Injury-Ravaged Titans Hung With The Pats Then New England Rolled To Their Sixth Straight Win

 

    Is there anybody left that actually doubts the Patriots (8-4 overall, 3-4 home) this season after they dropped the top-seeded Titans (8-4 overall, 4-2 away) 36-13 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium? New England's sixth victory in a row comes with a rather large asterisk since Tennessee was missing its top three offensive players (running back Derrick Henry along with wide receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown) but that hardly matters at the moment when you consider that the Pats were 2-4 earlier in this campaign. Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones (23-of-32 for career-high 310 yards, 2 TDs) was really good and New England's defense pitched a shutout in the second half after head coach Mike Vrabel's Titans were quite frisky in the first half and only trailed by three points (16-13) at halftime.

    New England's red zone issues are still a thing since kicker Nick Folk attempted a whopping six field goals (and thankfully made five of them) but other than that, it is hard to find anything else to legitimately complain about. 

    Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (5 catches, 61 yards) has surprisingly morphed into the best offensive playmaker on the Pats and he added two more touchdowns. Jones hit him with a four-yard fade pass in the corner of the end zone which coupled with Folk's PAT were the only points of the first quarter. Tennessee's quarterback Ryan Tannehill (11-of-21 for 93 yards, TD, INT; 24 yards rushing) has become a solid player with the Titans but it's hard to blame him for his struggles today with such a lack of weapons. Tannehill threw a one-yard touchdown pass to receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine early in the second quarter but Tennessee's kicker Randy Bullock missed the point after. It was a chilly day in Foxborough so they kept Folk busy with three field goals in the second quarter (from 22, 37 and 44 yards). New England's run defense was terrible to start the year, however they had really tightened things up lately, that is until journeyman Dontrell Hillard (12 carries, 131 yards) scampered 68 yards for a score with 37 seconds left in the half. Bullock made that extra point (but he later clanked a field goal attempt), regardless the Pats had to be frustrated going into the break.

    After losing to Vrabel in their first two career meetings as coaches, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick got to exact a little revenge as his club methodically worked over the Titans. Folk had to settle for another short kick (28 yards) early in the third quarter but Bourne submitted the highlight of the day for the home team as he took a seemingly innocent pass from Jones and weaved 41 yards for the backbreaking score. Folk's extra point gave New England double the points of Tennessee (26-13) and with such a limited offense, you knew that spelled trouble for the visitors. Folk's only miss was a 53-yard field goal attempt late in the first half but he atoned for that by crushing a 52-yard kick in the fourth quarter. He is once again having a fantastic Pro Bowl caliber season and the only thing that makes you worry about him is the thought of having to attempt a long kick like that in a close playoff game. Running back Damien Harris notched a 14-yard touchdown run in pseudo garbage time and with Folk's PAT, the rout was finally on at 36-13 late in the fourth quarter. 

    New England's defense recovered three fumbles (by cornerback Jalen Mills, some linebacker named Jahlani Tevani and safety Kyle Dugger), sacked Tannehill twice (by linebackers Ja'Whaun Bentley and Matthew Judon) and cornerback J.C. Jackson recorded yet another interception while wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (5 catches, 98 yards) nearly had 100 receiving yards. With the win, the Patriots maintained their spot in first place in the AFC East. Their biggest game of the season-at least so far-comes next Monday night (8:15, ESPN) in Orchard Park, NY as they meet the Bills (7-4 overall, 3-2 home) for the first time in 2021. The Patriots and Buffalo play twice in the next four weeks (including a bye for the Pats) so those two matchups should go a long way in deciding who wins the division and also vies for that lone home bye given to the AFC's No. 1 seed. With so few certainties in the NFL this season, the Patriots have suddenly morphed into one of the only teams that you can rationally trust to play well and usually find a way to win. 

The Patriots Get Free Agency Rolling By Re-Signing The McCourty Twins & Matthew Slater

It's been a long time since I wrote a post about a simple news story for the Patriots but I don't think I have to explain why we all could use a break from our horrifying reality for a moment. Following the team picking up cornerback Jason McCourty's option for 2020 earlier in the week and then re-signing special teams ace/spiritual leader Matthew Slater to a two-year deal on Friday night, this evening brought word that the Pats had also brought back another captain-safety Devin McCourty for two more years as well ($23 million with $17 million guaranteed). Obviously, none of these aforementioned guys are named Tom Brady (ever heard of him?) but if you want to have any hope that TB12 has not played his last game for the Patriots, these moves have to be a good sign pointing in that direction.

