Picking on Patterson, avoiding Asante
How often are opposing QBs targeting Dimitri Patterson? And how many chances might Asante Samuel get on Sunday to pick off an Aaron Rodgers pass? Here are the numbers.
Want the good news or the bad news?
Let's start with the good. Against the Colts, the longest pass completion Patterson gave up was for 18 yards. In the first meeting against the Giants, the longest completion he allowed was for 15 yards. That's the kind of effort the Eagles need on Sunday.
Ahh yes, but there is some bad news. Against the Giants the second time and in a little bit more than a half against the Vikings, Patterson was burned for three completions of 30 yards or more and three touchdowns.
It's those big plays that could doom the Eagles. If Patterson gives up a couple 9-yard gains on 3rd-and-7 or 3rd-and-8, that's fine. But if he gets beat deep for a couple big plays, those are game-changers.
Overall, in the four-plus games I looked at, quarterbacks completed 65.3 percent of their attempts against Patterson.
On the other end of the spectrum is Samuel. And I'm not sure we've fully appreciated the kind of year he had. Sure, there were the seven interceptions, but take a look at the lack of success opposing QBs had against him.
Impressive, huh? In four-plus games, Samuel allowed four total completions and one pass that gained more than 10 yards. While it'd be big for the Eagles to get an interception from him Sunday, I'm not sure how many chances he'll get.
Opposing QBs completed 26.7 percent of their attempts at him in these five games.
And finally, here are Hanson's numbers:
As you can see, Hanson's been playing good football. That's not to say he should have clearly been the choice to start ahead of Hanson, but he's doing an outstanding job in the slot. He allowed no completions of 20 yards or more in the games mentioned above and only three completions of 10 yards or more. Of course, playing on the outside is a different animal in terms of limiting big plays.
Those are the numbers. And you can be sure that Rodgers is aware of them. The Packers will throw at Patterson time and time again Sunday afternoon. If he can limit Rodgers' big plays, the Eagles have a good chance of moving on. If Patterson turns in a performance that resembles the second Giants game or the Vikings game, the Birds will be ready to start their offseason.
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