I don't know if it's really a 'silly' stat vuudu, not to sound negative.
I love DMcC as much as anyone, but he did not have anything close to a good game, let's be honest. Yes Marshall is known for being a pretty good WR, but in that cell of the argument, McCourty also allowed Marshall to have a top 5 all time yardage performance against him. Marshall should be doing that to the SF's and Seattle's of the league--not against our pro bowl CB.
One good thing is that McCourty seemed to battle for the ball, and he never really seems out of place, like many of our recently departed CB's always were. I expect, like everyone else that he will improve in the nx game, and that he will go right back to looking like himself again.
When you factor in 2 credited drops that Marshall officially had, and take into account the fact that one of Henne's official targets to him was a ball throw about 5 yrds over his head, it makes it look ever worse.
I have no problem with you pointing out the stats, from an objective point of view. The only problem is that your stats are
wrong--although the completion rate will likely not be affected much. Your yardage total is wrong. Your targets are wrong. Your average is wrong. However, your completion rate will remain basically unchanged, and your general point is certainly correct. I am not trying to be an @ss, I am just suggesting that you use another site for your stats, as the one you are using is way off on just about everything. Like I said, I do agree with your point, and the 'real' numbers back that up too just the same.
Marshall was targeted 13 times, with 2 official drops. That (for practical purposes) takes the total down to 11, where he had 7 receptions for 139 yards. The big problem is that it came out to be a 20 yd average per catch, and the long was 'only' 31, meaning that the average was pretty much right on with his..well..average catch. Giving up 20 yards per catch and allowing your assignment to achieve 6 first downs on 7 receptions on 11 targets (including his credited 2 drops) is pretty pathetic. As I pointed out, it enabled Marshall, who has a ton of huge games under his belt in this league, to have a top 5 yardage output. It also does not bode well for McCourty in the sense that he made approx. 20% of last yr's tackles in one game, meaning that he was consistantly chasing down his assignment.
Brandon Marshall NFL & AFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com
Brandon Marshall Stats - Miami Dolphins - ESPN
Some of DMcC's positives were that he was constantly around the ball, which is excellent. He also was credited with 2 breakups, and made a very nice play to save a potential TD when the game was still well within reach. I assume that he will be fine, and just had a bad game. Hopefully it does not turn into a trend, as he will have to cover some pretty big bodies again this weekend.