I don't have a twin (as far as I know) but from everything I've observed over my lifetime, when it comes to twins, they are a different type of person. That's why when you saw that Jason McCourty was returning, you had to feel like it was a lock that Devin would be back too. For an example of how close the McCourty brothers are, they share a Twitter handle which is only slightly less absurd than it sounds. Jason is a servicable pro and while nobody would describe Slater as a star, he is very good at his limited on-field role (as the multiple Pro Bowls on his resume would tell you) but a true Hall of Famer off the field as cheesy as that sounds. Of these three, Devin is the real standout since not only has he been a nine-time captain but he's also been to four Pro Bowls and most importantly, won three Super Bowls. Like Slater, Devin has only ever played for the Patriots in his entire NFL career. You know who else has only known one pro franchise? A certain all-time greatest quarterback/player in NFL history.

More than anything after an off-season of non-stop drama and uncertainty, these moves show that no Foxborough isn't completely burning to the ground and Bill Belichick-the greatest head coach in league history but also an average GM-hasn't lost his way. Clearly, if Brady finally leaves here (and it's reportedly down to the Buccaneers and the Patriots) we will be singing a different tune but it has to mean something that these dependable, mature veterans all decided to stay with New England rather than start over somewhere else. No matter if it's after an epic win or a heartbreaking loss, Slater and Devin McCourty are always two of the go-to players on the Pats for the media. Furthermore, you always see them in the middle of every locker room celebration video after a Patriots victory (Slater voice). They are adults and it's easy to see why they have been captains seemingly forever here. No doubt, they would have had other choices of places to go but I'm sure after consulting with their families, teammates and agents and honestly assessing the entire situation, they realized that this remained the best spot for them to continue to play at a high level and compete for championships year after year which is what winners like them care about the most.

The Coronavirus has wiped away all other sports in the world for the forseeable future so I'm happy that the NFL hasn't deviated from its normal league calendar: legal tampering starts tomorrow at noon (wink wink) and then free agents can officially begin signing with teams on Wednesday. Even going into his age-43 season, Brady is still the biggest domino to fall in the NFL so you feel like once his decision is mercifully made, a flurry of other QB moves will be finalized around the league shortly after that. Going to the Titans made plenty of sense for Tom at least on the surface (good team, his buddy Mike Vrabel as the head coach, a fun market, etc.) but you can cross them off the list after they completed a stunning reach of a move tonight: re-signing Ryan Tannehill to a four-year deal worth a whopping $118 million dollars. Yes that's right folks, a team that improbably reached the AFC Championship Game last season after upsetting the Patriots and top-seeded Ravens on the road, chose the fluky Tannehill (who picked the right two months to play the best football of his life) over a few years of a very motivated Brady. In 2020 with the world falling apart before our eyes, somehow this made perfect sense. With that said, seeing Brady play for any other team would be devastating (as utterly painful as this whole excruciating process has been at times), particularly for such a rinky-dink team like Tampa Bay.

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Patriots Roll 34-13 Over Titans For NFL-Best 9th Straight Opening Win

There is nothing better than an NFL Sunday, especially when its Week 1. The weather is still nice out but one of the best feelings in the world is watching games all day on the incomparable NFL Redzone, your team's game and then Sunday Night Football. Lather, rinse and repeat.

The Patriots kept their impressive streak going as they won 34-13 this afternoon against the Titans at LP Field. That was New England's ninth-straight opening win, currently the best mark in the league.

The most interesting aspects of the rather routine victory were two-fold: Stevan Ridley's 1st career 100-yard rushing game (21 carries, 125 yards, 1 TD) and a stout defensive effort led by rookies Dont'a Hightower (5 tackles, 4 solo, tackle for loss, fumble recovery for TD), Chandler Jones (5 tackles, 3 solo, sack, caused fumble) and Tavon Wilson (4 tackles, 3 solo, 2 passes deflected, interception).

We expect certain things from the Patriots: Tom Brady's brilliance (23 of 31, 236 passing yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) as he spreads it around to a variety of receivers like Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 60 yards, TD), Aaron Hernandez (6 catches, 59 yards, TD) and Brandon Lloyd (5 catches, 69 yards). The only surprise there is that Ridley (2 catches, 27 yards) had more receiving yards than Wes Welker (3 catches, 14 yards), let's hope that's not a sign of things to come.

