Belichick on McCourty: He has good skills

[Steve102]

"I think he has physical ability, I think he has certainly the mental makeup, making adjustments, understanding what the concepts are, making smart decisions back there, reading, recognizing all those things. I don't think there's any one thing. I think he has good skills in all those areas." Belichick said Monday.

The move of McCourty to safety shows inadequacies not only in McCourty's performance at corner, but in Belichick's personnel decisions in the secondary. (Where are you, James Sanders).

 

[ausbacker]

So a Pro Bowl rookie has a down season, not entirely unreasonable given the term sophomore slump and BB is now a poor talent evaluator and McCourty is no good?

There's only one reasonable response to this; **** me.

 

[patsfan-1982]

i have no problem with him playing FS if thats where he can have the Biggest impact on defense then im happy with him playing FS he's whole career if he has to, but i think he will be back to playing CB at a high level pretty soon

 

[Steve102]

i have no problem with him playing FS if thats where he can have the Biggest impact on defense then im happy with him playing FS he's whole career if he has to, but i think he will be back to playing CB at a high level pretty soon

I agree. I tend to think this year is the abberation, and the player we thought we had (apologies to Dennis Green) is still there.

 

[PatsDeb]

McCourty had a sophmore slump combined with bad safety play due to injuries (Pat Chung) and gambles that didn't pay off (cutting Merriweather & Sanders) that has wrecked his season. Maybe BB found the wrinkle he's been looking for on Sunday in the switch to McCourty & Chung to safety. It sure shut the Bills down. Let's see if it works on Rothlisberger, et al. It would be fabulous if it did, no matter where McCourty is playing.

 

[Big-T]

Let's see if it works on Rothlisberger, et al. It would be fabulous if it did, no matter where McCourty is playing.

Well last time Heath Miller was wide open all day, I doubt he would be when the safety covering him is a corner

Maybe that's the thinking behind it, there's some good TE's in the playoffs (Miller, ****son, Gresham) so playing McCourty as a safety would give better coverage options.

 

[PatsDeb]

Well last time Heath Miller was wide open all day, I doubt he would be when the safety covering him is a corner

Maybe that's the thinking behind it, there's some good TE's in the playoffs (Miller, ****son, Gresham) so playing McCourty as a safety would give better coverage options.

Exactly. And maybe BB had to wait for Chung's return to try out this new personnel grouping.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Yes, agree with other posters' thoughts on playing McCourty at safety:

a. poor safety play has been our biggest problem all year

b. good TE's in the playoffs

Plus, don't underestimate BB's gamesmanship. By showing this in the final game, he makes our opponent prepare for something unexpected. We may not see McCourty at safety again but teams will need to prepare for it, which could mean, for example, de-emphasizing the TE in their game plan.

 

[RayClay]

The defense is a unit, the secondary, a unit within a unit. As i see it (assuming Belichick is a great coach - fair assumption) there was a problem that was greater than individual talents this year.

Maybe it was the memory of the playoff game in 2009, where a festering chemistry problem left them with a talented team that laid an egg, I don't know. Whatever it was, some drastic moves were made then, our top corner was injured and cut, high draft pick Ir-ed and we were left with a talent shortage.

Chung's injury hurt our stability too, nevertheless, we went 13-3 with some good comeback wins. As much as we have holes in the secondary, i don't see any lack of hustle or attitude problems on the team, I see a team with one area they need to shore up, about the same as any team in football.

So, we've got two weeks, Our SS back, a talented S/CB a good CB who had a great start and a bunch of guys who at least have played some S and or CB this year. It's all about winning now, nothing matters beyond this year as our training camp is bound to be full of secondary candidates next year. BB is going to cook something up and it really doesn't matter what position people play, he's just looking for smarts and hustle to make something work to win.

 

[Maker's Muppet]

I'm scratching my head at what Reiss was saying about safety play and McCourty. He was saying the Patriots need more help deep in the middle of the field rather than CB help, but it seems to me that the Patriots' secondary has been getting torched mostly on the sidelines against the CBs and not so much the middle of the field.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I agree. I tend to think this year is the abberation, and the player we thought we had (apologies to Dennis Green) is still there.

Well, there you go. That explains your starting this thread with this...

"I think he has physical ability, I think he has certainly the mental makeup, making adjustments, understanding what the concepts are, making smart decisions back there, reading, recognizing all those things. I don't think there's any one thing. I think he has good skills in all those areas." Belichick said Monday.

The move of McCourty to safety shows inadequacies not only in McCourty's performance at corner, but in Belichick's personnel decisions in the secondary. (Where are you, James Sanders).

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm scratching my head at what Reiss was saying about safety play and McCourty. He was saying the Patriots need more help deep in the middle of the field rather than CB help, but it seems to me that the Patriots' secondary has been getting torched mostly on the sidelines against the CBs and not so much the middle of the field.

McCourty has sucked at CB, and he can't help anyone else when he's in that position. The safety position has sucked and hasn't been able to help the corners. By putting McCourty at safety, you take him away from the corner position where he's been terrible, and you put him at the deep safety position where he doesn't have to fight wideouts and is a sure tackler for his size. That should improve the downfield assistance/coverage ability of the safeties without lessening the cornerback position much, if at all.

It's the Eugene Wilson project part II, with the likely hope that it's just temporary.

