Mike Dussault

Look, it was as good of a first quarter to the season that we’ve seen in a long time from the defense, but there’s still a long way to go and it looks like they’re just about to face their biggest obstacle of the season after the loss of Wilfork.

Although I think the pass rush has still be lacking at times, overall they’re playing great team defense, with solid tackling. It’s not always perfect, but they’ve limited their mistakes and the big plays they’ve given up. 

Talib has emerged as a legitimate defensive weapon, but I still think we have yet to see the best out of Chandler Jones and Michael Buchanan. There are plenty of huge tests coming in the 2nd quarter of the season, the defense will need to keep developing and figure out just who they will be without Big Vince in the middle.

Rookies slowly getting more and more time. But who’d have thought Joe Vellano would be the one getting the most snaps?

Ryan, a rookie, played all 20 of his snaps in the second half, with 19 coming in the dime package, which seemed to be an in-game adjustment aimed at containing tight end Tony Gonzalez.