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Week 6 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 0, New England Patriots 59
Tennessee Titans
| QB Kerry Collins, Pass: 2 - 12 - -7 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - -1 - 0 |
Collins was worse then awful on Sunday against the Patriots. He completed a swing pass to full back Ahrmad Hall for a 15 yard gain in the first quarter. He then completed another pass for a net of minus-22 yards to Nate Washington. And that was it, seriously. 2 completions for negative 7 yards in a "must-win" game. Believe it or not, there was worse news: Collins fumbled a snap and threw two interceptions as well, thus giving his Patriots counterpart Tom Brady the opportunity to throw an NFL record 5 touchdown passes in one quarter. I'm not sure of the last time that a quarterback played 3 full quarters and completed as many passes to his opponent as he did to his own receivers. While Collins has been prone to mistakes in his career and the Foxboro weather was a near white-out of snow, he had been remarkably consistent in his tenure with the Titans. Sunday was a different story entirely. The combination of the cold and a relentless Patriots pass rush from the edges sent Collins reeling. His deep passes where nowhere near target and his short passes lacked the touch necessary to be caught. This performance -- combined with the Titans 0-6 start -- could easily be the end of Kerry Collins' tenure as a starter in the NFL.
| RB Chris Johnson, Rush: 17 - 128 - 0 (1 targets) |
Johnson was the lone bright spot in the Titans loss to the Patriots. He ran for 128 yards on 17 carries. After a slow start wherein the Titans were held to a 3-and-out on their first possession, Johnson began running wild. He gained 39 yards on his next series (including a 40 yard run reduced to 22 yards after an illegal blocking penalty). His best run came on the Titans first series of the second half; Johnson took the handoff up the middle on the right side, made a cut to the sideline and nearly outran the Patriots defense to the endzone before being forced out of bounds at the 17 after a 48 yard run. Surprisingly, Johnson had positive yardage on all but one of his carries for the day and accounted for 4 of the Titans 7 offensive first downs.
| RB Javon Ringer, Rush: 7 - 47 - 0 |
Rookie Javon Ringer saw his first extended action of the season, replacing Lendale White as the complement to Chris Johnson after White fumbled the ball in New England territory. Ringer averaged 4 yards per carry between the tackles on his first 4 carries before breaking off a 32 yard run that moved the Titans in to Patriots' territory for only the 2nd time all game. After barreling through the line of scrimmage, Ringer found an extra gear in open-field and raced up the field for his longest career gain. He stayed in the game with Vince Young in the fourth quarter but was unable to gain any yardage on his last two touches as the clock wound down.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 6 - 15 - 0 |
Lednale White was used early against the Patriots before being pulled in favor of rookie Javon Ringer after he fumbled the ball early in the second quarter on the Titans first foray in to Patriots' territory. White was run to the right side of the line on all of his carries except for the fumble and had some success generating short-gains in the snow. He finished the day with 15 yards on 7 carries.
| WR Nate Washington, Rec: 1 - -22 - 0 (3 targets) |
The good news was that Nate Washington had one of two Titans receptions on the day. The bad news was that he promptly had the ball stripped and lost 15 yards before he could recover it completely. Washington was also targeted on two deep passes, one by Kerry Collins (intercepted) and another by Vince Young (incomplete).
| WR Justin Gage (2 targets) |
Gage was targeted three times by quarterback Kerry Collins, including two downfield pass attempts, but was unable to make a catch. Gage's only real contribution on Sunday came when he tackled Junior Seau after Seau recovered a Titans' fumble in Patriot territory.
| WR Kenny Britt (4 targets) |
Britt did not have a reception on Sunday but did have a costly illegal blocking penalty called on him after Chris Johnson had sprung loose for a 40 yard gain. The penalty brought the ball back 18 yards and in to Titans territory. Otherwise, Britt's affect on the game was minimal. He was targeted on a handful of passes -- including two long passes to the middle of the field - but was not able to make a reception.
| TE Alge Crumpler (1 targets) |
Crumpler was the invisible man in the Titans offense on Sunday, as hard to believe as that may seem. Aside from a 15 yard kickoff return on a squib kick, Crumpler was only targeted twice all day, including one short hook pattern that was jumped by Patriots cornerback Patrick Chung and intercepted. Offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger was unable to get the ball to Crumpler or Chris Johnson despite the obvious trouble in the long passing game.
New England Patriots
| QB Tom Brady, Pass: 29 - 34 - 380 - 6 TD / 0 INT |
Tom Brady finally returned to 2007 form against the Titans, torching the defense for 380 yards in 35 minutes of work. Included in the torrid outing were 5 -- FIVE -- touchdowns in the 2nd quarter, an NFL record. The two most impressive things about Brady were his accuracy in snowy Foxboro weather (he completed 19 of his first 20 passes) and his ability to get both Randy Moss and Wes Welker involved. Brady's two favorite receivers combined for 5 touchdowns and each had well over 100 yards receiving. Brady took advantage of a bad Titans defense that was moving tentatively through the snow. Brady was accurate on throws all over the field and was particularly impressive throwing outside the hashmarks. Just as impressive, Brady seemed to find the most wide open receiver every time he dropped back to pass. The Titans' pass-rush was non-existent so he had plenty of time to scan the field, make the right decision, and follow it with a great pass. The rest of the AFC is in for a long season if conditions continue to develop that allow Brady time to find his favorite targets, regardless of down and distance.
