Two sacks are certainly much better than two roughing-the-passer penalties.
Chandler Jones was the poster child for the Patriots defensive failings in the Week 1 loss at Miami – seemingly playing out of position and getting pushed around.
A week later, Jones and the New England front was far from pushed around in Minnesota as the united rebounded in the impressive 30-7 win over the Vikings. Matt Patricia's defenders created four turnovers, held Matt Cassel's offense to just four of 11 on third down and allowed a mere 217 yards.
Jones started the game at outside linebacker rather than the 3-4 end spot he found himself in at Miami. The Patriots also used more four-man fronts in Minnesota.
Boy did the third-year player seem to enjoy being used more on the edge than was the case a week earlier. Jones tied for a team high with eight tackles. He notched his first multi-sack game of the year, taking Cassel down twice. He was an overall disruptive force, tallying three tackles for a loss and three QB hits.
Oh, and for good measure in arguably his best game in a Patriots uniform Jones also blocked a second quarter Vikings field goal attempt, scooped it up and returned it 58 yards for the touchdown.
While it looked from afar that Jones seemed to both enjoy and flourish in his return to the edge of the New England front against the Vikings, the former first-round pick made it clear he's happy to do what his coaches ask for him on a weekly basis.
"I feel like Bill Belichick knows all of my strengths, and he knows all of my weaknesses," Jones said. "I feel like he would never put me in a position where I couldn't produce or help the team. And I feel like wherever he puts me, that's where I'm going to go."
Not only does Jones have complete faith in his coach to deploy him properly, the budding pass rusher is clearly listening to his coach's favorite sayings.
"Everyone's just doing their job," Jones said of New England's defensive turnaround in Week 2.
No one better than Jones, at least on this afternoon in Minnesota.
