Does anyone have insight into the secondary?

[PP2]

Re:

The giveaway is that, on the other side, McCourty is defending the flat and Gregory is taking the man over the top in his deep zone. You can also see the LBs playing core cover two principles.

McCourty is not defending the flat. He is defending his man in press. The last we see of him as the camera pans upfield, he is rolling up to his man. You don't do that in zone.

 

[UK_Pat37]

McCourty was not playing zone. He was in press on that play.

He was absolutely playing zone, he stayed in the flats and Gregory took that man and followed him up field. McCourty stayed put. It's not abnormal for a QB to put an arm or shoulder into a WR before he leaves his zone within the first 5 yards.

 

[UK_Pat37]

Re:

McCourty is not defending the flat. He is defending his man in press. The last we see of him as the camera pans upfield, he is rolling up to his man. You don't do that in zone.

Just going to steal an image from unoriginal's post...

You can clearly see McCourty has stayed down and Gregory has taken the man downfield.

 

[unoriginal]

So I thought I had everything wrapped up in a nice, tidy package. But the sirens have been going off all morning.

Time to deal with the troublemakers.

Simple fact is you don't know the play call or play book. Hate to break it to you,it's not as simple as just cover three, cover two, quarters etc in the NFL....there's often combined coverage and not all teams play traditional cover two....so unless you have a play book and the call at hand, it's hard t take a amateurs analysis seriously.

This is important to note, and I usually begin with just such a disclaimer. I am going off of general principles and I don't REALLY know what coverage was called, or even called for, on the play. I can't ask the players who saw what and when, and did what they did why. All I can do is study what "film" I have and present it in the best manner possible, using educated guesses. I am not affliated with the team in any way, have no inside source, and posters may be relieved to learn Tavon Wilson will not be running penalty laps just because I think he should from my Monday/Tuesday morning chair.

If this was supposed to be a Cover 3 Shell, then ALL the DBs had it wrong. What's more likely? That all 4 DBs got the call wrong? Or maybe the Pats faked the Cover 3 and dropped both safeties with the Corners in Man coverage and the LBs playing Zone in the Flat..

One last thing. The Pats regularly run combinations of ZONE with the LBers and safeties with the CBs in MAN coverage. It's not an either or with them. That has been going on for YEARS..

Okay, I am definately not saying all the DBs had it wrong. As UK_Pat37 notes, I believe Tavon Wilson is wrong, specifically that he got snookered on Locker's pump fake. I noted originally that maybe he could have been asked to rob in cuts in a modified Cover 2, but that doesn't really jive with Arrington's positioning, and it certainly doesn't jive with what Gregory is doing at the bottom of the screen.

Some of the stuff I'm about to cover I already noted — in fact to save time I'm reusing some pictures — and UK_Pat37 has picked up on some of it on his own, apparently without carefully reading my long-winded posts.

Here's the first picture, several seconds before the snap, retagged somewhat. At the bottom of your screen is Devin McCourty and a single Titans receiver, Damian Williams, #17. If the CBs are in man coverage, McCourty should have this guy all the way.

This is a reused picture, Jake Locker finally throwing the ball. I call people's attention once again to the fullback and tailback, who have leaked out of the backfield and are standing around, waiting for a dumpoff. Since we can see that the Titans were in a five-man line, and these two guys are standing here, that leaves three receivers somewhere downfield, theoretically being subjected to quite a bit of bracket coverage.

Here's that blurry Sasquatch action shot. The slot receiver and Nate Washington are obviously to the top. We see both Devin McCourty, the nearside CB, in the flat, going nowhere very quickly, and we see Steve Gregory pointed in the opposite direction, apparently running somewhere. If we put on our detective hats, we may arrive at the conclusion that Steve Gregory is running with a receiver on a go route, and Devin McCourty is eyeing that fullback at the edge of his flat.

And this is a new shot, the aftermath of the play, with #17 Damian Williams rolling into the picture with Steve Gregory right on his heels. Where is CB Devin McCourty? Last seen he was 40 yards upfield, some 8 yards off the fullback. Very strange behavior if we think the CBs are in man coverage. But not strange behavior if we diagnose zone coverage, with MCourty passing off his receiver to Gregory as soon as he left the flat.

… where you fall flat is where you criticise Tavon for staying disciplined. What you cannot say is where he is when he ball is released...which is why you n coaches film. It's impossible to say whether he has maintained his responsibility by that clip and whether he has maintained an adequate amount of depth to assist with the play either side. You also don't know what route the receiver on the opposite side of the field has run...if he has run a post then it is Tavon's responsibility to cut that off in cover three.

