Tannehill, Henry are on radar of Patriots
TITANS (9-7) at PATRIOTS (12-4) When: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Where: Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts
TV: CBS
BetMGM.com line: Patriots by 5
Injuries: In his weekly radio show appearance Monday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the team would be “pretty close” to full health. CB Jason McCourty, though, has been battling a groin injury and is one of the few players whose status is uncertain. Tennessee, on the other hand, is in decent shape but had some starters miss the regular season-ending victory against the Texans that clinched a playoff spot. WR Adam Humphries (ankle) and his backup, Kalif Raymond (concussion), missed the game after neither practiced all week. CB Adoree’ Jackson (foot) also missed the game and didn’t practice all week. Humphries, Raymond and Jackson were Tennessee’s leading punt returners, and Raymond was the team’s primary kick returner.
THREE KEYS
1. Ground and pound: The Titans are led by Derrick Henry, the NFL’s rushing champion with 1,540 yards. He’s an imposing presence at 6-3, 247, with speed to break away. Even while dealing with a nagging hamstring injury before Sunday, Henry ran 32 times for 211 yards and three TDs against the Texans. The Titans ranked third in the NFL in average gain in rushes toward both the left end (6.7 yards per play) and the right end (7.1). The Patriots, meanwhile, enjoyed some success in stopping runs to the left end, ranking 12th in the league (5.0 yards allowed per play), but ranked 27th in stopping rushes to the right end (6.3). The Titans might look to exploit that.
2. Pats’ offensive woes: All season, defense has been the team’s strength. Even the most prolific offensive player, Tom Brady, has battled inaccuracy and inconsistency. Brady’s 2019 completion rate of 60.8% was his lowest since 2013 (60.5%), and his passer rating of 88.0 was his lowest since 2006 (87.9). Typically, the Patriots have played their best football in the playoffs, but New England has never won the Super Bowl in a postseason in which it had to play in the wild-card round.
3. Red zone: Since Ryan Tannehill took over as starting quarterback in Week 7, Tennessee has been dominant in the red zone. The Titans finished first in the NFL, converting TDs on 75.6% of trips inside the 20-yard line, almost nine percentage points higher than the Ravens. For the Patriots, the key might be to focus on trying to stop Tennessee from mounting long drives and holding firm on third downs. New England also excelled in forcing teams to settle for field goals in the red zone, preventing TDs on 48.3% of trips, ranking fourth best in the NFL.