Since New England made the Super Bowl last season, you'd think that they were a well-oiled machine but as true fans know, they were lucky to make it that far thanks to facing a host of bad teams, awful quarterbacks and riding a wave of luck until they ran into the Giants. Again. The easiest thing to do is freak out over one game but I'm not falling into that trap. Still, if Ridley can run that hard and not fumble while their defense flies around, well look out AFC.

Jake Locker (23 of 32, 229 yards, TD, INT) actually played much better than I expected but he wasn't helped by Chris Johnson (11 carries, career-low 4 yards; 6 catches, 47 yards) who is a shell of his former 2000-yard self. To make matters worse, Locker left with a shoulder injury after he tried to tackle Patrick Chung following what was initially ruled a fumble (later overturned on replay).

Tennessee had one lead (3-0) in the entire game, as Rob Bironas hit a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter. New England answered later in the frame with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Hernandez.

Jones and Hightower combined on what I would deem the play of the game early in the second quarter. Jones strip-sacked Locker and Hightower scooped it up then powered his way six yards into the end zone. Brady and Gronkowski connected on a beautiful 2-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left in the 1st half, 21-3 Patriots.

The Titans forced the Pats to punt on their first two possessions of the second half and made it interesting for a second as Locker hit Nate Washington for a 29-yard score but then Ridley scored from a yard out and New England led 28-10 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter was extended garbage time as Bironas (24-yard) and Stephen Gostkowski (25-yard and 31-yard) traded field goals and New England basically ran out the clock while Tennessee was petrified to take risks. Two other Patriots defensive players stood out: Jerod Mayo had 13 tackles (9 solo, 1 pass deflected) and Devin McCourty had seven tackles (5 solo, 2 pass deflections) as he performed much better than his twin brother Jason on the Titans (2 tackles, 2 solo, tackle for loss).

The only two kickoffs returned by New England were by McCourty (28 yards) and Matthew Slater (19 yards). So it looks like that will remain an area of concern going forward. Julian Edelman returned four punts for 27 yards, including a 14-yard return. It was a great day for the Pats special teams though as punter Zoltan Mesko pinned the Titans inside the 20 with three punts and also boomed a 51-yard punt. Haha I think that's the first time I've ever mentioned him.

Another cupcake comes the Patriots (1-0) way as they host the Cardinals (1-0) next Sunday (1 p.m., Fox) at Gillette Stadium for New England's home opener. Arizona beat Seattle 20-16 this afternoon but I can't take any team seriously that had a tight quarterback battle between John Skelton and Kevin Kolb. Skelton was the starter but he hurt his ankle so Kolb saved the day. Regardless of which one of those bums starts, the Pats should blow them out. Sorry Larry Fitzgerald.

UPDATE 9/12: Tight end/former defensive end Alex Silvestro was released from the practice squad today and the Pats signed safety Cyhl (pronounced Kyle) Quarles to take his place.

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Patriots-Titans Injury Report

This being the Friday before Week 1 truly begins on Sunday afternoon, teams around the NFL released their injury reports for their first game of the 2012 season.

For the Patriots and Titans, there weren't too many surprises or impact players that are expected to be out.

On New England, running back Shane Vereen (foot) is the only guy that has been ruled out already. Keep in mind, that these designations can be changed before the opening kickoff on Sunday. Offensive lineman Nick McDonald (shoulder), rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring), tight end Daniel Fells (shin), cornerback Sterling Moore (knee) and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back) are all questionable which means they are 50/50 to play or sit.

Vereen has never been a factor as we enter his second season in the NFL mostly because of constant injuries or being buried on the depth chart. Clearly, Vollmer is the big name on that list for the Patriots. Their offensive line was a disaster in the preseason so that would be very negative if he's out. Moore and to a lesser degree Dennard are also important to the Pats secondary since who knows what to expect from that inconsistent group?

On the host Tennessee, offensive tackle Mike Otto (finger/knee) is their only player that has been ruled out. Additionally, defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks (knee) is doubtful (meaning unlikely to suit up) while defensive end Scott Solomon (knee), defensive tackle Jurrell Casey (elbow) and linebacker Zac Diles (hamstring) are all questionable.

