Unsung Hero vs Saints - Devin McCourty

[Ozymandias]

The defensive performance was great once again. Talib will get all the noteworthy praise for the dominant game on Graham, as he should, but I did notice some things I made note of for the guy who'll get little to no press about his performance.

McCourty - He stepped right into Talib's role and covered Graham just as well. Double take on that last part. Yes, Devin was in MAN coverage on one of the best receiving TEs in the NFL who had about 9 inches and 60 lbs on him.

For the past few years all we've heard is that he couldn't cover in man and was only good in a zone scheme. Despite losing Talib the team didn't alter their scheme at all and stuck in the man defense. A QB like Brees probably carves up a zone defense easily so it was good to see that they stuck with their gameplan.

McCourty is clearly the most versatile defensive back on the team by a wide margin. He does whatever the coaches ask of him and at a high level. The guy can do it all - cover, hit, ballhawk, anything. He's quietly putting together his best season as a pro, and is easily one of the best DBs in the game right now.

Here's to D-Mac, who's having another fabulous season all around with little to no praise by any outsiders.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Unsung Hero

This team is special right now. I hope they get healthy after the bye heading into late December.

 

[ausbacker]

But but but... McCourty could have been Dez Bryant. McCourty has long been one of my favourite Patriots because he goes out and plays football with minimal fuss. He's the consummate professional and for mine, is perhaps/arguably the best Free Safety in the NFL this season.

He's incredibly important to this Patriots D and I for one, am thankful he's a Patriots player.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Unsung Hero

But but but... McCourty could have been Dez Bryant. McCourty has long been one of my favourite Patriots because he goes out and plays football with minimal fuss. He's the consummate professional and for mine, is perhaps/arguably the best Free Safety in the NFL this season.

He's incredibly important to this Patriots D and I for one, am thankful he's a Patriots player.

Exactly, dez would have probably been cut after his first year IMO.

 

[brdmaverick]

Agree on McCourty, and I think Ho-man was also an unsung hero today. He had some key drive saving catches from a spot that has been pathetic up to this point.

 

[ausbacker]

Agree on McCourty, and I think Ho-man was also an unsung hero today. He had some key drive saving catches from a spot that has been pathetic up to this point.

That's a fair comment brdmaverick. Ho-man came up with a couple of timely plays for the Patriots in key moments.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Another overlooked moment was in last week's loss to Cincy when the Bengals were running out the clock. McCourty's forced fumble gave the offense one more chance, and while we weren't able to take advantage of it, it was due to McCourty that we even got the opportunity.

 

[Sciz]

Agree on McCourty, and I think Ho-man was also an unsung hero today. He had some key drive saving catches from a spot that has been pathetic up to this point.

He's always going to be unsung because saying good things about him would require saying/typing his name.

 

[deters]

Forgetting about Mr. Collie and his clutch 4th down conversion to keep the game winning drive alive?

 

[zoostation]

If Chandler Jones doesn't make the play he made on the Patriots last defensive stop Brady and company never get another shot to win it. Lots of open field in front of Brees

 

[patchick]

At the start of the season, I think most would have listed Wilfork, Mayo, Talib and McCourty as the 4 key absolute key players on this defense. By the end of this game, McCourty was the last man standing. Tons of credit to him for how smoothly the secondary adjusted to the personnel changes.

Honorable Unsung Mention: the past few weeks, Ryan Allen has punted as well as anybody I can remember in a Patriots uniform.

 

[supafly]

Forgetting about Mr. Collie and his clutch 4th down conversion to keep the game winning drive alive?

I am quite happy with adding another realistic option in the short/intermediate passing game to assist Brady, despite the knock on him for his concussion history. After all, no one is claiming that we make him a 5 yr member of the receiving corps. In the meantime for this season though, he can offer something for sure.

 

[ALP]

The defensive performance was great once again. Talib will get all the noteworthy praise for the dominant game on Graham, as he should, but I did notice some things I made note of for the guy who'll get little to no press about his performance.

