DeMarcus Covington new DC

[AQPE]

I think this is the right move, Covington has demonstrated success in several roles, assuming he is ambitious this is exactly what he needs to continue rising. The nice thing here, especially if Steven B. stays on, is Covington will have both Mayo and SB to support him on game planning and play calling.

Regarding Steven B., for as much discussion as there has been about him, he really is not well known. Other than the odd facial expressions that have been put out there, we don’t know a lot about his personality. Some people are great role players and technicians but are not leaders or managers. Steven B. may be perfectly happy to stay in a supporting role. Also if he and Brian B. remain, it will in fact be a new situation for them. They may feel, and perhaps even BB may have advised, that it works best for them to stay on staff and learn how to function without BB while being in an environment that is otherwise quite familiar.

This is good news IMHO and something to celebrate

 

[jimnance]

Excellent choice. This guy has bigtime potential

 

[FCB02062]

he was a wide receiver in college....perfect fit for a Patriots DC

 

[jimnance]

he was a wide receiver in college....perfect fit for a Patriots DC

Under Covington, Pat's DL led the #1 rushing defense in the NFL this year-3.3 ypc.
Under Covington, Barmore has become a stud DT.
And a lot of NFL teams have tried to pry him away. 8 yrs exp with Pats and he's only 34.
Seriously, wtf is wrong with you?

 

[ahmed]

15th in points, 7th in yards. That's the bar. Assuming you stop throwing pick 6s and have a healthy defense, doing nothing should improve both of those numbers.

I am in the camp of D was overrated by holding down ****ty offenses. It was middle of the road.

 

[ahmed]

I'm just calling out the consistency of posters on here. For a few years, the talk was their coaching staff was small and aren't very good.

Now it's totally cool that Mayo and Covington are still here who are Bill disciples. History has shown us that Bill's assistants don't do well on their own, so not sure why posters are so cool with it now?

I agree that a change was needed, but Bill's influence is still in the building. If you're going to make a change, make a change.

I am hoping Mayo will be different with his playing experience. He also does not seem like a hardass from his interviews.

I agree though he will fail if he takes Bill's approach that all those from his tree took.

 

[ahmed]

Can somebody explain to me why people think Steve would stick around? Everyone on here has been saying he was the one calling plays so defacto DC.

Why would he be ok to be demoted? Please don't give me that assistant HC crap. Literally the most useless title in NFL.

Could this be seen as Mayo did not think Steve earned his position? Why else would he lose calling duties if the D was as good as everyone on here keeps saying?

 

[jimnance]

Can somebody explain to me why people think Steve would stick around? Everyone on here has been saying he was the one calling plays so defacto DC.

Why would he be ok to be demoted? Please don't give me that assistant HC crap. Literally the most useless title in NFL.

Could this be seen as Mayo did not think Steve earned his position? Why else would he lose calling duties if the D was as good as everyone on here keeps saying?

Steve was not the de facto DC.
Mayo was much closer to being the DC.
Covington has done more to earn being DC than Steve. Pats risked losing Covington since a lot of teams were after him.
None of that reflects poorly on Steve.
He is by all accounts an excellent coach.

 

[ahmed]

Steve was not the de facto DC.
Mayo was much closer to being the DC.
Covington has done more to earn being DC than Steve. Pats risked losing Covington since a lot of teams were after him.
None of that reflects poorly on Steve.
He is by all accounts an excellent coach.

So what was he? I could have sworn everyone on here for months has been saying he is #1 on D?

Btw I was always of the opinion that Mayo was the guy but I was very much in the minority.

 

[jimnance]

So what was he? I could have sworn everyone on here for months has been saying he is #1 on D?

Btw I was always of the opinion that Mayo was the guy but I was very much in the minority.

I don't know of any posters here that I consider very knowledgeable who ever said that.
Instead,trust people who actually know what's going on with the Pats,like Mike Reiss.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I meant out as i don't believe in the plan and think it's doomed to fail, not out of rooting for the team.

I think the whole operation stunk and that includes front office, coaching staff, players and not cleaning house when they got rid of Bill is going to blow up in their faces and cause 2-3 years of suck before they do a real purging but we'll see.

I don't believe in Jerod Mayo because he wouldn't of even been a candidate if he never played for the team, i don't believe in the lack of clarity in the front office and what Jonathan Krafts role is, i believe this franchise is operating cheaply on the coaching staff front and will probably bring back Josh McDaniels as OC because someone else is paying him or Nick Caley because he's really another cheap Pats bobo but because he stood beside McVay for a year so it will appease some as a fresh offense.

