ROUNDING UP
Brady, Patriots tough in divisional playoff games
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Two things, among many, have been consistent for the New England Patriots the past decade: Tom Brady at quarterback and their presence in the AFC championship game.
They’ll try to earn their seventh straight appearance in the conference title game with a win tonight against the visiting Tennessee Titans (10-7) in the divisional round. Tennessee used an 18-point comeback to post a 22-21 victory at Kansas City in a wild-card playoff last Saturday.
The top-seeded Patriots (13-3) had a bye in the opening round, but their week without a game brought some off-field challenges. A news report of turmoil involving Brady, coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft was followed by a denial from the trio. But Brady said he has never doubted his team’s ability to compartmentalize potential distractions.
“I think we have a job to do,” Brady explained, “and we know what our job is, and that’s to go out and play football at a high level and play well. Nothing really should get in the way of that.”
The Titans haven’t been to a conference championship game since the 2002 season, but they have been invigorated coming off their first playoff win in 14 years. They enter tonight’s matchup as 13-point underdogs, but linebacker Derrick Morgan said it’s a role they happily embrace.
“Nobody respects us. Nobody really expects a lot from us. That’s fine,” he said. “We haven’t been a very successful team in the last 10 years. So it’s easy for people to overlook us. So we’ve got to take care of business and start winning games like this to get the respect that we desire.”
To get it, they’ll have to stop a quarterback who has been nearly unbeatable in this phase of the postseason.
Brady is 11-2 in 13 divisional-round games since 2002, passing for 3,700 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also has a 6-1 career record against the Titans, with 13 touchdowns and just one interception.
In addition to having Brady and Belichick — tonight’s game will be his 37th in the postseason as head coach, breaking a tie with Tom Landry and Don Shula for most in NFL history — New England has 41 players with postseason experience, the most of any team in this year’s playoffs. Fourteen of them have played at least 10 postseason games.
Before the start of this postseason, the Titans had 18 players who had appeared in a playoff game.
Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, a third-year pro, was mostly unflappable in his postseason debut last week. But since 2001, quarterbacks making their first or second career playoff start are 0-7 against New England.
“When it comes down to it, it’s all about us,” Mariota said. “I think that’s kind of been the mindset through this entire season. Ups and downs come and go; you just want to try and make the most of this opportunity.”
Right now the Titans have back-toback victories, with Mariota following up a 15-10 home win against Jacksonville in the regular-season finale with last week’s big comeback. Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan said Mariota has made big plays two weeks in a row to fire up the team, including a stiff-arm while running to a big first down to clinch Tennessee’s playoff berth against the Jaguars.
“It’s pretty awesome, especially as mild-mannered as he is,” Lewan said. “His competitive nature is bigger than anybody else’s in here, so I know he wants to win every single game, and we’re just here to help him do that.”
Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia isn’t underestimating Mariota.
“This guy is a physically tough player,” Patricia said. “You definitely see that on film.”