Patriots' Revenge Tour Starts with Titans on Wild Card Weekend
The New England Patriots are one of the most scrutinized 12-win teams we have seen in quite some time. Despite having one of the NFL's best defenses and dominating most of their opponents this season, three of their four losses came against the other AFC division winners..
That is why after losing their first-round playoff bye there is worry that New England may not make its wild-card game Saturday night at Gillette Stadium against the Titans. This is the first time the Patriots have been stuck in the opening round since 2009 and in the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era they are 0-for-3 getting to the Super Bowl when they've had to play in the wild-card game.
Despite New England having to face the lowest-seeded team in the AFC to kick start the playoffs, the matchup is a lot more difficult than the seedings suggest.
The Titans have the NFL's leading rusher in Derrick Henry, and they have one of the league's best QBs in the second half of the regular season in Ryan Tannehill. Most importantly, they have head coach Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who won three Super Bowls in his eight seasons in New England, who has a past that can prove to be vital against New England.
The 2018 season was the first time Vrabel and the Titans struck fear into the hearts of New England. In Week 10 of that season, Tennessee beat the Patriots 34-10 at home in a game that exposed Brady and the Patriots offense. Tennessee's defense was able to get pressure on Brady with a four-man rush, they had great coverage in the secondary, and they ran the ball well enough to control the clock and score points in the process.
In the end, that win didn't mean much for the Titans or the Patriots. New England won the Super Bowl and Tennessee didn't even make the playoffs. But it did prove that Vrabel, who at the time was a first-year head coach, has the recipe to take down the Patriots, which is something other teams in the league have had a hard time doing over the past two decades.
So, while the Patriots have one of the best teams in the league this season, and the Titans didn't punch their ticket to the postseason until Week 17, the Patriot are going to have to play much better than they did during their 4-4 second half of the season to advance.
“At the end of the day, we’re in a blessed situation. We’re in the playoffs. We’re one of 12 teams in the playoffs. We have a chance to go on a revenge tour," Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy said to WEEI.com this week. "What better way to start off than with Tennessee, who we lost to last year. Got big motivation. … They are coming into our house and what better way to get it started for the playoffs (than) Saturday at 8:15 in Gillette. I know it’s going to be rocking and I am excited for our players to perform in a way and play Patriot football on Saturday. I’m excited.”
Like most tours do - there is more than one stop on this revenge tour for New England.
The Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs, both of which defeated the Patriots in the regular season, are also participating in the playoffs, which brings to the forefront an opportunity for New England to beat two of the four teams that handed them losses in the regular season.
For that to happen, New England would need to defeat the Titans in the Wild Card round, which would then put them in line for a matchup with Kansas City in the divisional round. From there, they would need to beat the Chiefs, and the Ravens would need to win their divisional round game, which would put New England and Baltimore in the AFC Championship. The Texans, who also defeated the Patriots back in Week 13, could also cross paths and become part of the revenge tour. But that seems unlikely given they must get through the Ravens to play the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
But for all of that to transpire, the Patriots need to come out with a win in the first round.
Despite not playing Tennessee during the 2019 regular season, New England's time spent with them over the summer will prove to be helpful as both teams prepare for their game Saturday night. The Patriots traveled to Tennessee for four days in August prior to their game in the preseason. That proves to be beneficial now, as each coaching staff has had a first-hand look at the players on each team, which helps them understand their strengths and weaknesses.
As a Titans team that is full of former Patriots such as Vrabel, Malcolm Butler (the Pats Super Bowl hero is on injured reserve) Logan Ryan, and Dion Lewis, you can bet those players are familiar with the Patriots' squad.
New England is looking to push its historic run of success into a third decade. That, along with Brady's tenure with the Patriots potentially coming to a halt, leaves all of New England hoping they get to see Brady and Belichick play into February. But to do that, the Patriots must get revenge on some opponents that have gotten the best of them in recent memory.
The path is not easy. However, if the revenge tour is fulfilled, the Patriots could be hoisting a Lombardi Trophy yet again and will prove once more that no one can take down New England when it matters the most.
