Titans Started, Finished Well Against Brady

The Tennessee Titans did not send Tom Brady into retirement.

They got him started down that path, though.

Saturday’s news that the winningest quarterback in NFL history plans to retire was reason for every NFL franchise to reflect on what Brady meant to the game, how they fared against him and what his absence will mean to each team going forward.

The Titans, of course, will always be the one that ended his time with the New England Patriots and led to his move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the club with which he spent his final two seasons – and won one final Super Bowl, his seventh.

Tennessee’s 20-13 victory at Foxboro, Mass. in the 2019 wild card round was notable for a number of reasons. It was one of six times in 47 career postseason appearances that Brady failed to throw a touchdown pass and one of four in which he also threw at least one interception. The latter, of course, was his final throw in a Patriots uniform and it ended up in the hands of cornerback Logan Ryan.

“That one’s going on my mantle,” Ryan said following the contest.

It was a moment few – if any – associated with the Titans or those who root for them will ever forget. Even the casual football fan will be well-served to remember it given that it will come up countless times in the coming years as football trivia.

What most probably don’t recall is that the Titans got off to a good start against Brady as well. The first time they faced the Patriots with Brady under center was Dec. 16, 2002, at Nissan Stadium. At the time, he was 25 years old and already had one Super Bowl win to his credit, but Tennessee rolled to a 24-7 victory. Steve McNair threw for just 136 yards in the winning effort, yet that was still more than Brady (134 yards).

Brady’s 47.2 passer rating that day was the eighth worst of his career, which consisted of 318 regular season appearances.

His 59.4 passer rating in the 2019 wild card contest was fifth worst among his postseason appearances.

No other franchise held Brady below 50 in a regular-season matchup and below 60 in a playoff game. Baltimore, for example, twice kept him blow 60 in the postseason but the best that team did in the regular season was to limit him to a 67.6 rating in a 2004 contest.

Of course, in between the first and last matchups, Brady pretty much had his way with the Titans as he did with virtually every other NFL franchise. After all, this is a guy was 243-75 (76.4) percent in the regular season and 35-12 (74.5 percent) in the playoffs as a starting quarterback.

He was 5-2 (71.4 percent) against Tennessee in the regular season. Included in those contests was the 2009 debacle, a game the Titans lost 59-0 in snowy conditions on the road. Brady was 7-7- for 93 yards in the first quarter and 17-21 for 252 more yards and five touchdowns in the second. He finished the day with a six touchdown passes, which matched his career high and was the last time he threw that many in a single contest.

There were three other encounters in the postseason, and Brady and the Patriots won two of those (66.7 percent).

He completed 35 passes (on 53 attempts) for 337 yards and three touchdowns in New England’s 35-14 divisional round triumph over Tennessee during the 2017 season. It was the only time in a postseason game that he attempted at least 50 passes and did not throw an interception, and the only time he completed more passes in the postseason were in Super Bowl victories over Atlanta (43) and Seattle (37).

That game turned out to be Mike Mularkey’s last as Titans coach. Days later, he was fired and replaced by Mike Vrabel, a teammate of Brady’s for eight seasons with New England. Under Vrabel, the Titans got the best of Brady and the Patriots twice, once in the regular season – a 34-10 triumph in 2018 – and one in the playoffs, the one that ended Brady’s time with that team.

Ryan admitted a few months ago that the ball that Brady threw in his final act as Patriots quarterback never made it on to the mantle. In fact, it was not displayed in any sort of memorable fashion and occasionally served as a toy for his children.

So, he announced that he intended to auction it off for charity.

“Now, I don’t know who is going to want that ball,” Ryan said at the time. “I don’t know if a Patriots fan wants his last ball ever thrown is an interception. I don’t know if a Titans fan is really going to pay. Like I don’t know what the Titans fan base, the media market, you know? So, I don’t know where it’s going to go.”

If he has not unloaded it already, the price is probably about to increase.