Tag: duron harmon

Patriots praise J.C. Jackson: ‘He has the best ball skills I’ve seen’

“He has the best ball skills I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of corners,” Stephon Gilmore on J.C. Jackson.

The New England Patriots have an emerging star in second-year cornerback J.C. Jackson.

He’s just one component of an absolutely loaded secondary, but he’s beginning to draw in attention. Jackson recorded two interceptions in the Patriots’ 34-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He now has five interceptions for the season — right behind Stephon Gilmore with six, whose undoubtedly the best cornerback in the NFL.

Jackson has stepped up for the injured Jason McCourty and he’s making the most of his opportunity as a starter. His ball skills are receiver-like and everyone around him will attest to that. The Patriots have a league-high 25 interceptions this season, so this praise is coming from arguably the best secondary in the league.

“He has the best ball skills I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of corners,” Gilmore said, as transcribed by NESN. “He plays the ball as good as anybody.”

Here’s one example of those ball skills.

And, this play sealed the game.

Veteran safety Duron Harmon shared a story about Jackson’s first season, and he continued to pile on the praise.

“I remember J.C.’s first year last year, we were down a scout-team receiver,” Harmon said. “He went over there and played receiver and was making plays, catching the ball, running some good routes. He kept going around saying, ‘I’m really supposed to be a receiver.’ And I was like, ‘No, you’re supposed to be a corner. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you got (signed).’

“But his ball skills are phenomenal. Not too many guys can, on a fade, run with the receiver, turn around, locate the ball, high-point the ball — and he’s done that just continuously over the last two years. I mean, the sky is the limit for that guy right there. What was that, his fifth interception of the year? And he’s, in some ways, our fourth cornerback. It just shows you the type of ball skills — elite ball skills — that he has.”

Talk has surrounded Gilmore and his ability to play the wide receiver position, but maybe Jackson should get some consideration as well.

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Eagles vs. Patriots: Live blog and scoring drive updates

The New England Patriots (8-1) are visiting the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) in a game that could catapult the Eagles to a playoff run.

The New England Patriots (8-1) are visiting the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) in a game that could catapult the Eagles to a playoff run. Tom Brady and company are looking for revenge after the 41-33 loss in Super Bowl LII.

With kickoff just minutes away, here are your live scoring updates and play by play analysis.

https://twitter.com/thacover2/lists/eagles-related-news

Eagles’ TE’s could have huge day vs. Patriots with Patrick Chung ruled out

Patriots rule out safety Patrick Chung vs. Eagles

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The Philadelphia Eagles were already starting to become tight end dominant in the passing game, and with Patriots star safety Patrick Chung being ruled out for Sunday, 12 personnel could be the formation of choice.

New England ruled out Chung for Sunday’s road game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to injuries to his heel and chest.

Veteran safety Duron Harmon will get the start in his place.

With the Eagles having the best tight end tandem in the NFL, Bill Belichick and company can expect to see a ton of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert on the field together.

During the last meeting between these two teams, Ertz had seven catches for 67 yards and a touchdown in the Eagles thrilling Super Bowl LII victory against New England.

With Alshon Jeffery also out of this game, it’ll be pertinent for Carson Wentz to develop a rhythm with both guys early on, helping to open up things for JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Miles Sanders.

Expect New England to dabble with a different scheme on Sunday, entrusting All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore with the job of slowing down Zach Ertz. Until Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews or Arcega-Whiteside can prove themselves as viable threats on the outside, Gilmore will likely be best served to shadow Ertz on Sunday and forcing someone else on the Eagles offense to beat New England.

That man could end up being Goedert, who has the skill level to take advantage of any mismatch presented to him.

This insane statistic puts perspective on Patriots’ lockdown secondary

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots. 

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots.

Through nine games this season, opposing quarterbacks have a 13.3 passer rating while throwing 21 yards or more in the air, H/T Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. New England has more interceptions (7) than opposing teams have completions (5) when throwing for more than 21 yards.

The second-best team in this category is the Buffalo Bills, who have kept opposing quarterbacks at a 40.6 passer rating. But, they’ve only had 20 pass attempts against them, compared to New England with 44 pass attempts. The Patriots have the No. 2 pass defense in the league currently with 150.2 passing yards allowed per game.

The secondary is primarily composed of Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson, Pat Chung and Duron Harmon. Devin leads the group with five interceptions and Gilmore is second in the unit with three.  New England has a league-high 19 interceptions through nine games and the second-best team has 14.

The Patriots have accumulated a league-high 270 yards from interceptions along with two touchdowns. They’ve been able to create great field position for the offense, while helping hold opposing offenses to an average of 10.9 points per game.

New England struggled against the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 9 loss, but it was mostly due to the run defense. Baltimore had 210 rushing yards against the Patriots and only 162 passing yards.

This secondary has some talented quarterbacks ahead of them with Carson Wentz, Day Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. It would be an incredible feat if the Patriots could keep these numbers up for the entirety of the season.

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