Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 + Season Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 + Season Week 9 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 + Season Week 15 (@ New England Patriots):
My Coverage Player of the Week:Week 1: Tramon Williams
Week 2: Sam Shields
Week 3: Nick Collins
Week 4: Charles Woodson
Week 5: Tramon Williams
Week 6: Nick Collins
Week 7: Nick Collins
Week 8: Charles Woodson
Week 9: Charles Woodson/Tramon Williams
Week 11: Tramon Williams
Week 12: Charlie Peprah
Week 13: Tramon Williams
Week 14: Tramon Williams
Week 15: Charles WoodsonIf you had told me that our secondary would have confined Tom Brady to 163 yards on the same YPA as our QB, I would have told you you were nuts. We did just that, keeping him off the field and not allowing him to find a rhythm. Using a good dose of man coverage with great pressure packages up front, we had a terrific game plan in place to contain Tom Brady.
Charles Woodson played an outstanding game even though he technically allowed the early TD to Hernandez. Maybe it was because we weren't finding ourselves defending a lot of 3rd and mediums, but Wes Welker was awfully quiet out there and that's how you beat this Patriots team. You have to minimize his 3rd down production from the slot and we have probably the best slot defender in the league to do just that. He may have lost a step on his long speed as we've seen over the season, but he still has it when it comes to containing pivot routes and such underneath. He dropped an easy pick which was a costly mistake on his part, but the TD I'd can't really fault him for. That's not a designed route, but just something that happens when you give Brady a good 5 seconds in the pocket.
Tramon only targeted once and I'm disappointed because it's going to hurt his YPA. I guess that's what happens when you have the luxury of having such a good cover corner out there. The Patriots do as good a job with game plans as any in the league and they recognized not to throw consistently at 38, even if he was usually on their "go-to" receiver in Deion Branch, who only saw 2 targets all day.
The Patriots offense definitely wanted to test Shields today and he held up decently. He gave up the touchdown after failing to make the tackle on Hernandez and the 16 yard 1st down on 3rd to Deion Branch was in his zone. Still he looked good defending that deep ball. He and Tate were stride for stride the whole way and once Shields recognized the pass, he overtook Tate and nearly had the pick. That man has some wheels on him.
What in the world is going on with Nick Collins? He hasn't played at a Pro Bowl level since midway through the season. It's not that he's just not making big plays, but he's giving up a couple also. He had some responsibility on the BJG 33 yard TD scamper and was caught peeking into the backfield rather than cutting the cushion with his man.
It doesn't get said often enough, but AJ Hawk really is the unselfish man on this defense. He's been playing very good ball, but just isn't the guy who is asked to make plays. I'd love to see a Bishop-Barnett combo in the middle as much as any other fan, but I have a feeling we give up some more big plays with that combo. Then again, how much worse could our run D get?
Erik Walden played a very nice game for his 1st start. With more reps, I have a feeling he could be a better backer than Zombo. He drew 2 penalties (a hold and a false start) and made a couple nice plays that were logged on the stat sheet as well. I came away more impressed with him in this game than I have with Zombo this season, but maybe he just hasn't had the time to be exposed and picked on like Zombo has at times. [url=Pro_News/aid=157.html]full article[/url].