New England Patriots: 3 Takeaways from loss to Titans in Wild Card Round
3. Patriots defense was strong — unlike the offense
On defense, New England was pretty solid while holding a strong offense on the side of Tennessee in check for most of the contest in Foxborough. The Patriots defensive unit limited the Titans offense to just 76 yards receiving on a total of nine receptions in the contest while holding Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill to 72 yards passing and one interception.
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New England’s defense did allow Derrick Henry and the Titans running game to go off on the ground, as the running back finished with 34 carries for 182 yards and one touchdown to pace a running back unit that ended up with 201 total yards out of the backfield in the win.
On offense, the Patriots weren’t as strong and didn’t really step up to overmatch the opposition like we have seen from them many times in the playoffs in years past. Tom Brady finished with just 209 yards passing through the air, failing to throw a touchdown pass while throwing one interception in the loss. The quarterback completed 20 of his total 37 pass attempts in the game.
A big key coming into the game was how would Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman perform in the contest to help lead the passing attack for New England. He ultimately struggled in the passing game, finishing with just three catches for 30 yards on a total of five targets.
On the ground, the Patriots managed to rush for less than 100 yards while running for one touchdown. New England, led by Sony Michel‘s 61 yards rushing on 14 carries, ended the game with 22 rush attempts for 98 yards.
In regards to the defense, the Patriots were pretty stellar once again on Saturday night, as has been the trend for most of the season this year in New England. On offense, however, the Patriots weren’t as impressive or stellar — which has unfortunately also been a trend in New England throughout the regular season.