The New England Patriots came to Nashville to play the Tennessee Titans with the goal of improving the defense over 2011. The goal of the whole draft was to improve the defense and I think it’s safe to say that with the additions of Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower and Tavon Wilson it looks as if they are on the correct track.
Led by the three rookies, an efficient Tom Brady, 2nd year RB Stevan Ridley and good overall defense the Patriots took down the Titans convincingly on Sunday 34-13 at LP Field.
After a season opening drive by Tennessee saw the Titans come away with a 28-yard field goal by Rod Bironas and a 3-0 lead it was the Patriots first chance to score some points in 2012. And luckily the game turned out better than it started as the Pats went three and out and that included a surefire touchdown pass that was missed between Brady and new WR Brandon Lloyd. It appeared that the uncovered Lloyd just misplayed the ball and turned the wrong way and had the ball sail over his head.
After Tennessee had a second drive stalled the Patriots got the ball back and marched 67-yards in 5 plays and saw Brady throw a 23-yard TD pass to TE Aaron Hernandez to put New England up 7-3. It was a lead that the Patriots would never give up.
On the ensuing Tennessee drive, The Titans looked they were going to punch the ball in and take the lead back as the second quarter started. But a Jake Locker pass into the end zone, on the quarters 2nd play, hit Patriots CB Kyle Arrington in the helmet and bounced up and was intercepted by Wilson, the rookie safety out of Illinois, in the end zone resulting in a touchback.
P Zoltan Mesko was seeing some early action in the first half and had his second punt of the day; this one was for 45 yards and put the Titans on their own 10-yard line. On 3rd and 7, Locker was hit from behind by Jones, the rookie defensive end out of Syracuse, and the ball rolled out to the 6-yard line. Hightower, the rookie linebacker out of Alabama, recovered it and returned it for the first defensive touchdown of the season and 14-3 lead.
New England took a 21-3 lead into the locker room at the half after Brady threw another TD pass this one to TE Rob Gronkowski on a nice fade into the corner of the end zone. That capped a 12-play, 67-yard drive with just two minutes left before the break.
The second half saw Locker make a spectacular play to elude a hard charging Jones and find WR Nate Washington along the sideline for a 29-yard TD pass that cut the deficit to 21-10.
After a one yard TD run by Ridley capped a late 3rd quarter drive and gave the Patriots a 28-10 lead Tennessee responded with another Bironas field goal and New England led 28-13 going into the final quarter.
That drive was led by backup QB Matt Hasselbeck who took over mid drive after Locker was hurt making a tackle after Washington had gotten crushed by Jerod Mayo and Patrick Chung at the New England 25-yardline. Washington coughed up the ball on the hit and Chung recovered it and returned it 49-yards to the Tennessee 26-yard line. It was there that Locker hurt his shoulder on the play tackling Chung. That play was flagged for review by Titans coach Mike Munchak saying that Washington never had possession. The referee upon review concurred with Munchak and Tennessee retained the ball.
Patriots at Titans Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.
Patriots at Titans Game Recap via Associated Press.
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Turning Point of the Game
Titans QB Jake Locker gets stripped sacked by Patriots DE Chandler Jones at the Patriots 1-yard line. The ball is recovered by Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower at the six yard line and returned for a New England touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
Offensive Player of the Game
RB Stevan Ridley had 21 carries for 125 yards and 1 TD. He also caught 2 passes for 27 yards.
Defensive Players of the Game
DE Chandler Jones had 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 tackle for loss. LB Dont’a Hightower had 5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovery and scored a TD and S Tavon Wilson had 4 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 INT.
