TENN.ACIOUS
After false start, Brady & Co. clamp down to whip Titans and move on to AFC title game
FOXBORO — There was only one cliff in New England last night, and Tom Brady and the Patriots booted the Tennessee Titans right off of it.
So much for the trash talk, from the Titans or otherwise, as the Patriots embarrassed their visitors at Gillette Stadium by a 35-14 count in a divisional round playoff game. As a result, the Pats advanced to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game and the 12th during Brady’s 16 full seasons as the starting quarterback. The Patriots will host the winner of today’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Jacksonville Jaguars matchup next Sunday.
“To be in the playoffs, to play well and to advance, that’s just really great for this team,” Brady said. “We’ve got to do it again next week.”
Brady was 35-of-53 passing for 337 yards and three touchdowns as he won his 26th playoff game (10 clear of Joe Montana for the most all-time). Perennial postseason star Danny Amendola shed his restrictor plate and caught 11 passes for 112 yards, while Rob Gronkowski added six receptions for 81 yards and a score against Kevin Byard, who announced during the week the Titans would make Brady look like the Jaguars’ oft-criticized Blake Bortles.
The Titans opened the night with a full-squad speech as they tap danced on the Patriots logo at midfield, but it was Dion Lewis who dizzied their defense to the tune of 15 carries for 62 yards and nine receptions for 79 yards. James White continued his postseason roll with 40 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
“It was a great team performance,” White said. “We tried to start fast and play complementary football.”
The Patriots also controlled the trenches, which was supposed to be one of Tennessee’s advantages. Brady was hit four times on 53 dropbacks and wasn’t sacked, while the defense took down Marcus Mariota eight times and hit him on 10 occasions. Deatrich Wise had two of the Pats’ eight sacks, which set a postseason franchise record.
“I thought that was huge. Our pass rush played really well tonight,” Devin McCourty said. “I thought that was a big difference.”
The Titans got off to a nice start when Corey Davis beat Malcolm Butler to the end zone for a 15yard grab and 7-0 lead in the first quarter, though they lost right tackle Jack Conklin to a knee injury during the drive.
The Pats solved their scoreless first-quarter woes by flipping to the opening page of the Tennessee scouting report. The Titans allowed more passing yards to running backs than anyone in the league in the regular season, so Brady went to the well during the third possession. He completed all five passes for 67 yards, including the last four to running backs for 55 yards. White took a shovel pass around the left edge for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 7-7.
Stephon Gilmore, who didn’t allow a catch, cured the defense’s early third-down woes by breaking up Mariota’s sideline bid on the ensuing series, and Brady mashed the gas pedal to give the Patriots their first lead. The Pats snapped the ball six times in 1:49, and White closed down the rapid 52-yard trek with a 6-yard touchdown carry behind key blocks from Joe Thuney and Brandin Cooks for a 14-7 advantage.
The margin was doubled by taking advantage of Titans mistakes. With the punt team on the field on fourth-and-5 from their own 14-yard line, the Patriots were awarded a first down when Brynden Trawick jumped into the neutral zone.
Brady made them pay throughout the remainder of the series, particularly on third down by completing three passes for 23 yards, including a 4-yard dart on third-and-goal. Chris Hogan, who missed seven of the final eight regular-season games with a shoulder injury, beat Tye Smith across the end zone before Brady found him to extend the lead to 21-7 at the half.
Brady was 16-of-22 for 152 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots scored 21 consecutive points in the second quarter, and they didn’t face much resistance from there. The defense did its part during a stretch of seven consecutive scoreless series. Adam Butler’s third-down sack ended the Titans’ opening drive of the second half, and Ricky Jean Francois and Marquis Flowers had backto-back takedowns of Mariota on their second series.
Brady’s bunch then reached deep into their bag of tricks to build a three-touchdown lead. Brandon Bolden, used marginally on offense over the last two seasons, executed twice inside the 10yard line. He had a 4-yard carry on third-and-1 from the 6 and closed the drive with a 2-yard scoring scoot to make it 28-7. The rushing touchdown was Bolden’s first since 2014.
There was no need for creativity in the fourth quarter. Brady and Gronkowski hooked up for a 4-yard touchdown on a simple fade pattern that pushed it to 357. Gronkowski easily outmuscled first-team All-Pro Byard for the score to cap the blowout, which was only massaged by a late Davis touchdown.
“Once we got going, once we got comfortable and settled in, we were out there making plays,” safety Duron Harmon said.