5 biggest takeaways from the Cardinals win in Week 1
By Kyler Burd
Jones states his case to get paid
31-year-old Chandler Jones is coming off a biceps injury that set him out for the majority of the 2020 season, but he came back with a vengeance on Sunday.
Jones finished the game with six quarterback hits, five sacks, four tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. A full stat line for any player, but even more impressive that this was his first football game since Week 5 of the 2020 season.
From start to finish, Jones took advantage of Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan and consistently got to Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill, completely robbing him of the chance to get into a rhythm that could have brought the Titans back from disaster.
Three of Jones’ five sacks came in the first quarter, and a forced fumble early in the first quarter led to a recovery by Corey Peters that initially looked like a touchdown, but upon review, was placed on the two-yard line. The Cardinals eventually went on to score a touchdown and take a 10-0 lead.
Jones was undoubtedly a key component of Arizona’s win in Week 1, and he has proven to the NFL, and maybe most importantly to Cardinals general manager Steve Keim, that the Chandler Jones of 2019 is still alive and well.
His “make it rain” celebration after a late-game sack makes it clear that he has not forgotten that the Arizona front office has yet to sign him to an extension.