Official Post Game Thread- Titans beat the Pats

[1960Pats]

BB wants to prove he can win without Brady. I think he’ll be here for at least five more years.

Belichick has had plenty of chances to show he could win without Brady. He has failed.

Belichick's record as a HC with Brady is 304-221
W/o Brady Belichick's record is 52-60

With Brady his playoff record is 30-11 with 18 playoff appearances in 19 seasons.
W/o Brady it's 1-1 with 1 appearance in 7 seasons.

 

[ensoul]

There was nothing stunning about this loss at all especially considering what has happened in the past month with this team.

I am not even that upset. The way I look at it is the Patriot season was ending next week regardless if the pats were playing KC there or in foxboro.

 

[oceansizer]

A lot of people have dreamt about "revenge tour" and I get it. But realisticly IT was hard to believe this team was going to do that, especially after last offensively disfunctional games.

 

[BelichickFan]

Belichick has had plenty of chances to show he could win without Brady. He has failed.

Belichick's record as a HC with Brady is 304-221
W/o Brady Belichick's record is 52-60

With Brady his playoff record is 30-11 with 18 playoff appearances in 19 seasons.
W/o Brady it's 1-1 with 1 appearance in 7 seasons.

Almost all of that was almost a quarter century ago.

 

[ensoul]

Almost all of that was almost a quarter century ago.

Yeah people really need forget about what belichick did with the browns like 25 years ago.

Let's stop pretending that all these dynasties in the past didn't and have great quarterbacks either.

 

[PF_SU]

Henry killed them, but it was a 3rd and 9 where they let a back up tight end beat them in a must stop situation.

Henry ran the ball fantastic. But it's ironic that in the end what made the difference wasn't really Henry (or any other of the Titans' offensive playmakers for that matter), but the matchup of a third-string TE against a third-string safety. The two biggest 3rd down conversion of the game - the opening Titans' TD on 3rd and 10 and the 3rd and 8 late in the 4th - both came on catches by Firkser against Terrence Brooks. While Chung got beat a number of times by TEs this season, one has to wonder how the game would've turned out if Chung had not gone out early in the game.

 

[TomPatriot]

Almost all of that was almost a quarter century ago.

And the other year the team was 11-5.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Florio’s headline called the loss stunning. I don’t think it was a stunning loss. The offense played exactly like they did much of the second half of the season.

Not stunning at all. It pretty much followed the crowdsourced script this site had for a potential Titans victory.

Regards,
Chris

 

[carmelo15]

People have been saying that same thing since 2013.

they’ll keep saying that dumb **** till it happens and say the were right

 

[Triumph]

Called it. Sadly.

I called NE winning though Tenn was more talented and should have won.

 

[Kid~Brady]

I called NE winning though Tenn was more talented and should have won.

NE def had their chances but when you can't score on the 1-yard line...... team was never fit to move any further this season.

 

[upstater1]

I just read that Brooks was out there for 6 plays last night.

Wow- I noticed two of them.

Not good.

 

[luuked]

With the benefit of some sleep some thoughts about the game and the season in general and there really is not much non-obvious to say.

Despite losing two DCs in two years and some additional positional coaches BB & co. put together one of the best units in the league. In any other year since 2011 this would have been enough to win a title but unfortunately not this year.

I know that players who make plays in games that end up positively get statues while the same plays that for unrelated reasons get lost get brushed aside but KVN's sack, Harmons INT and that stop on Tannehill were all huge plays that would have found a place in the pantheon the same way as numerous others if the offense had been able to put one drive together.

People are still talking about Hightowers tackle on Lynch, his sack on Ryan, Flower's sack on Ryan and maybe more recently JMac's pass breakup on Cooks but those could have all happened in games that were still lost. Too bad this will get lost in the overall narrative.

I will miss this iteration of the Pats D.. too bad they can't keep them together. But accepting impermanence is part of the journey. Can't hopelessly hold on to what inherently changes.

In terms of offense it will be interesting to see how McDaniels potentially leaving will affect the playbook.

