stillers4me
10-30-2011, 09:33 AM
Interesting matchup at Heinz Field Sunday in the afternoon game of the day in the NFL, and I don't just mean the Steelers and Patriots. I mean the Steelers ascending wide receiver, Mike Wallace, versus the Patriots' descending cornerback, Devin McCourty.
McCourty was one of my two All-Pro corners last year, finally filling the void left by Asante Samuel when he left for Philadelphia in free agency in 2008. He was a durable shutdown corner; according to ProFootballFocus, quarterbacks had a paltry 61.1 rating throwing against McCourty in 2010 -- that's like playing against Kyle Boller every week. But that passer rating has skied to 123.6 this year. He may think he's the same confident player he was last year, but he's not playing like it.
It's not only Wallace who McCourty and the Patriots will have to worry about Sunday. A 2010 sixth-round pick from Central Michigan, Antonio Brown, gives Ben Roethlisberger a second deep threat opposite Wallace. Together, they're averaging 18 yards per catch. Suddenly, the Steelers aren't your father's Steelers. They're a team happier to throw it deep than to let Rashard Mendenhall bang it into the line.............
read more @ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/10/28/week-8/index.html?sct=nfl_t11_a0
McCourty was one of my two All-Pro corners last year, finally filling the void left by Asante Samuel when he left for Philadelphia in free agency in 2008. He was a durable shutdown corner; according to ProFootballFocus, quarterbacks had a paltry 61.1 rating throwing against McCourty in 2010 -- that's like playing against Kyle Boller every week. But that passer rating has skied to 123.6 this year. He may think he's the same confident player he was last year, but he's not playing like it.
It's not only Wallace who McCourty and the Patriots will have to worry about Sunday. A 2010 sixth-round pick from Central Michigan, Antonio Brown, gives Ben Roethlisberger a second deep threat opposite Wallace. Together, they're averaging 18 yards per catch. Suddenly, the Steelers aren't your father's Steelers. They're a team happier to throw it deep than to let Rashard Mendenhall bang it into the line.............
read more @ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/10/28/week-8/index.html?sct=nfl_t11_a0