3 Targets, 3 Completions, 16 Yards, 1 First Down
Jerod Mayo: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Steve Gregory: 2 Target, 2 Completions, 36 Yards, 2 First Downs, 1 TD
Tavon Wilson: 2 Target, 2 Completions, 6 Yards

 

[Ring 6]

Ok, so after watching the game, here are the totals of what I came up with:

The defender was the person that I saw in coverage on the play, or the guy who made the tackle and was closest to them. The reason I explain that is because the one thing we don't know (and until the all 22 is available it's tougher to break it down further) is who blew a coverage and who made up for it.

That being said here were the totals:

Brandon Spikes: Targeted: 1 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Chandler Jones: Targeted: 1 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 0 First Downs, 0 TD
Devin McCourty: Targeted: 15 Times, 8 Receptions allowed, 7 First Downs, 2 TD
Dont'a Hightower: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Jerod Mayo: Targeted: 4 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Kyle Arrington: Targeted: 6 Times, 5 Receptions allowed, 3 First Downs, 1 TD
Patrick Chung: Targeted: 1 Times, 0 Receptions allowed, 0 First Downs, 0 TD
Sterling Moore: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 2 First Downs, 0 TD
Steven Gregory: Targeted: 2 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Tavon Wilson: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 1 First Downs, 0 TD

BY DIRECTION:

Deep Left:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 0 Receptions
Kyle Arrington: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 49yds, 2 First downs, 1 TD
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Receptions, 38yds, 1 First Down

Deep Middle:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 32yds, 1 First Down
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 41yds, 1 First Down
Steven Gregory: 1 Target, 0 Receptions

Deep Right:

Devin McCourty: 5 Targets, 1 Completion, 24yds, 1 First Down
Tavon Wilson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 17yds, 1 First Down

Short Left:

Jerod Mayo: 1 Target, 0 Completions
Patrick Chung: 1 Target, 0 Completions
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 5 Yards

Short Middle:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 11 Yards, 1 First Down
Jerod Mayo: 2 Targets, 14 Yards, 1 First Down
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 5 Yards
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 21 Yards, 1 TD

Short Right:

Brandon Spikes: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 27 Yards, 1 First Down
Chandler Jones: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Devin McCourty: 7 Targets, 5 Completions, 50 Yards, 5 First Downs
Dont'a Hightower: 3 Targets, 3 Completions, 16 Yards, 1 First Down
Jerod Mayo: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Steve Gregory: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 16 Yards, 1 First Down
Tavon Wilson: 2 Target, 2 Completions, 6 Yards

First thing I noticed is if you are counting 2 TDs vs McCourty and 0 to Gregory, you are counting the Pita TD vs McC and it looked to me that it was clearly Gregorys coverage.

 

[Ian]

First thing I noticed is if you are counting 2 TDs vs McCourty and 0 to Gregory, you are counting the Pita TD vs McC and it looked to me that it was clearly Gregorys coverage.

Those basically fit the statement I posted to start - McCourty was actually there early on that plays, with Gregory coming over to help - although you can't tell from the television footage. Both blew the tackle on that touchdown.

Oddly enough after watching every play it actually looks like McCourty was in coverage on a few plays where it may not have been his responsibility, especially on a couple of plays where he was on the opposite side of the field. But with the NFL Replay until you can see the whole field, it's tough to tell where he was supposed to be or who's man it was.

Again, I'll update this once I see the all 22 and can tell where he was and those are two plays I had highlighted for review.

 

[Ian]

Here's the first frame from that play:

 

[Ian]

Here's Frame 2:

 

[Ian]

Actually backing it up, McCourty was lined up on Anquan Bolden, with Jacoby Jones lined up on the slot against Arrington. Jones goes in motion, and on the snap he goes out into his pattern and Arrington picks him up, while McCourty lets Bolden go past him when he sees Pitta out in the flat and Flacco throws it to him for the completion. McCourty comes up to make the tackle and so does Gregory, and well...we know what happened after that.

Again - I can't see how Gregory reacted before the camera panned out - so I'm curious to see that play when it becomes available.

EDIT: I just got another angle on it, and you're correct, Gregory came up but had a tough decision because Arrington was actually beat inside down the middle of the field. What an ugly play

 

[Ian]

Another frame showing Arrington. Again, definitely curious to see the coaching film on this play.

