Are the Patriots corners being less aggressive on defense (fewer INTs, more breakups)?

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Is it just my eyes, or are the Patriots playing to breakup passes after they've hit the opponents hands now instead of trying to cut in front for the ball? The Patriots have 10 INTs this season, though most years they are among the league leaders. However, they are allowing just 6.8 yards per attempt. It seems that Butler and Ryan are specializing in letting the receiver touch the ball before breaking it up as he tries to bring it to his body. It is remarkable at how skilled both players are in jarring the ball out...we saw Ryan do it many times against Demarius Thomas, while Butler's end zone breakup last night was one of many we've seen from him. Is it just a small sample size/am I just not seeing the big picture, or has anyone else noticed this?

By the way, I'm not saying one philosophy is better than the other.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Last year they had 16 INTs. This year they have 10.

Last year they had 81 PDs. This year they ALREADY have 81.

To early to tell maybe.

 

[chasa]

there have been at least 4 dropped picks this year.

id say its a combination of things.

 

[dannydyn]

I was thinking the same thing last night during the game. Butler is no question a shut down corner. But when was his last interception? I honestly can't recall.

 

[dales804]

But when was his last interception? I honestly can't recall.

Week 2.

 

[The Gr8est]

I was thinking the same thing last night during the game. Butler is no question a shut down corner. But when was his last interception? I honestly can't recall.

I can think of one....

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

I can think of one....

Yeah, that's the only one I remember too. Weird.

 

[dannydyn]

Week 2.

I rest my case...

Yeah, that's the only one I remember too. Weird.

Other than that one...

 

[ViperGTS]

What you are seeing out of Butler in regards to lack of INTs is exactly what will get home more down the road. I firmly believe the staff wants him to work fundamentals/closing speed/pass break ups etc. Once that foundation is put down, I'd expect to see them let him do more. He jumped a route last night and he got bit. We don't see that much and it was a very good learning moment.

 

[DarrylS]

As long as they win, not sure I care about how many interceptions they get.. from my couch, my highly scientific eyeball test tells me they are playing at a very high level..

There is only one statistic that I care about.. "Wins".. they can never have another interception and I will be satisfied as long as they win..

 

[RobertWeathers]

Nit-pik but Malcolm still bites on the double moves. The long gain by Washington was ugly.

After that he was lock down.

One thing Malcolm does very well is recover well.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Could be a lot of things. Butler might need to play differently because he's on an island more. He can't be as aggressive at times because of it.

But INTs are really a poor way of judging DBs. Remember, Kyle Arrington once tied for the league lead in INTs (along with Charles Woodson and Eric Weddle).

Revis had 2 INTs all of last season for us. So did Logan Ryan in a part-time role. Those two were so far apart last season, only by using INTs can we even come close to connecting them in any way.

Glover Quin led the league with 7 last year. This year he's tied for 19th with 3. Tashaun Gipson was 2nd last year with 6. This year he's tied for 38th with 2. Meanwhile, Reggie Nelson had 4 last season, 8 already this season to lead the league. Revis and Talib each have 3, and they're far superior to Trumaine Johnson or Marcus Peters, who each have 5.

Oh, and don't forget, Logan Ryan is in the top 10 (tied for 9th) with 4. I don't think he's being less aggressive at all.

We're talking about really small sample sizes in terms of stats.

 

[JMC00]

I mean Seattle only has 10 INTs and Denver only has 11. And according to most of the media those are supposedly the best 2 secondaries.

 

[TBR]

I was thinking the same thing last night during the game. Butler is no question a shut down corner. But when was his last interception? I honestly can't recall.

 

[willard]

Related to this discussion: defensive pass interference calls seem to be way down. This is big.

 

[Fencer]

I was thinking the same thing last night during the game. Butler is no question a shut down corner. But when was his last interception? I honestly can't recall.

The odd thing about that is that he originally got his teammates' attention by intercepting a ton of balls in practice.

 

[PP2]

I was thinking the same thing last night during the game. Butler is no question a shut down corner. But when was his last interception? I honestly can't recall.

That really bugs me. I wish he'd stop going for INT's and just be happy with batting the ball away. You don't get the same reach with two hands as you do with one, and considering his height, he needs every inch of reach he can get.