Ups & Downs: Another No-Show By Patriots Offense In Wild-Card Loss To Titans
BOSTON (CBS) -- Saturday night was one big downer in Foxboro. And now the Patriots season is over.
The New England offense struggled to do much of anything, mustering just one touchdown in a 20-13 loss to the Titans in the Wild Card round. The defense gave them chances, but the offense just couldn't come through. Sound familiar?
That's the second half of New England's season in a nutshell. The Patriots lost four of their last six games, and their season ended with back-to-back losses at Gillette Stadium. That hasn't happened during the 20-year run of success of the Brady/Belichick era.
Now we wonder if that era will continue, or if Saturday night was the final chapter. But before we set our sights on the future, we'll look back at what went wrong -- and a few things that went right -- on Saturday night.
Downs
Red Zone Struggles
New England's red zone woes were back, and it crushed them. They got down to the 1-yard line before halftime and were stuffed on three straight runs. The Pats had to burn two timeouts between those three plays to boot.
Sony Michel was stuffed on first and third down, with Rashaan Evans (a guy the Titans traded up to draft ahead of the Patriots in 2018) nearly ripping his head off on first down. Michel's outside run on third-and-goal was completely shut down by a wall of Titans. It would have been nice to see a play-action pass at some point. But instead of taking a 17-7 lead, the Pats settled for a field goal and went ahead 13-7. Those were their final points of the night.
That series encapsulated the New England offense perfectly, because that unit was not good on Saturday night. They needed one yard, and they couldn't get it.
No Stopping Henry
After that failed goal-to-go drive, Derrick Henry ran all over the Patriots. Literally. The Titans running back accounted for all 75 yards on Tennessee's ensuing touchdown drive. He had 55 rushing yards, and also took a short pass from Ryan Tannehill and turned it into a 22-yard gain down to the New England 1-yard line. He punched it in the very next play to give Tennessee a 14-13 lead.
Henry had 109 rushing yards at halftime, and finished with 182 in the game to go with a touchdown. Not a bad birthday for the NFL's rushing champion.
Shaq Mason Penalty
After the Patriots D forced a Titans punt to start the second half, New England couldn't take advantage. It looked like Brady had hit Ben Watson for a 38-yard strike down to the Tennessee 35, but lineman Shaq Mason took his blocking a little too far downfield and was hit with a 5-yard penalty. That flag wiped out New England's biggest play of the game, and when a screen to James White was blown up on the next play, the Patriots were forced to punt.
That punt by Jake Bailey went just 30 yards to the Tennessee 43. It wasn't a great three-play stretch for the Patriots.
Neutral Zone Infraction
Remember when the Patriots clowned the Jets on Monday Night Football and took a bunch of delay of game penalties? Mike Vrabel did it to them on Saturday in a critical point in the game, though he got some help from the Pats.
After Ryan Tannehill fumbled a snap, the Titans killed over a minute off the clock by taking a delay of game, and then an intentional false start. They also got a little help from the Pats, as Justin Bethel was penalized for a neutral zone infraction that let the Titans take another 23 seconds off the clock.
After that eight-minute drive by the Titans, the Patriots got the ball back with 4:44 left. And it did not go very well.
Edelman Drop
Julian Edelman was the only receiver that did much of anything throughout the game. But boy was his fourth quarter drop a crushing blow.
After the punt that took 20 minutes, the Patriots got the ball for their most important drive of the season. But Edelman completely flubbed a second-and-6 pass from Brady that would have been a key first down. The Patriots punted two plays later, and didn't get the ball back until there was only 15 seconds left on the clock.
It was an extremely quiet night from New England's receiving corps, with Edelman leading the way with three receptions for 30 yards.
Ups
Deception On First Touchdown
After failing in their first trip to the red zone, the Patriots used some deception to make sure their second trip was much more fruitful.
Brady faked out the Titans D while lining up for a second-and-Goal, yelling at Edelman to get into his spot before the snap. Edelman moved over a few feet, then waltzed into the end zone untouched from five yards out on a sweep play. The Tennessee defense was completely faked out, with some of their players still looking into the backfield as Edelman crossed the goal line for his first career rushing touchdown.
The score gave New England a 10-7 lead at the time.
N'Keal Harry made a nice block at the line to set the edge for Edelman. Good play all around by Josh McDaniels, and it really got the crowd into the game after Tennessee had taken a lead.
D Bounces Back After Titans Score On Opening Drive
After the Titans marched 80 yards for a touchdown on their first drive, the Patriots defense locked down. They forced two straight three-and-outs, with the Titans picking up just 14 yards on those two possessions.
The defense played well on Saturday. It's a shame the offense couldn't keep up their end of the bargain -- again.
