Jermaine Cunningham

[PatsFan2]

Did you all realize Cunningham was rushing from the weakside last night? I know we were up and he was pinning his ears back rushng the passer. But he put a series of moves on the Brick that made me go wow. He almost had three sacks last night to go along with some heavy pressures. Please BB keep Jermaine Cunningham on the weakside. When Mike Wright comes back i think our Problems on Defenseare are solved. Keep Tully Banta Cane on the Strong where he can use that patterned spin move against slower footed RT's. Jermaine Cunningham is developing nicely and will be a force to recon with for years to come.

 

[DarrylS]

There is such a learning curve in the NFL, getting familiar with the speed of the game and the complexity of our defense has finally allowed him to emerge as a pretty good player. He has a tremendous upside, and watching him develop is enjoyable.

 

[Dagg]

I thought he had an outstanding game last night. A few great one on one surehanded tackles, set the edge and put the heat on Sanchez. I think this guy has a real chance to develop into something special I actually think his upside is > than spikes.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Once he improves his upper body strength. He's going to be excellent. He's missed some sacks because he wasn't able to bring the qb down. As OP mentioned, he's not a one trick pony on his pass rush. That's a good sign.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I thought he had an outstanding game last night. A few great one on one surehanded tackles, set the edge and put the heat on Sanchez. I think this guy has a real chance to develop into something special I actually think his upside is > than spikes.

He was drafted higher than Spikes so it would make sense that he has more upside...Cunningham remains my binky since the draft. He was stunning in the video clips I saw after the draft. Rare speed and athletic like a cat.

His introduction to the NFL was tough, missing the preseason with a high ankle sprain and then being put into the fire on a team with Mike Wright as our 'best' pass rusher currently...

 

[NEGoldenAge]

He made some really good open field tackles last night. This kid is a keeper. I absolutely love this young team.

 

[DaBruinz]

Last night continued to show me that the Pats can get pressure on the QB and that is more important than sacking him. The 2nd and 3rd interceptions were both because the Pats had been pressuring Sanchez all night and he tried to force the ball.

BB has preached this for years.. That pressuring the QB was more important than sacks.. Yet so many people continue to ignore it.

BTW. A perfect example of why sacks don't necessarily matter is the first sack that Ihedigbo got on Brady.. Brady came right back and threw that 19 yard strike to Deion and then followed up on it with another strike to Deion that became a TD thanks to Deion's good running.

Don't get me wrong. Sacks are good, particularly on 3rd downs, but they aren't the be all end all for determining a pass rush.

 

[DarrylS]

Last night continued to show me that the Pats can get pressure on the QB and that is more important than sacking him. The 2nd and 3rd interceptions were both because the Pats had been pressuring Sanchez all night and he tried to force the ball.

BB has preached this for years.. That pressuring the QB was more important than sacks.. Yet so many people continue to ignore it.

BTW. A perfect example of why sacks don't necessarily matter is the first sack that Ihedigbo got on Brady.. Brady came right back and threw that 19 yard strike to Deion and then followed up on it with another strike to Deion that became a TD thanks to Deion's good running.

Don't get me wrong. Sacks are good, particularly on 3rd downs, but they aren't the be all end all for determining a pass rush.

In the 15th century, you would be branded a heretic by some.. but to many thou doth spaketh the truth.

 

[BradyManny]

Last night continued to show me that the Pats can get pressure on the QB and that is more important than sacking him.

So true - this was huge last nite. Sure, ultimately it'd be great to see Cunningham finish off the play, but its not easy with a guy like Sanchez. The pressure Cunningham was getting all night was big.

Not only that, he's very active in the run game.

 

[JFK]

pressure is good but their aim is to actually sack the QB not just pressure him.

 

[JackBauer]

pressure is good but their aim is to actually sack the QB not just pressure him.

Actually that's not necessarily true. At all.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Gresh was raving about him on 98.5 this morning. Said he was a stud last night. Said he had 5 tackles, 1 for a loss, and 3 near sacks. Near sacks may not show up on the stat sheet, but this kid could be HUGE coming down the stretch, and right through the Super Bowl. Add to that, Fred Taylor, and man, oh man, this could be FUN!

