The Patriots are winners of four in a row and are returning home this week after a very successful three-game road trip. They currently have the keys to the division, being a game up on Buffalo, albeit it is still early in the year.
But in Sunday’s game against Tennessee, other than another slow start by the defense, everything went the way they would have wanted it to. They knew Tennessee would come out strong with the interim coach bump.
But they weathered that and, before halftime, took control of the game. By midway through the third quarter, the game was theirs, and they cruised to an impressive win.
They got the running game going and got their coach some payback against his former team, although he reluctantly accepted it, trying to paint it as a team win. The team, as Mike Vrabel said, is learning how to win, and they are believing in themselves. They’ve already won more games before Halloween than they did all of last year and the year before that.
It was a good week all around.
So, as we always do, let’s break it down by position
Quarterback: A
Drake Maye continues to amaze. In just 19 starts into his career, he set a Patriots’ team record of completing 91.3 percent of his passes against the Titans on Sunday. By any passing metric you’d care to use, Maye is easily a Top 10 and probably a Top 5 QB in the NFL right now. Granted it is early in the season still, but it is clear that he’s ascending.
Maye finished 21-23 for 222 yards with two TDs and no INTs for a passer rating of 135.9. He added 62 yards on the ground. Efficient doesn’t even begin to say how good he’s been.
To say that he’s ahead of schedule is a pretty considerable understatement. The Maye nay-sayers from this spring and early summer are pretty quiet these days. He spread the ball around to all levels of the field expertly; he isn’t dinking and dunking his way down the field. He and the offense have been fun to watch.
Josh Dobbs came in for three plays when Maye got shaken up. And Dobbs delivered on a key third-down and five pass to Pop Douglas for 12, shaking off the pass rush to keep the scoring drive alive.
Running Backs: B+
Rhamondre Stevenson had his best game of the season, rushing for 88 yards on 18 carries (4.9-yard average), including a four-yard touchdown run. The inside zone game was working, and Stevenson ran hard with seven broken tackles to show for it.
This was a concerted effort by Josh McDaniels to run the ball better, and for this week at least (175 yards rushing as a team), and it was nice to see Terrell Jennings get his feet wet, running hard with five carries for 18 yards.
However, TreVeyon Henderson’s snaps (in part due to Stevenson’s success) were way down, and he had only two carries for five yards.
Wide Receivers: A-
The Patriots are getting good production across the board from the much-maligned wide receiver room.
Stefon Diggs led the way with seven catches for 69 yards on seven targets. Kayshon Boutte was only targeted twice, but had two catches for 55 yards, including the play of the game, a beautiful fingertip 39-yard TD pass from Maye that traveled over 50 yards in the air.
Mack Hollins was targeted twice and had two catches for 49 yards, including a beauty of a hole shot for 27 yards down the right sideline by Maye. Pop Douglas had three catches on three targets (are we noting the trend here?) for 17 yards, including a tremendous one-handed 4th and 1, snag of a Maye pass that was behind him.
I was hoping to see them turn to rookies Kyle Williams and Efton Chism late in the game, but with the score as it was, hopefully, that will come soon.
Tight Ends: B+
The Patriots’ tight ends had arguably their best game as blockers in the running game this week, helping spring the team to their best total of the year. That includes Jack Westover, who played 19 snaps as a lead blocker.
But they were also active in the passing game. Austin Hooper had a really nice catch in the end zone for an eight-yard TD pass from Maye, going up and high-pointing the ball over the safety. Hunter Henry had four catches for 33 yards.
It wasn’t their most statistically productive day, but it was a very effective one.
Offensive Line: C-
The offensive line was one of those “a tale of two games” type of afternoons. The run blocking on the inside zone runs was terrific, especially early in the game when they were trying to set the day’s tone.
Morgan Moses again had another strong game overall. He and Garrett Bradbury were the best of the group. When your lead back averages nearly five yards a pop, the group moved bodies around.
The pass protection was not good, as Maye was constantly forced from the pocket under pressure. He was sacked four times, and his athleticism saved that number from being higher. The daunting part was that Jeffrey Simmons left the game after only a dozen or so snaps due to a hamstring injury.
Defensive Line: A-
The defensive line had another big day. Tennessee’s running game mustered only 39 yards rushing and a 3.3-yard average on the day. That is outstanding run defense. Tony Pollard, who gashed the team last year, was held to 18 yards on six carries.
The plan was to squeeze rookie quarterback Cam Ward and force him into making mistakes, and they did just that. The team generated five sacks and forced Ward into making two turnovers, an interception, and a fumble, which resulted in a scoop and a score.
K’Lavon Chaisson continued his excellent play, having a pair of sacks, two TFLs, two QB hits, and a scoop-and-score fumble recovery touchdown.
Linebackers: A-
The linebackers had another strong game, flying all over the field and shutting down the Titans’ running game. Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss both had strong games, continuing the upward trend in the middle of the field.
With the game firmly in hand, Marte Mapu got some extended snaps in the fourth quarter and played very well, leading the team with eight tackles and pass defensed.
Secondary: B
The Patriots’ secondary got off to a slow start, but after the first quarter, it tightened things up and clamped down on the Titans’ wide receivers.
However, the early issues were the Titans burning Marcus Jones and rookie Craig Woodson, who was out of position for a 38-yard touchdown. But after allowing 143 yards and 10 points in the first quarter, they clamped down and finished the game, allowing 216 net passing yards and just three points after.
Marcus Jones added an interception as the Patriots’ secondary, which played the vast majority of zone coverage, shut down the Titans until they played looser at garbage time, allowing some inconsequential yardage but no scores.
Special Teams: B-
The Patriots got another good game from Andy Borregales, who converted all four extra points and his one field goal attempt from 36. Bryce Barringer wasn’t his usual booming self, but he put one punt inside the 20, while the coverage units were okay but not great. The return game wasn’t as strong this week.
Coaches: B
Mike Vrabel and the staff put the Patriots in a great position to win the game, which they did going away. They knew Tennessee would come out strong for their new head coach (the infamous interim coach bump) but they also knew that if they played their game, Tennessee would return to the dysfunctional team that it is…and they did.
Josh McDaniels gets high marks here, they schemed the running game going and had the kind of balance that you want. Zak Kuhr also had a good game plan for the defense, which held Tennessee to 13 points on the road.
They need to address these slow starts however, as it may cost them against better competition in the coming weeks.
We’re done with Tennessee week, the Patriots are returning home to face the Cleveland Browns this Sunday.
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