 

[Rob0729]

Actually, with the way the NFL is heading, a FS may be just as important as a CB. This is the era of the TE and teams are having far more success passing over the middle of the field more than ever with the new rules. Around the league, the safety position has suffered greatly. There is no dominant safeties (even Ed Reed and Troy Polumalu are having down years) and the safety position is quite a few teams' biggest weakness right now.

If McCourty does make the transition to safety and becomes very good to great at it, I don't have a problem. He was taken lower than Meriweather. It is this team's biggest weakness right now.

McCourty definitely has skills to be a great DB. His problem seems to be mental over physical. Playing safety may be a career maker for him. I don't get how Belichick whiffed on the pick if McCourty becomes say a top five safety. It may not be the position he was drafted for, but it is a position of need and where McCourty was drafted is an excellent position to draft a top 5 safety.

Personally, I haven't given up on McCourty rebounding next year at CB. I think the poor play at safety has been a reason for his struggles because he isn't getting much over the top help.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Personally, I haven't given up on McCourty rebounding next year at CB. I think the poor play at safety has been a reason for his struggles because he isn't getting much over the top help.

I think it'll come down to what improvements McCourty makes to his game and how the Pats want to primarily play coverage next season. Right now it looks like he's more suited for safety in man/press coverage.

 

[patfanken]

I doubt very much that this is any sort of a position change. This change is more about situational football and putting their players in the best position possible on a week to week basis, for the playoffs

McCourty has more speed and the potential ability to cover more ground in certain coverages than any other current DB. Against CERTAIN teams or formation/situations this advantage will be more valuable than having him out there on the corner. Against other teams, it won't be. And I guarantee you that, next season, when we rebuild the Safety position, McCourty will be back at CB and after a full off season of preparation, hopefully vastly improved on the small coverage techniques that have held him back this year.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

McCourty had a sophmore slump combined with bad safety play due to injuries (Pat Chung) and gambles that didn't pay off (cutting Merriweather & Sanders) that has wrecked his season. Maybe BB found the wrinkle he's been looking for on Sunday in the switch to McCourty & Chung to safety. It sure shut the Bills down. Let's see if it works on Rothlisberger, et al. It would be fabulous if it did, no matter where McCourty is playing.

I'm not so sure the gambles didn't pay off. Saved a lot of cap that will be used down the road and it's not like we lost much since Meriweather has been a crashing disappointment in Chicago and Sanders barely saw the field except as a ST'er until the kid he couldn't beat out in a weak secondary got injured. His season highlight has been a ten tackle game with a TJ Yates fumble recovery in a loss to Houston a couple of weeks ago. Meriweather's was another $25K fine followed by a benching. Give me $7M saved, some duck tape and BB coaching some less expensive jags to 13-3 and HFA throughout any season.

 

[goheels22002]

So this means the Patriots starting DBs are:

• Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty at safety
• Sterling Moore and Kyle Arrington at the corners

I wish we could transplant the 2004 Patriots' DBs to the 2012 playoff team:

• Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson at safety
• Ty Law and Asante Samuel at the corners

 

[Rob0729]

So this means the Patriots starting DBs are:

• Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty at safety
• Sterling Moore and Kyle Arrington at the corners

I wish we could transplant the 2004 Patriots' DBs to the 2012 playoff team:

• Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson at safety
• Ty Law and Asante Samuel at the corners

Ty Law missed half the season and the playoffs in 2004. It was Asante Samuel and a combination of Randall Gay, Earthwind Mooreland, and hank Poteat for most of the season and the playoffs. Plus Troy Brown played nickel.

 

[VJCPatriot]

McCourty has more speed and the potential ability to cover more ground in certain coverages than any other current DB. Against CERTAIN teams or formation/situations this advantage will be more valuable than having him out there on the corner. Against other teams, it won't be. And I guarantee you that, next season, when we rebuild the Safety position, McCourty will be back at CB and after a full off season of preparation, hopefully vastly improved on the small coverage techniques that have held him back this year.

I wouldn't make promises that I can't keep, Ken. ;-) If it turns out that McCourty is best suited to play FS. It is entirely possible and even logical that he could stay there. Particularly since it is so hard to find good safety play in the NFL these days. If Dowling comes back strong and healthy next season, he might end up the other CB across from Arrington. And to put our best DBs on the field that would then mean - Arrington/Dowling at CB and Chung/McCourty at S. Of course this also probably means we draft another CB next season.

We have yet to see if the switch is permanent, but nothing would shock me at this point. Arrington/Molden/Moore look pretty decent out there at CB.

 

[goheels22002]

Ty Law missed half the season and the playoffs in 2004. It was Asante Samuel and a combination of Randall Gay, Earthwind Mooreland, and hank Poteat for most of the season and the playoffs. Plus Troy Brown played nickel.

I miss Earthwind Mooreland. Eugene Wilson also went on IR that season at some point or other. The other guy who played a lot was Terrell Buckley who was a solid DB for several years.

Anyway you look at it, the 2012 playoff group is the kiddie corps. None of them have won a playoff game. Arrington and Chung are the old men with 3 years experience. McCourty is finding his best fit and Sterling Moore has, what, six games of NFL experience?

Guys like Roethlisberger, Brees and Rodgers must look at this defensive backfield and lick their chops. Not so with the 2004 crew, if intact.