Darius Butler - Props

[rusH1023]

Glad to see a thread was made for this. Have to agree. He catches your eye when he's in there. Watching from home is tough, with regard to keeping your eye on a CB, especially, but he continues to catch my eye with the limited time he's seen. Seems very quick and instinctual. Hope he continues to develop.

 

[mayoclinic]

I have to agree 100% that Clayton heard the proverbial footsteps. IMO there was no question about it. He was going into turtle mode before he actually caught it, not trying to run before he caught it as the announcers called it during the broadcast. Big hits by the secondary get into the receivers heads.

Kelly Washington also had a Footsteps moment earlier in the 4th quarter. These plays by the WR's are a direct result of DB's consistently arriving with the ball. Give Merriweather the most credit because he was doing it all day with authority.

Not to derail the thread though, I also wanted to hand out major Props to Butler. Big Thank you to the OP since I do not have the post total yet to start a new thread! Butler showed he has the innate knack to make a play on the ball. An incredibly important skill for any DB.

As for the final play of Baltimore's drive, I personally think Butler played it perfectly. He kept Clayton outside of the endzone, he kept him inside so even if he did catch it, Baltimore would have had to use their final timeout leaving them at 1st and goal from the 5 with about 30 seconds left, that means not having to worry about the run. And even if Clayton did not let it boink of his chest, Butler and the Safety that was there, I think McGowan, were going to crush him. He was in a position to make a play on the receiver, which he did not get a chance to do because the receiver dropped it. Just because he dropped it, does not mean the 2 Pats DBs that were there were not going to jar it loose.

You cant say Clayton choked we got lucky, because both players laid up after it was a drop. Clayton would have had snot bubbles and been lucky to hold on to it IMO if he had put his hands on the ball.

That's one of the things I've been looking for. This is how we beat the Rams in the 2001 SB - throw them off their rhythm, cover them tight, and beat the crap out of them for every reception. If we do this consistent, our opponents will start making mistakes - dropping balls, rushing throws, not planting well, looking to run (or duck) before holding on to the ball, etc. These little things result in the drops, fumbles and INTs that decide games.

The last catch was clearly makeable, and Clayton should have made it. But I chuck that one up to our tight and physical defense.

The secondary essentially stopped the Ravens on the last possession of each half inside the red zone, for 0 points. Without either of those stops, we probably lose the game.

 

[mgcolby]

I do agree that the ball should have been caught but I believe that hits on WRs throughout the game have an impact. This Pats secondary HITS hard and continually layed the lumber on the Ravens' receivers all game long. Did all those hits and chips have a cumulative effect which resulted in Clayton's screw-up? Not sure.

That is exactly what I thought, when he dropped it. The DB's are hitting everything they can. I truly believe those hits throughout the game made him lose concetration especially when he felt the DB's closing in.

 

[bakes781]

Great to see him prove me right! The kid is a talent and I only wish we had gotten Louis Delmas paired with him instead of Chung.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I love the Pats new, improved secondary and I'm glad to see that Butler is a productive, contributing part of it. I was high on this kid at the combine and I was elated when we drafted him in the second round. Good kid with excellent athleticism. Appears to be aggressive and instinctual around the football as well. He was trained by Deion Sanders, so this kid has the chance to be something real special.

YouTube - 2009 NFL Draft Deion Sanders & Darius Butler

 

[Obnoxio]

I agree Butler had a good game, he had tight coverage and made good adjustments to the ball. He has the speed and fluid movement to earn a starting job before the season is over. I think he is going to be very good.

 

[maverick4]

Darius Butler's initials are DB.


Even as a rookie this defensive back can play. I think he's better than Cromartie played in his 1st year.

 

[sebman2112]

Darius Talks about their win over the Ravens on ESPN's First Take

 

[mayoclinic]

Great to see him prove me right! The kid is a talent and I only wish we had gotten Louis Delmas paired with him instead of Chung.

Delmas was my pick at safety too - I loved his combination of range and hitting ability. But I think Chung will end up being fine.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I just want to know how long before he is starting.

