{"id":38859,"date":"2021-11-30T14:46:43","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T19:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=38859"},"modified":"2021-11-30T14:46:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T19:46:43","slug":"morse-15-observations-from-week-12-titans-vs-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2021\/11\/30\/morse-15-observations-from-week-12-titans-vs-patriots\/","title":{"rendered":"MORSE: 15 Observations from Week 12: Titans vs Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the words of Larry the Cable Guy, \u201cLet\u2019s Git-R-Done\u201d and that\u2019s exactly what the Patriots did on Sunday.\u00a0 It was not pretty as Tennessee gave the Patriots everything they had, but in the end, the better team won.\u00a0 Coach Vrabel had his undermanned team ready to play and they made it a game for a half.\u00a0 In the tale of two halves, the Patriots Defense dominated the second half by making big plays on defense (4 turnovers) and Mac Jones did just enough to manage the win.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. This was a game of too many missed opportunities. MVP Nick Folk was 5 of 6 on FGs (one was 53 yards and the miss was 52 yards).\u00a0 Mac Jones missed a wide-open Hunter Henry for a TD with a 1:02 left in the second quarter.\u00a0 The Patriots were 1 for 3 in the Red Zone.<\/li>\n
  2. I thought the run game was like running in sand. They were going nowhere.\u00a0 The Patriots only had 23 yards rushing in the 1st<\/sup> \u00a0Jeffrey Simmons dominated Ted Karras. \u00a0Karras was replaced for a series by Michael Owenu.<\/li>\n
  3. Denico Autry, Naquan Jones, and Kyle Peko weren\u2019t allowing the O Lineman to get to the linebackers. This was disgusting since Tennessee was using backup at NT and 3 of the 4 starting Linebackers.\u00a0 The only LB starting was Harold Landry and he was a ghost.\u00a0 \u00a0In the second half, the Patriots gained 72 yards on the ground to push them over the 100 mark.<\/li>\n
  4. Mac Jones was good, not great. He threw 23 completions of 31 attempts (71%) for 310 yards, 2 TDs, and no Interceptions.\u00a0 He did more than managing the game, which I will take every week.\u00a0 He badly missed a swing pass to Kendrick Bourne, throwing it into the ground.\u00a0 Some of his throws were high.\u00a0 The worst throw was the missed TD pass to Hunter Henry.\u00a0 It looked to me that Jones was leading Henry to the End Zone. \u00a0\u00a0The pass was more of a back-flag route where Henry made his initial steps more to the sideline.\u00a0 Mac Jones completed 10 of 11 play-action passes (even though the Patriots hadn\u2019t established a running game) for 150 yards and 13.6 yards per attempt.\u00a0 On the day, Jones had 6 passes of greater than 20 yards.\u00a0 The Patriots were 1\u00a0 for 5 in the RedZone before the late TD by Damien Harris.\u00a0 This was Jones second 300-yard passing game<\/li>\n
  5. The biggest point of the day was the turnovers (4-0). The Patriots caused 4 fumbles and recovered 3 of them and had an interception in the end zone.\u00a0 The first one was with 2 minutes left in the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0 At the Patriots’ 38, Davon Godchaux force Dontrell Hilliard to cough it up and Kyle Dugger recovered.\u00a0 Kyle Van Noy nearly had an interception with 48 seconds left in the 1st<\/sup> half at the Tennessee 38 yard line.\u00a0 Next play Hilliard dashes for a 68 yard TD run, where Devin McCourty missed an open-field tackle.\u00a0 The big fumble recovery was made possible by a hustle play by JC \u201cMoney\u201d Jackson. He chased down D\u2019Onta Foreman after a 4o yard run and punched the ball out of his hands, recovered by the Green Goblin, Jalen Mills on a nice play keeping himself in bounds while recovering the ball.\u00a0 Momentum completely shifted.\u00a0 Later JaWhaun Bentley had a strip of Ryan Tannehill, which the officials pre-maturely blew the whistle and play dead.\u00a0 Bentley made a smart play and followed the ball and knocked it out of the O lineman’s hand, which should have been another fumble.\u00a0 It was ruled an inadvertent whistle and fumble recovery by the Offense. When the game was out of hand the Patriots came away with another fumble at the 28-second mark.\u00a0 Kyle Van Noy forced Khari Blasingame to fumble, recovered by Jahlani Tavai.\u00a0 JC \u201cMoney\u201d Jackson\u2019s 7th<\/sup> Interception came as the result of a goal-line stand, which started as 1st<\/sup> and goal at the 5.\u00a0 The way Tennessee was running there was little hope the Pats would stop them, but stop them they did.\u00a0 It was 4th<\/sup> and goal at the 2-yard line with 11:59 left in the game. Devin McCourty stayed in the middle of the end zone covering two players and reading Tannehill.\u00a0 McCourty deflected the pass intended for Cody Hollister.\u00a0 Jackson has the flexibility to react to make the play. \u00a0.\u00a0 Jackson just has a nose for the football.\u00a0 You can\u2019t coach that!\u00a0 \u00a0This was the 15th<\/sup> play of the drive and the air went out of the balloon after that<\/li>\n
