McCourty is fast, has good ball skills, and understands the defense. None of his other actual safeties fit that bill as well.
On the flip side, McCourty was having trouble as a cover corner this year at least in part because he wasn’t getting adequate safety help. BB probably decided that, while he had a stable of adequate corners, he did not have a stable of adequate safeties. Any corner put in McCourty’s position would struggle the same way he had without an upgrade in the middle. But moving McC to the middle was an upgrade that could make barely adequate corners more serviceable.
At the end of the day, it may have been an on-paper downgrade at one position, but on the field, it plays as an overall upgrade. McC is probably a better corner than he is a safety — IF he has an adequate safety behind him. Player X probably isn’t as good a corner as McC, but with McC at safety (rather than a player of lesser awareness and discipline), the combination of McC at FS and Player X at CB is an upgrade overall.
That he happens to be a good tackler is a nice bonus.
JohnHannahRules
4 months ago
Richard Hill
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Good analysis, JHR
DMC actually has the attributes to be a very good safety. As a cover corner, he’s much faster than the typical safety. Unlike most cornerbacks, he’s also a very good tackler who can even bring down running backs.
Add in the fact that he has field smarts and that is a good recipe for a safety. The only thing he’s really ‘missing’ is perhaps sheer size.
NBA Officiating - Corrupt? Incompetent? Which is worse? Does it matter? It sucks.
Plus
He seems to be a hard worker and is on belicheck’s good side.
On this team it looks like talent in the secondary doesn’t count…just what BB thinks of you
by Ghu55 on Jan 27, 2012 4:15 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Hmm... the guys that BB has let go haven't exactly demonstrated that they are 'more talented'
than the guys who he has kept.
Sanders, maybe – but that was probably partly a contract issue.
NBA Officiating - Corrupt? Incompetent? Which is worse? Does it matter? It sucks.
Talent is meaningless if you can't learn the defense or play within it.
"Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. Every time I call it a business, you call it a game."
"The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all."
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 27, 2012 4:25 PM EST up reply actions
^ this
In any case, McCourty has talent. As well as Chung. And Ras-I Downling…. and Sterling Moore…
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
We can talk about Dowling next season,
why waste time now? He needs to prove he can stay healthy.
It is what it is
IN the few times I saw him this season, I liked what I saw.
Yes, he needs to stay healthy. After a full year I’m sure he will be healthy for next year. And I expect Dowling to be our #2 CB.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
...and Meriweather's "talent" ended up being a long Ray Rice run and a quick exit from the playoffs in 2009.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
Some people can learn from the mistakes of others, while some people need to pee on the electric fence themselves.
Belichick is looking for a new name for his boat: VI Rings sounds pretty good.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Jan 27, 2012 4:47 PM EST up reply actions
is the age of the ...
6’2" 225 lbs. safety over? Putting big hits on WRs is a penalty now. Is the safety just another cover guy now?
It's your thing, do what you wanna do, I can't tell you, who to sock it to. The Isley Brothers
by sweetjesusihatethejets on Jan 27, 2012 6:30 PM EST reply actions
Great question.
I don’t think so. You can still lower the boom, but you’ve got to hit the body. That still hurts. And think of the new-wave tight ends — Gronk, Miller, Gonzales — as these guys become more common and more offenses start to utilize that attack, you’re going to need badasses like that to match up to them. But that guy has to be an even greater athlete because he’ll also have centerfield coverage responsibilities.
"Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. Every time I call it a business, you call it a game."
"The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all."
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 27, 2012 6:40 PM EST up reply actions
whether its safety or CB may be incidental
I think. It’s just a reaction to the amount of passing going on, and more teams with 3+ wide receiver sets, and as you JHR mentions, the matchup problems of a lot of talented tight ends. In any case, I love the flexibility of DMcC, he definitely improves our secondary overall. It will be interesting to see how BB wants to defend the Giants, what kind of rotation he has out there.
According to Jim Hazlett, D> coord. of Washington, who had great success against the Giants this year, it all starts with stopping the running attack. Seemed to work for San Francisco, who held them to 10 points until the two turnovers.
We have to be more YMCMB, while making them YMCA
by quadruple option on Jan 28, 2012 2:59 AM EST up reply actions
thanks for the fp, Richard!
"Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. Every time I call it a business, you call it a game."
"The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all."
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 28, 2012 10:16 AM EST reply actions
McCourty is much better against the pass than Ihedigbo.
McCourty’s weakness, being beaten over the top, shows up less when he’s in that FS position. Plus, he IS one of the three co-captains on D. Should we be thinking of Sterling Moore as our current #1 Cornerback? Arrington looks like he regressed from earlier in the season, either because of injury or because he left the slot.
It is what it is
When the majority of your ints are from tipped passes
your luck is bound to run out.
I measure CBs in terms of more than INTs.
It is what it is
I'm surprised then
because I don’t think he has played all that much different from the start of the season. Seemed to me that he was pretty average the whole way.
