Datasets:
File size: 18,705 Bytes
e436098 |
1 |
{"source_url": "https://boston.cbslocal.com", "url": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/01/01/comparing-playoff-credentials-patriots-titans/", "title": "Comparing Playoff Credentials Of Patriots And Titans: Does Either Team Really Have An Advantage?", "top_image": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/GettyImages-904648908.jpg?w=1500", "meta_img": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/GettyImages-904648908.jpg?w=1500", "images": ["https://i1.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/Lyric-Farrell2.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/08/GettyImages-912797698.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i1.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/baby1.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/12/no1.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i2.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/WorcesterFirstBaby2.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/12/Chicopee-1.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2017/10/boston.png", "https://i0.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/12/cohasset.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i1.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/MinimumWage.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://i1.wp.com/boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/ClaireZissersonandKendallZemotel.jpg?resize=55%2C55&ssl=1", "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/themes/cbs-local/plugins/modules/theme-manager/images/cbs-local-logo-white.png", "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/GettyImages-904648908.jpg?w=1500", "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/09/30h-BOS-white-horizontal.png?w=408", "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/themes/cbs-local/images/global/blank_1x1.gif", "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2018/02/4_boston_wbz.png?w=220"], "movies": [], "text": "\n\n\n\nBOSTON (CBS) \u2014 As the Patriots enter the postseason, there\u2019s a distinct lack of the usual confidence that normally fills the region every year around this time. Instead of sizing up the NFC competition for Super Bowl LIV in Miami, most football fans are left wondering if this year\u2019s team \u2014 a team that was once 8-0 and had the potential to make history \u2014 will even reach the divisional round. The conference championship, long believed to be the official start of the football season in New England, remains an even longer shot.\n\nLosing a gotta-have-it game at home against the Miami Dolphins to kick away the No. 2 seed and its accompanying first-round playoff bye tends to have that effect.\n\nThe fact that the Titans will enter Saturday night\u2019s game as one of the hottest teams in the NFL surely does not do much to assuage the fears of folks who have watched the Patriots head in the opposite direction over the past calendar month.\n\nAnd, to be sure, the Titans represent a very real challenge for a Patriots team that had no plans of playing this weekend. If the Patriots take the field and replicate their performance from the Miami loss, their season will assuredly come to a crashing halt on wild-card weekend, a fate the team has avoided for nearly a full decade.\n\nThat part of the equation cannot be known. But for the sake of seeing where and how the Patriots and Titans stack up, let\u2019s run through some numbers and recent history to get a better feel for what awaits us all on Saturday evening.\n\nOVERALL RECORD\n\nPatriots: 12-4\n\nTitans: 9-7\n\nWhen the Patriots were racking up wins and boasting a historically dominant defense, the knock on them was that they hadn\u2019t faced any teams that were actually any good. This critique was fair. Once the Patriots entered the difficult portion of their schedule in Week 8, they went 5-4 to close out the year.\n\nThe Titans had pretty much the opposite kind of season. They started out 2-4, and the playoffs had to have been the farthest thing from anybody\u2019s mind in Nashville. It bottomed out when they got shut out in a 16-0 loss at Denver. A change at quarterback from Marcus Mariota to Ryan Tannehill the following week appeared to have been a desperation move by Mike Vrabel, but it ended up being a season-saver. The Titans went 7-3 to close out the year and earn the second wild-card spot in the AFC playoffs.