Good teams win games they are supposed to win. The Patriots did exactly that vs a depleted Titans roster on Sunday. The expectation was a feisty Titans team that wasn’t going to simply roll over for the Patriots.
The Patriots won vs the Titans in a game that somehow felt closer than it was and yet never like it was that close. They have stretched their win streak to six games. They continue to play Patriots brand football with all three phases able to pick up the team at any moment. Football season usually doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving in the Northeast and this year’s rendition of the team is trying to make that true again.
Observations
Defensive
- A week after Kyle Van Noy put his fingerprints all over a game, it was J.C. Jackson’s turn to take the spotlight. Jackson’s forced fumble early in the third quarter was a huge momentum shifter for the teams. After that play the Titans would drift away from their dominant ground game. It was a pure hustle play by Jackson and one that could not have been timelier.
- Jackson added an interception later in the game on a goal line stand to effectively end any chance of a Titans comeback. The interception was Jackson’s 7th of the season and 24th of his career. For how impressive the career total is only four years into his career takes a historical perspective. Jackson is now tied with Richard Sherman and Kenny Easley for the third most interceptions through a player’s first four seasons. Jackson has five more games to add to that total. His 24 career picks is a team record through four seasons, beating Hall of Fame corners Mike Haynes (22) and Ty Law (18).
- The Pats again got a hand in the hidden yardage department on JC Jackson’s goal line pick. Had the ball been incomplete, the Patriots would’ve taken over possession at their own two. In a game that the running game was struggling, the added 18 yards from the touchback on the interception was extremely understated.
- The Patriots continued their blistering pace during this win streak winning by 23 points. Over the six-game win streak the Pats have outscored their opponents 211-63 with an average margin of victory of 25.2 points. They have allowed opponents 26 combined points over the last four games.
- Matt Judon added another sack on Sunday bringing his season total to 11.5. The Patriots sacked Tannehill twice and hit him five times.
- A big key to the winning streak has been the turnover battle. The Patriots have 17 takeaways, including four more Sunday against the Titans, over the last six games against only 4 turnovers. They won the turnover battle just once during their 2-4 start.
Offensive
- Mac Jones threw for a career high 310 yards while adding 2 touchdowns and no turnovers. He continues to be accurate, completing 71.9% of his passes. One area that Jones can improve is his identification of second level threats. A week after struggling against blitzes from the defensive secondary against the Falcons, the Titans utilized similar concepts with success against the rookies. The Pats have faced eight or more defenders in the box on 46.7% of their runs.
- Titans safety Kevin Byard had some words for Mac Jones leading up to Patriots vs Titans: “(Mac Jones) can dink and dunk it as much as he wants. If they don’t get in the red zone, we’ll be good. We’ll try to take away some of those options and some of those deep balls from him so he can keep checking down to running backs and stuff like that.” Jones responded on the field Sunday with completions of 41, 38, 22, 21, and 20 yards. He went right at Byard for the first touchdown of the game.
- Kendrick Bourne had himself a game catching 5 passes for 61 yards and 2 touchdowns. When Bourne caught the ball on his 41-yard touchdown the play had a 0.3% of resulting in a touchdown according to Next Gen Stats. Bourne added 29 yards after the catch than expected.
- Jonnu Smith enjoyed his best day as a Patriot totaling 58 yards on 4 touches. The Patriots’ attack is balanced and multifaceted before Smith gets involved. They could become a “pick your poison” offense to defend if Smith’s role continues to grow.
- As for offensive efficiency on Sunday? 10 drives, 1 punt. While the bye is right around the corner, Jake Bailey has enjoyed a couple light weeks recently.
- Mac Jones joins Russell Wilson as the only rookie QB’s to win three straight games by 20 or more points. Seems Mac finds new good company to keep every week.
Overall Notes
- Incredibly the Patriots are 4-0 when the opponent rushes for more than 250 yards. The games are the Patriots 36-13 victory vs the Titans on Sunday (270), the 24-point comeback in 2013 against the Broncos [Pats won 34-31] (280), a 2011 41-23 beatdown of the Tebow-led Broncos (252), and a 2002 27-24 victory against Miami (256).
- The Patriots came into the game having rushed for 120-yards in seven straight games and holding opponents to under 100 yards rushing in three straight and five of their last seven. Both streaks would come to an end against the Titans. The Patriots would rush for 105 yards while the Titans racked up 270.
- Looking ahead at the Patriots remaining schedule: at BUF, at IND, vs. BUF, vs. JAX, at MIA. The next four weeks will settle much of the debate surrounding current AFC playoff seeding.
- A note from the “Patriots always get advantages from the league office” department. The Patriots head into their bye after a Monday night game against the Bills, already cutting the usual 14-day bye to 13 days. The NFL then flexed the following game against the Colts to a Saturday night prime time affair, trimming the Patriots bye week to twelve days. The Patriots already had the latest bye possible and now are losing valuable rest days. For comparison’s sake, the Bills are getting a scheduled ten days off between their Thursday night game against the Saints and their Monday night showdown with the Patriots. This on top of their full 14-day bye week earlier in the season. Nothing to be done about it but just an astute observation.
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