You're right in what you're saying interns f yes, it's zone, but what you don't know is the play call...IMO not all teams play the same principles and change things up to suit them. Without coaches tape, it's hard to say anything other than the fact it is zone, and it is cover three.

I just rewatched the play on my gamepass...it looks an awful lot like 'cover 2 man'…

As we have seen, the opposite receiver is also running a deep route, and since Gregory is running straight back well past 15 yards, it looks like a go route, same as Nate Washington. If Tavon Wilson's responsibility as the deep middle is to be deepest man on the field — quite a common responsibility, since as you noted he has responsibility to both sides, and can't look everywhere at once, so this player is often asked to be conservative — then Tavon Wilson has not done a good job with his coverage responsibility.

Cover 2 Man is when two players provide a Cover 2 shell deep, and everyone else matches up in man. The only one anywhere close to playing man coverage on this play is Kyle Arrington, and there is nothing technique-wise that he's doing that makes me think he is, and even if he were doing so, someone else should be behind him as the Cover 2 shell player. As Tavon Wilson is the only other player in the vincinity, that would have to be him anyway. But they are not playing Cover 2 Man.

Now, I can certainly allow that it is possible there is Cover 2 going on everywhere except Kyle Arrington, who has drawn a man assignment and is doing his damnedest to make it look like zone coverage. But in that situation, somebody still has to have a deep half, since Gregory is no where close to the middle of the field, for good reason. The only player that fits the bill is Tavon Wilson, and he trails the ball by a good ten yards.

But it sure looks like Cover 3, rolled to the near side of the field, with Tavon Wilson making a rookie mistake.

 

[PP2]

I completely whiffed on that. I never saw McCourty simply chip his man and pass off to Gregory who took the flanker on a go route. I will be taking myself out of the discussion now.

 

[patfanken]

Re: A brief history of attempted Cover 3, aka beginner's luck

Whelp, nothing I can do here but get the tape out and lead some "image" study. Football 101 is now in session, TA unoriginal presiding.

Here we see the formations well before snap. Of especial note concerning pass coverage is the attitude of the outside cornerbacks; here one can clearly see Kyle Arrington, #24 in your playbook, is lined up outside the receiver and is angled so he may observe the quarterback. This is a good tell for zone coverage. The classic man look would be Arrington inside or on top of the receiver, in this case Nate Washington, #85 in your playbook, and facing him. You'll no doubt note that Devin McCourty, the near corner, has adopted an even more severe attitude than Kyle Arrington.

Tavon Wilson, #27, who is in for the recently sidelined Pat Chung, has walked down on top of the slot. Not pitctured is Steve Gregory, who is deep in the middle of the field.

From Jake Locker's point of view, the coverage picture is confused. The corners seem to be in Cover 2 on the flats, but there is only one safety high.

The thing to notice here is that, by the time of the snap, Tavon Wilson has already backed off the slot several yards. To Jake Locker, about to execute a play action fake, this must seem like classic Cover 2 zone, safeties high.

Here's the snap from a different angle. To note here is how Kyle Arrington has opened up. He is still outside the receiver, and he is facing the QB. Again, classic indication of zone coverage.

Here, mere moments after the snap, we see both Kyle Arrington and Tavon Wilson open their hips towards the QB and get depth. Neither is looking at anything resembling a wide receiver yet. Classic zone. Arrrington may seem to be in man due to his proximity to Nate Washington, but Tavon Wilson has long since left the slot man behind. Hightower (#54) is spreading out to the flats, and is giving that guy a solid jam.

Note Steve Gregory (#28), who is now briefly seen, as he is moving from the middle of the field towards the near sideline. What we are beginning to see here is movement towards a Cover 3 shell.

Trouble brewing. This is the time of Jake Locker's pump fake, whose effect is quite noticable when one studies the Patriots players in this image, all of whom have their eyes on him. Hightower and Spikes are collapsing from their zones on the slot receiver, while over top of him, Arrington is turning in to drive on Nate Washington, who is performing the stop part of the stop n' go.

Tavon Wilson, rookie fill-in, is mesmerized by it all and has stopped getting depth, quite sure the ball is about to be distributed somewhere in front of him.