\n\nSTRENGTH OF SCHEDULE\n\nPatriots: .469\n\nTitans: .488\n\nSTRENGTH OF VICTORY\n\nPatriots: .411\n\nTitans: .465\n\nThe Patriots faced teams that ultimately made the playoffs six times in 2019. They went 3-3, beating the Bills twice and winning at Philadelphia, while losing at home against Kansas City and on the road against Baltimore and Houston.\n\nThe Titans faced teams that ultimately made the playoffs five times in 2019. They went 2-3, beating a Texans team full of backups in Week 17 and beating the Chiefs in Patrick Mahomes\u2019 first game back from a dislocated kneecap. They lost to the Bills, they lost to the Texans (when they played with their starters), and they lost to the Saints.\n\nIn terms of common opponents, the Patriots went 3-2 against Cleveland, Buffalo, Kansas City and Houston. The Titans also went 3-2 against those same teams.\n\nOFFENSIVE RANKINGS\n\nScoring\n\nPatriots: 7th\n\nTitans: 10th\n\nYards Per Game\n\nPatriots: 15th\n\nTitans: 12th\n\nThe numbers for Tennessee are a bit misleading. The Titans averaged 16.3 points and 290.5 yards per game with Mariota as the starter for six weeks. Since then, they\u2019ve averaged 30.4 points and 406.2 yards per game over the last 10 games. Had the Titans done that over the course of 16 games, they\u2019d have ranked third in yards and second in points. They of course did not post those numbers over a full 16 games, but the 10-game run has nevertheless been impressive.\n\nMeanwhile the Patriots\u2019 offense simply is what it is. It\u2019s not particularly potent, and it\u2019s been trending southward for some time. In Weeks 1-9, the Patriots averaged 366.7 yards and 26.3 points per game. (The defense and special teams actually scored six touchdowns during that streak, though, so the offense really put up 21.7 points per game.) In the seven games after their bye, the Patriots averaged 337.6 yards and 21.4 points per game.\n\nOn the positive side, the Patriots did put up 24 points and gain 414 yards of offense against a top-level Buffalo defense in a playoff-like game in Week 16. On the negative side, the Patriots sandwiched that game with underwhelming performances against Cincinnati and Miami, teams carrying two of the absolute worst defenses in the NFL.\n\nBreaking it down further, the Titans rank third in rushing, both in yards per game and yards per attempt. The Patriots rank 18th in rushing yards per game and they rank 25th in rushing yards per attempt. Considering the Patriots have had some hiccups defensively in stopping the run against Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Washington and Buffalo, the Titans will likely look to use Derrick Henry to exploit that potential vulnerability.\n\nIn the passing game, the Titans oddly rank 21st in passing yards per game but first in passing yards per attempt, at a clean 8.0. That\u2019s due to Tannehill averaging 9.6 yards per attempt, a full yard better than anybody else in the NFL. The Patriots rank eighth in passing yards per game but 18th in passing yards per attempt, as throwaways to avoid sacks have become a staple of Brady\u2019s game this season.\n\nDEFENSIVE RANKINGS\n\nScoring\n\nPatriots: 1st\n\nTitans: 12th\n\nYards Allowed\n\nPatriots: 1st\n\nTitans: 21st\n\nFor as much as the offensive comparison is a mismatch for Tennessee, the defense is an even bigger one in New England\u2019s favor. While the final showing of the year was a disastrous one, the Patriots still finished miles ahead of the competition in so many defensive statistical categories.\n\nThe Patriots\u2019 defense finished:\n\n\u2013First in yards allowed per game (275.9)\n\n\u2013First in yards allowed per play (4.7)\n\n\u2013First in points allowed per game (14.1)\n\n\u2013Second in passing yards allowed per game (180.4)\n\n\u2013Second in passing yards allowed per play (5.4)\n\n\u2013Sixth in rushing yards allowed per game (95.5)\n\n\u201314th in rushing yards allowed per play (4.2)\n\n\u2013First in interceptions (25, five more than any other team)\n\n\u2013Tied for seventh in sacks (47)\n\n\u2013First in interception rate (4.66%)\n\n\u2013Sixth in sack rate (8.77%)\n\n\u2013First in first downs allowed per game (16.3)\n\n\u2013First in third-down defense (75.9%)\n\n\u2013Sixth in fourth-down defense (63.64%)\n\n\u2013Fourth in red-zone defense (51.72%)\n\nHere\u2019s where the Titans rank in those same categories:\n\n\u201321st\n\n\u201316th\n\n\u201312th\n\n\u201324th\n\n\u201319th\n\n\u201312th\n\n\u2013Seventh\n\n\u2013Tied for eighth\n\n\u201313th\n\n\u201315th\n\n\u201317th\n\n\u201320th\n\n\u2013Eighth\n\n\u2013Eighth\n\n\u201331st\n\nThe mismatch is obvious. But there\u2019s still a significant question as to whether it will actually matter.