Patriots To Host Titans In Foxboro On Wild Card Weekend
FOXBORO (CBS) -- The Patriots never wanted to be playing next weekend in a Wild Card game. But there's not much they can do about that now.
Instead of getting the weekend to rest, recover and prepare for a potential Super Bowl run, the Patriots will be at work, hosting the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium. The game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 8:15 p.m.
The Titans earned their playoff berth with a win in Houston on Sunday, ending their season with a 9-7 record. Mike Vrabel's team started the year with a 2-4 record but ended the year winning five of their last seven, a turnaround sparked in large part by a change at quarterback from Marcus Mariota to Ryan Tannehill.
It will mark the Patriots' first appearance on Wild Card weekend since 2009, when Ray Rice and the Ravens ran all over the Patriots en route to a 33-14 Baltimore win.
The Patriots at 12-4 lost their first-round bye when they lost to the Miami Dolphins, 27-24, on Sunday afternoon.
During the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era, the Patriots have played in the Wild Card round just three times. They beat the Jaguars at home in 2005, they beat the Jets at home in 2006, and they lost to the Ravens at home in 2009. They failed to reach the Super Bowl in all three seasons, losing in the divisional round (in Denver) in 2005 and losing in the AFC Championship Game (in Indianapolis) in 2006.
This year's path to the Super Bowl, barring upsets, would require a trip to Kansas City in the divisional round followed by a trip to Baltimore in the conference championship.
The Patriots last played the Titans in the middle of the 2018 season in Tennessee; the Titans won 34-10. The teams last met in the playoffs during the 2017 playoffs, a game at Gillette Stadium which the Patriots won 35-14. The teams did meet in the preseason this past summer, with New England winning 22-17 in a game where Tom Brady did not play.