Let us take a moment to reflect on the position of Wilson, Steve Gregory — barely visible beneath the ticker bottom right — and Kyle Arrington, who is practically on the sideline. This is Cover 3! If Arrington were in man he would be horrendously out of position that far off Washington and that close the sideline. Gregory is nearly on the numbers near side and is deep. Tavon Wilson is beyond 15 yards in the middle of the field. Perhaps, perhaps he is playing deep robber in a sort of Tampa 2. But then Arrington would still have no business being as far outside as he is.

One should also note how far outside the slot receiver Dont'a Hightower has spread. He began the play inside, went all the way to the receiver's outside, and is now collapsing in on the receiver, while Brandon Spikes (#55) drives from the inside. Again, clear indication of zone. Hightower has flats, Spikes has the far hash.

Here, frozen in compressed time and jpg, is Jake Locker's throwing of his first interception. Nothing else to see here apart from the two Titans just downfield, one of whom is Chris Johnson (#28), with not a Patriot player within five yards of them. You can barely make out the shadows of the slot receiver and Hightower off the upper right.

If this were man coverage, one or both of these Titans receivers would have been closely covered by a linebacker. Especially Johnson, who leaked from the backfield. So, again, this is zone coverage.

Jerod Mayo (#51) and Devin McCourty (#32) here make reappearences in the lower left. Mayo is quite obviously patrolling the near hash, and McCourty is in the near flat, each well away from the Titans we saw previously, who were close to the line of scrimmage. To belabor the point, this spacing is due to the fact that the Pats are in zone, not man.

Note that Kyle Arrington is recovering from his brief misstep, while Tavon Wilson intently stares down the QB.

Incidently, Jake Locker's snap read of Cover 2 is now made correct, thanks to Wilson's freezing on the pump.

This blurry action shot is either the most conclusive piece of evidence of the existence of Bigfoot, or that the Pats are playing Cover 3 zone here, or at least would be if Tavon Wilson had received the urgent memo, From: Kyle Arrington Re: Nate Washington Message Text: Hey guys, looking for inside help here.

This is what blown coverage looks like at 18 MPH. Tavon Wilson owes Kyle Arrington doughnuts all week for the butt-saving that's about to happen.

End.

Just have to thank you for your break down, though I'm not sure why you would criticize or paint any negatives to Arrington. Here's what's clear by your good work at least IMHO.

1. The Pats wanted to disguise a 3 deep coverage with Wilson looking like he was in man on the TE.

2. I will infer from what little we see on the other hash mark that Wright was doing something deep that drew Gregory over to that side of the field along with McCourty

3. I'll disagree with you here in that I believe that before Wilson started his back pedal the ball was snapped, so I believe that Locker believed that Wilson would move down to the TE who was doing a short out and he'd have Washington alone with Arrington on the outside with no S help.

4. Ironically, this was EXACTLY what BB had hoped when he designed the Defensive disguise, which was to have the QB THINK there was no safety help when there was.

5. Unfortunately, Wilson, as you correctly pointed out, stops gaining depth, evidently mesmerized by what he sees in front of him. Believe me a someone who played the position without a lot of experience that CAN happen.

6. So because of the Wilson bust, even though Locker "falls into the trap", he winds up getting exactly what he was hoping for

7. .....except for the fact that Arrington has played the double move perfectly and is in great position to make a play on the ball. However if Locker had led Washington more to the post, that great position would have been lost because there wouldn't have been any inside help, because Wilson was LATE to the party.

8. What's also ironic is that if the ball had been thrown inside and led to a TD, Arrington would have been killed by "hanging judges" here, even though he'd have done his job just like he was supposed to. Which only goes to show how often we can blame the wrong guy when we don't break down a play in such detail. So we should be careful before we point fingers, because even with all this information that Unoriginal has painstakingly gathered (thanks again) we STILL are just making educated guesses. Only Matt Patricia knows the exact calls and the appropriate assignments. There are a lot of subtleties that we can never know just from stills.

 

[Rob0729]

No matter how much video evidence we can bring to this discussion, can't we all just agree any pass the Pats gave up was at least in part McCourty's fault. He is so awful he makes the entire secondary play worse.

 

[UK_Pat37]

The only thing that brings me to believe it isn't cover three, is that McCourty stays home. In a conventional cover three, McCourty would drop back into the deep left third.

