Ahead of the New England Patriots facing the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card Round, an early first look at the AFC Playoff matchup.
The New England Patriots ultimately made the 2020 NFL Playoffs but they will be making an uncommon appearance in the Wild Card Round. The defending Super Bowl champions will begin their attempt at repeating on Saturday, Jan. 4 when they host the No. 6 seed Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
Saturday’s doubleheader finale will see the two teams battling it out at 8:15 p.m. ET on CBS for a spot in the AFC Divisional Round to take on either the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens or the No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs on the road.
New England dropped to the No. 3 seed by falling to the Miami Dolphins at home in Week 17. That loss propelled Kansas City over New England to grab a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.
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The Patriots come into the playoff matchup following taking the AFC East title for an 11th straight season, finishing the regular season with a record of 12-4 overall. Behind stellar play from their defense this year, the Patriots have been one of the more dominant teams on the defensive side of the ball to somewhat overmatch their offensive capabilities.
New England has also been tough to beat on their home turf, posting a 6-2 record at Gillette Stadium in 2019. And as everyone around the league knows, facing the Patriots — whether it’s at home or on the road — in the regular season and in the playoffs are two completely different tasks.
For Tennessee, it enters the Wild Card Round on the road after putting together a strong finish to the 2019 campaign to end up with an overall record of 9-7 and finishing second in the AFC South behind the Houston Texans.
The Titans finished the regular season winning seven of their final 10 games to put together an impressive end to the year. They were also quality on the road this season, going 5-3 away from Nashville.
The two teams faced off once this year, although it came in the second week of the preseason in Tennessee. In that preseason game, New England came away with a 22-17 victory on the road over Tennessee. But again, that was before the results actually mattered.
Will the Patriots be able to overcome falling in the regular-season finale and struggling in the final few games of the year to begin yet another deep run in the postseason? Or will the Titans be able to ride their recent wave of solid play going into a tough road environment in Foxborough to upset and take down the defending champions on their home field?
There are plenty of interesting storylines that will arise ahead of the Wild Card Round matchup between New England and Tennessee, and it will likely be an entertaining game at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night between the two AFC squads.