The big draw of running our specific offense is being able to leverage Brady's GOAT skills of reading defenses presnap and way more often than not switching to the "right answer" against most looks because "he knows all the answers to the test". It also had the added benefit that for years they were able to plug average players into specific roles that maximized their skillset to make the sum of things bigger than the individual parts. As long as those players are able to grasp that offense. This time they failed miserably.

If McDaniels actually really leaves this time and with Brady's situation up in the air (but I almost certainly assume he will be back) I am really curious if there will be any bigger changes on a schematic level. Or if they will just try to fill the Gronk-sized hole with some FA signings and go the patchwork approach until Brady finally really retires.

It is a bit disappointing for the ride to end that early this year but it is what it is. In terms of unfortunate sequences like the Edelman drop I can't help but think that after converting on so many third and fourth downs last year in KC we were playing a bit with house money anyway. And this is the other side of it. Sometimes the heroic catch doesn't happen, a run gets stuffed or the ball bounces back to the QB after a fumble.

Anyway thanks for a fun season folks.. time to decompress a bit and take a breather until FA / extension time starts to ramp up or coaching news get reported..

 

[upstater1]

Henry ran the ball fantastic. But it's ironic that in the end what made the difference wasn't really Henry (or any other of the Titans' offensive playmakers for that matter), but the matchup of a third-string TE against a third-string safety. The two biggest 3rd down conversion of the game - the opening Titans' TD on 3rd and 10 and the 3rd and 8 late in the 4th - both came on catches by Firkser against Terrence Brooks. While Chung got beat a number of times by TEs this season, one has to wonder how the game would've turned out if Chung had not gone out early in the game.

I totally agree with you.

Henry getting all those yards was by design, since the Patriots never played with more than one tackle until the 3rd quarter, and then they shut Henry down until he broke his crucial 1st down late in the 4th.

Brooks only played 6 snaps! And the Titans hardly threw the ball! Amazing that he was beat twice for the two biggest receptions to the same 3rd string Harvard TE.

 

[Uptown]

 

[ashley]

The two biggest plays/sequences of last night's game to me were the inability to get a touchdown on 1st and goal from the 1 and then the drop by Edleman on our last drive.

 

[Redman443]

This team never had the playoff intensity that we normally see from past patriot teams. Trailing 14-13 and getting the ball back with 30 seconds? It was looking bleak but the patriots of old would have gotten at least better field position and not had the ball at the 1 yard line. The patriots of old would have completed 2 long passes and kicked the game winning field goal, especially at home in prime time. The patriots of old wouldn’t have allowed Miami to march down the field and score a td with 22 seconds left, fitzpatrick would have thrown a pick or had a turnover on downs. This team never had that factor, I think Josh Mcdouche needs to go, time for a fresh new mind on offense. If Brady stays, better get him some help because that’s absolutely not gunna cut it. They made all of the mistakes that usually the other teams make.

 

[bormio]

A play I would be interested in seeing the All-22 is the long pass down the sideline to Sanu that Vaccaro broke up, saving a TD. That is the kind of play we often succeed with, because we scheme it to keep Vaccaro in the center of the field, or Brady does it with his eyes. That was a big miss.

 

[Doctor DDS]

The drop by Edelman was huge. Gives the Pats a 1st down near mid field and with that field position and the clock around 3:20 the Pats would likely have been using all 4 downs the rest of the way. The Vrabel clock stall strategy could arguably come back to bite him in the butt as the Pats may have been able to run the clock down to nothing for a game winning FG if things worked out. I think the loss of Roberts in the 2nd half was a big blow as they had been running the ball well behind him before the injury.

I assume that the clock winding down loophole will be closed with a rule change this off season.

 

[PF_SU]

I assume that the clock winding down loophole will be closed with a rule change this off season.

If the Patriots had used it in a close win in the playoffs - for sure.

But I actually don't think it was a that great a move by Vrabel. He was making a big gamble, betting that his defense could stop Brady and the Patriots from dinking-and-dunking up the field. They were only up by 1 point after all. As you said, if Edelman doesn't drop that 2nd down pass, it could've been quite likely that instead of robbing the Patriots of time needed to complete a comeback he would've taken away time (and timeouts) for his own team.