Patriots defense vs. TEs

[patsinthesnow]

@dougkyed: I wouldn't advise starting TEs against the Patriots in fantasy. Chung and McCourty are locking them down this season.

Heath Miller 8 rec 84 yards 0 TD
Charles Clay 3 rec 19 yards 1 TD
Clay Harbor 3 rec 43 yards 1 TD
Jason Witten 5 rec 33 yards 0 TD
Dwayne Allen 3 rec 23 yards 0 TD/Coby Fleener 3 rec 20 yards 0 TD
Jeff Cumberland 1 rec 13 yards 0 TD
Jordan Cameron 2 rec 34 yards 0 TD

One of tbe biggest changes in our defense from previous years. Chung's career rebound is crazy. He's 7/17 73 yards 1 TD in coverage this year & leads all safeties in PBUs.

@PatriotsSB49: How many strong safeties have been on Patrick Chung's level in the past season and a half? Three, maybe?

Is this the best safety duo in the NFL this season? Thomas/Chancellor have been underwhelming.

 

[JMC00]

Jordan Cameron 2 rec 34 yards 0 TD

And really most of his yards came on one catch where Tannenhill was chased out of the pocket and made a good throw on the run.

 

[PatsBoy12]

@dougkyed: I wouldn't advise starting TEs against the Patriots in fantasy. Chung and McCourty are locking them down this season.

Heath Miller 8 rec 84 yards 0 TD
Charles Clay 3 rec 19 yards 1 TD
Clay Harbor 3 rec 43 yards 1 TD
Jason Witten 5 rec 33 yards 0 TD
Dwayne Allen 3 rec 23 yards 0 TD/Coby Fleener 3 rec 20 yards 0 TD
Jeff Cumberland 1 rec 13 yards 0 TD
Jordan Cameron 2 rec 34 yards 0 TD

One of tbe biggest changes in our defense from previous years. Chung's career rebound is crazy. He's 7/17 73 yards 1 TD in coverage this year & leads all safeties in PBUs.

@PatriotsSB49: How many strong safeties have been on Patrick Chung's level in the past season and a half? Three, maybe?

Is this the best safety duo in the NFL this season? Thomas/Chancellor have been underwhelming.

This went from a major weakness of the Pats D to a strength. There are many factors that have contributed to this IMO . . .

- The emergence of Chung in pass coverage has been immense. He's up on the line jamming guys, running stride for stride and even making great plays on the ball somehow without even looking back most of the time. He's had some PI's but that will happen with him from time-to-time. At least he's there in coverage and not just being toasted like his first stint here.

• --- Question raised about how many have played better SS than Chung in the last seaon and a half? That's a very good question. He's still a bit of a whipping boy in game threads, but I see a completely different player. I thought last season they only put him in positions to succeed, but I think now that the assessment may have been slightly off. He's just a better player now who is capable of doing everything. He'll never be Rodney, but that's not necessarily what we need in today's game at SS.

- Our LB's are playing the zones better. They're not too deep or too shallow, which is something the corp struggled with a lot from about 2009-2013. They've also improved a bit in man, especially High who is moving so much better in open space than when he came into the league.

- The rush is a bit better which is not allowing opposing TE's to get that far up field. The boys are flying around up front and Easley crashing the middle of the pocket has been impressive the past few games. This is why he was brought in so high when many other teams passed on him. It was looking like the injuries would derail him, but look at him now. If he can stay on the field, he will only get better and more disruptive. He's a penetrator, that's for damn sure.

- Overall, the D plays a lot more man. It was primarily the zone that was causing so many fits in the past, but it is used less these days in NE (see point two).

These are just my layman's observations as to why such a big weakness has become a strength on D.