FOXBORO, Mass. — Devin McCourty has a chance to prove he deserved last year’s second-team All-Pro honors when the New England Patriots try to stop Cordarrelle Patterson and the Minnesota Vikings this week.
Patterson presents a unique challenge to the Patriots’ secondary, and McCourty will be the last line of defense in hopes to stop any big plays from the 6-foot-2, 220-pound receiver (an inch taller and three pounds heavier than All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson).
“Definitely one of the most dynamic players in the NFL,” McCourty said about Patterson on Thursday in the Patriots’ locker room. “He can kind of hurt you in a bunch of different ways on the field. Definitely probably the most dynamic player we’ve seen, even though it’s still early. He can do everything on the field. He’s definitely a tough matchup.”
Patterson is a deep threat, with 4.33-second 40-yard dash speed, but he’s most dangerous in space — he had 248 yards after the catch on 19 receptions behind the line of scrimmage last season. Not only will McCourty have to watch for Patterson on deep patterns, but as the deep safety, he’ll be responsible for stopping the second-year pro on long runs.
Containing the 220-pound receiver isn’t easy, though, which the St. Louis Rams found out Sunday, as Patterson broke through five tacklers on the way to a 67-yard score.
“You see not every play he gets is just wide open,” McCourty said. “He’s breaking a lot of tackles, and it’s a little different. You see running backs that break a lot of tackles, and he kind of does that as a wide receiver — runs through arm tackles. He does that on kick returns and when he gets the ball on offense. The safeties will be stressed, the linebackers, the corners. Everybody will probably get a chance at him at some point in the game.”
The Patriots had many issues in Sunday’s 33-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins, but one of their biggest struggles was tackling. Linebacker Jamie Collins, cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and safety Patrick Chung missed multiple tackles against the Miami Dolphins, so McCourty said that has been a focal point in practice this week.
What makes McCourty so good as a safety is his athleticism, technique and tackling efficiency. McCourty missed the least amount of tackles (five) last season among safeties with at least 900 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Logan Ryan and Kyle Arrington also are solid against the run and, like McCourty, didn’t miss any tackles in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.
Revis agreed with McCourty that Patterson is “probably (one of the) most explosive players in the league” and said that keeping track of Patterson is important.
“It’s just alignment off the ball,” Revis said. “Is he in the slot? Is he motioning to the backfield. You just gotta know where he’s at at all times as a defense as a whole, so we can know where he’s at, and actually get a guy or two in that area where he’s at.”
It’s unlikely that Revis is tasked with stopping the dangerous Patterson on his own, so McCourty will play a big role in containing the former Tennessee Volunteer as he tries to weave through the Patriots’ defense.
