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Postgame; Secondary thoughts

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BobDigital

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The 2 stories of this year as we go forward IMO will be the OL and Secondary.

This unit played pretty well tonight and here are some thoughts.

There were a few bad 3rd and longs given up. One by Butler and one by Ryan. The Miami WRs were overall tough matchups. There were plenty of other throws to be made but the pressure from the front 7 caused incompletions and there were maybe 4 or 5 drops by the Dolphins.

Overall though Ryan and Butler competed well and were often in the area forcing the QB to make a pretty good pass. One of the things Ryan and Butler do that I really like is they don't allow much YAC. BB talks about tackling and how important it is and his DBs are usually very good at it. You don't see many plays broken for big yards after the catch on either of them. Coleman simply is not NFL ready. He did make that one saving play after getting beat to recover and knock the ball out on a deep pass but if that pass lead the WR as opposed to slowed him up it would have been a TD likely. Coleman is doing his best but he is a PS guy to me who needs time to develop. Not ready. Overall Butler and Ryan did well this game.

The Patriots DBs are often group together as a problem but the safety spot has turned into one of the more solid spots on the team. I have very little negative to point out with this group. It is interesting to watch how they use Harmon and McCourty on the field together. Harmon seems to make plays. Some guys just have a knack for it. Usually 1 of them is in coverage and more like a CB than safety. Chung has a not so good game but overall has had a good season. He is a player you need to slot correctly and can occasionally play pretty good pass coverage. As your heavy nickle DB/LB has has been good this year though.

Richards the draft pick I am pretty high on has not had the chance to get on the field even though he has shown pretty well when on.

Comparing this Pats Safety corp to others in the NFL it is clearly in the top 10 right now and it covering the fact that our 3rd CB is not NFL level.
 
I am wondering If Logan Ryan's Good play is an aberration or if his play now will be the norm. Right now we have NOTHING if either Butler or Ryan goes down.
 
I am wondering If Logan Ryan's Good play is an aberration or if his play now will be the norm. Right now we have NOTHING if either Butler or Ryan goes down.

Ryan has played well in every game he has started this season. I see no reason why he doesn't continue playing like this going forward.
 
We will know against teams like the giants and donkeys. Bill should go all in and acquire a cb if available
 
One of the things Ryan and Butler do that I really like is they don't allow much YAC. BB talks about tackling and how important it is and his DBs are usually very good at it. You don't see many plays broken for big yards after the catch on either of them.

This is a very good point, and something that I've noticed but haven't really appreciated it enough, I guess.

The Patriots DBs are often group together as a problem but the safety spot has turned into one of the more solid spots on the team. I have very little negative to point out with this group. It is interesting to watch how they use Harmon and McCourty on the field together. Harmon seems to make plays. Some guys just have a knack for it. Usually 1 of them is in coverage and more like a CB than safety.

Comparing this Pats Safety corp to others in the NFL it is clearly in the top 10 right now and it covering the fact that our 3rd CB is not NFL level.

Another good point. Safety is one strength of this team and it's one of the main reasons that (I think) our secondary has looked good. Harmon's ability to play the center field role well gives us more depth at CB by allowing DMC to play a man-to-man role. However, I know a lot of people here don't like McCourty in this role, and I'm not one to analyze this, but on the surface it seems like a good thing.
 
McCourty seems great in the same role Harmon excels at.

He also seems great in man coverage on a mediocre receiver -- usually a TE -- with the option to peel off and make a play elsewhere on the field.

And yeah -- if that otherwise mediocre receiver is a strong guy who's hard to bring down, all the more reason to have McCourty on him.
 
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