Pats defense and running game shine in season opener

There were two eye openers in the Patriots victory against the Titans: 1) Stevan Ridley is a quality back and 2) This young defense looks pretty good. Ridley ran for 125 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries and caught two passes for 27 yards. He showed good vision and burst through the line of scrimmage and used his blockers very well. I was very impressed by his performance. On the other side of the ball the defense was pretty good. Their first first three draft choices from April (Chandler Jones, Donta Hightower, and Tavon Wilson) made big plays. Chandler Jones strip sacked Jake Locker and the fumble was recovered and taken in for a touchdown by Hightower. Tavon Wilson recorded an interception. The pass defense needs to improve but as far as stopping the run goes, they were phenomenal holding the Titans to a mere 20 yards rushing. There will obviously be games where the defense struggles but from what we saw yesterday this defense is much improved from last season.