Not to make fun of Otto or Marks but I've never even heard of them. Ditto for all the Titans that are questionable so needless to say, if none of them play I can't say it will be a huge loss.

Stay tuned before 1 p.m. on Sunday as I'll update this when I see further news on Twitter and online from Patriots beat writers that I trust (Greg Bedard, Mike Reiss, etc) and the team itself.

UPDATE 9/9: McDonald and Dennard are out, the Patriots will have to deactivate four other players tomorrow by 90 minutes before kickoff.

Fells, defensive end Jake Bequette, defensive tackle Marcus Forston and defensive end Justin Francis are the other inactives for the Pats.

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A circle jerk in Foxboro

One of the main reasons that ESPN and most mainstream sports media these days is a joke is that they make snap decisions after one game or a very small sample size.

No doubt, after yesterday's 59-0 win over the Titans at snowy Gillette Stadium, most Patriots fans as well as pundits will be quick to say Tom Brady and the Pats are back.

To quote the esteemed Lee Corso, head college football bozo on Gameday, "not so fast my friend." So while yes, the events of yesterday's contest were quite pleasing, let's keep in mind what a perfect storm of shit the Titans faced: coming in 0-5 (their season was already over), there was an unexpected snowstorm, on the road against an offense and team looking to breakout and playing without three of its top guys in the secondary.

Only later in the season will we be able to say if this game was a blip (like last season's thrashing of Arizona in somewhat similar circumstances) or a positive sign of things to come from Brady (380 yards, 6 TDs), Wes Welker (10 catches, 150 yards, 2 TDs) and Randy Moss (8 catches, 129 yards, 3 touchdowns).

Recapping the play by play of this one would be pointless. I'll just talk about the New England scores and some other random thoughts.

After Sammy Morris got hurt in the first quarter (with what looked like a knee injury), Laurence Maroney subbed in and had a big game with 16 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown. Second year back BenJarvus Green-Ellis had his first playing time of the year and he looked good, rushing for 67 yards and making two catches for 11 yards.

After Stephen Gostkowski missed a 39-yard kick, Maroney opened the scoring with a 45-yard run. Gostkowski hit a 33-yard kick as the Pats (4-2) led 10-0 after the first quarter.

The second quarter was something we'll never see again in our lifetimes. Brady set an NFL record with five touchdown passes in those 15 minutes.

He started it with his two best passes of the season: a 40-yard flea flicker to Moss then a 28-yard pass to Moss in the back of the end zone when Brady was about to be drilled.

Kevin Faulk turned a screen pass into a 38-yard touchdown then Wes Welker got his two touchdowns: from 30 and five yards.

The only real intrigue after the half (the biggest deficit in NFL history) was how much longer Brady would play (one series) and if the Pats would get the shutout (since I was facing them in fantasy football).

Brady's day was done after a 9-yard touchdown pass to Moss. Rookie backup quarterback Brian Hoyer got his first NFL action and made it memorable by scoring on a 1-yard QB sneak for the final mark.

Poor Chris Johnson had 128 yards rushing for the Titans (0-6) but Kerry Collins (2 for 12, -7 yards, fumble, interception) and Vince Young (0 for 2, interception) looked like they'd never played football before or seen snow. Collins must have fallen off the wagon yesterday because no sober NFL quarterback could play that bad. As for VY, he continues to rapidly regress as he only worries about partying shirtless in clubs.

Patriots rookie cornerback Darius Bulter had his first NFL interception and so did rookie safety Patrick Chung. In addition, New England's defense recovered three fumbles.

I thought Arizona's turd salad was the worst performance I'd ever see in the NFL but in less than a year, that was topped. It's hard to imagine any loss being worse than yesterday.

Next on the schedule, New England and Tampa Bay (0-6) meet in London on Sunday for another stupid NFL in the UK matchup. Earth to Roger Goddell: nobody in the UK gives a shit about American football. Never have, never will. Time to move on from this stupid experiment.

The Pats shouldn't have any trouble with the hapless Bucs and they'll cruise into their bye week at 5-2. Some other good news coming from yesterday was that the Jets continue to fall apart as they lost to Buffalo in overtime. It was a pathetic loss that dropped the Jets to 3-3, losers of three straight. Your New England Patriots now rest atop the AFC East.