When exactly did Arrington become our best CB?

[NEPatriot]

McCourty has looked flat so far in his sophomore season, and Bodden has been... fine. Dowling showed potential, but not if he's fragile.

Arrington has been reliable, opportunistic, versatile rushing the passer, great tackling in the open field and seems to be the only guy in the secondary who has ball skills. I dont think Kyle is playing over his head, I think this is what he is... a tremendous find and a pretty reliable and productive player in a secondary that needs more of that.

I think you've summed it up well. I wonder if McCourty should be playing in the slot, assuming everyone is healthy. He's often been playing against taller WR's and he's struggled. If Dowling and Bodden are on the field against taller WR's or TE's I'd say let's put McCourty in the slot.

 

[lamafist]

I'm really not seeing what everyone else seems to be seeing in Arrington.

I mean, we can all agree that INT totals don't really tell us much about a CB's overall play. Especially so in Arrington's case, where only one of his INTs resulted from what you'd call good play on his part.

Against the Dolphins, his INT came on the last play of the game with 1 second on the clock, off a tipped pass defense by Chung, who was helping over the top. Arrington would probably have been better off knocking the pass into the ground, and certainly shouldn't have tried to return the ball, with time expired, on the Pats' 5 yard line. Against the Bills, one of his INTs came on legitimately good move, knowing he had help over the top, and cutting under the intended receiver's route. The other INT against the Bills came when he had poor position on his man, was slow reacting to Donald Jones' cut, and what would have been a good catch-and-run for Jones turned into an INT when Jones started looking upfield for his running lanes, and let the ball go through his hands, into the trailing Arrington's.

In yesterday's game, Arrington's INT came on a play in which he seemed to get hung up unsure whether to cover Austin on a short and in, or Bryant on a medium out, ended up stuck in place covering neither, only to have Romo, under pressure, hit Arrington in the numbers.

Now, Arrington does deserve credit for being able to haul balls in when they come his way, and he did have a nice pass defense yesterday, knocking the ball out of Austin's hands before he could complete the catch. Of course, that play too came on so-so coverage -- he was a half step behind Austin with his back to the QB, so it's too his credit that he close enough to Austin to make the play and was able to react to Austin's hands coming up to make the catch, but better coverage would have made it a more routine defensed pass.

My read on Arrington is that he's pretty limited in terms of coverage skills -- he can bump, he can run with a receiver, he plays underneath well, but he breaks lates on cuts, gets eaten alive by double moves, and doesn't navigate through traffic well. (Hence, BB electing to have Bodden play 'star' db over the slot receiver.) The upside to Arrington is that, unlike, say, Butler, he doesn't think he's better in coverage than he is. He plays within himself, does his job, and doesn't get burned trying to make plays that are beyond his abilities.

 

[satz]

I'm really not seeing what everyone else seems to be seeing in Arrington.

Against the Dolphins, his INT came on the last play of the game with 1 second on the clock, off a tipped pass defense by Chung, who was helping over the top. Arrington would probably have been better off knocking the pass into the ground, and certainly shouldn't have tried to return the ball, with time expired, on the Pats' 5 yard line. Against the Bills, one of his INTs came on legitimately good move, knowing he had help over the top, and cutting under the intended receiver's route. The other INT against the Bills came when he had poor position on his man, was slow reacting to Donald Jones' cut, and what would have been a good catch-and-run for Jones turned into an INT when Jones started looking upfield for his running lanes, and let the ball go through his hands, into the trailing Arrington's.

In yesterday's game, Arrington's INT came on a play in which he seemed to get hung up unsure whether to cover Austin on a short and in, or Bryant on a medium out, ended up stuck in place covering neither, only to have Romo, under pressure, hit Arrington in the numbers.

