Week 1 Film Review: In Praise of Patriots’ Defense – NYTimes.com

This won’t last forever but I’m sure enjoying it…

If this is how the Patriots’ defense is going to play this season, the N.F.L. could save us all time and give Robert Kraft the Lombardi Trophy right now. Bill Belichick’s men weren’t spectacular at Tennessee, but they were solid. Rock solid. The first-round rookie Chandler Jones stood out in run defense and got pressure on Jake Locker a time or two. Linebackers Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and first-rounder Dont’a Hightower were fantastic at identifying running lanes and keeping everything in front of them in pass defense. The Titans’ offense didn’t do much to challenge this group. Chris Johnson was once again terrible, dancing in the backfield and avoiding contact at all cost. The Patriots didn’t even bother bringing an eighth defender into the box against him. In fact, the Patriots didn’t bother to do anything complex, aside from disguising some of their Cover 3 looks as two-deep zones early in the down. They played a very basic, fundamentally sound brand of football.