Seven storylines to follow when the Patriots host the Tennessee Titans in Saturday night's AFC divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium.
Seven storylines to follow when the top-seeded Patriots entertain the fifth-seeded Tennessee Titans in the teams’ AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night at 8:15:
Reaction to distractions – Over the years, no team’s been better at blocking out distractions than Bill Belichick’s Patriots.
Will they be able to continue that in the wake of the bombshell ESPN.com dropped in their laps with its playoff bye week report of strife at the top of the franchise, the central figures being team owner Robert Kraft, the coach and quarterback Tom Brady?
On top of that, the Pats are taking the field with the knowledge that both of their coordinators, Josh McDaniels (offense) and Matt Patricia (defense), may be headed out the door for head coaching jobs elsewhere.
Time for Tom to be terrific – His play suffered down the stretch – interceptions in five straight games followed by a sub-50 percent outing (18 for 37) in a 26-6 regular season-ending win over the New York Jets – but this is traditionally Brady’s time of year.
The 40-year-old Brady’s NFL post season records include 63 touchdown passes, 34 playoff starts, 25 wins by a quarterback, 12 300-yard games and five Super Bowl championships (tying him with Charles Haley, who won five with Dallas and San Francisco).
Brady should be able to take advantage of a Titans pass defense (one that includes old friend Logan Ryan on the corner) that is sub-par, ranking 25th in the league during the regular season. The Titans can get to the passer, though, tying fifth in the league in sacks with 43 in the regular season and getting to Alex Smith four times in their 22-21 wild- card win at Kansas City last Saturday.
Can’t make him see red – The second overall pick (Jameis Winston went to Tampa Bay at No. 1) in the 2015 draft, Marcus Mariota regressed in his third year in the league, his interceptions outnumbering his touchdown passes, 15-13, during the regular season, those numbers even worse on the road (12 interceptions and seven TDs counting the playoffs).
Amidst all that, though, there is this: Remarkably, over his three years in the league, Mariota has thrown 40 touch down passes in the red zone without a single interception inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
Now he’s facing a Patriots defense that was the league’s best from Week 5 of the regular season on, allowing 14 points per game.
Mariota brings mobility (5.2 yards per carry and five touchdowns on the ground during the regular season, 46 yards on six carries in the playoff win at KC) to a position where the Patriots have struggled with it.
The Patriots faced Mariota once be fore, but not for long: He exited the teams’ most recent meeting, a 33-16 Pats victory at Gillette on Dec. 20, 2015, in the second quarter with a knee injury.
Oh, Henry – Much of the Titans’ identity is embodied in Derrick Henry, their 6-foot-3, 247-pound running back.
Henry punishes people with his physical running style, which tends to make him more effective as the game goes on. Simply put, he wears defenses down.
With fellow running back DeMarco Murray out with a knee injury (as he will be again for this game), Henry carried the load last weekend at Kansas City, gaining 156 yards (with one touch down) on 23 carries and adding two catches for 35 yards for a franchise postseason-record 191 yards from scrimmage.
Titans stand tall on the ground – That prolonged run the Patriots’ Dion Lewis has been on could be in jeopardy.
Allowing just 88.8 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry during the regu lar season, the Titans ranked fourth in the league in both of those departments.
Last Saturday, they limited Kareem Hunt to 3.8 yards per carry and 42 yards in the game, although a good deal of the credit for that must go to the Chiefs, who, for reasons known only to them, took the ball out of the hands of the league’s leading rusher after the first quarter.
All hands on deck -- Led by James White and his 429 yards, Patriots running backs approached 1,000 yards in receptions (957) during the regular sea son.
According to NFL.com, the Titans allowed running backs to approach 1,000 yards in receptions (a league- worst 967) during the regular season.
Running backs could play a major role in the Patriots’ passing attack.
Tight-en(d) up – All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski’s return to the playoffs (he missed last year’s after undergoing back surgery, of course) could be pro ductive.
The Titans struggled to cover tight ends all year, a season-long trend that continued in their wild-card game last Saturday. With four receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown, the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce was well on his way to a monster game when a hit from Titans safety Johnathan Cyprien knocked him out of the game with a concussion late in the second quarter.
Glen Farley may be reached at gfar ley@enterprisenews.com.