For me, Titans-Patriots is the most compelling game of the week. Call me crazy, but I think Tennessee is playing well enough to perhaps put a stake in the heart of the Brady-Belichick dynasty.
For Tennessee to win, it will need a decent game out of Ryan Tannehill. I will concede that I’m still getting used to the idea of him as a viable quarterback, after watching him mostly struggle for years in Miami.
With the Dolphins, he started six games at Foxborough and lost all of them. He threw 10 interceptions versus only 5 touchdowns in those games.
TANNEHILL AGAINST PATRIOTS (road games) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
2012 | L 0-28 | 57% | 235 | 0 | 1 | 65.8 |
2013 | L 17-27 | 52% | 192 | 2 | 2 | 60.8 |
2014 | L 13-41 | 62% | 346 | 1 | 2 | 73.5 |
2015 | L 7-36 | 64% | 300 | 0 | 2 | 64.6 |
2016 | L 24-31 | 71% | 387 | 2 | 2 | 93.5 |
2018 | L 7-38 | 55% | 100 | 0 | 1 | 47.9 |
But Tannehill has shown at least some ability to operate against Bill Belichick defenses. With Miami, he won each of his last four home games against this opponent, with 10 touchdowns and only 1 interception.
(So maybe if they get some unusually warm weather and fly in Adam Gase to serve as a guest coordinator, they could pull something off?)
TANNEHILL AGAINST PATRIOTS (home games) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
2012 | L 16-23 | 45% | 186 | 0 | 0 | 66.2 |
2013 | W 24-20 | 68% | 312 | 3 | 0 | 120.6 |
2014 | W 33-20 | 56% | 178 | 2 | 1 | 79.9 |
2015 | W 20-10 | 66% | 350 | 2 | 0 | 112.8 |
2018 | W 34-33 | 74% | 265 | 3 | 0 | 155.2 |
But while it’s fun to poke around with numbers from previous season, my interest in Tennessee stems from what Tannehill is doing right now. The Titans put him in the starting lineup in October, and since that time they’ve scored at least 3 touchdowns in every game – 39 touchdowns in the 10 games Tannehill has started.
No other offense (including the Ravens and Saints) has scored 39 touchdowns in its last 10 games. The Patriots have scored only 23.
OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS (last 10 games) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | Run | Pass | Total |
Tennessee | 17 | 22 | 39 |
New Orleans | 10 | 27 | 37 |
Baltimore | 12 | 25 | 37 |
San Francisco | 15 | 21 | 36 |
Tampa Bay | 9 | 21 | 30 |
Dallas | 10 | 19 | 29 |
NY Giants | 6 | 23 | 29 |
Green Bay | 10 | 18 | 28 |
Kansas City | 11 | 16 | 27 |
Minnesota | 10 | 17 | 27 |
LA Rams | 11 | 15 | 26 |
Arizona | 13 | 13 | 26 |
Philadelphia | 10 | 15 | 25 |
Seattle | 8 | 17 | 25 |
Miami | 7 | 18 | 25 |
LA Chargers | 9 | 15 | 24 |
Houston | 9 | 15 | 24 |
Cleveland | 6 | 17 | 23 |
New England | 8 | 15 | 23 |
Atlanta | 8 | 14 | 22 |
Indianapolis | 14 | 8 | 22 |
Buffalo | 7 | 14 | 21 |
Oakland | 7 | 13 | 20 |
Carolina | 10 | 10 | 20 |
Detroit | 5 | 15 | 20 |
NY Jets | 4 | 16 | 20 |
Cincinnati | 7 | 11 | 18 |
Chicago | 6 | 12 | 18 |
Denver | 7 | 10 | 17 |
Jacksonville | 2 | 14 | 16 |
Washington | 7 | 9 | 16 |
Pittsburgh | 3 | 10 | 13 |
With Tannehill playing efficiently (he finished the season as the league’s highest-rated passer) and Derrick Henry pounding defenses on the ground, the Titans in their last 10 games averaged 406 yards of offense per game – 15 more than any other team that’s in the postseason.
OFFENSIVE YARDS (last 10 games) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | Run | Pass | Total |
Dallas | 132 | 302 | 424 |
Tampa Bay | 93 | 336 | 416 |
Tennessee | 161 | 263 | 406 |
New Orleans | 111 | 290 | 391 |
Baltimore | 207 | 179 | 382 |
San Francisco | 127 | 270 | 377 |
LA Rams | 91 | 294 | 377 |
Atlanta | 92 | 304 | 373 |
Philadelphia | 127 | 258 | 368 |
LA Chargers | 97 | 286 | 367 |
Seattle | 142 | 241 | 360 |
Oakland | 107 | 267 | 360 |
Kansas City | 107 | 259 | 354 |
Minnesota | 118 | 235 | 342 |
Houston | 117 | 244 | 342 |
Miami | 76 | 283 | 341 |
Green Bay | 116 | 243 | 340 |
NY Giants | 105 | 259 | 338 |
Carolina | 104 | 266 | 335 |
Cleveland | 117 | 233 | 335 |
New England | 109 | 236 | 335 |
Cincinnati | 118 | 235 | 332 |
Jacksonville | 94 | 251 | 328 |
Detroit | 103 | 244 | 327 |
Arizona | 125 | 213 | 321 |
Chicago | 104 | 231 | 317 |
Indianapolis | 136 | 193 | 314 |
Buffalo | 124 | 203 | 312 |
NY Jets | 86 | 243 | 311 |
Pittsburgh | 99 | 198 | 277 |
Denver | 97 | 197 | 276 |
Washington | 109 | 184 | 269 |
Get your popcorn ready. This could be a notable game.
—Ian Allan