\n\nThe Patriots failed to capitalize against some of the NFL\u2019s weakest defenses, particularly late in the year. That included an unimpressive road effort in Cincinnati, a much-too-late arrival in Houston, and some severe stumbles at home against Miami, Kansas City and the Giants. Tom Brady finished the year with his fewest TD passes (24) since 2006, tying for his second-lowest total in a full season starter and giving him four fewer TD passes than he threw in just 12 games in 2016.\n\nSo, while the Titans\u2019 defense figures to be a major hindrance to their Super Bowl chances, it remains anybody\u2019s guess whether or not Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady will be able to actually take advantage.\n\nSPECIAL TEAMS\n\nHere\u2019s one you might not have expected: Despite shuffling kickers multiple times throughout the season, the Patriots have a much better field goal situation than their first postseason opponent.\n\nThat\u2019s because the Titans have gone through three kickers, and none have been particularly efficient. The trio of Cody Parkey, Ryan Succop and Cairo Santos combined to successfully kick just eight of their 18 field goals this year. That 44.4 percent success rate ranks dead last in the NFL \u2026 by a lot. The Jets have the second-worst rate at 67.9 percent \u2014 or 23.5 percent better than Tennessee.\n\nThat disaster has led to the Titans signing 25-year-old Greg Jospeh, who was 17-for-20 on field goals and 25-for-29 on PATs in 2018 for Cleveland. This year in two games with Tennessee, he hasn\u2019t had an opportunity to kick a field goal yet, but he\u2019s 9-for-9 on PATs. Perhaps he is the stabilizing force that Tennessee desperately needed, but he nevertheless is a question mark heading into Saturday.\n\nFor the Patriots, two of Nick Folk\u2019s three missed field goals came in a driving rain storm against Dallas, and he successfully drilled a 51-yard attempt in Week 16 vs. Buffalo in a high-pressure situation. The Patriots don\u2019t have the luxury of employing Stephen Gostkowski this postseason, but the team\u2019s confidence level in the kicker has to be about as high as it\u2019s been all year.\n\nIn the punting game, don\u2019t be surprised to see a battle of field position play out. The Titans rank first in the NFL in punts inside the 20, with 37. The Patriots have just one fewer, ranking second in the NFL. The Jake Bailey-Brett Kern battle may not give the broadcast a ratings boost, but it\u2019ll certainly keep Bill Belichick excited.\n\nSTATISTICAL LEADERS\n\nRushing\n\nPatriots, Sony Michel: 912 yards, 7 TDs\n\nTitans, Derrick Henry: 1,540 yards, 16 TDs\n\nReceiving\n\nPatriots, Julian Edelman: 100 receptions, 1,117 yards, 6 TDs\n\nTitans, A.J. Brown: 52 receptions, 1,051 yards, 8 TDs\n\nPassing\n\nPatriots, Tom Brady: 60.8%, 4,057 yards, 24 TDs, 8 INTs\n\nTitans, Ryan Tannehill: 70.3%, 2,742 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs\n\nInterceptions\n\nPatriots, Stephon Gilmore: 6\n\nTitans, Kevin Byard: 5\n\nSacks\n\nPatriots, Jamie Collins: 7.0\n\nTitans, Harold Landry: 9.0\n\nEXPERIENCE\n\nPlayoff Games\n\nBill Belichick: 42 games (31-11 record)\n\nTom Brady: 40 starts (30-10 record)\n\nMike Vrabel: 0 games (20 games as player, 15-5 record)\n\nRyan Tannehill: 0 games\n\nHaving experience doesn\u2019t allow teams or players to win playoff games simply by showing up to the field. That much is well known. But if you were forced to choose, you\u2019d probably prefer to enter a playoff game carrying a roster loaded with postseason and Super Bowl experience over a roster that has precious little of it.\n\nINTANGIBLES\n\nIt\u2019s funny. One team can end the season going 6-4, including a critical division win in Week 16, and appear to be fizzling out. Another team can finish the year going 7-3, including a critical division loss in Week 15 and a blown 14-0 lead in Week 16, and assume the role of underdog/darling for the postseason.\n\nThat of course has more to do with expectations than anything else, and the unexpected surge from Ryan Tannehill. There\u2019s also a thorough body of work with regard to evaluating the Patriots as either a legitimate championship contender or merely one of the postseason pack. This season, even the most ardent and tattooed Patriots fan has to be feeling as though the latter will be the case.\n\nAnd, who knows, perhaps the Titans will waltz into Foxboro without intimidation and spoil the Lombardi dreams of New England on a night when the Patriots never expected to even be playing. It\u2019s the NFL, and last weekend\u2019s face-plant against Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins proved that truly anything can happen, even when the Patriots are playing at home.