 

[Defsoul]

A wouldn't mind a few more sacks instead of pressure, especially if the Patriots end up stripping the opposing QB. They rank dead last in forced fumbles, so a few strip sacks would come in handy.

 

[DaBruinz]

A wouldn't mind a few more sacks instead of pressure, especially if the Patriots end up stripping the opposing QB. They rank dead last in forced fumbles, so a few strip sacks would come in handy.

While they are "dead last" in terms of Forced fumbles, they are tied for 2nd with 18 interceptions. A turnover is a turnover.

 

[Defsoul]

While they are "dead last" in terms of Forced fumbles, they are tied for 2nd with 18 interceptions. A turnover is a turnover.

Can't have them all, I guess.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

I thought that Cunningham has gotten better each week, and so has McCourty and Spikes. Spikes made the biggest defensive play of the night last night. The Spikes INT was HUGE, instead of a 24-10 game (ASSuming the JEsts would have scored there, although not on that throw as it was going to either hit Mayo in the head, or one of the two safties closing in on the reciever would have picked or at least batted it down), you still have 24-3 and then Brady et al march 97 yards and the game is over.

I said when Spikes was drafted that the guy "makes plays" and that is what he did last night, nothing bigger than that INT. Remember that game was played without Mike Wright or Deadrick. Vince was Vince, the unmovable object manhandling Mangold. I thought that Warren made a few serious hits last night, re-watch the game and he laid the wood on more than one Jet. By the time this game was over, the Pats D had made the Jets quit!

That's a defense who gave up 3 points last night, missing 2 starting Defensive tackles, starting 3 rookies!

 

[SanAngeloState]

Where was Deaderick?

I must be off in my evaluation because I was watching Cunningham and it looked like he got stoned a lot. I guess you expect the guy to get stoned much of the time. Or maybe he was playing contain kind of.

I was hoping they'd do more ILB blitzes with Fletcher.

 

[Kontradiction]

Cunningham is going to be a very good pass rusher with us for years to come. He can bullrush the opposing LT, he can use his speed to try to get around slower footed LT's, or he can use a wide variety techniques (such as the swim move and the spin, both moves I saw him use last night) to get into the backfield. I agree, keep TBC on the strong side. He was also another guy that had a great game. His hit to Sanchez in the first quarter, IMO, threw Sanchez off for the rest of the game.

 

[Rich<3TheWoodhead]

pressure is good but their aim is to actually sack the QB not just pressure him.

Would you rather have a sack or a pressure that results in an INT? I.e Sanchez last night and manning a few games back. Although the argument can be made that a sack can also cause a fumble or a strip. Either way a pressure or sack regardless of which one is what we need more of

 

[Kasmir]

When reviewing the tape of Florida games last year, it looked to me that Cunningham had more hurries than the rest of the team put together. He only had one move at Florida, too, it's great to watch him develop. He's physically very similar player to McGinest, let's hope he continues to develop.

As I said in a thread last week, Spikes has great ball skills as we saw last night. 6 INTs including 4 pick-6's at Florida. He's likely to improve dramatically year to year because he relies so much on his reads and instincts. As he continues to learn the NFL game, he'll rocket in effectiveness.

Add Hernandez to that Florida crop. The sky's the limit with that kid, he's the ultimate matchup nightmare and package breaker. Great to see him working on his blocking, too -- he understands that his reps are limited solely by his commitment to becoming a great blocker. As a 6-1 245 baby, he'll grow into having all the size he needs. If he does develop into a good blocker, then next year he and Gronk could end up being out there together for 75% of the snaps providing huge flexibility for Brady.

Meanwhile, Jerry Hughes -- the DE many here wanted us to draft instead of McCourty or Cunningham -- was just thrown under Polian's bus:

Bill Polian admits making a mistake drafting Jerry Hughes | ProFootballTalk