Could it be that they are playing a three dep zone and just using Gregory? I'm not really sure. The idea of three deep is its designed to give off a feel of cover two, as I think you have mentioned, and then the strong safety is supposed to push up on the snap and take the flat/hook and contains against the run. Then both CBs drop back heavily into their deep third.

As you said, Arrington looks like he's playing zone and then he turns up field....which could then explain why Wilson was where he is...his responsibility is the deep middle third and to remain deep enough to provide assistance if his zone is clear....if it were in fact a cover three.

It's just the play of Gregory and McCourty and their positioning that makes me feel like its cover two man. That, or for some reason, they have decided to use the SS as the deep left guy and keep McCourty home.

It's really hard to tell without knowing the play call. I just can't see he logic in using the SS in one of the deep thirds. If someone could cme up with a bit of logic to it then I'll happily eat crow and learn something new in the process!

My educated guess is cover two man and Wilson just bit on the fake and got caught flat footed.

If t is three deep, McCourty has done something seriously wrong and is way, way out of position.

 

[Big-T]

I'm going to stick with some type of mixed coverage and people on here are trying too hard to dumb the play call down into something vanilla.

 

[patfanken]

Re:

Sorry, but you're wrong. If you have this on DVR, you can see it's cover 3 by looking at what McCourty is doing on the other side. Prior to the snap, he sells zone, and at the snap, he rolls up to his man to play press. THAT is man to man. The other 3 DBs are in a zone and Tavon is supposed to be on top.

If you look at the still attached at the very bottom, far right at McCourty and compare his tech to Arrington's, both DBs are playing two completely different tech. If this really was cover 2, both corners would mirror each other's tech.

Here's the problem. Given the LACK of info we have, you could be both right. There are combo coverages where on one side you have 2 guys playing man/zone techniques. Its possible that McCourty was rolling up on Wright to cut off any short hooks or outs knowing Gregory had him deep, while at the same time, Arrington was playing deep zone techniques expecting deep middle help from Wilson. At the same time the LBs had man coverage underneath.

I think what is clear regardless who who is right or wrong is that the Pats wanted to make it look like it was cover 3 at the snap of the ball, AND Wilson was late and never got enough depth to help out in the middle.. I think the idea was to be able to jump any short pass attempts, while at the same time disguise the safety help if they went deep.

It worked to the extent that they got Locker to go deep to Washington, but because Wilson didn't get his proper depth he wasn't there to help.. Many kudos to Arrington for playing it so well. A slap on the wrist to him for not catching the ball in the first place, and a pat on the back to Wilson for recovering in time to make the pick.

For BB it was a perfect teaching moment. Enough mistakes to hammer home some important points, while enough positives to make everyone feel good about themselves.

 

[Ring 6]

Re: A brief history of attempted Cover 3, aka beginner's luck

Look at my third post...when you look at it long enough, I worked out its cover two man...not cover three at all. The giveaway is McCourty and Gregory's responsibilities....

Your conclusion requires the belief that you know the call and Tavon Wilson doesnt.

 

[unoriginal]

The only thing that brings me to believe it isn't cover three, is that McCourty stays home. In a conventional cover three, McCourty would drop back into the deep left third.

Could it be that they are playing a three dep zone and just using Gregory? I'm not really sure.

YES. You are correct that the conventional way to play Cover 3 is with the strong safety running up to the strong side flats, with the deep field split CB - FS - CB. But you can play a Cover 3 shell with whomever you want. The Pats used to play Cover 3 with Don Davis, a coverage LB, dropping deep. Each player is only responsible for a third of the field, so coverage demands are lessened somewhat.

When I played football, this was called "Cover 3" (usually a code word this was used) ROLL, with roll designated strong or weak. That meant that side corner had the flat (was ROLLED up in the flat) with the other secondary players pivoting into the deep zones. In execution, it looks like the secondary was circiling to one side of the field or the other. If you're in nickel or dime, you can get even more creative with who goes where.

 

[Ring 6]

Re:

Here's the problem. Given the LACK of info we have, you could be both right. There are combo coverages where on one side you have 2 guys playing man/zone techniques. Its possible that McCourty was rolling up on Wright to cut off any short hooks or outs knowing Gregory had him deep, while at the same time, Arrington was playing deep zone techniques expecting deep middle help from Wilson. At the same time the LBs had man coverage underneath.

