In his return to Tennessee, Mike Vrabel leaves with a 31-13 victory over his old squad as his New England Patriots improve to 5-2 on the season.
After a slow start on both sides of the ball, Drake Maye took over with another near-perfect effort before a scoop-and-score by K’Lavon Chaisson put things out of reach in the third quarter.
Here’s everything that went down at Nissan Stadium on Sunday.
Final score: Patriots 31 : 13 Titans
Sunday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. ET | Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN | Broadcast information | Inactives | Game day roster
The Patriots won the toss and deferred, putting their defense on the field to start things Sunday. Two straight completions by Cam Ward totaled 31 yards to get the Titans offense on the move out of the gate. Then facing a third-and-7 following a pair of runs, Ward’s pass was behind his intended receiver leading to a 49-yard field goal. [Patriots 0 : 3 Titans]
New England’s first offensive drive started with four straight handoffs to Rhamondre Stevenson which totaled 38 yards before Maye scrambled to pickup another first-down and move the offense inside the red zone. A third-down sack forced New England to settle for a field goal, which Andy Borregales connected on from 36 yards out. [Patriots 3 : 3 Titans]
The Titans second possession started at the 41-yard line and they quickly found themselves across midfield again as Ward found Chimere Dike for 18 yards. Ward went right back to his fellow rookie receiver — who got behind Marcus Jones and Craig Woodson — on the very next play off a play-action half bootleg for a 38-yard touchdown. [Patriots 3 : 10 Titans]
Stevenson continued to find success on the ground as he rumbled for a 16-yard gain on the second play of New England’s next drive. Then facing a third-and-8, Maye’s pass to Kyle Williams was high and incomplete leading to a punt.
The Ward-to-Dike connection helped work Tennessee across midfield again but a holding penalty helped the Patriots defense set up a third-and-9 — where the pass rush got home as Harold Landry forced Ward into K’Lavon Chaisson for a sack.
New England’s next drive started backed up inside their own 10-yard line before a quick completion to Hunter Henry moved the chains to give the offense some breathing room. Maye then stepped up and took off for a 19-yard scramble before Stevenson powered the unit over midfield on the ground. The pass game then started to connect as Maye had impressive sideline completions to Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins. Inside the five-yard line on third-and-goal, Maye lofted one to the end zone where Austin Hooper went up and over a defender to haul it in for a score. [Patriots 10 : 10 Titans]
Facing a third-and-3, Ward fired a dart over the middle to Van Jefferson for 15 yards with Christian Gonzalez tight in coverage. Going right back to Jefferson on a screen, the receiver avoided traffic behind the line of scrimmage and found an escape lane for 12 yards. New England’s defense then held on a third-and-12 on the other side of the two-minute warning forcing a 50-yard field goal from Joey Slye. [Patriots 10 : 13 Titans]
A kick out of bounds started the Patriots two-minute drive at the 40-yard line with all three timeouts. A scramble and completion to Hunter Henry quickly had New England over midfield, where Maye then let one go to Kayshon Boutte who made a fingertip catch for a 39-yard touchdown. [Patriots 17 : 13 Titans]
With 49 seconds left in the half, Tennessee went three-and-out before Ward threw one out of bounds on fourth-down to take it to halftime.
New England started the second half with the ball and immediately faced a third-and-8, where Maye was protected well and found an open Stefon Diggs over the middle for 24 yards. A play-action pass to Mack Hollins the very next play picked up 27 more yards to move into Tennessee territory. Maye was then taken out of the game after slamming his head on the turf on a scramble which inserted Josh Dobbs in at quarterback. Dobbs then avoided pressure and completed his first pass to DeMario Douglas to impressively convert a third-down. Maye then returned to the game with the offense inside the red zone and moved the chains on a fourth-down thanks to one-handed catch by Douglas. The next play, Stevenson walked in for a four-yard touchdown. [Patriots 24 : 13 Titans]
Disaster struck for Cam Ward and the Titans on the first play back with the ball, as the quarterback lost the ball which K’Lavon Chaisson scooped up for a touchdown. [Patriots 31 : 13 Titans]
The Titans offense stayed in neutral on their next drive, as Ward was sacked by Milton Williams on third-down forcing a punt.
Back with the ball, New England faced a third-and-7 where Maye was sacked as the left side of the offensive line failed to pick up a stunt.
A 13-yard completion to Tyler Lockett picked up an opening first-down for the Titans, but New England’s defense then held strong as Chaisson got home for a third-down sack.
A pretty 18-yard completion in the bucket to Diggs on a fade got New England’s offense back on the move. Converting a pair of third downs across midfield, the unit then went backwards as Jared Wilson was on scene for another sack allowed. Maye’s third-down pass was then incomplete leading to a punt.
A pair of completions to Gunnar Helm and a questionable defensive pass interference penalty on Carlton Davis had the Titans offense across midfield. On third-down, former Titan Harold Landry got home on a stunt to record a sack. A fourth-down check down was then complete but short of the sticks leading to a turnover on downs.
Facing a third-and-12 following a false start, Maye rolled to his right and found a completion to Hooper for just eight yards which led to another punt.
Five consecutive check downs to running backs had the Titans offense in New England territory with less than five minutes remaining. The Patriots defense then struck again as Marcus Jones intercepted a deflected pass.
Josh Dobbs came back in the game to finish things off for the Patriots. Five straight runs from Terrell Jennings picked up a pair of first downs which allowed New England to kneel out the clock.
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