 

[Ian]

Here are the updated totals after the changes:

Brandon Spikes: Targeted: 1 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 27yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Chandler Jones: Targeted: 1 Times, 1 Receptions allowed, 4yds, 0 First Downs, 0 TD
Devin McCourty: Targeted: 14 Times, 7 Receptions allowed, 97yds, 6 First Downs, 1 TD
Dont'a Hightower: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 16yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Jerod Mayo: Targeted: 4 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 18yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD
Kyle Arrington: Targeted: 6 Times, 5 Receptions allowed, 97yds, 3 First Downs, 1 TD
Patrick Chung: Targeted: 1 Times, 0 Receptions allowed, 0yds, 0 First Downs, 0 TD
Sterling Moore: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 64yds, 2 First Downs, 0 TD
Steven Gregory: Targeted: 3 Times, 2 Receptions allowed, 36yds, 2 First Downs, 1 TD
Tavon Wilson: Targeted: 3 Times, 3 Receptions allowed, 23yds, 1 First Downs, 0 TD

BY DIRECTION:

Deep Left:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 0 Receptions
Kyle Arrington: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 49yds, 2 First downs, 1 TD
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Receptions, 38yds, 1 First Down

Deep Middle:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 32yds, 1 First Down
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 41yds, 1 First Down
Steven Gregory: 1 Target, 0 Receptions

Deep Right:

Devin McCourty: 5 Targets, 1 Completion, 24yds, 1 First Down
Tavon Wilson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 17yds, 1 First Down

Short Left:

Jerod Mayo: 1 Target, 0 Completions
Patrick Chung: 1 Target, 0 Completions
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 5 Yards

Short Middle:

Devin McCourty: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 11 Yards, 1 First Down
Jerod Mayo: 2 Targets, 14 Yards, 1 First Down
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 5 Yards
Sterling Moore: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 21 Yards, 1 TD

Short Right:

Brandon Spikes: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 27 Yards, 1 First Down
Chandler Jones: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Devin McCourty: 6 Targets, 4 Completions, 30 Yards, 5 First Downs
Dont'a Hightower: 3 Targets, 3 Completions, 16 Yards, 1 First Down
Jerod Mayo: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Kyle Arrington: 1 Target, 1 Completion, 4 Yards
Steve Gregory: 2 Target, 2 Completions, 36 Yards, 2 First Downs, 1 TD
Tavon Wilson: 2 Target, 2 Completions, 6 Yards

*Again - these are just subjective numbers based on my review from the television footage. The original numbers posted at the beginning of the thread in those charts are official numbers and accurate from the NFL based on the data I entered in from the official gamebook. However, hopefully this at least answers some questions we had and gives you a decent idea of who was in coverage on the throws in those areas.

 

[Kontradiction]

So why are you drifting off topic and saying it?



You said you didn't know who was covering Smith. If you were paying attention to it, you would know, wouldnt you?



So you weren't paying attention to it. Thats what I said.

I wasn't paying attention to it on every play. And neither were you when it really comes down to it unless you somehow watched the broadcast from the blimp and got the All-22 view. But since you were paying such closer attention to the secondary, please tell me how many times Smith was lined up against McCourty in the second half. I know he was over there in the 4th but not the third.

6 passes out of 39 is not being targetted. You know that.

The data Ian posted in the post before mine says "HIIIIII".

 

[Rob0729]

I posted this in the Tom Curran McCourty thread:

Greg Bedard, who is far better at analyzing games than Curran (sorry Tom if you are reading because he is far better than most media people), says that McCourty played pretty well in the game other than a few plays. He is on WEEI right now saying this was his best game that he played while Bedard was covering the Pats. Here is part from his article:

It’s a shame that Devin McCourty dropped an interception and had the late penalty (the other one was ticky-tack), because this was his best game in some time with four pass breakups, a pass defensed, and another good pass coverage. Great play by McCourty to knock away the pass to Smith on third and 15 late in the third quarter.

Here is his take on the Pitta TD:

The Pitta catch-and-run touchdown is on Gregory. Yes, McCourty was there as well, but McCourty is expecting Gregory to at least force Pitta to him. McCourty wasn’t expecting Gregory to tackle the ground.

He also said on WEI that McCourty approached the play exactly how they coach it.

Patriot defense didn’t look revamped in first test - Patriots - Boston.com

Unlike Ian at this point, Bedard has access to the All 22 when he writes this column. I am interested to see if Ian has the same take when he gets to review the All 22.

 

[Kontradiction]

I posted this in the Tom Curran McCourty thread:

Greg Bedard, who is far better at analyzing games than Curran (sorry Tom if you are reading because he is far better than most media people), says that McCourty played pretty well in the game other than a few plays. He is on WEEI right now saying this was his best game that he played while Bedard was covering the Pats. Here is part from his article:




Here is his take on the Pitta TD:




He also said on WEI that McCourty approached the play exactly how they coach it.

Patriot defense didn’t look revamped in first test - Patriots - Boston.com

Unlike Ian at this point, Bedard has access to the All 22 when he writes this column. I am interested to see if Ian has the same take when he gets to review the All 22.

Look, compared to where he was last year, McCourty has improved by leaps and bounds in man coverage. He had a nice knockdown of a pass that was intended for Torrey Smith down the sideline in the third quarter (IIRC) where he actually overran the route by a bit but was still in the position to jump up and compete for the ball. I'm not trying to dump on McCourty just for the sake of doing it. He has improved in several areas. However, the Ravens went almost exclusively to the right side of the field on pass plays during their final drive of the game. That means that they saw something that they liked over there and decided to single it out. McCourty has improved, yes, but he still has a long way to go.