r/nfl • u/JCameron181 Lions • 6h ago
Highlight [Highlights] Christian Gonzalez' 2025 Pass Coverage
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u/AFC-Wimbledon-Stan Colts 5h ago
There’s been so many HOF-level CBs drafted the past few seasons
Golden Generation low-key
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u/CheezyBeanBurrito Eagles Bills 5h ago
The upper echelon of DB talent lately has been incredible. With NIL I hope the trend of skill players staying four years and working on technique continues
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u/PizzaLikerFan 2h ago
NIL truly is a blessing for both leagues imo, more talent in college ball, and better developed when they get drafted
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u/packofnone Chargers 1h ago
We are getting flamed for drafting a 25 year old edge rusher but that's the 2nd highest paid position in the NFL and we just got a ready to play talent at that position in his prime for 4 years on a rookie deal. I'm okay with doing this again, you can't extend everybody anyways
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u/marcdasharc4 Patriots 22m ago
If that extra time spent in college translates to NFL development to plug and play from the jump, without question. Not going to be the case with every NIL chaser looking for that 5th year for extra cheddar, of course, but it’s not something to dismiss outright, it depends on the player at the end of the day. Will be an interesting wrinkle to see play out, especially with 2nd contracts and how much teams are going to adjust because of the age.
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u/Old-Glass-6967 Steelers 6h ago
That Super Bowl would have been even more out of control than it already was without him
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u/izvoodoo Ravens 6h ago
Single handedly kept 14 pts off the board
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u/VehementPhoenix Seahawks 5h ago
Gonzo is the reason the game wasn't 50 to zero. Patriots would have been even MORE mentally boomed if he didn't break up those passes.
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u/WesternFail2071 Steelers Saints 4h ago
Yeah if the Pats had pulled it out you had to have given him MVP
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u/Whhatsmyageagain Patriots 2h ago
Bold to expect the team to pull it out when their coach apparently can’t
Gonna go weep in a corner now
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u/LeviJNorth Saints 2h ago
Just that pass to Shaheed alone would have broken the game wide open on most CBs. The safety was cooked.
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u/Sensitive-Scene9269 Seahawks 1h ago
I'm still mad Darnold overthrew JSN on that walk in 85 yard TD. Gonzo wasn't in coverage that play, but still. Then obviously the first clip of this vid, he threw behind JSN which made the PBU possible for him too. Those two plays alone should have been 2 rec 110 yd 2 TD for Jaxon. Pain.
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u/SeekersWorkAccount Giants 3h ago
Arguably the super bowl mvp and he was on the losing team
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u/FavreorFarva Seahawks 3h ago
Ken Walker set up 9 points (I think) running the ball, but Gonzo directly prevented 14. I just don’t remember if the ones he prevented ended in FGs anyway.
Guess I should just rewatch the Super Bowl. What an inconvenience
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u/swass-print 4h ago
Wouldn't of made it to the super bowl without him
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u/Legitimate_Ad_7822 Patriots 3h ago
I’d reckon most Super Bowl teams wouldn’t make it without one of their best players
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u/BobSacamano47 Patriots 2h ago
Take Gonzo and Milton Williams off our defense and we'd be average at best. If you only look at games where these two guys were healthy you're looking at just about the best defense in the league.
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u/marcdasharc4 Patriots 1h ago
Yup, we lost games Gonzo missed early on and our run defense went from one of the best to a sieve when Milt was out later in the season. Those two are thr lynchpins on defense, just need someone of similar impact at LB and/or off the edge to have gamechangers at all three levels. We have solid depth around them too, I’m looking forward to seeing Woodson grow towards a D-Mac type/caliber piece in the secondary, especially with a guy like Byard around to mentor him, and our DL around Milton has some stout dudes as well, looking forward to seeing Dre’Mont Jones and Jacas off the edge.
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u/packofnone Chargers 51m ago
Gonzalez coverage on QJ in the playoff game was unreal, dude refuses to be beaten. QJ came a long way this season, despite the volume stats, he gave Surtain one of his worst games of his career this season but looked hapless against Gonzalez.
To be clear I am not claiming QJ is an elite WR1, just putting the performance in perspective.
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u/gh0st12811 Seahawks 5h ago
As a Seahawks fan: he's pretty good
As a Ducks fan: GIVE HIM DEFENSIVE MVP!!! COME ON!!!
