I *finally* got to watch the game last night. I must say it was a treat watching the front-7 (that 10 second rewind button on gamerewind.nfl.com is awesome). I watched three guys in particular: Jones, Hightower and Cunningham. Jones was dominant all game. Hightower had most of his highlights in the first half and Cunningham in the 2nd (when he saw more snaps).
Jones was a matchup nightmare for Roos. Even on the plays Roos held him at bay, he was still able to get some push, backing up Roos into the pocket and shrinking Locker's comfort zone. The rest of the time Roos couldn't control him. Jones put on a clinic in the first half on setting the edge vs. the run. On pass rushes, Jones showed a bunch of moves both outside and inside. At 260lbs, I figured he could get pushed around, particularly as the game wore on. No way. The guy must be naturally strong in the mold of Hannah and Mankins if he can hold up against a guy who has 40lbs on him all game.
I'm glad Bedard pointed out the play Hightower made immediately prior to the sack/fumble/TD. The guy blew up the primary block and then the help blocker, pinning CJ3 in the backfield. The power shown on that play was awesome. There were other times when he rushed the QB up the gut and despite being picked up, he collapsed the pocket routinely which is exactly what you want to see done when the other team still does its job. He spent a lot of the day in coverage, but showed great speed on converging on the RBs out of the backfield or receivers in the underneath zones.
Cunningham as an interior pass-rusher is a revelation. The guy looks huge, much bigger than his listed weight (seems like he's 275 - 280). He showed some strategy for someone in a new role; Combining bull-rushes with other moves to set up the opposing guard in finding a way past to the QB. Even seasoned DTs with 30+ lbs over Cunningham don't often show such skill and power.
On the other side of the battle, I have to say that I pity Tennessee with that #64 at RG. The poor guy got abused all day. Even Trevor Scott blew him up on a bull-rush on a play late in the first half. Kudos to the Pats on bringing heat up the gut, but it wouldn't shock me if the Pats found something on film (preseason, last year) or early in the game that indicated that they should put someone on his nose and go to town on him. I also have to question Roos as Jones was *too* good against him in both running and passing situations that I have difficulty claiming it was all Jones (maybe it was, which would be awesome). I think the next few games will sort out how much of Jones' dominant performance was Jones being the next superstar DE and Roos slipping from his Pro Bowl years.
Regards,
Chris
