Defense - Safeties

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

As I've stated several times, I don't like to question such a great reputation, but that does not always mean that he's 'right' either. We have all seen plenty of mistakes over the yrs, some of which have been quite costly.

If you agree with dismantling the entire position of safety (once thought of as the strongest position on the team, depth-wise) within a month long period before the season, then more power to you.

I believe that keeping 1-2 of the 4 players would have been a better move, and thus allowed for the blending in of the younger/greener guys such as Brown (who I already said I liked), and Barrett.

That's my opinion. Whether I am right or wrong will remain to be seen. I have all the faith in the world in our coach, and hope that it all works out. And what I mean by that is, I hope Brady keeps putting up big numbers and masking this deficiency.

You can't really tell me with a straight face that you actually can't see some of these opposing viewpoints after the recent moves, and start to the season by the safeties, can you?

Yeah, actually I can tell you with a straight face. Hence my comment on Belichick's thinking.

He's top to bottom thinker.

That's the difference.

Using that method, you arrive at very different conclusions.

Personally, I give the safeties top marks for Sunday.

watch the film since 2006.

 

[patsfan-1982]

Meriweather and sanders are starters on playoff teams im pretty sure the Safeties the pats have starting for them now would have a hard time just makeing any outher roster forget starting

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Meriweather and sanders are starters on playoff teams im pretty sure the Safeties the pats have starting for them now would have a hard time just makeing any outher roster forget starting

Nice post.

Your fluency is off the charts.

 

[Sciz]

Meriweather and sanders are starters on playoff teams im pretty sure the Safeties the pats have starting for them now would have a hard time just makeing any outher roster forget starting

I don't know much about the Falcons, but the Bears are mostly Cover 2. Hence, Meriweather only has to deal with half the field and doesn't have to play any man coverage. That would not have been the case in NE, where we saw Sergio Brown covering Antonio Gates 1 on 1, for example.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Report: Patrick Chung Undergoes Surgery on Thumb, Status Uncertain for Patriots' Game With Bills - New England Patriots - NESN.com

New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung has thumb surgery, sources say - ESPN Boston

New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung underwent surgery on his right thumb this week after injuring it Sunday against the San Diego Chargers, according to two sources.

It is unclear how the surgery will affect Chung's availability for Sunday's road game against the Buffalo Bills and beyond. Chung did not practice Wednesday.

With the Bills scoring a league-high 79 points through two games and operating a spread offense that attacks down the field, losing Chung would be a blow for the Patriots. The third-year veteran out of Oregon is second on the team with 14 tackles and was emerging as the team's top safety this season. He also serves as the personal protector on the punt team and plays on kickoff coverage.

Second-year player Sergio Brown (one career start) and four-year veteran Josh Barrett (five career starts) are next on the safety depth chart, followed by five-year veteran James Ihedigbo (no career starts).

Barrett has been playing with a cast over his right thumb.

Safety was one of the team's deeper positions in the preseason, but that was before the Patriots released veteran James Sanders and 2007 first-round draft choice Brandon Meriweather.

 

[supafly]

He's top to bottom thinker.

That's the difference.

Using that method, you arrive at very different conclusions.

Personally, I give the safeties top marks for Sunday.

watch the film since 2006.

Well, you certainly can't argue with his past record and football knowledge, so we'll have to show trust and hope that it works out.

In the meantime, what would I see if I were a film rat from '06 on? I mean, specifically pertaining to the safeties, did you notice somthing that was drastically changed?

I'd certainly agree that he sees more potential, probably better work ethic, listening skills, etc..or else he would not have made those moves. But we'll never know how much he factors raw talent into the equation too.

Either way, you can't really argue with his rep, but it is an internet forum, and sometimes strange looking decisions are analyzed.

Like I said, we'll have to see moving forward.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Well, you certainly can't argue with his past record and football knowledge, so we'll have to show trust and hope that it works out.

In the meantime, what would I see if I were a film rat from '06 on? I mean, specifically pertaining to the safeties, did you notice somthing that was drastically changed?

I'd certainly agree that he sees more potential, probably better work ethic, listening skills, etc..or else he would not have made those moves. But we'll never know how much he factors raw talent into the equation too.

Either way, you can't really argue with his rep, but it is an internet forum, and sometimes strange looking decisions are analyzed.

Like I said, we'll have to see moving forward.

Here's my point on watching the film:

Since 2006, the Philip Rivers era, we have played San Diego 6 times with a record of 5-1. If you review these games and the additional tape, you can make some definate conclusions:

Antonio Gates is the #1 offensive weapon...and the most reliable.

The central paradigm of the coach of the Patriots is to take away the opponents main threat.

San Diego is a big play offense because the WR's are about the most talented in the league and the QB throws the best deep ball in the NFL.

Being talented, they make many outstanding plays and produce tons of yards.

On offense, they are not efficient- the main reason is they are very prone to gaffes.

This played on in the four previous wins.

The one loss in 2008- the Deltha O'Neill Bowl, shows the game was lost in the 1st qtr after several big plays down field.