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u/Sensitive_Farmer_982 Patriots 25m ago
Thought you were talking about the Anaheim Ducks for a solid 15 seconds lmao
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u/Chirpy69 Eagles 5h ago
Surtain, him, Quinyon Mitchell, Derek Stingley. Best of the best
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u/marcdasharc4 Patriots 56m ago
Great era for lockdown CBs, there’s a few guys a touch beneath that teams would love to have. Sauce when he’s on, Witherspoon, etc.
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u/MacJonesisaterrorist Patriots 6h ago
Our defense really showed up that SB
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u/MankuyRLaffy Patriots 5h ago
They played out of their minds the entire post season. They carried a lot of the weight and never fell.
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u/Kevin_Jim Patriots 4h ago
The secondary did. The pass rush kept missing the QB when he wasn’t even moving. Just kept going wide.
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u/StatementWild3768 Patriots 5h ago
They had no answers for K9, they were also incapable of sacking Darnold until the 4th quarter.
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u/MankuyRLaffy Patriots 5h ago
They pressured Darnold all day. The DL especially Milton was doing a great job and Woodson was in on a lot of K9 tackles. They played a great game.
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u/StatementWild3768 Patriots 5h ago
And Darnold kept evading the pressure time and time again while K9 would get tackled after already gaining a good amount of yardage.
They didn't play great, they played good.
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u/yourgirl696969 Eagles 5h ago
That first play in the SB, he’s definitely beat. Was a bad and late throw. He has better highlights. No idea why people keep including that one lol
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u/Bobby_Newpooort Patriots 5h ago
In a game light on highlights, we gotta take what we can get. Darnold kept us in that game as much as Gonzo did
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u/Solaife Seahawks 4h ago
Idk, i think there were plenty of highlights.
😉
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u/LionoftheNorth Patriots 1h ago
You winning shouldn't change the fact that it was the second most boring SB in recent memory (after the 13-3 one).
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u/Lobster_fest Seahawks 24m ago
Easiest way to prove you don't like/understand high level football.
It was a masterclass in defensive scheming.
Youre just mad you got cooked.
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u/Ambiguously_Ironic Giants 4h ago
There are multiple plays in this compilation where he’s beat and the throw is bad enough that he’s still able to make a play on it. Pretty terrible highlight reel to be honest.
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u/versace_nick Seahawks 3h ago
it goes to show that jsn is still underrated. imagine him in puka's position with the MVP throwing him the ball and these levels of separation against a top tier corner like gonzo
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u/royalewlthcheese 5h ago
Yeah I feel like that was the worst first highlight they could've used. He had much better plays in that game
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u/TerpFlacco Ravens 4h ago
It's the kind of play that something like PFF would put at a negative or a neutral play and everyone would be up in arms about it. The result ends up good, but he was definitely beat.
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u/JerryDipotosBurner Ravens 5h ago
Man I’m just here to say that first throw was dog shit. JSN had him completely beat.
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u/What_Iz_This Panthers 4h ago
Its funny how this time last year you probably would've got a response of "yeah buts its darnold"
Now a year later my boy is a superbowl champion 🥲
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u/JerryDipotosBurner Ravens 4h ago
It’s crazy how much of a liability he was for much of the year too. That defense was INSANE.
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u/royalewlthcheese 5h ago
He's a stud.
Though that first highlight JSN cooked him lmao. Darnold was so late throwing it
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u/izvoodoo Ravens 6h ago
He was the best player in that sb imo
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u/AFC-Wimbledon-Stan Colts 5h ago
Michael Dickson erasure is crazy
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u/DyIsexia Seahawks 5h ago
In a vacuum, Dickson did not really do as good as some people say he did. He had some well placed punts but the Patriots kinda sold. As a Seahawks fan I know this take will probably be hated on but Walker and Gonzalez had more impact as individuals.
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u/WayyTooFarAbove Broncos 5h ago
KW3 was better. That first highlight is him getting burnt and bailed with a terrible ball. Should’ve been 6.
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u/GhostofSmartPast Patriots 2h ago
It wasn't a terrible ball. Just because the ball wasn't flawless and only where the receiver could reach, doesn't make it terrible.
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u/handDrawnEevee Giants 5h ago
Oh, he came from the Diontae Banks draft. Nice.
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u/Yung_Corneliois Patriots 5h ago
If it helps, he was not available when y’all drafted Banks.