I think what is clear regardless who who is right or wrong is that the Pats wanted to make it look like it was cover 3 at the snap of the ball, AND Wilson was late and never got enough depth to help out in the middle.. I think the idea was to be able to jump any short pass attempts, while at the same time disguise the safety help if they went deep.
By the way, I disagree that the middle safety in Cover 3 should get deep if there are no deep routes in his zone. In that case he either makes plays in front of him, or does just what Wilson did by chasing the ball in the air.

It worked to the extent that they got Locker to go deep to Washington, but because Wilson didn't get his proper depth he wasn't there to help.. Many kudos to Arrington for playing it so well. A slap on the wrist to him for not catching the ball in the first place, and a pat on the back to Wilson for recovering in time to make the pick.

For BB it was a perfect teaching moment. Enough mistakes to hammer home some important points, while enough positives to make everyone feel good about themselves.

Not to mention that where a player is positioned in zone coverage also depends upon the routes being run.
It seems pretty obvious to me that Arrington had Washington deep, and Wilson's zone was a different part of the field, and once the play developed and that the throw was made Wilson left his zone to go help Arrington in his when that is where the pass went.
Kinda hard to figure how someone sees it differently than that.

 

[Ring 6]

Re: A brief history of attempted Cover 3, aka beginner's luck

Just have to thank you for your break down, though I'm not sure why you would criticize or paint any negatives to Arrington. Here's what's clear by your good work at least IMHO.

1. The Pats wanted to disguise a 3 deep coverage with Wilson looking like he was in man on the TE.

2. I will infer from what little we see on the other hash mark that Wright was doing something deep that drew Gregory over to that side of the field along with McCourty

3. I'll disagree with you here in that I believe that before Wilson started his back pedal the ball was snapped, so I believe that Locker believed that Wilson would move down to the TE who was doing a short out and he'd have Washington alone with Arrington on the outside with no S help.

4. Ironically, this was EXACTLY what BB had hoped when he designed the Defensive disguise, which was to have the QB THINK there was no safety help when there was.

5. Unfortunately, Wilson, as you correctly pointed out, stops gaining depth, evidently mesmerized by what he sees in front of him. Believe me a someone who played the position without a lot of experience that CAN happen.

6. So because of the Wilson bust, even though Locker "falls into the trap", he winds up getting exactly what he was hoping for

7. .....except for the fact that Arrington has played the double move perfectly and is in great position to make a play on the ball. However if Locker had led Washington more to the post, that great position would have been lost because there wouldn't have been any inside help, because Wilson was LATE to the party.

8. What's also ironic is that if the ball had been thrown inside and led to a TD, Arrington would have been killed by "hanging judges" here, even though he'd have done his job just like he was supposed to. Which only goes to show how often we can blame the wrong guy when we don't break down a play in such detail. So we should be careful before we point fingers, because even with all this information that Unoriginal has painstakingly gathered (thanks again) we STILL are just making educated guesses. Only Matt Patricia knows the exact calls and the appropriate assignments. There are a lot of subtleties that we can never know just from stills.

I dont know what you are looking at, but it seems clear that Arrington, Wilson, and Gregory had deep 1/3s.
Wilson played it in textbook style, unless you think textbook is to abandon your 1/3 because there is a receiver in someone elses 1/3.

 

[unoriginal]

Just have to thank you for your break down, though I'm not sure why you would criticize or paint any negatives to Arrington.

As for the claim that Arrington was "horrendously out of position" on the pump fake, He's within 3 yards of Washington.

It is important to note that my percevied criticism of Arrington was done under the prooffered context of his playing man coverage. I used the fact that he didn't use solid man technique as one of the many reasons the play was zone coverage. If I am right about the coverage, there is no real criticism of Arrington's positioning.

 

[patfanken]

YES. You are correct that the conventional way to play Cover 3 is with the strong safety running up to the strong side flats, with the deep field split CB - FS - CB. But you can play a Cover 3 shell with whomever you want. The Pats used to play Cover 3 with Don Davis, a coverage LB, dropping deep. Each player is only responsible for a third of the field, so coverage demands are lessened somewhat.

When I played football, this was called "Cover 3" (usually a code word this was used) ROLL, with roll designated strong or weak. That meant that side corner had the flat (was ROLLED up in the flat) with the other secondary players pivoting into the deep zones. In execution, it looks like the secondary was circiling to one side of the field or the other. If you're in nickel or dime, you can get even more creative with who goes where.

What you describe here is something that you rarely hear mentioned by the experts, but is a common technique in all pass defenses.....Rotations. I'm not sure why that is.