I have issue with this analysis. You think reading the QB and changing what he is doing is bad. we critize CB when they do not look for the ball or read the Qb but now you are critizing him for reading the QB and following it.

last year courtney read the qb and abandon covering his guy on 2 of his picks ,so according you those where terrible as the WR was wide open and was not covered. instead mccourtney was reading the qb and tracking the ball.

this year he is reading the qb more often then not. every week you see 1 or 2 completion he is fighting with the WR or trying to intercept. he has 2 good ones which nearly pulled off. I see him reading the QB more this year.

In my watching he could have 2 more interception if he had a bit more ball skills . he was in position and looked like going to get the interception .he just need to work on his skills a bit more.

you left out the part he brings the wood in the running game...

 

[Dessalines]

I was thinking the same exact thing during the game. I'm always routing for the underdog, so I'm a fan of Arrington. He seems like a very humble Guy.

And a smart well spoken guy. This is Bill's favorite kind of player.

 

[lamafist]

I have issue with this analysis. You think reading the QB and changing what he is doing is bad. we critize CB when they do not look for the ball or read the Qb but now you are critizing him for reading the QB and following it.

last year courtney read the qb and abandon covering his guy on 2 of his picks ,so according you those where terrible as the WR was wide open and was not covered. instead mccourtney was reading the qb and tracking the ball.

this year he is reading the qb more often then not. every week you see 1 or 2 completion he is fighting with the WR or trying to intercept. he has 2 good ones which nearly pulled off. I see him reading the QB more this year.

In my watching he could have 2 more interception if he had a bit more ball skills . he was in position and looked like going to get the interception .he just need to work on his skills a bit more.

you left out the part he brings the wood in the running game...

"Peeking into the backfield" is a cardinal sin for cornerbacks, and for good reason. If you've got coverage responsibilities, that's your #1 priority. You need to be on your man. If you're "reading the quarterback" and don't see your guy make a cut, or the QB looks you off his intended target, you're just going to get a good luck at what a QB licking his chops at a blown coverage looks like. "Reading the quarterback" is a luxury more often enjoyed by linebackers and safeties who either by design or based on what the offense does end up without a specific coverage responsibility.

On the play in question, there's no way that Arrington wasn't supposed to pick up either Austin or Bryant, and there's absolutely nothing he could "read" from the quarterback that would tell him that Romo was going to throw the ball to a spot halfway between the two of them with no other Cowboy in the vicinity. If Romo hadn't felt the rush and thrown an errant pass, Arrington would have been the goat for leaving Austin wide open underneath.

 

[VJCPatriot]

And how do you know that Arrington didn't study his film, recognized something the Cowboys tend to do on offense, then drifted to the spot he knew the ball would come? In fact Tracey Porter scored a crucial pick 6 on Manning on just such a play in the Saints superbowl win.

Even barring that case, unless the play is reviewed in its entirety, and we know the call both offensively and defensively, you can't just assume that Arrington 'abandoned' a responsibility. He might have been playing his responsibility just fine and when he saw where the ball was going, he broke on it. That's what good corners do.

"Peeking into the backfield" is a cardinal sin for cornerbacks, and for good reason. If you've got coverage responsibilities, that's your #1 priority. You need to be on your man.

Buy why wasn't it a problem for McCourty his rookie season? That's what I find so puzzling. It's like he contracted something from Butler before he got cut.

Yeah Arrington was porgressing all last year and is still trending up. McCourty is flat or trending slightly down. Ball awareness seems lacking could be coaching but I hope not. Does seem to be a common issue with many of our guys.

 

[patsfan06]

If McCourty has one more missed tackle, I'm going to puke!

Yeah, he only leads the team in tackles and is only ranked 2nd of all CBs in the league in tackles.

It's like people aren't even watching the game. McCourty struggled the first two weeks of the season but he has been fine in the past 4 game. He has had a few bad plays with the awful one again Laurent yesterday, but he still has been our best member of the defensive secondary this year.

Arrington has certainly stepped up too, but lets not overstate things. He has been making big plays, but still has struggled some in coverage. But he is turning into a number 2 CB.