In between, the Patriots shut them down and shut them out.
Once they spotted the Titans a seven-point lead to close out the opening frame on an eleven-play, ninety-five yard drive, Tennessee's offense ran just one meaningful play in Patriots' territory for the rest of the game, were forced into six three-and-outs and allowed quarterback Marcus Mariota to be sacked eight times as New England cruised to their seventh straight conference championship game berth...
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| Early season addition Marquis Flowers embodies Patriots' philosophy |
...their 35-14 victory setting up a meeting with the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars for the right to advance to Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis early next month.
In many ways, the game played out in anything but typical fashion for these Patriots. Usually, their script sees New England on offense driving down the field to take an early lead, looking increasingly complacent in bogging down twice or thrice before catching their footing and timing midway through the second quarter and scoring points in bunches...
...while on defense the Patriots usually allow plenty of yardage between the twenties and clamping down once they allow the opposition entrance to the red zone.
But on Saturday, both the offense and the defense came out flat, with only punter Ryan Allen and the special teams seeming on track, pinning the Titans inside their own ten yard line twice after two fruitless possessions on offense - but the second time Mariota led Tennessee on an eleven-play, 95 yard touchdown drive to take the early lead.
But that was the last time the Titans would even get within sniffing distance of Patriots' territory until garbage time.
From the end of the first quarter until there was less than four minutes left in the game, the Titans had seven possessions to work with, but managed only 35 total yards in that span and actually lost yardage on five of those, thanks to a persistent Patriots' pass rush that pummeled Mariota mercilessly - as the third-year signal caller was dealing with three major issues.
First was the fact that New England head ball coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia were obviously keying on limiting feed-bag runner Derrick Henry's effectiveness in the ground game, as they held him to just 28 yards on 12 carries for a 2.3 yards per carry average - then Mariota tweaked his quad at some point in the opening quarter which affected his mobility.
Third, and most importantly, was that linebacker Kyle Van Noy was assigned to mirror the shifty Mariota and not let him step up and run to the sticks nor escape and extend into the flat. Once Van Noy had him under wraps, the Titans' offense went into early hibernation while Tom Brady and the New England offense shifted into overdrive scoring, 35 unanswered points to send the game Titans back to Tennessee.
The eight sacks - a record for a Patriots' team in the postseason - epitomized the defensive success, as there was a sack of Mariota in every one of their second half possessions, leading to dismal yardage totals on drives with -2, -7, -6 and 14 yards, in order, before their garbage time drive that went 80 yards in fifteen plays against a three-deep prevent shell for a meaningless score.
It's no secret that the Patriots' defensive philosophy always seems to turn out being more of a bend-but-don't-break entity, but there is something very special about the way this particular defense has evolved.
For instance, in holding Mariota to 256 passing yards, the Patriots extended their streak of not allowing a 300 yard passer to eleven games, and have collected a mind-blowing 18 sacks in their last three games, and have won twelve of thirteen games since their horrific four-game drunken stagger to start the season...
...and they are doing it with a patchwork linebacking corps, a solid-and-improving-by-the-game secondary, and with what has evolved into one of the best defensive line rotation schemes in the league.
They knew what their shortcomings were and, with some deft personnel poachings by Belichick and some serious coaching up, they built a unit based on fundamental soundness and hustle rather than notoriety or experience and the result has been - and is - another AFC Championship berth featuring one of the best defenses in the league, and the very best where it really counts.
And where it really counts is on the scoreboard where, since the beginning of October, they have had the top scoring defense in the league, averaging just 14 points per game.
In contrast, the Minnesota Vikings are second at 14.66 points per game allowed, the Jacksonville Jaguars are at 16.16 and the Philadelphia Eagles are at 16.91 - good marks all, and a major reason why all of these teams are still alive closing in on Championship Sunday.
Sure, the Patriots allow plenty more yards both through the air and on the ground, and there is no rhyme nor reason to it, it just is, and the way the philosophy is addressed - playing their best ball after Thanksgiving on an annual basis - it could and should be expected that the defense is right now playing championship level ball, and have the players and planners to beat any team left in the tournament.
All of this despite the fact that if you were to ask a fan from another team to name three players on the New England defensive unit, chances are they'd have to google it - but what this team lacks in star-power they more than make up for in work ethic, intelligence and effort, and for the last seven years and for twelve of Belichick's seventeen years in dynasty mode, it's been enough to compete for a conference title...
...and for seven of those twelve seasons, it has been good enough to play for a world championship - and if history tells us anything, the Patriots have a better shot than anyone of hoisting another Lombardi Trophy three weeks from now.
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