Patriots are rested, recharged and rankled
Recharged and rankled are the New England Patriots, who await a visit from the Tennessee Titans in the AFC divisional playoffs on Saturday night.
The Titans (10-7) are coming off their first playoff win in 14 seasons, a 22-21 thriller at Kansas City in the wild-card round Saturday that left the Chiefs winless at Arrowhead in the postseason since 1994.
The Patriots (13-3) are fresh off their eighth consecutive first-round bye as they seek their third Super Bowl title in four years.
They're not only refreshed but fired up after a report suggesting a fractured relationship that could break up the franchise's three most important pieces in QB Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.
Jacksonville (11-6), coming off its first playoff win in a decade, a 10-3 snoozer over Buffalo on Sunday, visits Pittsburgh (13-3) in the other AFC divisional playoff game on Sunday afternoon.
Th Steelers are hoping the weekend off helps Antonio Brown return from a torn calf he sustained on Dec. 17 against New England.
The NFC's top seed, Philadelphia (13-3), hosts the defending conference champion Atlanta Falcons (11-6) on Saturday afternoon and the Minnesota Vikings (13-3) host the New Orleans Saints late Sunday afternoon.
The Saints (12-5) edged Carolina 31-26 Sunday night in the wild-card weekend finale. The Falcons throttled the upstart L.A. Rams 26-13 Saturday, sending the league's best comeback story to a premature end.
The Patriots have won 11 of 12 after stumbling to a 2-2 start but the buzz around Boston isn't about their usual dominance but whether that excellence could be coming to an end soon.
Brady, Belichick and Kraft released a joint statement this weekend dismissing as “flat-out inaccurate” an ESPN report detailing an array of tension in New England between the triumphant triumvirate responsible for decorating team headquarters with five championship trophies.
One of the many things the Patriots are good at is navigating negativity.
Last year they overcame the loss of tight end Rob Gronkowski to win it all and they're trying to do the same this year without receiver Julian Edelman and linebacker Dont'a Hightower, two of their biggest stars.
The Titans came back from a 21-3 halftime deficit Saturday at Kansas City and in the process probably saved coach Mike Mularkey's job.
Team owner Amy Adams Strunk on Sunday said her coach isn't going anywhere after helping change the Titans’ culture and leading them to their first playoff victory in 14 years.
“This is a good test for our football team,” Mularkey said, “but these are the type of games you have to win.”
The Titans needed an amazing comeback to get their latest win, which tied for the second-largest rally by a road team in the playoffs. Dallas also overcame an 18-point deficit in 1972 in the divisional round to beat San Francisco. Only Detroit's rally from 20 points down in 1957 to beat the 49ers was bigger than Tennessee's comeback.