Game Notes
Starters for the Patriots were:
On Offense:
- LT: Solder
- LG: Mankins
- C: Wendell
- RG: Connolly
- RT: Vollmer
- TE: Gronkowski
- TE: Hernandez
- WR: Lloyd
- WR: Welker
- QB: Brady
- RB: Ridley
On Defense:
- DE: Ninkovich
- DT: Wilfork
- DT: Love
- DE: Jones
- LB: Mayo
- LB: Spikes
- LB: Hightower
- LCB: D. McCourty
- RCB: Arrington
- S: Chung
- S: Gregory
Inactives for the Game:
Patriots
1. RB Shane Vereen (foot)
2. CB Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring)
3. C/G Nick McDonald (shoulder)
4. TE Daniel Fells (shin)
5. DE Jake Bequette
6. DE Justin Francis
7. DT Marcus Forston
Titans
1. RB Javon Ringer
2. QB Rusty Smith
3. LB Zac Diles (hamstring)
4. T Mike Otto (finger/knee)
5. T Byron Stingily
6. DE Pannel Egboh
7. DT Sen’Derrick Marks (knee)
The spread (Patriots minus 5 1/2) WAS covered. The over/under (47) WAS A PUSH. I GAVE the points and took the UNDER. I am now 1-0 vs. the spread and 0 for 1 calling the under/over.
The Patriots have won 9 consecutive season openers, their last Week 1 loss was in 2003 at Buffalo when they lost 31-0. It is the longest current streak in the NFL.
New England is 20-24 all-time in Week 1 games and 10-12 when they open on the road.
The Patriots lead the overall series vs. the Titans 23-16-1. They are now 7-10 as the road team in the series.
New England is 23-9 in September since 2002.
Since 2000, the Patriots are a NFL best 64-33 on the road.
Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 148-61.
Bill Belichick is 9-7 vs. the Titans in his career. He is 5-1 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes a 1-0 post season record.
Belichick’s 193 wins are good for 8th all-time. He is tied with Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Bills and Seahawks.
Tom Brady is now 5-1 vs. Tennessee
Brady has 302 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time. Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.
Brady has 125 career wins he is now 5th all-time. Peyton Manning is 4th with 141.
He became the 14th quarterback to reach the 40,000 passing yard mark for his career.
Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 33 consecutive games.
The Patriots are 82-15 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.
WR Wes Welker now has catches in 103 consecutive games, 86 as a Patriot. The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.
Welker is now tied with Troy Brown as the team’s all-time leader in receptions with 557.
The Patriots sacked Titans QB Jake Locker 2 times, while allowing Brady to be sacked 1 time. New England did not sack Matt Hasselbeck.
New England’s turnover differential is PLUS 2. The defense has recovered 1 fumble and has 1 INT. The offense has given away 0 fumbles and has 0 INT’s.
The Patriots were 2 for 4 in the red zone. They had 2 TD’s and 2 FG’s and were not held scoreless.
New England was 6 for 12 (50%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.
New England’s much improved looking defense allowed only 284 total yards and 16 first downs (1 rushing, 13 passing and 2 on penalties).
All-time on opening day the Titans franchise is 27-26.
Before today the Titans have won the last two Week 1 games they have played at LP Field.
The Tennessee franchise is 223-170-2 as the home team.
Since 1999 the Titans are 119-90 7th best in the NFL.
They are 65-40 at LP Field since it opened in 1999.
It’s been nearly 10 years since the Titans beat the Patriots. The last win for Tennessee came on December 16 2002 at Nashville winning 24-7.
Tennessee has lost five consecutive games to New England.
Titans head coach Mike Munchak is now 0-1 vs. New England in his career.
Titans QB Jake Locker made his first NFL start, he is 0-1. He threw for 229 yards, 1 TD’s and had 1 INT and 1 fumble.
Tennessee had only 20 net yards rushing and RB Chris Johnson was held to 4 yards on 11 carries.
The Titans were 5 for 14 (36%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 2 (50%) on 4th down attempts.
Jerry Frump (replacement) was the game referee. The temp at kickoff was 74 and it was sunny.
Post Game Interviews
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com
This Week in the AFC East
NY Jets pounded Buffalo, 48-28
Miami got routed by Houston, 30-10
AFC East Standings
Patriots 1-0/0-0
Jets 1-0/1-0
Dolphins 0-1/0-0
Bills 0-1/0-1
Next Game
The Patriots host the Arizona Cardinals in their home opener at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday. Kick off is at 1 p.m. on FOX.
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photo credit: getty images