  6. The biggest disappointment from the game was how the defense got shredded against the run. They gave up 270 yards on the ground and Tennessee had two 100 yard rushers (Hilliard 131 and Foreman 109).\u00a0 Hilliard was just called up from the Practice Squad and Foreman was signed to the Practice Squad on November 2nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 We are not talking about Derrick Henry! \u00a0Part of this domination was due to the great play of the offensive line.\u00a0 They are very experienced despite missing starting RG Nate Davis.\u00a0 Aaron Brewer did a nice job filling in for Davis.\u00a0 Tennessee also went to some jumbo packages which confused and tore up the Patriots Defense. The Patriots better get this fixed by the time they play Indianapolis.\u00a0 The Colts have both a good runningback and a great O Line.\u00a0 By running the ball, Tennessee dictated the tempo of the game and limited the offensive opportunities the Patriots had.\u00a0 The running game kept them in the game.<\/li>\n
  7. Josh McDaniels play calling befuddles me. It\u2019s been established that you can\u2019t run yet you call the 1st<\/sup> two plays running plays inside the red zone.\u00a0 At least he allowed Jones to pass on 1st<\/sup> down and let him throw the ball downfield.<\/li>\n
  8. The defense stood tall in the second half with turnovers, a goal-line stand, and a clean sheet that kept Tennessee off the scoreboard again. It was 16-13 at the half and the D shut them out in the 2nd<\/sup> half while Offense put up 20 points.\u00a0 If you just saw the score you would think it was a cakewalk which it wasn\u2019t.<\/li>\n
  9. Individual players that stood out to me were Davon Godchaux with 7 tackles and Forced Fumble. Kyle Dugger had another strong game.\u00a0 Kendrick Bourne had a great game with two TDs on a difficult catch and tight rope run along the sideline.\u00a0 On that play, Jakobi Meyers made a key play by not blocking from the blindside.\u00a0 All he did was screen the guy, with his hands in the air.\u00a0 That simple screen popped Bourne for the TD.<\/li>\n
  10. The Patriots held Tannehill to 98 yards passing. That\u2019s unheard of. 11 of 21 for 98 yards a TD and his 13 INT.\u00a0 His QB rating was 38.6.<\/li>\n
  11. This was the first cold-weather game for Mac Jones and I believe the cold affected him.\u00a0 He did not wear a glove at all. \u00a0He threw one pass high to Jakobi Meyers who grabbed it but had it knocked out of his hands.\u00a0 Another pass sailed as did the pass to Hunter Henry.\u00a0 That failed swing pass to Kendrick Bourne I think was a result of the cold.\u00a0\u00a0 This needs to be monitored.\u00a0 Hopefully, he will get used to the cold as he gets more practice reps in the cold.\u00a0 I imagine it will be pretty chilly in Buffalo next Monday.<\/li>\n
  12. The Patriots Special Teams put Tennessee in constant bad field position. Of the 10 starting positions the Titans had, none were better than their 29-yard line.\u00a0 When the Patriots missed the 53 yard FG at the end of the 1st<\/sup> half, Tennessee got the ball at their own 48 but decided to kneel on the play.<\/li>\n
  13. I thought this was a good game for Jonnu Smith. He had 3 catches for 49 yards and a jet sweep for another 9 yards.\u00a0 Consequently, this was a bad game for Hunter Henry was held to 2 catches.<\/li>\n
  14. Folk had his 5th<\/sup> kick of 50+ yards on Sunday. He tied a record of Steve Gostkowski.\u00a0 Ghost happened to be in the stands with his son watching the game.\u00a0 Rumor has it that Gostkowski is planning on playing next year.\u00a0 He will be 38 in January.\u00a0 Nick Folk just turned 37 this month, this has been an incredible year for the 14-year veteran. \u00a0Folk is leading the league in scoring and those who have him on their Fantasy team J are rejoicing.\u00a0 He should win Special Teams Player of the Week again this week.<\/li>\n
  15. Mac Jones has a difficult time picking up Safety blitzes. Again this week, Jones doesn\u2019t pick up Kevin Byard who had a blitz from Center Field.\u00a0 He was tackled for a sack and that took the Patriots out of a possible scoring opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Final Analysis:\u00a0 <\/strong>This was a gut check game for the Patriots. The Titans are a tough team and they punched the Patriots in the nose.\u00a0\u00a0 If you just read that the Titans ran for 270 yards you would think the Titans won the game.\u00a0 The Defense bailed the team out by shutting out the Titans while the Offense got more physical and ran the ball to score 20 points. The Patriots put up 36 points against the #4 Defense against the run even if you have 4 starters missing.\u00a0 On the flip side, the Defense held the Titans to 13 points.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t always pretty and you can\u2019t count on 4 turnovers a game.\u00a0 What this does show is that the Patriots can beat you in many different ways.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n