Chung in a word...WOW!

[Kontradiction]

A high number of tackles is not what you want from your defensive backfield, because tackle = completion. Harrison had a low number of tackles over the tail end of his career because so many passes were broken up or batted down.

McCourty did an outstanding job and that is reflected in the number of tackles he had (4) as opposed to 8 for Butler who did ok.

No. But, with young corners, you DO want that from the safety position. There's going to be some growing pains with Butler and McCourty. Having a guy like Chung back there, a guy who can cover yards in a hurry, will help to offset those growing pains.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

his aggression was abvious in camp and ramped up today if he keeps flying around like this he is going to make everyones job easier. Definitely the top dog on D today which i think played awsome despite a few sustained second half drives.

It should be noted that it took going for it on 4th down (3 times by the Bengals) to really put some points on the board. Granted they got all 3 and it's an area that need improvement, but if it weren't for them being ahead some of those may have been punts or FG attempts.

 

[Buchanty]

The whole secondary was a pleasant surprise yesterday. I had confessed in an earlier thread to being nervous because I wasn't sure of the character of the team this year (especially after the last two pre-season games where they just showed up but not much more).

But from the moment the Pats kicked off at 1:00pm there it was - the passion and the enthusiasm, starting with Chung but rippling through the others. At the moment I wouldn't exchange McCourty for any other CB in the 2010 draft - no make that two CBs. And Butler had some really good athletic plays though he was tested severely by 85 when Palmer gave up on McC.

I was concerned about the D being on the field for so long. Nice as the KO return was I would have preferred a 7 minute drive from Brady and the O, just to keep the Cincy D from being too fresh and their O from getting into a groove. But for the first half it was almost unbelievable.

If they bring the same next week in the Meadowlands it will be ugly for Sanchez, who is not as accurate as Palmer.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

In response to the poster who said that high tackles from a safety was a bad sign for a defense...

Rodney Harrison piled up TONS of tackles for the Patriots in those 2003 and 2004 championship seasons, and those teams were historically great defenses.

Same goes for safeties like Polamalu.

Having a safety who flies all over the field and piles up tackle stats, doesn't really say anything about that defense being a bad defense.

 

[Synovia]

In response to the poster who said that high tackles from a safety was a bad sign for a defense...

Rodney Harrison piled up TONS of tackles for the Patriots in those 2003 and 2004 championship seasons, and those teams were historically great defenses.

Same goes for safeties like Polamalu.

Having a safety who flies all over the field and piles up tackle stats, doesn't really say anything about that defense being a bad defense.

Right, tackle numbers are pretty much irrelevant. Even the best defences only end up with opposing completion percentages about 10% lower. Whats important is whether or not that safety is hitting that Tight End 6 yards downfield, or if hes getting his tackle dragging the guy down 20 yards later.

 

[signbabybrady]

It should be noted that it took going for it on 4th down (3 times by the Bengals) to really put some points on the board. Granted they got all 3 and it's an area that need improvement, but if it weren't for them being ahead some of those may have been punts or FG attempts.

It certainly is a situation where you can understand why and what happened but that doesn't mean you dont want to play those situations better. Didn't stop me from calling it an awesome performance by the D though.

 

[signbabybrady]

I can't remember who but someone said really early on this camp that they saw greatness in Chung and expected him to make a big leap this year. I was quietly optimistic and now I'm ecstatic. :rocker:

I didn't use the word great but I thought his aggression was evident on the training camp fields and you could clearly see him flying to the ball during practice he pulled back as not to light guys up but I was very excited by what I saw.

And he ramped it up to another level yesterday.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

[I can't remember who but someone said really early on this camp that they saw greatness in Chung and expected him to make a big leap this year. I was quietly optimistic and now I'm ecstatic.]

I don't remember using the word "great", but in the 2 training camp reports I made, I did note that Chung looked good and very vocal and that he was always the first on the team to finish the opening practice sprints.



Where did the Pat Chung Chuck Norris-like thread go? I searched for it and tried to bump, but didn't see it on the forum.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Patrick Chung-isms got moved to the Practice Squad forum for some reason:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/98/233280-patrick-chungisms.html

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

It certainly is a situation where you can understand why and what happened but that doesn't mean you dont want to play those situations better. Didn't stop me from calling it an awesome performance by the D though.

I agree completely and you have to expect the group to get better as the season goes on and BB will iron out the situational football. Here's to hoping we have a relatively healthy year.