And the only way out of the suck and everyone being fired in 3 years is lucking into a franchise quarterback with the 3rd pick.

I don't even trust the defense to be good because without Bill none of these defensive coaches have proven a thing.

Not sure why you say that he was a candidate for other teams last year and the Kraft's stepped in the keep him here Just because Bills not here doesn't mean every coach on the team sucked, if a coach was good, why not consider him? You don't have to replace every coaching position that had something to do with Bill in life with someone that didn't.

 

[Headcase]

Covington has done more to earn being DC than Steve.

Mayo made his pick, I dont have a dog in the fight, but curious what makes you say this? They both started coaching in '12, DeMarcus started in college; Steve's experience is all in the NFL

The one thing I've heard that makes sense is that Steve is a great Xs and Os coach, but not in front of a room. It would make sense that he might not be ready for the next step of that is true.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I am in the camp of D was overrated by holding down ****ty offenses. It was middle of the road.

It that was true it would show up in overall stats, they didn't get the stats they did by just doing it against crap teams. Of course the stats won't be as good against really good teams as bad teams but it all evens out in the end.

 

[ahmed]

It that was true it would show up in overall stats, they didn't get the stats they did by just doing it against crap teams. Of course the stats won't be as good against really good teams as bad teams but it all evens out in the end.

They gave up 30+ 3 times, 27+ 4 times. Only teams they held under 20 are Jets, Giants and Chargers 1 week before he got shut down for a wrist injury ( am I missing another?). That's not my definition of a very good D.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

They gave up 30+ 3 times, 27+ 4 times. Only teams they held under 20 are Jets, Giants and Chargers 1 week before he got shut down for a wrist injury ( am I missing another?). That's not my definition of a very good D.

I was referencing the rushing D, sorry that wasn't clear.

 

[ahmed]

I don't know of any posters here that I consider very knowledgeable who ever said that.
Instead,trust people who actually know what's going on with the Pats,like Mike Reiss.

What? Most posts on here had him as D caller and number 1. Not sure what you were reading.

 

[Nikolai]

Defense wasn't a huge problem. In fact, it was pretty decent, especially given all the injuries to key players and the second and third order effects that stemmed from that.

Don't forget that when you're looking at their point totals, Mac's pick/fumble sixes count against that total...because laziness.

All that is to say that retaining the defensive personnel and overhauling the offense and special teams seems like the easy solution. Fix what's broken, and don't fix it if it ain't broken.

 

[Nikolai]

They gave up 30+ 3 times, 27+ 4 times. Only teams they held under 20 are Jets, Giants and Chargers 1 week before he got shut down for a wrist injury ( am I missing another?). That's not my definition of a very good D.

You're attributing points to the defense that actually belong to the offense:

New Orleans - 34 27 (pick six)
Dallas - 38 24 (pick six, fumble six)
Buffalo - 27 20 (pick six)

They held seven teams under 20 eight times (and two more at 20 - WAS/BUF):

Philadelphia - 25 18 (pick six)
NYJ - 10/17
Las Vegas - 21 19 (safety)
Indianapolis - 10
NYG - 10
LAC - 6
Pittsburgh - 18

That's not awful, especially given the fact that they were on the field for very long stretches due to offensive ineptitude and were dealing with multiple injuries to star players.

 

[ahmed]

You're attributing points to the defense that actually belong to the offense:

New Orleans - 34 27 (pick six)
Dallas - 38 24 (pick six, fumble six)
Buffalo - 27 20 (pick six)

They held seven teams under 20 eight times (and two more at 20 - WAS/BUF):

Philadelphia - 25 18 (pick six)
NYJ - 10/17
Las Vegas - 21 19 (safety)
Indianapolis - 10
NYG - 10
LAC - 6
Pittsburgh - 18

That's not awful, especially given the fact that they were on the field for very long stretches due to offensive ineptitude and were dealing with multiple injuries to star players.

All those turnovers were drives that opposing offenses did not get a chance to take.

Not to mention all the times teams just knelt or stopped trying. Scoring D is counted the way it is for a reason.

 

[Nikolai]

All those turnovers were drives that opposing offenses did not get a chance to take.

Not to mention all the times teams just knelt or stopped trying. Scoring D is counted the way it is for a reason.

That does not make a whole lot of logical sense.

Are you suggesting that the defense is to take responsibility for the pick and fumble sixes committed by our offense?