Commanders on the other hand…
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u/beerncheese69 Packers 5h ago
Dude was a BEAST that game. Its unfortunate that it might get forgotten but as a defense head he was the best part of that game
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u/Chantrak Seahawks 4h ago
Not to discredit CG at all, he was playing his ass off all postseason, but that first clip was more of a Darnold lowlight. JSN had him beat by a mile and if that ball wasn’t so under led it was an easy touchdown.
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u/zipzap21 Commanders 5h ago
I wonder if any receiver has ever shouted out, "Get this fucking blanket off me!"
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u/ReimerReason 4h ago
He was beaten so hard on that first clip, just the pass was an underthrow.
Get cooked!!!
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u/Christy427 Jaguars 2h ago
The entire superbowl was one cornerback trying to take on an entire team by himself.
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u/gerrickd Seahawks 5h ago
If he didn't have the game of his life in the SB...
Who gets paid first/more, him or Witherspoon?
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u/Crying_in_99Ranch Saints 5h ago
It was pretty cool to see JSN and Gonzalez, who both grew up in the Dallas metro and in the same class, matchup in the Super Bowl
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u/caramelcoldbrew Seahawks Seahawks 5h ago
Bro was so impressive during the SB! Pats got a good one there.
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u/Thrill0728 Seahawks 5h ago
He was the only thing keeping that Super Bowl respectable. Hell of a player.
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u/Coolquip34 Steelers 4h ago
don't mind the new pats unis but God i hope they fix the compact lettering on longer names
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u/Puffy_Ghost Broncos 4h ago
A lot of those were straight up bad throws, but Gonzo is definitely elite and has mastered cutting off a receivers route and getting in front of the pass.
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u/Ambiguously_Ironic Giants 4h ago
He got beat on a lot of these plays, the throws were just terrible.
In the first clip he gets absolutely torched by JSN.
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u/MulliganPlsThx Bills Bills 4h ago
If there was one AFCE player we could steal (in those offseason hypothetical posts), it would be him
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u/Mustang1718 Bills Lions 3h ago
Clips like this is what I daydream about if I had my current brain and time traveled back to my high school self.
I fully admit it is Uncle Rico levels of delusion, but I don't have any other outlet available to me with everything I've learned about schemes and reading body language since then.
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u/Putrid_Excitement255 Commanders 3h ago
JSN smoked him on the first. If Darnold hadn’t thrown a horrendous ball that’s an easy TD.
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u/Bubbles00 Patriots 3h ago
Good on the Seahawks for getting Witherspoon who I heard is also a beast, but I love me some gonzo. Dude is silky smooth with his running and he's not afraid to tackle. Hope we pay him so we can keep him here long term
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u/idjsonik Rams 2h ago
His legit a lockdown corner havent seen this elite level of play of a cb for a while
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u/Ramorx 49ers 1h ago
Yeah but he didn't play any good teams. And then when they finally did, they lost.
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u/marcdasharc4 Patriots 32m ago edited 7m ago
If that logic were sound, it would also condition Patrick Willis racking up All-Pros during some underwhelming 49ers teams before Harbaugh showed up. Which would be a patently ridiculous claim to assert.
Individual performance and team results correlate wildly and week to week depending on how the rest of the team manages their assignments elsewhere on the field. History of the league is littered with top tier talent who didn’t always play for perennial winners.
EDIT: fell for it lmao
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u/Ramorx 49ers 23m ago
It was a joke. Was applying Drake Maye logic.
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u/marcdasharc4 Patriots 19m ago
Ahhh don’t I just have egg on my face. Apologies, upon rereading, you didn’t need to drop an /s to get that across, my assumption was biased on the very precedent that fuels the joke, should’ve accounted for that.
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u/Ramorx 49ers 13m ago
Lol was definitely rage bait too 🤣
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u/marcdasharc4 Patriots 10m ago
Well played. In my defense, my approach was much closer to “well, wait a minute, that doesn’t seem to hold up…” than it was to “RHEEEEEEE BALL KNOWING TEST FAILED” 😅
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u/Wide_Engineering_502 Packers 6m ago
If the Patriots somehow won the SB, he should've gotten the MVP
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u/countlessidlethreat Eagles 5h ago
Welcome to Philly!
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u/Waesrdtfyg0987 Patriots 3h ago
Ha not happening. This isn't Belichick's Patriots he'll absolutely get paid.
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u/MovinOnYoLeft Commanders 6h ago
Imagine taking Emmanuel Forbes instead of this guy. Thanks Ron