Kickoff coverage in focus
Special teams can often be one of the overlooked aspects of football games, and this blog is sometimes guilty of doing so. As a few readers pointed out in the comments section of the "ups & downs" entry from early Sunday morning, the Patriots' kickoff coverage unit probably deserved some more attention for its effort against the Jaguars.
Maurice Jones-Drew is a dangerous returner, as he had shredded the Steelers the week before for a 96-yard return that was one of the key plays in that victory. Yet against the Patriots, he was limited to a 12.2 average on five returns.
Here is a look at the players who did the job in coverage:
Kelley Washington (1 tackle)
James Sanders
Eric Alexander (2 tackles)
Heath Evans
Larry Izzo
Pierre Woods
Rodney Harrison
Brandon Meriweather (1 tackle)
Willie Andrews (1 tackle)
Mel Mitchell
Stephen Gostkowski
I am really getting to like Merriweather. A real hard hitter. I would like to see him show what he may be able to do at the number 2 corner position. Right now, that position is the team's weakest link on defense.
Mike, I could have sworn that I saw Adalius on the kick coverage unit early in the second half. Are you sure there wasn't a change at some point?
I agree that Merriweather has a lot of talent and is a force in the backfield. But I think hes better suited as a safety right now because of his hitting and his lack of hands.
MarkZ. That was the final kickoff. The CBS cameras had a great shot before the kickoff. Looks like Adalius came on for just that one kickoff, in place of Rodney Harrison.
--Mike
I also saw Adalus Thomas on the kick coverage team....
Mike - could you speak about Troy Brown being active - yet not participating in any snaps - and Eugene Wilson being a "healthy inactive".
Merriweather and Gay seemed to be much weaker in coverage than what we have seen from Hobbs and Wilson
Joe E O
P.S. Mike, please feel free to speak up during Belichick's post-game press conference – and don't be afraid to ramble – I’d give anything to get Tony Massarotti’s annoying voice out of my head…..
Meriweather's lack of hands is an understatement. Man oh man, how many passes have we seen fall into his chest and bounce right back out onto the turf. I hope he's ready to surprise us (and Rivers!) this Sunday with some clutch takeaways.
Merriweather must be wearing body armor the way balls are bouncing off his chest. I cant wait for him to get his first int. Big celebration.
I think he is gonna be a good one, perhaps the new, and younger, Rodney.
The important thing about Meriweather, to me, is that he is starting to be in the right place at the right time. Even though he isn't catching those balls, they also are not being caught by the opposing team. Remember Samuel's hands his first couple of years? He couldn't catch a cold either. But he had some game and he worked on his hands. Now he is one of the better corner's in the league. (Although, he has been getting caught trying to jump routes quite a bit lately.)
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