Arrington had been
the far and away team leader in completion % allowed and QB rating allowed as well for the regular season. Wasnt just interceptions.
to expand
Considering the turnover and constant tinkering with the Corners and safeties this season. It hasn’t been until the last half of the season that QBs have even really tested him. When they have, they have found him to be just as mediocre as the other guys we have. I’m not sure where you can find this info but I bet he has had more targets his way over the last half of the season than he did over the first half.
His QBR is from his interceptions.
Eliminate his interceptions and he’s given up yards at the same exact pace as McCourty- he’s just on the QB’s blind side and usually less targeted.
by Richard Hill on Jan 29, 2012 12:29 AM EST up reply actions
Well to start the season,
wasn’t he mostly coming on as the slot-corner?
It is what it is
Only because Dowling was the #2.
Then he got injured, and popped in goes Arrington.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
His weakness isn't being beaten over the top.
If your using this season as a barometer, you need to realize he has had an incompetent pass defending safety above him for most of the year, and whenever that safety was SUPPOSED to slide in when McCourty’s man starts running deep, he is not there to protect the deep ball, thus some people will blame McCourty for that.
It’s no coincidence that ever since chung came back from injury, deep passes completed on McCourty’s side have not been as frequent at all.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
Ironically
He again was beat a couple times deep (some for dangerous looking incompletions) in the Ravens game because he looked confident he would get safety helped and defended the underneath routes. He did not.
He was beaten ONCE and it was completed ONCE in the ravens game.
The one completion against him was because Chung was supposed to roll over to help. I can’t remember the second one.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
The Torrey Smith one was on Moore expecting safety help.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
It was more than one play
The play Flacco heaved one up over the middle but got pressure in his face from one of the bigs. McCourty is on the outside and Chung is deep middle and the receiver splits them with neither taking him deep in time. After the play you can see the two talking.
a couple times.
he doesn’t get beaten often. AT least when the safety does his job over the top.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
I'm sort of a fan.
All I’m doing is trying to be fair/look at it from another perspective/being objective (not saying you’re not).
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
He was beaten when the safety was out of position…which is basically the story of this season. McCourty played the underneath, which is the right thing to do when there is a safety over the top. Except our safeties weren’t there.
Isn't that what I said
albeit in broken english?
Off topic here,
but it’s a slow day.
Anyone notice any influence from McDaniels? Has there been any actual signs of changes in offensive play calling, or route running, or anything at all where we can say, hey that’s a McDaniels influence? I’m not sure I have seen anything, but i am just curious if anyone else has.
Obviously, Hernandez in the backfield, running, but now I’m thinking maybe we should have waited till the Ravens, or Giants to bus that out. we didn’t need it for the Broncos.
Actually, I think bringing it out against the Broncos was good, as it gave them time to test it out under game conditions and see if it works. Also, there may have been other reasons for using it there- Law Firm was the invisible man for large portions of that game, and has suffered from toe problems- could he have been suffering a flare up?
"Valdez can pitch, Lee can hit... and pigs can fly."
Nah, LawFirm looks better than he has all year right now.
I just hope we have something like that that will work against the Giants. I think that one would have, but it probably won’t now.
LAWFIRM is going to be key in the SB
by Yardpenalty.com on Jan 29, 2012 4:50 PM EST up reply actions
I think so
and conversely, we need to hold Bradshaw and Jacobs in check.
Have you read about how MYRA took BEN under her wings and showed him the way
He loves MYRA and will be running with vengeance! There is one thing for certain, the Pats will come to play and hopefully Brady isn’t over excited from the gate and will rebound from last game, which I believe he will.
by Yardpenalty.com on Jan 31, 2012 10:13 AM EST up reply actions
I was surprised by the lack of multiplicity against the Ravens, actually.
Once you’ve shown you’ll run w/ Herndo, you have a tremendous advantage. You can put him at wing or offset I, with an actual back in the backfield, and then do anydamnthing with him. We didn’t make use of him like that against Bmore at all, at all. I thought that against a team defense like that, we’d have been willing to line him up as we showed against Denver and use him like we did early in the year: p-action to Herndo after he splits out or motions out or on a backfield route with a fake either to him or to the primary back. There are so many potentials, but we didn’t exploit any of them in that game.
"Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. Every time I call it a business, you call it a game."
"The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all."
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 28, 2012 10:27 PM EST up reply actions
It's possible they were worried about him getting another concussion
just a week after he got one vs. Denver.
It is what it is
McCourty also benefits from...
…not being taken out by the Safety, if he’s the one playing Safety,.
by pablum257 on Jan 28, 2012 8:00 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
mmhmm.
true, true
"Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. Every time I call it a business, you call it a game."
"The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all."
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 28, 2012 10:27 PM EST up reply actions
McCourty is a great cornerback and will be a Patriot for a long time.
by Yardpenalty.com on Jan 29, 2012 4:42 PM EST reply actions
Arrington is a sweet corner too when he’s healthy
by Yardpenalty.com on Jan 29, 2012 4:49 PM EST up reply actions
You know what I am thankful for today?
no Patriots in the Pro-Bowl.
Amen
I liked that Matthew Slater was told by Belichick that he wouldn’t be playing in the Pro Bowl, even though he was honored to be voted in. BB told him not to book any tickets to Hawaii. That’s the kind of confidence I want in my head coach.
Keep the faith!
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