Defense - Corners

[Hael]

Arrington was completely abused in the SD game. Bodden has left his man open multiple times (which ends up drawing safety help). So I don't agree that they're *ok*.

McCourty, much vilified, otoh has been actually ok, in that he he has had to deal with two probowl caliber WRs and he's been left on an island against them and taken them out 50% of the time. Ok its not Revis or Nmandi good, but that is pretty good. Its not his fault the QB has made some pretty impressive throws either.

If I really had to complain about the coverage, i'd point out that our cover LBs have not been getting the job done. Mayo was burned multiple times in week1 as well as Guyton.

A lot of plays to the backfield have really hurt us. If the LBs had been anywhere close we would have limited the yardage, and at least gotten the tackle to prevent extra yards.

 

[102 Pat]

Any update on Dowlings injury? haven't read anything about it

No news is good news? It will be very interesting to see who's listed on the injury report this afternoon.

 

[Deus Irae]

Arrington was completely abused in the SD game. Bodden has left his man open multiple times (which ends up drawing safety help). So I don't agree that they're *ok*.

McCourty, much vilified, otoh has been actually ok, in that he he has had to deal with two probowl caliber WRs and he's been left on an island against them and taken them out 50% of the time. Ok its not Revis or Nmandi good, but that is pretty good. Its not his fault the QB has made some pretty impressive throws either.

If I really had to complain about the coverage, i'd point out that our cover LBs have not been getting the job done. Mayo was burned multiple times in week1 as well as Guyton.

A lot of plays to the backfield have really hurt us. If the LBs had been anywhere close we would have limited the yardage, and at least gotten the tackle to prevent extra yards.

McCourty has struggled, and it's not just one or two people on a message board noticing it.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

McCourty's struggles have been against WR who are considerably taller than him and the balls have been well thrown to where only the WR can catch it. Not a lot he can do about that; he has the guys covered but cannot jump up high enough to make the play.

 

[Deus Irae]

McCourty's struggles have been against WR who are considerably taller than him and the balls have been well thrown to where only the WR can catch it. Not a lot he can do about that; he has the guys covered but cannot jump up high enough to make the play.

His better success last year suggests otherwise.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Arrington was completely abused in the SD game. Bodden has left his man open multiple times (which ends up drawing safety help). So I don't agree that they're *ok*.

McCourty, much vilified, otoh has been actually ok, in that he he has had to deal with two probowl caliber WRs and he's been left on an island against them and taken them out 50% of the time. Ok its not Revis or Nmandi good, but that is pretty good. Its not his fault the QB has made some pretty impressive throws either.

If I really had to complain about the coverage, i'd point out that our cover LBs have not been getting the job done. Mayo was burned multiple times in week1 as well as Guyton.

A lot of plays to the backfield have really hurt us. If the LBs had been anywhere close we would have limited the yardage, and at least gotten the tackle to prevent extra yards.

OK

Watch the game.

Arrington was covering Jackson on several of his receptions.

Hello

Arrington is the 4th corner. Norv was extremely smart to move Jackson into the slot because Bodden moved outside with Dowling injured. Jackson has the skill set of a slot receiver at 6'5". Norv was very smart and took advantage of the best matchup.

"Bodden left his man open multiple times"

Did you even bother watching the game? 15 receptions were to running backs and one to a TE. The receivers totalled 13 catches total. Are you saying the the best QB in the league throwing the ball downfield didn't because he wanted to "burn" the LB's?

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

McCourty's struggles have been against WR who are considerably taller than him and the balls have been well thrown to where only the WR can catch it. Not a lot he can do about that; he has the guys covered but cannot jump up high enough to make the play.

Another important consideration is the much of McCourty's struggle against Jackson can be attributed to the fact that 6 of his 10 receptions came when McCourty wasn't actually covering Jackson.

 

[Ron Sellers]

I'll give Arrington a pass based on this news:

Patriots Cornerback Kyle Arrington Did Not Practice Due to Concussion - New England Patriots - NESN.com

Cornerback Kyle Arrington didn't practice Wednesday due to a concussion that he suffered late in the Patriots' victory against the Chargers.

He was in good spirits in the locker room before practice, and he turned away a trainer in the locker room Sunday after the game. Though both are good signs for his health, there's no telling how long he'll miss with the concussion due to the sensitivity of the injury.

May have something to do with the signing of Phillip Adams too.

 

[supafly]

Another important consideration is the much of McCourty's struggle against Jackson can be attributed to the fact that 6 of his 10 receptions came when McCourty wasn't actually covering Jackson.

No offense personally, but i don't know why you keep stating these crazy numbers?

According to you, McCourty was only responsible for 4 of Jackson's 10 catches? Then why are we seeing article after article from those who get paid to keep such stats say the complete opposite? All you see or hear about is the insane number of targets that McCourty has faced the first 2 weeks, I have personally seen 1/2 dozen links and articles on just that subject. Even Belichick commented on the extreme number of targets that McCourty faced vs Jackson.

According to pro football focus :

"On the 40 throws by Philip Rivers, Jackson was targeted on 15 and ended up with 10 receptions. Seven of those catches resulted in first downs while another two ended up in touchdowns. Typically, numbers like this are against below average defensive backfields, but the majority of these numbers came against young star cornerback Devin McCourty.

Yet you claim that "McCourty only allowed 4 catches??" He has already given up more than half of his total TD's allowed for all of last year (5) through 2 games, when he was a rookie and targeted 108 times.

Here is a direct quote from McCourty himself admitting that he was beat on 2 more TD's on Sunday vs. San Diego:

""There are some plays which we are making the right plays on, like Sergio Brown making the big interception [against San Diego], and then we have a couple of good stops. Then there are plays where I was beat on two touchdowns."

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/6998886/new-england-patriots-devin-mccourty-being-targeted-opposition

And this doesn't even take into account his targets with Malcolm Floyd either.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Concerned about McCourty? Yes. But I believe in him. He'll bounce back. Also encouraged to see Dowling performing well so far in the season. We've got talent at corner, but we need A) passrush to support them and B) competent safety help. A defense is only as strong as its weakest link, I don't think that's the CB position this season.

 

[supafly]

Are you saying the the best QB in the league throwing the ball downfield didn't because he wanted to "burn" the LB's?

In essence, he threw the ball to the RB's an insane amount of times--15 receptions they had for 135 yards.

He threw to the RB's because it worked. When you see the same play FIFTEEN times, and it still amounts to 10 yards per average, something is wrong.

So yeah, in a way Hael is correct...they took advantage of the mismatch of the LB's, so really he is right in stating that they 'burned' them in a way.

If the Dline is tied up, the CB's are on the wideouts, and at least one of the safeties is on Gates the TE, then exactly whose job is it to limit/prevent all of those screens? The LB's.

So yes, by completing 15 passes to RB's (with a 10 yd average approx.), Rivers really did keep burning the LB's. He burned the CB's, and he burned the LB's.

 

[supafly]

Concerned about McCourty? Yes. But I believe in him. He'll bounce back. Also encouraged to see Dowling performing well so far in the season. We've got talent at corner, but we need A) passrush to support them and B) competent safety help. A defense is only as strong as its weakest link, I don't think that's the CB position this season.

I couldn't agree more. I do think he'll bounce back, and very quickly too.

Like many others, I feel that the inadequate safety help is causing him problems and growing pains.