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PFF/Palazzolo: McCourty’s Sophomore Slump

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PFF/Palazzolo: McCourty’s Sophomore Slump

Here’s an excellent article from Steve Palazzolo at Pro Football Focus breaking down Devin McCourty’s sophomore slump.  It’s an in-depth look at what McCourty did well last year and what he hasn’t done well this year.

The most interesting part is that after being asked to play more press coverage early in 2011 the Patriots tried to return to the coverages McCourty excelled at in 2010, yet his struggles continued. His problems with tackling, likely related somewhat to the lack of padded practices, have only compounded his problems.

McCourty has been universally praised by the media for being upfront and willing to talk throughout his tough start to his 2011 season. With his work ethic we expect him to return to form at some point, we just hope it’s this season. Mike Wallace should provide an excellent challenge for him this weekend.

After McCourty showed himself to be one of the bright young CBs in the league last season, he has clearly taken a step back. At first it seemed the change in scheme was to blame, but his tackling struggles are also alarming. Belichick is always re-shaping his defensive scheme and if he once again calls for press coverage, McCourty must show he is able to play physically and win the battle at the line. If the game plan calls for more conservative coverage, McCourty must get back to his 2010 form with sure tackling, while also taking away deep plays as he’s shown he can. With 10 games remaining, McCourty needs to show improvement quickly or the “sophomore slump” theory will turn to questions of which season actually showed us the real Devin McCourty.

ESPN/Forsberg: Versus Pats, Steelers’ defense never rests

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ESPN/Forsberg: Versus Pats, Steelers’ defense never rests

Good breakdown of Brady’s dominance over the Steelers and it echoes a little of what we talked about on yesterday’s Patriots.com podcast, it all comes down to execution. The Steelers are going to do what they do, and Bill Belichick knows what it takes to stop them from doing it. It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.

NFP/Bowen: X and O Breakdown of Vincent Jackson’s TD vs. Patriots

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NFP/Bowen: X and O Breakdown of Vincent Jackson’s TD vs. Patriots

Yes we’re going a little crazy with the X and O articles today, but I missed this one and felt it was still appropriate since so much conversation about the Pats revolves around their pass defense.

Here’s Bowen’s breakdown of McCourty’s technique and where he went wrong:

Check out Patriots’ CB Devin McCourty in the slot. He initially misses on the jam in a press-position, however he recovers to get back “in-phase” with Jackson when the WR makes his cut to the boundary. The main problem here? McCourty looks back to the QB. That allows Jackson to create some separation at the top of the route stem. Remember, the QB isn’t throwing the ball to the CB—so there is no need to look back. Because that is when you lose position and can’t make a play on the ball.

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there’s less margin for error because you’re playing in a place where you’re very unfamiliar and they’re playing in a place where they have the crowd noise and a lot of the energy is focused on the home team. We get that same thing [at Gillette Stadium]. We’re pretty tough to beat here at home. The Steelers are pretty tough to beat at home. We’ve been fortunate to do it a few times, but I tell you that the times we’ve beaten them, we’ve had to play very, very, very good games, and we have.

“I think that’s probably what I am most proud of: Some of our greatest games that we’ve ever played have been against them and that’s just the level of execution.”

Tom Brady on the Steelers

https://www.patspropaganda.com/theres-less-margin-for-error-because-youre/