Devin Mccourty

1. We often hear how good offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia is. On Sunday, we saw exactly why. LT Matt Light was scratched from the game minutes before kickoff. LG Logan Mankins slid over to fill the spot and reserve Donald Thomas stepped in for Mankins. When Mankins went down with a knee injury, rookie Nate Solder flipped from right tackle to left and Marcus Cannon, another rookie, took over on the right side. It wasn’t a smooth transition, as QB Tom Brady was sacked three times in the first half, but Scarnecchia’s half time adjustments led to one sack allowed and 86 of the team’s 119 rushing yards. Patriots fans should be Tebowing in honor of Scarnecchia. Eh…on second thought…maybe not. But coach Scar deserves praise from Patriot Nation.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 16"

What should had been a blowout of a clearly inferior team became an embarrassing one score win over the Indianapolis Colts as the defense gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Two of those scores came at the expense of CB Devin McCourty. Colts RB Donald Brown swatted McCourty away with a stiff-arm en route to a 5-yard TD run. Less than eight minutes later, WR Pierre Garcon got behind McCourty and caught a 12-yard TD over McCourty’s head. McCourty lunged to no avail to stop the completion, beaten so badly that he couldn’t even look back to find the ball.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 14"

1. The Tom Brady we know and opponents fear is back, for one game at least. After a slow start, Brady regained his form and orchestrated a masterpiece in the second half as he threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Switching to a no-huddle attack really sparked the offense in the second half as two scoring drives came from the change of pace. The second drive included Brady connecting on 7-of-7 passes.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 10"

Congratulations, Nate Solder. Welcome to the New England Patriots.

Now sit down and watch.

This isn’t the typical fate for the average 17th pick overall in the modern NFL, but this is a far from typical off season. The lockout eliminated all off season workouts and an accelerated training camp with far less contact is stunting the growth of the former Colorado Buffalo.

Continue reading "Rookies in Waiting"

New York Jets DE Shawn Ellis said of New England QB Tom Brady, “He becomes a different quarterback when he doesn’t have wide-open guys and you hit him three or four times. He was skittish. I’ve never seen him like that. In the first half he was terrified.”

Continue reading "A Fueled Off-season"

It’s back to business as usual for the Patriots after being observers during Wild Card Weekend. It wasn’t just Saturday and Sunday the players had away from the weekly grind, as there were additional days during the week the players didn’t have meetings or practice.

Continue reading "Walls and Winds"

Congratulations to CB Devin McCourty for being a finalist for NFL Rookie of the Year. I don’t expect you’l win, but you got my vote.

If the NFL has already announced R.o.Y. finalists, then it shouldn’t be much longer before the All-Rookie teams are announced.

Continue reading "Week Before Kickoff: Wild Card Weekend"

Well before the flakes settled into Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Patriots locked up home field throughout the playoffs with a 34-3 win over the Buffalo Bills.

It was a total team effort as the offense scored 21 points off of turnovers. It was like New England scored three points for every turnover forced.

Continue reading "Never the Patriots Turn(over)"

If all goes as I hope, the game will essentially be over with by halftime. I’m not taking anything away from Buffalo as they’ve been playing recently. But I hope reality sets in, they remember they are the Bills, New England dominates and posts a 30-something point lead after two quarters.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 16"

With a win on Sunday, the Patriots will be 13-2 and secure home field throughout the playoffs.

And at the same time, CB Devin McCourty could get closer to tying the team interceptions by a rookie record.

Continue reading "Going for Records"

What does it take to turn a good defense into a stout defense? 

It’s a question that’s been wracking my brain for a while now. I look at the Patriots defense and I love what I see. The youth makeover has gone better than I expected. They have the potential to be great. But they’re not there yet. 

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 13"

I’m not quick to be sold on singular performances. I’ll applaud when a player or team does something good in a game, but I’ll take a wait and see approach, demanding they do it again before I buy what I’m seeing. 

Continue reading "Stepping Up, Step Forward"

On Sunday there were two changes to the starting line-up. OLB Tully Banta-Cain was replaced by rookie Jermaine Cunningham and CB Kyle Arrington was moved ahead of Darius Butler. 

Head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t say either decision was a benching. Belichick said the team has to improve in all areas and the changes could just be cases of adjusting to match-ups. 

Continue reading "The Butler Can Do It"

After the second preseason game where RB Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris ran through the Atlanta defense, I lamented that I didn’t like that the team’s best running backs were injury-prone. Now every week is filled with nervousness following the trade of RB Laurence Maroney. 

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 2"

It was a big deal when head coach Bill Belichick had the pictures of past Patriots teams removed from the walls. All the photos of players and moments from the past decade, including anything related to the three championships, gone. All memories purged from the hallways and rooms, as if those were bad memories. 

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 1"

When CB Terrence Wheatley walked off the Gillette Stadium field last Thursday with a couple of trainers, it crossed my mind it would be for the last time as a Patriot for Wheatley. But his chance of sticking around went up with CB Leigh Bodden going down. 

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Preseason Four"

Before the first preseason game, the Patriots held a ceremony to induct RB Sam “Bam” Cunningham into the Patriots Hall of Fame. He was joined on stage by owner Bob Kraft and fellow HoFers LB Andre Tippett, QB Steve Grogan, CB Michael Haynes, K-WR Gino Cappelletti, LB Steve Nelson, and G John Hannah. Not only was I there, but I was fortunate enough to shake Cunningham’s hand and say congratulations to the newest member while wearing his throwback jersey (thanks to Bob Hyldburg for making that opportunity happen). 

Continue reading "Pick Six: Preseason Game 1"

The freshmen are on campus (at least the ones who have all their admission papers completed and signed) and the upperclassmen are due to arrive on Thursday. Training camp is under way. 

There is no shortage of storylines we’ll discover during camp. Everyday there will be a new perspective on a competition or a personal story of achievement to learn about. 

Continue reading "Starting 11"

Most of the rookies might already be in attendance, but training camp doesn't officially begin until the veterans show up on Thursday. In anticipation, I spoke with FootballOutsiders.com creator Aaron Schatz and got his take on what to look for during camp:

Continue reading "Training Camp Preview"

I have a lot of expectations for this year’s rookie class. First round pick Devin McCourty will get a lot of run, maybe as high as the third corner. The two tight ends will contribute almost immediately. Brandon Spikes will become a two-down run-stuffing ILB. Zoltan Mesko will win the punting job. 

Continue reading "Projecting Cunningham"

I needed a little decompression time after the draft to take a step back and see the whole picture. After pouring so much of my time tracking free agency, trades, monitoring player’s stock going up or down, and producing three mock drafts, I needed some time off and assimilate myself back into society. 

Continue reading "See For Yourself Part 1"

I think Bill Belichick has the draft all wrong. You don’t win anything by having the most picks. As expected, the head coach of the Patriots traded down multiple times in the first round, and continued to do so in the second and third. But he did break the routine by going the aggressive route in the second. A quick look at the first two days of selections: 

Continue reading "Quick Glance"