And even though a disturbing trend is starting to emerge with the entire structure of the pass defense, the Patriots' seeming inability to stop the athletic and talented tight ends - despite the fact that New England coach Bill Belichick pioneered the way teams use their tight ends in the modern day NFL - is what has been the bane of this defense's existence all season...
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| Cameron (84) was nearly unstoppable |
...and very well could be the death knell in the playoffs if they are not able to somehow shore it up.
This was particularly evident in Sunday afternoon's come-from-behind victory, where Cleveland Browns' tight end Jordan Cameron absolutely abused the Patriots' safeties and was a major reason why the Browns nearly won a game against the heavily favored Patriots, who needed - and received - a minor miracle to pull the game out.
Cameron catching a team-high nine balls for 121 yards tells only part of the story, as the Patriots' secondary again allowed Jason Campbell to throw for nearly 400 yards on the day - and Cameron's 121 yards and one touchdown reception were a major part.
This is not to discount the fact the wide receiver Josh Gordon dominated Patriots' "shutdown" corner Aqib Talib and produced 184 total yards from the line of scrimmage and 151 yards through the air, most of his yardage came on an 80 yard run and catch that was as much a composite view of the play of the secondary as it was a dazzling display of speed on the part of Gordon.
Talib melted down in this game in the second half, allowing Gordon 141 yards on six receptions plus the one touchdown and two holding penalties that extended drives - while the other players that covered him allowed two catches on five targets for 10 yards.
But these other players had no answer for Cameron, as each of his nine catches went for first downs as he beat Steve Gregory like he stole something and burned McCourty and rookie Jamie Collins so badly that on the Browns' final drive the coaching staff put rookie corner Logan Ryan on Jordan in a desperate attempt to keep the big USC product from doing any more damage...
...but even then, he caught two balls over the smaller rookie corner for 31 yards, his final catch setting up the Browns' ultimately doomed 58 yard field goal attempt as time expired.
But make no mistake, had quarterback Jason Campbell enough time for one more play to get the ball closer, he would have targeted Cameron and most likely connected - but he didn't and kicker Billy Cundiff didn't have nearly enough leg to pull out the game.
The Patriots' dodged yet another bullet with Tom Brady and the offense pulling out another wild, improbable last second victory, but the issues with the pass defense can't be ignored any longer.
Especially when coming into a game against a team that you know can not run the ball well, and your primary focus should be on defending the pass. The Run defense held thier own, allowing runners not named Campbell and Gordon only an embarassing 47 yards on 22 carries, but the pass rush couldn't get to Campbell and no one could cover Cameron.
Jordan Cameron is no Rob Gronkowski, and Jason Campbell is no Tom Brady - but be it the players not being up to the task or the game plan and scheme not being up to par - or both - when a career journeyman quarterback with no running game to protect him throws for nearly 400 yards, a very real problem exists...
...and no one cares why it exists, as an NFL offensive coordinators' job is to find an area to exploit a weakness in the opposing defense, these days with the Patriots' defense it's a matter of take your pick of which weakness to exploit.
http://www.nepatriotslife.com/2013/12/patriots-pass-defense-has-no-answer-for.html#disqus_thread
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