The Indianapolis Colts officially have competition for the services of Josh McDaniels.
On Monday, the NFL Network reported that the Patriots offensive coordinator was believed to be headed to the Indianapolis Colts. On Tuesday, the Tennessee Titans threw their hat in the ring when they parted ways with coach Mike Mularkey.
McDaniels, who interviewed with the Bears, Colts and Giants, has been linked to [...]
The Indianapolis Colts officially have competition for the services of Josh McDaniels.
On Monday, the NFL Network reported that the Patriots offensive coordinator was believed to be headed to the Indianapolis Colts. On Tuesday, the Tennessee Titans threw their hat in the ring when they parted ways with coach Mike Mularkey.
McDaniels, who interviewed with the Bears, Colts and Giants, has been linked to Tennessee. However, the NFL Network was still reporting on Tuesday that McDaniels is expected to pick the Colts over the Titans.
McDaniels knows Titans general manager, Jon Robinson, who worked in the Patriots scouting department from 2002-2013. Tennessee also has a young quarterback, Marcus Mariota.
On Monday, ESPN reported that defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was going to be the next coach of the Detroit Lions. Patricia will join general manager Bob Quinn, who also received his NFL start with the Patriots scouting department.
Burkhead back?
According to the NFL Network, Rex Burkhead is expected to return this weekend when the Patriots take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship Game.
Burkhead had a solid first season with the Patriots despite dealing with several injuries. The running back suffered a knee injury in Week 15 against Pittsburgh that caused him to miss the final two regular-season games and the playoff opener. Burkhead played in 10 games this season. He scored a career-high five rushing touchdowns to go with a career-best 30 receptions, 254 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
A special teams standout in Cincinnati for four years, Burkhead was a capable offensive piece with the Patriots this season.
In their favor
The Patriots allowed 4.9 yards per carry during the regular season, which tied for 31st in the league, and allowed opposing offenses to convert at a 39.4 percent clip on third down, which ranked 20th.
However, they excelled in both areas in their 35-14 win over the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night. Derrick Henry averaged 2.3 yards on his 28 carries and the Titans succeeded on 33 percent of their opportunities on third down.
Not surprisingly, the Patriots’ success in the former was tied to their excellence in the latter.
“Certainly early down always relates to third down,” defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said Monday in a conference call. “Obviously the better you do on first and second down then the better situation you hope to be in on third down. We kind of got to defend whatever those are, though.”
Mostly the Patriots found themselves defending distance situations that were in their favor.
The Titans needed seven-plus yards on 12 of the 15 plays they ran on third down. They succeeded twice, the first on a scramble by Mariota and the other with the outcome decided.
“I think for the most part on third down, like I said earlier, those guys tried to really do a good job of executing the game plan,” Patricia said. “It was kind of some moving parts there a little bit that I think those guys handled really well from a communication standpoint.”
The Patriots are going to need more of the same when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium.
The Jaguars, who led the league in rushing, averaged 4.3 yards a carry and converted 57 percent of time on third down as they upset the Steelers in Pittsburgh.