Based on this reality, what should the gameplan be?

1.) Gates neutralized? Held without a catch by the safeties

2.) Big plays? The Chargers went downfield once. McCourty had great coverage on Jackson. However. the safety (Brown?) came over and was there in time to help.

I would also look at the box score. For all time time spent on Jackson's performance, the reality is San Diego completed only 13 passes to WR's. 16 to TE's and RB's.

A very talented team made plays. The critical point is they never came close to making the required quantity of plays. The ole' "We made afew more plays than they did".

This fact was evident from the start. Same for Miami game. Their first TD drive made that obvious.

3.) Proning gaffe's? The most important gaff that got proned was Browns INT in the second half.

Review much of the "thinking" on this thread. Pick an isolated play and extrapolate out game conclusions.

 

[TheComeback]

Meriweather and sanders are starters on playoff teams im pretty sure the Safeties the pats have starting for them now would have a hard time just makeing any outher roster forget starting

Funny, seems to me that Pat Chung and Sergio Brown are also starters on a playoff team.

By the way, Sergio Brown played a great game against the Chargers. I'm not worried about him. Not so sure about Barrett yet.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

Meriweather and sanders are starters on playoff teams im pretty sure the Safeties the pats have starting for them now would have a hard time just makeing any outher roster forget starting

He has a point.

Meriweather and Sanders both have a lot of experience in our system and have been to the "big game".

Theyve both made plays in big games.


I like Sergio Brown but Barrett is absolutely terrible so far.

 

[supafly]

Here's my point on watching the film:

Since 2006, the Philip Rivers era, we have played San Diego 6 times with a record of 5-1. If you review these games and the additional tape, you can make some definate conclusions:

Antonio Gates is the #1 offensive weapon...and the most reliable.

The central paradigm of the coach of the Patriots is to take away the opponents main threat.

San Diego is a big play offense because the WR's are about the most talented in the league and the QB throws the best deep ball in the NFL.

Being talented, they make many outstanding plays and produce tons of yards.

On offense, they are not efficient- the main reason is they are very prone to gaffes.

This played on in the four previous wins.

The one loss in 2008- the Deltha O'Neill Bowl, shows the game was lost in the 1st qtr after several big plays down field.

Based on this reality, what should the gameplan be?

1.) Gates neutralized? Held without a catch by the safeties

2.) Big plays? The Chargers went downfield once. McCourty had great coverage on Jackson. However. the safety (Brown?) came over and was there in time to help.

I would also look at the box score. For all time time spent on Jackson's performance, the reality is San Diego completed only 13 passes to WR's. 16 to TE's and RB's.

A very talented team made plays. The critical point is they never came close to making the required quantity of plays. The ole' "We made afew more plays than they did".

This fact was evident from the start. Same for Miami game. Their first TD drive made that obvious.

3.) Proning gaffe's? The most important gaff that got proned was Browns INT in the second half.

Review much of the "thinking" on this thread. Pick an isolated play and extrapolate out game conclusions.

Very nice analysis. Certainly some good points made.

It's a reasonable way to think, that's for sure. It's certainly a lot more optimistic than thinking that SD had their way with them, yet we somehow got lucky by watching them implode.

I agree that the 5-1 record since has been great, but a couple/few of those games certainly could have gone either way. I think the game planning for the percentages (basically what you speak of) is working great, but I also think some luck has come into play with SD too. Just the same that our 'luck' has gone the other way for the most part in some Indy games.

But as far as your point on the gameplanning strategies etc--nice stuff.

I looked at it more of having several key things to stop from them, and basically they only really stopped one (Gates), and failed in most other tasks. Your way is cetainly much more optimistic. Like I said, we'll have to see going forward. Even a lot of good teams still have weaknesses, and I suspect that we will have our weaknesses too.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Very nice analysis. Certainly some good points made.

It's a reasonable way to think, that's for sure. It's certainly a lot more optimistic than thinking that SD had their way with them, yet we somehow got lucky by watching them implode.

I agree that the 5-1 record since has been great, but a couple/few of those games certainly could have gone either way. I think the game planning for the percentages (basically what you speak of) is working great, but I also think some luck has come into play with SD too. Just the same that our 'luck' has gone the other way for the most part in some Indy games.

But as far as your point on the gameplanning strategies etc--nice stuff.

I looked at it more of having several key things to stop from them, and basically they only really stopped one (Gates), and failed in most other tasks. Your way is cetainly much more optimistic. Like I said, we'll have to see going forward. Even a lot of good teams still have weaknesses, and I suspect that we will have our weaknesses too.

The flipside is what happened in SB XLII.

The Giants mirror the Chargers in that they are an extremely talented group of meatheads. Notice the Giants performance since 2007 (and before).

If the Chargers ever put it together mentally and physically; they would be an absolute terror.

Under that contingency, the collective individual performances need to improve.

Also, putting Jackson in the slot was very interesting. A guy 6'5" with slot receiver skills is incredible. Expecting the 4th CB to cover is not realistic.