ShareThisDallas Clark has gashed many a defense over the past two-plus seasons, as the Indianapolis Colt has become one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the NFL.
He hasn't, however, gotten the best of the New England Patriots as often as he has other teams around the league -- a big part of the reason for that was the presence of Rodney Harrison.
But Harrison won't be involved in this Sunday's highly anticipated matchup between the Pats and Colts -- at least not as a player. Harrison will be on the set of NBC's Football Night in America, where now he talks about the games instead of playing in them, having retired in June.
Yet New England has in Brandon McGowan a player who has filled Harrison's many roles admirably. On Sunday, the undrafted safety from Maine will be assigned to cover Clark and do just as well as his predecessor.
In his last three regular-season games against the Patriots, Clark pulled in just eight catches for 120 yards and no touchdowns. In the 2006 AFC title game, he had six catches for a whopping 137 yards -- perhaps not coincidentally, Harrison was out that game with a knee injury.
McGowan is up for the challenge.
In Week Three against the Falcons, he held future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, who owns every major record for tight ends, to just one 16-yard reception. Last month in London against the Buccaneers, he limited Kellen Winslow to two receptions for nine inconsequential yards.
Like Gonzalez and Winslow, Clark is more of an extra-large receiver than he is true tight end.
"He's fast, he's got good balance, he's strong," Pats coach Bill Belichick said this week. "Tight ends are usually hard to match up against: the (defensive backs) don't have the size and the linebackers can't usually match their speed and quickness. Clark runs well; he runs like he's a receiver. When he gets down the field, he's a vertical guy, but he has good quickness and can win underneath."
Belichick has also praised the play of McGowan, saying that many of the things he did with Chicago when he was on the field he has done for the Patriots: He runs well, tackles well, plays instinctively and knows where the ball is.
On a conference call earlier this week, Harrison agreed McGowan was playing well thus far.
"I think he's a smart kid; he's always in the right place," he said.
Harrison cautioned, however, that shutting down Clark and the Indianapolis offense in general is a 60-minute effort, and that a good first-quarter or first-half effort won't be enough.
Clark already has an impressive 60 receptions this season, just 17 off from the franchise-record (for a tight end) 77 he recorded last season.
The key to slowing down both he and receiver Reggie Wayne is to be physical with them, jamming them at the line.
And for the first time in a while, Harrison believes, New England has the depth and talent to succeed against the Colts' weapons.
"They now feel they have the depth in the secondary, where they can match up with all these receivers and all these weapons. They're not afraid. I've talked to them," Harrison said. "They're not afraid of Peyton Manning. They feel like this is their best chance ever to match up with these guys."
In addition to McGowan, New England has gotten contributions from fellow free-agent acquisitions Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs, second-year corner Jonathan Wilhite, and rookies Darius Butler and Pat Chung.
To Harrison, the engine that keeps the unit moving forward is his New England protege, Brandon Meriweather.
"He's really the leader. He's come forth and become the leader of that defense and of that secondary. He's really matured in the last year, year and a half, listening to James Sanders and myself, and really took it upon himself to understand that the game is not just physical, but the game is also mental."
Physical, mental -- the Patriots are going to need it all against Clark, Manning and the Colts.
(Contact Shalise Manza Young at smanza@projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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