Patriots Secondary Still a Major Concern



With one joint practice with Eagles in the books, Patriots fans can take solace in the performance of their new group of receivers. Tom Brady was a phenomenal 17-21 during the 11 on 11 scrimmage portion of practice, with new faces like Danny Amendola, Kenbrell Thompkins and Zach Sudfeld making impressive plays down the field.

However, by all accounts the Eagles beat the Patriots secondary like a drum today. Riley Cooper's return to the field was bound to be the story of the day regardless of his performance on the field, but he reminded everyone why the Eagles didn't cut him by dominating Alfonzo Dennard all day. The receiver, who has recently been under intense media scrutiny for his disgusting and offensive act of attending a Kenny Chesney concert (I kid, I kid), caught three touchdowns during 11 on 11's, two of them over the smaller Dennard.

The secondaries woes didn't end with Dennard. Aqib Talib, who has looked excellent throughout training camp thus far, reportedly came back to earth in a big way against the Eagles receivers. Per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe:

The Eagles didn't just pick on the Patriots veteran corners either. Jackson apparently absolutely roasted rookie Logan Ryan, beating him deep so badly on one play that Philly.com writter Jimmy Kempski felt the need to acknowledge how easy he made quarterback Nick Foles' job on the play.

It's foolish to read too much into a single practice in training camp, but the results from day one in Philly illustrate what I've believed all along. The biggest weakness of this year's team isn't the much discussed "re-do" of the team's receivers. It's the same weakness that has undone the team's championship hopes the past three seasons: the frighteningly thin secondary.

Many will point to the dramatic improvement the secondary made last season after trading for Talib. A unit that had been torched by opposing quarterbacks all season morphed into a solid, capable group with the former Buccaneer on board. Talib's arrival gave the team a legitimate top-flight cornerback, allowed them to move Devin McCourty to safety (a move that shored up much of the communication problems that plagued them during the first half of the season) and pushed Kyle Arrington inside to the nickel where he belongs. The improved play from the secondary played a big role in the Pats winning 6 of their final 7 regular season games en route to the Conference's #2 seed and a first round playoff bye.

I, on the other hand, will point to the AFC Championship Game to illustrate how quickly that improvement dissipated when the team's depth was challenged. The game was still a defensive slugfest during the first half when Talib left with a faulty hamstring. The Pats led 13-7 at halftime, largely due to it somehow taking Jim Caldwell that long to realize that Talib's absence was pushing guys like Arrington and Marquice Cole into prominent roles. However, the Pats were helpless once Baltimore adjusted it's game plan and decided to throw the ball downfield. Joe Flacco went 15-24 for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns on their first three drives of the second half. Ballgame.

A quick glance at the roster shows that not much has changed in the New England secondary. The team remains one injury (or court sentence/Goodell ruling in the case of Alfonzo Dennard) from starting Kyle Arrington. If the past two years of Patriots football have taught me anything, it's that it's physically impossible to have a good pass defense while starting Kyle Arrington. The guy is a decent nickel corner, but he simply gets beaten consistently whenever he's forced to cover starting receivers on the outside.

This factor alone scares me, but even more frightening is how much things drop off after Arrington on the depth chart. Ras-I Dowling is (SURPRISE!) hurt and cannot be realistically counted on for anything at this point. Logan Ryan is a rookie and has had an unremarkable camp. Marquice Cole is a special teams guy. That's it. This team is in some serious trouble if any of the top guys get hurt.

At safety, things look a little better, but there's still reasons for concern. Devin McCourty is an excellent safety, but again, things fall off dramatically for him. The addition of Adrian Wilson should bring a little "nasty" and a lot of veteran leadership to the defense but, at 33, Wilson is little more than a role player on the field. He's competing with the unremarkable Steve Gregory, who got eaten alive by Dennis Pitta in the aforementioned AFC Championship Game, for the starting strong safety job. Behind them is Tavon Wilson (who struggled a bit in coverage last year and has been disappointing so far in camp), rookie Duron Harmon (realistically more of a special teams guy) and Nate Ebner (another special teams guy).

Issues in the secondary have plagued the Pats for years. Today's practice was simply a reminder that, despite the team's crazy offseason, their biggest weakness went largely unaddressed. Brady's new receivers have gotten most of the headlines, but if this team falls short of its goals it's likely that the secondary will (once again) deserve most of the blame.

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