New England Patriots: 3 Takeaways from loss to Titans in Wild Card Round

With the New England Patriots seeing their season end in the AFC Wild Card Round, here are three takeaways from the loss to Tennessee.

The New England Patriots took part in the Wild Card Round of the 2020 NFL Playoffs for the first time in a while on Saturday night at home in Foxborough. The No. 3-seeded Patriots surprisingly missed out on a bye in the first round of postseason action, resulting in taking on the sixth-seeded Tennessee Titans in the second of two Wild Card games on Saturday.

By the end of the night, New England ended up seeing their season come to an end at home, falling to Tennessee, 20-13, while suffering its first home playoff loss since 2012 and exiting the playoffs the earliest it has since the 2009 season.

In the game, the Patriots did all they could to climb out to a lead early on in the contest but ultimately weren’t able to hold off a late surge by the Titans that put things out of reach in the opening round playoff matchup.

Tennessee got out to a 7-3 advantage after the first quarter, while going into halftime on the road leading New England 14-13 on its home field. In the second half, both teams went scoreless in the third quarter and the Titans added six more points in the fourth quarter to come away with a seven-point victory to advance in the postseason.

In the loss, the Patriots saw their season end early in the playoffs after completing the regular season schedule with a record of 12-4 overall. A year after winning the Super Bowl, New England will now watch the rest of the postseason from home while a new NFL Champion will be crowned this year.

Now with the Patriots and Titans AFC Wild Card Game officially in the books with the Divisional Round next on the schedule, here are three takeaways from the game on Saturday night from New England’s perspective.