The Secondary Seems Set

[JMC00]

When you look at the Secondary in that fashion, I have complete faith in Talib, Dennard and McCourty. I hope that improves and improves quickly.

Well for arguments sake say health and Dennard's legally issue goes the Pats way.

Talib & Dennard as the starting Outside CBs
Arrington as the Nickel
McCourty as the FS

They are already ahead of last year by 10 weeks and ahead of 2011 by the whole season.

 

[cstjohn17]

So you don't think McCourty is a a good FS or Arrington is a solid Nickel CB?

No, not really. They are average.

 

[fgssand]

No, not really. They are average.

I do not agree.........

If this group featuring Talib, Dennard, mcCourtey, Arrington, Ryan, a Wilson, t Wilson, Gregory and ebner can stay healthy, you will see at least top 15 and maybe even top Ten.

Mark my words.

 

[mgteich]

A top 15 or top 10 what? We are talking about secondaries.

An average secondary will lead to at least a top 15 defense, probably top 10, (possibly top 5).

I do not agree.........

If this group featuring Talib, Dennard, mcCourtey, Arrington, Ryan, a Wilson, t Wilson, Gregory and ebner can stay healthy, you will see at least top 15 and maybe even top Ten.

Mark my words.

 

[ausbacker]

Well for arguments sake say health and Dennard's legally issue goes the Pats way.

Talib & Dennard as the starting Outside CBs
Arrington as the Nickel
McCourty as the FS

They are already ahead of last year by 10 weeks and ahead of 2011 by the whole season.

A reliable and positively impactful second Safety needs to emerge in 2013 for the Secondary to move forward. With Dowling moving on, that annoys me as Marquice Cole has no business seeing an NFL field unless it's on Special Teams.

I see the names and I want to be enthused but recent history keeps disappointing me. I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[mgteich]

We've replaced Moore, Chung and Ebner with Ryan, A Wilson and Harmon. Plus we hope to have more reps from Talib and Dennard.

CORNERS
-----------
TALIB, DENARD, ARRINGTON We need them to play more reps than last year.

RYAN replaces Moore. Ryan is well able to do that much.

COLE is Cole, a special teamer and emergency CB in case of a couple of injuries.

As long as Talib and Dennard play more than last year, we should be improved.

SAFETIES
A WILSON is an upgrade over Chung. It really is that simple.
HARMON is also an upgrade for Ebner as a emergency safety.

A reliable and positively impactful second Safety needs to emerge in 2013 for the Secondary to move forward. With Dowling moving on, that annoys me as Marquice Cole has no business seeing an NFL field unless it's on Special Teams.

I see the names and I want to be enthused but recent history keeps disappointing me. I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Christian]

Not very confident in this secondary to be honest. And if we have a major injury...to Talib and/or Mccourty...we're in serious trouble.

I was really hoping Dowling would pull it together and at least be in insurance.

 

[JMC00]

You people worried about the secondary do realize Brady and Belichick got the #1 seed and within a catch of winning a SB with Matthew Slater, Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung, Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo, Sterling Moore, Nate Jones, Phillip Adams, Antwuan Molden, Josh Barrett, and Leigh Bodden all seeing playing time, right?


Slater played 8% and Edelman played 9% of the defensive snaps. While everyone listed above played at least 16%.

Ihedigbo played 68% and Chung played 57%, which were the two highest out of the players above.

Not saying it will happen again, i'm just saying it could be a whole lot worse.

 

[goheels22002]

An average secondary with an improved pass rush/blitz pkg will do wonders for the Pats Defense.

2012 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com

I agree. The average passing yards allowed in 2012 was 3,700 yards in the regular season - the Pats allowed 4,342. Average would be an 642 yard improvement or roughly 15%. That would be terrific.

 

[DocHoliday]

You people worried about the secondary do realize Brady and Belichick got the #1 seed and within a catch of winning a SB with Matthew Slater, Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung, Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo, Sterling Moore, Nate Jones, Phillip Adams, Antwuan Molden, Josh Barrett, and Leigh Bodden all seeing playing time, right?


