Corners Lost the Game!

[mmmdk]

Al Harris gets an awful amount of criticism. He's played two bad games this season, both against big, physical WRs. Do the math, he isn't good against that type of guy. I blame the coaches for not realizing that sooner and making adjustments.

He's a Pro-Bowl CB and to call him old and washed up is foolish.

He got whooped today, and had to much pride(not that I blame him) to ask for help, not that our safeties have that ability, but hell...

Harris was the goat on defense. He got out muscled and got hammered on the curl routes, and timing routes.

Agreed. I do NOT understand why McCarthy didn't recognize this and put the better athlete in Woodson on Burress. Clearly what he was doing was not working.

The big Q is; will it carry over to next season? Harris is a nickelback now. I don't think McCarthy has the balls to demote Harris plus get TT to bring a stud corner through free agency. Great corners are needed in the D we play.

[Scott Campbell]

Was there an adjustment made on Burress in the second half? They seemed to stop throwing to him, and the camera coverage didn't really show much.

[Tarlam!]

Harris got spanked. Utterly. I am so not used to seeing Harris being owned, I was sickened.

[The Leaper]

Re: Corners Lost the Game!

I wasn't charting plays, but I thought Favre had more time than Manning.

I agree. Manning wasn't sitting back there all day. We just played way too soft of a defense. I don't think the Giants had a play much over 20 yards all game, but they consistently ate up the field in 7-8 yard chunks at a time.

Manning was taking 3-5 step drops and throwing the ball quickly. Few pass rushes would've been able to get to him. We needed tighter coverge in the secondary...and we didn't get it.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

You can blame the corners and the defense all you want, but am happy with the way they played. The defense played the whole forth quarter on our side of the 50 and kept us in the game. Sure they gave up 20 points, but that should have been enough for the offense to win the game.

We lost the game not because of the defense, but because the offense couldn't do nothing in the forth quarter and overtime. All we needed was one decent drive in the forth and we are in the superbowl.

[MJZiggy]

Ok, I'll say it. Al is one of my favorite players on this team, but I am worried. I've heard that when corner play drops off, it drops off in a hurry and this is two games this season that he got spanked. I still think he's a great corner, but this didn't happen to him last season...

[Deputy Nutz]

You can blame the corners and the defense all you want, but am happy with the way they played. The defense played the whole forth quarter on our side of the 50 and kept us in the game. Sure they gave up 20 points, but that should have been enough for the offense to win the game.

We lost the game not because of the defense, but because the offense couldn't do nothing in the forth quarter and overtime. All we needed was one decent drive in the forth and we are in the superbowl.

I agree, I think the defense put in a solid effort in the second half. It wasn't easy being on that field for 25 minutes. I take my hat off to guys like Pickett and Williams, they played their heart out.

Kampman just struggled most of the night in regards to pass rushing. He doesn't have the quickest move off the snap and it hurt him against the 3 step drops, and Mannings ability to get the ball off. Also, he doesn't help him being on the field for 70 plus plays.

[Deputy Nutz]

Al Harris gets an awful amount of criticism. He's played two bad games this season, both against big, physical WRs. Do the math, he isn't good against that type of guy. I blame the coaches for not realizing that sooner and making adjustments.

He's a Pro-Bowl CB and to call him old and washed up is foolish.

He got whooped today, and had to much pride(not that I blame him) to ask for help, not that our safeties have that ability, but hell...

Harris was the goat on defense. He got out muscled and got hammered on the curl routes, and timing routes.

Agreed. I do NOT understand why McCarthy didn't recognize this and put the better athlete in Woodson on Burress. Clearly what he was doing was not working.

The big Q is; will it carry over to next season? Harris is a nickelback now. I don't think McCarthy has the balls to demote Harris plus get TT to bring a stud corner through free agency. Great corners are needed in the D we play.

If Thompson wants to have success like the Pats he will have to make the cold hearted move with some of the high paid veterans, and McCarthy will also have to make decision that benefit your team in the present but also the future, their is no past accomplishment to be considered when figuring out the lineup for next season.

