This Saturday, the New England Patriots will host the Tennessee Titans in a highly anticipated Wild Card matchup. New England has not played on Wild Card weekend in almost a full decade. On January 10th, 2010, the Patriots hosted a Baltimore Ravens team that brought a swift and frustrating end to New England’s season. The game ended with a decisive 33-14 Ravens win and if New England hopes to avoid that same outcome this Saturday, their star players will need to step up.
New England Patriots Playoff Playmakers
Defensive Playmakers
While the Patriots have seen major ups and downs over the course of their 16-game 2019 regular season, there has been one constant. Despite New England’s inconsistency on the offensive side of the football, their defense has proved time and again that they drive the success of this football team. All four of the Patriots losses this season have featured their defensive unit giving up at least 20 points. In comparison, all 12 of the team’s wins have featured defensive performances which kept their opponent’s scoring under 20 points. This highlights the reality of how New England’s offense simply cannot make up for a bad defensive performance and if the team defeats the Titans, their defense will most likely be the reason why.
The Patriots’ defensive priority will be to stop the Titans’ third-ranked rushing attack. With an average of 138.9 rushing yards per game along with running back, Derrick Henry, earning the regular season rushing title, the Titans have the second-best rushing attack New England has seen all season. The Patriots finished the season as the league’s sixth-ranked run-stopping defense, giving up an average of 95.5 rushing yards per game. New England’s interior defensive linemen, Danny Shelton, and Lawrence Guy, will need to win their matchups at the line of scrimmage early in order to plug up rushing lanes. Additionally, the Patriots linebacking core which features Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, and Elandon Roberts will need to play aggressive as well as downhill if they hope to slow down the 6’3″, 240-pound Henry.
By slowing down the Titans running game, New England will force Tennessee’s offense and quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, into the teeth of their defense. The Patriots need to force the 21st-ranked Titans passing attack to throw the football into their second-ranked pass defense. New England’s first-team All-Pro cornerback, Stephon Gilmore, will need to be locked in mentally as well as physically throughout the duration of this game. Despite struggling in last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, Gilmore has a knack for shining his brightest on big stages.
Offensive Playmakers
The time for this Patriots offense, and Tom Brady, to finally flip the proverbial switch is now. While Brady threw an interception and completed just 55 percent of his passes in last week’s loss, the 42-year-old quarterback still has one more run left in him. Just two weeks ago, New England’s Week 16 matchup against the Buffalo Bills was the biggest game of their season and Brady stepped up, completing 78 percent of his passes for 271 yards along with a touchdown. Brady demonstrated to us all that he is still capable of winning big games.
Saturday’s game, as well as the Patriots entire postseason run, needs to follow a simple formula for success. New England needs to play nearly perfect shutdown defense while Brady takes command of the offense within clutch, big-game settings.