Slater played 8% and Edelman played 9% of the defensive snaps. While everyone listed above played at least 16%.

Ihedigbo played 68% and Chung played 57%, which were the two highest out of the players above.

Not saying it will happen again, i'm just saying it could be a whole lot worse.

You mean Super Bowl winning safety James Ihedigbo?

 

[Ozymandias]

The secondary as a whole is still the biggest liability in their defense until they find an adequate safety beside McCourty that can actually cover and Dennard's situation resolves itself.

 

[JMC00]

You mean Super Bowl winning safety James Ihedigbo?

I'm sure he'll be an answer to a SB trip trivia radio contest question.

 

[Sciz]

You mean Super Bowl winning safety James Ihedigbo?

Beating out Matt Elam to start James Ihedigbo

(not that I necessarily think that takes much)

 

[ausbacker]

We've replaced Moore, Chung and Ebner with Ryan, A Wilson and Harmon. Plus we hope to have more reps from Talib and Dennard.

CORNERS
-----------
TALIB, DENARD, ARRINGTON We need them to play more reps than last year.

RYAN replaces Moore. Ryan is well able to do that much.

COLE is Cole, a special teamer and emergency CB in case of a couple of injuries.

As long as Talib and Dennard play more than last year, we should be improved.

SAFETIES
A WILSON is an upgrade over Chung. It really is that simple.
HARMON is also an upgrade for Ebner as a emergency safety.

I hope sure mg. Right now, I believe the group can improve but I just don't know. A lot depends on the development of youth and the unit "gelling".

 

[fgssand]

A top 15 or top 10 what? We are talking about secondaries.

An average secondary will lead to at least a top 15 defense, probably top 10, (possibly top 5).

Yes, top 15 or even top ten secondary.

Since I like our dlinemen (only concern is depth) and our lb's (could use a better cover lb), then it looks like I am buying into a very good defense, finally.

Please stay healthy.

 

[supafly]

I agree, Talib puts them to average. When he goes down expect a repeat of the past couple of years.

And considering that he's never been able to properly finish out a season in any of his previous 5 tries, I'd have to say that I'm definitely concerned that Talib's nagging injuries of hamstring and hip will flare up at some point.

Like it or not, we're probably going to see Arrington playing outside again this year at some point--just a hunch. Belichick must really like him to have given him that kind of deal in the offseason, so maybe he sees something in his versatility that the rest of us miss?

Hopefully Dennard can only miss 2-3-4 games at the most, which seems pretty reasonable to me. If that's the case then we should be okay, barring injuries of course.

We're probably definitely going to need one of Ryan/Harmon to step up and contribute more than we expect them to though.

 

[Fencer]

The title of this thread is incorrect for several reasons:

• The number of DBs on the Opening Day roster could be anywhere from 9 to 11.
• Neither Wilson has a wholly secure Opening Day job.

It might be reasonable to claim consensus that Ebner will be cut either to IR or outright (perhaps in hope of getting him to the PS). But there's widespread difference of opinion about Cole.


And by the way -- Dowling would be a fine addition to the PS if he could ever get healthy enough to practice ...

 

[Nunchucks]

The key to the secondary is Dennard. If he can play this season, I think the Patriots will be just fine. Logan is good enough as a 4th CB and McCourty can always come back down and play CB in a pinch.

I am fine with the safties. McCourty, Gregory, and A. Wilson Manning the safety spots and am pleansantly surprised by Harmon's development. Just got to see something from the T. Wilson.

 

[BlueThunder]

If the Pats can fix the 3rd and long problem, that will go a long way to improving the D.

How many times have we seen the D stop an Offense cold for 2 downs and succumb to the dreaded 3rd and 9 or 3rd and 15 ????

 

[Mack Herron]

The third and long problem will improve if only because we should have a better pass rush. I am not a fan of our coverage abilities, which are pretty much the same as we left off with last year.