[Patler]

Ok, I'll say it. Al is one of my favorite players on this team, but I am worried. I've heard that when corner play drops off, it drops off in a hurry and this is two games this season that he got spanked. I still think he's a great corner, but this didn't happen to him last season...

But he did tail off noticeably at the end of 2005. I was worried going into last season.

Harris will always struggle when he can not physically dominate a receiver at the line of scrimmage. He does not have the speed or quickness that some others have. A big receiver that can dish it out back to him will cause trouble.

Neither Harris nor Woodson have the athletic abilities they once had. They remain successful as physical, smart corners. If a receiver refuses to be dominated physically, or the officials call a close game, both will give up plays.

You really can not expect either one to be a starter much beyond next season. Woodson, maybe, but Harris has to be near the end of his career. He has less pure athletic ability to begin with. The physical games they play are tough on themselves, too; and they will begin to show it especially toward the ends of seasons.

[Fritz]

Ok, I'll say it. Al is one of my favorite players on this team, but I am worried. I've heard that when corner play drops off, it drops off in a hurry and this is two games this season that he got spanked. I still think he's a great corner, but this didn't happen to him last season...

But he did tail off noticeably at the end of 2005. I was worried going into last season.

Harris will always struggle when he can not physically dominate a receiver at the line of scrimmage. He does not have the speed or quickness that some others have. A big receiver that can dish it out back to him will cause trouble.

Neither Harris nor Woodson have the athletic abilities they once had. They remain successful as physical, smart corners. If a receiver refuses to be dominated physically, or the officials call a close game, both will give up plays.

You really can not expect either one to be a starter much beyond next season. Woodson, maybe, but Harris has to be near the end of his career. He has less pure athletic ability to begin with. The physical games they play are tough on themselves, too; and they will begin to show it especially toward the ends of seasons.

Okay, here's what I didn't get: Harris's success is predicated on disrupting a receiver's route at the line of scrimmage. But when the cameras showed the myriad of replays of Burress abusing Harris, rarely if ever did Harris attempt to jam him at the line. It was weird to watch because all year Harris was physical at the line of scrimmage. I wonder what happened there?

[The Leaper]

Okay, here's what I didn't get: Harris's success is predicated on disrupting a receiver's route at the line of scrimmage. But when the cameras showed the myriad of replays of Burress abusing Harris, rarely if ever did Harris attempt to jam him at the line. It was weird to watch because all year Harris was physical at the line of scrimmage. I wonder what happened there?

I thought the same thing. We played way too soft of coverage on their WRs. We let them have everything underneath...which was the only thing you could really get consistently in the weather they were playing in.

Giving WRs a free release in our defensive scheme is a recipe for disaster.

[Joemailman]

Perhaps Harris was concerned that a tall rangy guy like Burress would be able to get his hands on him instead of the other way around. Doesn't Owens do the same think to Al? Perhaps those who have been saying that the coaches took too long to give Al safety help were right.

[Patler]

Okay, here's what I didn't get: Harris's success is predicated on disrupting a receiver's route at the line of scrimmage. But when the cameras showed the myriad of replays of Burress abusing Harris, rarely if ever did Harris attempt to jam him at the line. It was weird to watch because all year Harris was physical at the line of scrimmage. I wonder what happened there?

I thought the same thing. We played way too soft of coverage on their WRs. We let them have everything underneath...which was the only thing you could really get consistently in the weather they were playing in.

Giving WRs a free release in our defensive scheme is a recipe for disaster.

I think he tried to early (from memory, I didn't Tivo it), and that was when Burress was getting behind him. So then he tried to engage him at 3-5 yards, to disrupt the pattern and better be able to stay with him when the ball was thrown. In some ways that worked a little better, but Manning was throwing the ball right where he needed to most of the time. Manning deserves a lot of credit for some of the completions.

[The Shadow]

Maybe Harris should move to free safety at this point in his career.

[BallHawk]

Maybe Harris should move to free safety at this point in his career.

Not big enough.