No so quick observation (re: safeties in Saints game)

[Deus Irae]

None of the DBs could play man coverage until late in the year. Every time they did they got burned. The safeties were only part of the problem.

It was a complete suck job by the defensive secondary last year. About the only player who played well and stayed healthy was Arrington.

The rest sucked, couldn't stay on the field, or both.

 

[captain stone]

I agree, if the above ends up being "all" that Gregory and Wilson add to the safety position along with Chung, then the secondary will be immeasurably better than it was in 2011.

Because it would be almost impossible for the secondary to be any worse than it was in 2011.

I would still like to have at least one more NFL-calibre Safety on the roster, so that would therefore
exclude Sergio, Barrett, Mal Williams, Bubba Junior, Diggy & Ebner.

And what exactly did James Sanders do to go from the 3 yr/$10M-extended QB of the DBackfield
to the released & later not re-signed (for not even the vet minimum?) He's Dead to Me forgotten one?

 

[AzPatsFan]

Because it would be almost impossible for the secondary to be any worse than it was in 2011.

I would still like to have at least one more NFL-calibre Safety on the roster, so that would therefore
exclude Sergio, Barrett, Mal Williams, Bubba Junior, Diggy & Ebner.

And what exactly did James Sanders do to go from the 3 yr/$10M-extended QB of the DBackfield
to the released & later not re-signed (for not even the vet minimum?) He's Dead to Me forgotten one?

James Sanders made the unpardonable sin for a veteran and Team Captain, to show up after the lockout totally out of shape. Belichick's captains are expected to set good examples...

 

[goheels22002]

Has anyone checked the Pats 2012 schedule and realized our D will be facing the least imposing group of QBs in the history of the world.

Week 1....
Tenn.....Hasselback or Locker.....Old guy or sucky guy
Week 2...
Ariz....Kolb or Skelton....not good when team doesn't know who to start
Week 3...
Balt....Flacco...not afraid to air it out....at a 57% completion rate
Week 4...
Buffalo....with a healthy Fred Jackson, Fitzpatrick has a balanced O that can put up numbers. On his own, Fitz has yet to show he can carry a team with his arm.
Week 5...
Denver....First test verses premium QB. I don't expect the precision of the Indy O
Week 6...
Seattle....Flynn or Jackson.....The crowd noise will be tougher than the passing game
Week 7...
Jets....the tabloids say Sanchize has bulked up. Sanchize will now be able to tackle the DBs that pick off his passes
Week 8...
Bradford....the shine is gone/ the O line is horrible and he should be IRed by the time the Pats play him
Week 10...
Buff....see week 4
Week 11...
Indy...BB will pull the old bend/break D out hoping the rookie coughs it up
Week 12...
JEST...jest/jest/jest...
Tebow time??
Week 13...
By the time NE plays the fish, Miami could be on their 3rd QB. Without Marshall anymore...S Beach beach party....Gronksalsa
Week 14...
Houston....If Schaub can last this long into the season, then the Pats secondary will be challenged
Week 15...
SF....this game has a 13-9 feel to it. SF will want to keep Brady off field....run after run after run
Week 16...
Jacksonville...Will Gabbert be above 50% at this point in season....A resting opportunity for the Flying Elvi
Week 17...
Miami...Tannehill gets some snaps at this point in Miami's lost season. Ocho lights it up with a catch

In all seriousness.....have the Patriots ever faced a weaker line up of passers in one season. If our D is not a top 10 D in both yards and points, when will it ever be.

Great post and excellent point.

Manning, Flacco, Fitzpatrick 2X, Bradford, Alex Smith and Matt Schaub would all have big days against the 2011 Patriots.

Flacco had a better day than Brady in the AFC Championship game and threw the winning pass right on the money (thank you Sterling Moore!) Fitzpatrick did in the first game - he had broken ribs in the rematch.

The pass rush is a big deal against all of these quarterbacks. None is a scrambler of any note - Manning is immobile and Bradford plays behind perhaps the worst line in the league.

The defense should have a good year.

 

[aluminum seats]

I think the OP's stance here is a little overstated. Of course the whole defensive unit has to play together in order to play well, and the lousy safety play last year didn't do the corners (or anybody else) any favors. But c'mon. McCourty most often wasn't "accused of being beaten," he was beaten. Often and fervently.

But yes, improved safety play this year should help him--as will, hopefully, improving his own play.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I had an opportunity to rewatch the Pats-Saints game, to confirm my impressions. Y'all know my thesis of this post. If you want a good almost textbook example, review of what I was saying, is the third play of the game when McCourty was playing inside behind, and the Safety was there on-time, playing ahead an outside. The idea is to be positioned to intercept either balls thrown short and ball thrown too long, and to breakup passes thrown correctly to the WR, which they did.

OTOH, all is not perfect. The Saints longest completion of the night was another short long Defense, but on the right side, but the pass was literally perfect, as was the WR catch. Sometimes you win, sometimes the other guys earn their pay too.

Conversely the Chung INT was a perfect example of getting the turnover on a throw too long, with the CB, McCourty, short and inside, and the Safety, Chung, correctly positioned long and outside, for the INT.

But if you watch the game there were several such plays and the Pats secondary won most of them.

 

[captain stone]

James Sanders made the unpardonable sin for a veteran and Team Captain, to show up after the lockout totally out of shape. Belichick's captains are expected to set good examples...

I'm surprised & disappointed to learn that Sanders reported out of shape. One would think that,
having not been blessed with ideal size/speed, he would not have allowed himself to lose his job
because he was out-worked & out of shape.
Too bad; we could've used him last year.

 

[patchick]

Apparently Chung and Gregory were the stars of today's practice, with an INT and a pass breakup apiece. Seems like they're developing some rapport and getting a feel for each other, too:

Gregory and Chung feed off each other - Extra Points - Boston.com

With quiet good reports continuing on Wilson, it's starting to look like the Patriots might actually have a bona fide NFL safety corps. Given where they started the off-season, and the general safety talent drought around the league, that's nothing to sniff at.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

The first thing I thought of when I read the first post was the super bowl Manningham catch, the safety bit on the fake and was late getting to his position to help cover Manningham. I dont rewatch losing super bowls but I think it was Chung, I think if he stays healthy he'll be much improved this year, hes a smart kid and hard worker.

 

[Kontradiction]

Apparently Chung and Gregory were the stars of today's practice, with an INT and a pass breakup apiece. Seems like they're developing some rapport and getting a feel for each other, too:

Gregory and Chung feed off each other - Extra Points - Boston.com

With quiet good reports continuing on Wilson, it's starting to look like the Patriots might actually have a bona fide NFL safety corps. Given where they started the off-season, and the general safety talent drought around the league, that's nothing to sniff at.

Last year, we probably could have put two dead bodies back there and had better results...

 

[BradyManny]

But I couldn't recall a single play last season, where a Safety showed up on time, or even near to on-time, to assist the CBs. The team Safety play was non-existent, even if occasionally a player, purported to be a Safety, turned in an occasional good individual play.

Really great observation.

Consider that Belichick has added three guys to the safety position (Wilson, Gregory, Allen). Whereas at corner, he really only invested a 7th rounder in Dennard (Allen, by all accounts, is focusing on Safety in camp).

So it's clear where he thought the deficiency in the secondary was, and it supports your observation.

 

[strngplyr]

McCourty sounds like he's making the slow journey back to form, as long as he gives us more than last year and we have some kind of safety play we'll be pretty improved in the secondary.