\n\nAt the same time, for as much as the conversation this week will center on the hot streak of the Titans \u2026 don\u2019t forget that five of those seven wins came against non-playoff teams, and one came against a playoff team that was resting its most important starters. In a potential AFC South title game, the Titans lost at home to Houston, falling behind 21-14 early in the fourth quarter and then 24-14 with 3:31 to play. The game ended with Tannehill getting sacked and then spiking the football with no time left.\n\nA week later, the Titans opened up a 14-0 lead at home over the Saints \u2026 before watching Drew Brees and Co. methodically turn that 14-0 deficit into a 24-14 New Orleans lead. Twice the Titans cut that lead to three points, and twice the Titans\u2019 defense allowed touchdown drives by New Orleans.\n\nTo the Titans\u2019 credit, they were able to show up in Week 17 at Houston, where Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and Kenny Stills all did not play. But for as deflating as the Patriots\u2019 season finale was, the Titans were in that same spot just two weeks ago.\n\nAll of that is to say \u2026 for every reason to feel good about either team, there\u2019s a reason to feel bad about either team. On paper, it should be a thoroughly interesting matchup. We\u2019ll find out Saturday night if it actually follows the script.\n\nYou can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": ["patriots", "titans", "preview", "stats", "defense", "brady", "tannehill", "vrabel", "belichick", "michael hurley", "new england patriots", "nfl", "nfl playoffs", "ryan tannehill", "sports news", "tennessee titans", "tom brady nfl", "patriots", "sports", "syndicated sports"], "tags": ["Sports News", "New England Patriots", "Michael Hurley", "Tom Brady", "NFL", "Boston Next", "It Happens Here", "NFL Playoffs", "Tennessee Titans", "Ryan Tannehill"], "authors": [], "publish_date": "Wed Jan 1 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "A closer look at every area to compare the Patriots and Titans ahead of their wild-card matchup in Foxboro.", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/07/cropped-boston-favicon-5121.png?w=32", "meta_data": {"news_keywords": "patriots, titans, preview, stats, defense, brady, tannehill, vrabel, belichick,", "keywords": "patriots, titans, preview, stats, defense, brady, tannehill, vrabel, belichick, michael hurley, new england patriots, nfl, nfl playoffs, ryan tannehill, sports news, tennessee titans, tom brady nfl, patriots, sports, syndicated sports", "fb": {"pages": 7446277009}, "google-site-verification": "44caXBf4kjHeKKAT7ZZ89NaCX25utL_yRSa-qGpwIhY", "msvalidate.01": "FDD12CE797EAB78953FDE9ACF7F312A5", "generator": "WordPress 5.3.2", "og": {"title": "Comparing Playoff Credentials Of Patriots And Titans: Does Either Team Really Have An Advantage?", "image": {"identifier": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/GettyImages-904648908.jpg", "width": 420, "height": 236}, "description": "A closer look at every area to compare the Patriots and Titans ahead of their wild-card matchup in Foxboro.", "type": "article", "url": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/01/01/comparing-playoff-credentials-patriots-titans/", "site_name": "CBS Boston", "locale": "en_US"}, "article": {"published_time": "2020-01-01T19:15:48+00:00", "suggested-social-copy": "A closer look at every area to compare the Patriots and Titans ahead of their wild-card matchup in Foxboro.", "publisher": "http://www.facebook.com/CBSBoston", "author": "http://www.facebook.com/CBSBoston", "modified_time": "2020-01-01T19:15:48+00:00"}, "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "image": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2020/01/GettyImages-904648908.jpg?w=640", "title": "Comparing Playoff Credentials Of Patriots And Titans: Does Either Team Really Have An Advantage?", "description": "A closer look at every area to compare the Patriots and Titans ahead of their wild-card matchup in Foxboro.", "site": "/wbz", "text": {"title": "Comparing Playoff Credentials Of Patriots And Titans: Does Either Team Really Have An Advantage?"}}, "msapplication-TileImage": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2019/07/cropped-boston-favicon-5121.png?w=270", "description": "A closer look at every area to compare the Patriots and Titans ahead of their wild-card matchup in Foxboro."}, "canonical_link": "https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/01/01/comparing-playoff-credentials-patriots-titans/"} |