McCourty - He stepped right into Talib's role and covered Graham just as well. Double take on that last part. Yes, Devin was in MAN coverage on one of the best receiving TEs in the NFL who had about 9 inches and 60 lbs on him.

For the past few years all we've heard is that he couldn't cover in man and was only good in a zone scheme. Despite losing Talib the team didn't alter their scheme at all and stuck in the man defense. A QB like Brees probably carves up a zone defense easily so it was good to see that they stuck with their gameplan.

McCourty is clearly the most versatile defensive back on the team by a wide margin. He does whatever the coaches ask of him and at a high level. The guy can do it all - cover, hit, ballhawk, anything. He's quietly putting together his best season as a pro, and is easily one of the best DBs in the game right now.

Here's to D-Mac, who's having another fabulous season all around with little to no praise by any outsiders.

you rightfully mention the no drop in effectiveness when Devin replaced Talib, but what about the role Devin vacated? a rookie S in Harmon came in, and to my eyes, i saw almost no drop in play...

 

[VrabelJr]

If Chandler Jones doesn't make the play he made on the Patriots last defensive stop Brady and company never get another shot to win it. Lots of open field in front of Brees

Brees was taking that sack/falling down 99.99% of the time in that situation.

 

[supafly]

That's a fair comment brdmaverick. Ho-man came up with a couple of timely plays for the Patriots in key moments.

It would be nice if those 3-4 targets continued into the future, despite the Gronkowski situation.

It's nice to have a TE that can make an occasional catch here and there

Another overlooked moment was in last week's loss to Cincy when the Bengals were running out the clock. McCourty's forced fumble gave the offense one more chance, and while we weren't able to take advantage of it, it was due to McCourty that we even got the opportunity.

McCourty's versatility is absolutely amazing, and we saw a first hand look at that today yet again.

It'd be nice if Duron Harmon were able to hold down the safety spot too, as I'd like him to see more reps--even if they don't occur in crucial late game situations

 

[Ozymandias]

you rightfully mention the no drop in effectiveness when Devin replaced Talib, but what about the role Devin vacated? a rookie S in Harmon came in, and to my eyes, i saw almost no drop in play...

Absolutely.

His time at Rutgers in their deep safety assignments served him really well in his transition to pro-ball. The kid can flat-out lay the lumber. I'm more impressed with his ability to cover, however. If he keeps it up, and Talib is out for any number of games and McCourty goes back to the CB position, I'd be comfortable with him in the back-end.

He's an impressive rookie safety, who doesn't get out position and takes bad angles (Chung) and/or makes the mistake over and over again (Wilson).

I think the problem the Patriots had last year when Talib got injured and McCourty was at CB, which forced them back into primarily a zone-defense, was because they never really had anyone could fill in for McCourty's vacated safety spot to give them any sort of continuity or stability. None of the bums last year (Chung, Wilson) could play that role. Harmon so far looks more competent than any of those scrubs ever did in his short time here.

Now with Harmon showing that he's able to fill in that vacated spot, the team can perhaps still play primarily man defense on the boundary if Talib is out and there's shuffling to be done.

 

[patchick]

He's an impressive rookie safety, who doesn't get out position and takes bad angles (Chung) and/or makes the mistake over and over again (Wilson).

Yep, for all of our jokes about BB's Rutgers fetish, the Scarlet Knights are all looking like solid picks.

 

[hellolin]

If Chandler Jones doesn't make the play he made on the Patriots last defensive stop Brady and company never get another shot to win it. Lots of open field in front of Brees

Chandler Jones was flat out balling today...looked like his brother in the ring!

 

[pherein]

This guy who wasn't called
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1934ho6u6aef8jpg/ku-medium.jpg
Or a ref pict might be more appropriate

 

[Sciz]

This guy who wasn't called
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1934ho6u6aef8jpg/ku-medium.jpg

That was perfectly consistent with how they were calling it the rest of the game. They weren't calling those hooks as penalties. It happened on both sides.