The New England Patriots’ secondary was and probably still is the biggest strength on the team’s defense — and perhaps on the team as a whole. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore is the defending Defensive Player of the Year, Jason McCourty has been a solid cornerback for years, J.C. Jackson is emerging as one of the NFL’s elite and Devin McCourty is a Pro Bowler. And yet the Patriots got torched on Sunday.
Russell Wilson completed 75% of his passes for 288 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He looked unstoppable. And though there were definitely throws where the execution level from Wilson made it almost impossible for the Patriots defense to stop him, Jason McCourty was hard on the secondary.
“Oh, without a doubt. Russell Wilson and their offense is a really good outfit, really good players, and he obviously is a tremendous player. I think for us as a secondary, obviously (it was) not a good performance,” he said Tuesday. “I know for myself personally, I’ll speak, to be part of two of those is just a terrible feeling and obviously not good enough. So after watching the film, those are the things that could be corrected.
“I think for me, I know I have to go out there and I have to play better, and I know for us as a whole as a secondary, we feel like we need to go out there and we need to play better. We’ve played better in the past. We have to pick it up, and we have to do a better job when Sunday comes.”
As it turns out, the Las Vegas Raiders are not slouches either. Derek Carr and Josh Jacobs are proving to be an excellent one-two punch on offense, which has helped the quarterback start the season on an impressive statistical note. With wins against the Panthers and the Saints, Carr has completed 74% of his passes for 521 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He’ll pose a bigger challenge than perhaps was initially expected when the season started.
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