 

[Water Boy]

Butler made more clean pass breakup plays in that game than Hobbs made in a season.

The plays he made should not be understated. Those passes probably would have been completed against the '08 secondary.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Yes, the DBs are fast and quick. Nobody on the Ravens "choked" when dropping balls. The Pats DBs were relentlessly pounding on them the entire game, and the Raven's WRs were not just hearing DB footsteps, they were hearing dinosaur steps. I may have dropped a ball too. I haven't been this excited about the DB corp, since the hey day of Ty Law and Co.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Butler had a great game. But the key for rookies is consistency. He hasn't played much, and I doubt the Ravens spent much time thinking of how to attack him. I bet the Broncos will though. I have high hopes for the kid, but lets remember all of this when he struggles too.

And I agree, the secondary smashing every receiver they could find led to a few drops, including that last one on 4th down. I'm really excited about our defense.

 

[Real World]

Butler impressed me on Sunday. I'm already a big fan od Whilhite, and if yesterday was any indication of what butler can be, the Pats should have a terrific CB tandem for the next half dozen years at least.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Being a UConn graduate, it still makes me laugh and shake my head in disbelief that there's anybody besides that old tight end guy (who I think has retired by now...Kozlowski) that there's anybody excited by a UConn football player being on their team.

So...keep making me laugh, Darius!

 

[weswelker#83]

I didn't know that Butler was the cousin of Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee . That must have been an interesting week for both families.The young cousin won !

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree with you.
I thought this all game.
The hit on Mason in the EZ was pretty bad.
Sure he caught it and made a heck of a play but it cost him a lot.
The pats secondary laid people out.

I thought Merriweather's hit on McGahee was vicious as well.
Credit Willis for being tough and strong enough to hold on to the ball.
But getting hit over and over will lead to alligator arms subconsciously for most people because you want to avoid pain where you can.
Only the special ones can consistently catch in traffic and getting blown up (Hines Ward = special).

I recall one play where the ball was thrown to Ray Rice who could hear the rumble for Vince running after him. Vince was in a mid air dive right over the ball the second after the ball arrived and Rice wanted nothing to do with it.

So I think Clayton's drop had something to do with the hits he was taking. How much I'm not sure, but the hitting certainly is a factor.

I wasn't so much about the build-up of hits he was taking as it was his fear of getting sandwiched. As I said in another thread just now, I watched the replay of that game on NFL Network and specifically put that part in slow motion (I have DVR) and watched the close up. You can honestly see his eyes move toward McGowan as the ball was coming in. That was the reason for the drop. He ducked down just in time as well because, catch the ball or not, he was going to get blown up.

And I do agree that we outmuscled the Ravens' receivers. One thing that has amazed me about the secondary this year is it's utter physicality. This is the most physical secondary (EDIT: As a WHOLE) I have seen us have since 2001.

 

[BionicPatriot]

And I do agree that we outmuscled the Ravens' receivers. One thing that has amazed me about the secondary this year is it's utter physicality. This is the most physical secondary (EDIT: As a WHOLE) I have seen us have since 2001.

Thank goodness because ever since #37 went down with that terrible injury in Pittsburgh causing him to lose what made him feared, it seems ever since than there hasn't been one good hitter, intimidator, etc. I love watching this group play, all year they've been punishing opponents, making them earn what they get.

I think the league perception is changing from thinking the Patriots are still old and soft. They're quicker, and they aint soft. I promise you that's going to be on plenty of TEs and WRs minds. About time

EDIT-- To think we have Chung. Maybe guys like McGowan and Meriweather are showing him the hitting "ropes"

 

[TheBaronPatriot]

You can honestly see his eyes move toward McGowan as the ball was coming in. That was the reason for the drop. He ducked down just in time as well because, catch the ball or not, he was going to get blown up.

Media members should have been able to bring this up.
Great job for picking this up.

JUST in case there's media folks reading this.
CREDIT the secondary for the drop!!!