You can rotate to formation, motion, or QB roll out. Usually its into the strength of the formation or wide side of the field with the idea of adding at least a half man more coverage to one side of the field. There are full rotations, half rotations, split man/zone rotations. Perhaps its all these possible combinations that keep them from being discussed simply because it would just end up being too confusing. To the "expert analysts" if you can't explain it in one sentence....why bother.

Its one of the reasons why it takes so much studying to master the nuances of an NFL defense. If all they played were man, and covers 1, 2, 3, and 4 everyone's day would be a lot shorter.

 

[unoriginal]

If all they played were man, and covers 1, 2, 3, and 4 everyone's day would be a lot shorter.

Technically Cover 3 "Roll" is still just a Cover 3.

Not directed at you, but at the general board: "Cover #" only refers to the shell, i.e. the deep players, not to who they are, how they got there, or what anyone else is doing. Seeing a safety in the flats does not mean it can't be Cover 2, and seeing a corner in the flats does not mean it can't be Cover 3. You look at the shell.

 

[patfanken]

Re: A brief history of attempted Cover 3, aka beginner's luck

I dont know what you are looking at, but it seems clear that Arrington, Wilson, and Gregory had deep 1/3s.
Wilson played it in textbook style, unless you think textbook is to abandon your 1/3 because there is a receiver in someone elses 1/3.

spoke like a true C, Andy. .

You are partially right. I think the idea was to wind up with Wilson deep, but with the S's helping the CBs in deep coverage. Gregory almost immediately goes to McCourty's side of the field. Wilson job was to get depth, and likely (since we don't know for sure) if no one threatens him deep, help out Arringon on his side of the filed.

He's not supposed to just sit in the middle of the field regardless. If you look back at the play we can infer that he'd already read Locker and had moved to the right side of the field. However because he stopped gaining depth, he had to come back to the ball from behind the play rather than from the side.

I mean, Andy, I'm just guessing like everyone else here based on my interpretation of what I'm seeing, and I could make a few different ones from the same evidence. What is pretty clear to me is this.

1. The Pats wanted to make it look like a 3 deep look with one deep S and one playing the TE in man or zone underneath.

2. At the snap they rotated Gregory to the deep outside in some kind of combo coverage with McCourty. Man or Zone I can't tell.

3. I'm pretty sure if the TE had run an immediate seam route Wilson would have taken him as he was gaining depth at the snap of the ball. Since the TE broke outside, Wilson's job was to continue to gain depth and help Arringon on any deep routes to his side as Gregory was on the other side, and give the TE to a LB underneath.

4. The idea of the disguise was to have the QB think that Wilson would be covering the TE short, and either Washington or Wright would have single coverage on the outside deep. When he saw Gregory moving to Wrights side, he knew to go to Washington. and he did.

5. If Wilson had gotten enough depth it would have been a perfect trap, Instead Locker got expectly what he wanted except Arrington was in great position and it wasn't a great ball. He if had led Washington more toward the post, there was no one deep enough to have helped and the Pats would have been in trouble. If Wilson had gotten enough depth then leading him to the post would have been leading him right into Wilson.

6. It was the right concept, with incomplete execution by one person, which turned out OK. That happens a lot in the game of football, which you well know.

 

[Triumph]

This was the one disappointment. Many of the same problems that plagued them a year ago remained, including big plays (seven passes of 14 yards or more, three of 24 or more). Their zone coverage remains too loose, and forget about man-to-man, as Kyle Arrington showed when he was undressed by Nate Washington on fourth-and-1. Arrington simply let him run by untouched for a 24-yard completion. Washington’s 29-yard TD catch came after Jake Locker was pressured by Vince Wilfork [stats]. The secondary gambled and Washington got behind it in part because safety Steve Gregory was slow to react. Devin McCourty again struggled to cover anybody and got away with brutal pass interference in the end zone that should have given the ball to Tennessee on the 1. He had no idea where the ball was and both held and ran into Damian Williams without once looking for the ball. Ras-I Dowling was awful early but seemed to get better as things progressed. Rookie Tavon Wilson made a leaping interception of a pass that bounced of Arrington’s face mask and showed some good signs, but he also was so slow to react on one Jared Cook route when he gave him a free release into their zone defense, allowing him to run wide open for a 35-yard gain. Overall, not good but sadly familiar. Patriots report card: High marks in opening win - BostonHerald.com

 

[JackBauer]

Man, you could at least include a Ron Borges disclaimer.