| QB Brian Hoyer, Pass: 9 - 11 - 52 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 6 - -2 - 1 |
Hoyer, a rookie free agent out of Michigan State, saw his first regular season action and completed a respectable 9 passes in 11 attempts against the Titans. Hoyer was quick to adapt to the chilly conditions. He completed his first pass for a first down on 2nd and 10 and then completed his next 3 throws before sneaking the ball in for a touchdown from the Tennessee 1. Most of Hoyer's throws were on short routes outside of the hashmarks. While he certainly has a long way to go before being compared to Tom Brady, Hoyer's debut demonstrated that the Patriots may have an able signal caller backing up their All-Pro starter.
| RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 16 - 123 - 1, Rec: 3 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Maroney entered the game after Sammie Morris was injured on the third play from scrimmage. Maroney took full advantage of the opportunity, taking his first three touches for 22 yards before ripping off an impressive 45 yard run up the middle for a touchdown. Most of Maroney's carries between the tackles gouged the Titans for 7 or more yards. He was less successful to the outside but still managed to cut back upfield and gain 3 or 4 yards on most of his touches around the end. If Morris and Fred Taylor continue to miss time to injury, Maroney could put together a nice season as the Patriots vaunted passing offense opens up the box for the run game.
| RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Rush: 7 - 67 - 0, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (3 targets) |
Green-Ellis had one of the best games of his career against Tennessee, 88 yards on 9 touches. The only downside to Green-Ellis's game was that he didn't score in the 59-0 route. Green-Ellis ran powerfully between the tackles and didn't show and hesitation running at full speed (and with full power) in the Foxboro snow. His best run came on a carry off the right guard and the Titans had 10 men within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. Green-Ellis quickly tore through the line and was brought down by Chris Hope, the lone Titans defender waiting for him deep.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 1 - 5 - 0, Rec: 3 - 54 - 1 (3 targets) |
Faulk played a bit role against the Titans, mostly due to the quick success of Lawrence Maroney and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. However, Faulk made the most of his opportunities, particularly in the passing game. Tom Brady found him as an outlet on screen passes twice before Faulk's third reception resulted in a 38 yard touchdown during the Patriots' record-setting 2nd quarter. Faulk took a designed-screen off the right side and followed his blocker for 20 yards before cutting to the outside and diving across the goalline as two Titans tried to take him down. The play showed the precision of the Patriots' passing gameplan as Faulk had not one but two offensive linemen running with him downfield with no one to block for 20 yards.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Morris started the game for the Patriots and had a reception in the first series for 3 yards. Unfortunately, Morris was tackled on the play by Keith Bullock and Tony Brown and came up injured. He did not return, opening the door for BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Lawrence Maroney to have big days.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 10 - 150 - 2 (11 targets) |
Welker finished the day with 10 catches for a career high 150 yards. Outside of his 48 yard reception and 30 yard touchdown, Welker was primarily targeted on slants and crossing routes to the middle of the field. He was able to catch 7 balls for an average of 9 yards each during long Patriots' drive and has clearly regained his rapport with Tom Brady from the 2007 season. Welker seemed to have no trouble accelerating and cutting in the snow proved to be too much for the Titans linebackers to match up against. Welker had a 30 yard touchdown reception during the Patriots' record-setting 2nd quarter and followed that up with an 8 yard score less then 90 seconds later. On the 30 yard reception, Welker lined up in the slot and ran an out pattern to the right sideline as the Titans had rolled a safety over to Randy Moss's side. Brady found Welker standing wide open at the 10 yard line and tossed him the ball. Welker trotted in for the touchdown untouched without a single Titan in sight until he had crossed the goalline.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 8 - 129 - 3 (10 targets) |
Against the Titans, Randy Moss was, well, Randy Moss. He caught 8 passes for 129 yards and 3 touchdowns and, frankly, made the job of NFL wide receiver look far too easy. Despite the Titans best attempts at double and triple coverage, Moss always seemed to find himself open when the ball came his way. On his first touchdown (off of a flea-flicker) Moss was a few yards behind three Titans defenders, loping from right to left as the ball fell perfectly in to his hands for a score. Moss was targeted primarily outside of the hash-marks and even when the Titans rolled a safety to his side to take away the deep-route, his synchronicity with quarterback Tom Brady was too much to stop.
| WR Julian Edelman, Rec: 6 - 43 - 0 (6 targets) |
Edelman continued to make a name for himself against the Titans with 6 catches for 43 yards and was used primarily on the same crossing routes and slants that had led to so much success for Wes Welker. The Titans tried to cover Edelman with a nickel corner in most situations but gave him far too much cushion at the line of scrimmage, allowing Edelman to make most of his receptions long before any Titans came up to cover him.
| WR Sam Aiken, Rec: 4 - 30 - 0 (7 targets) |
Little used wide-receiver Sam Aiken got in on the act Sunday against the Titans. Aiken caught 4 passes for 30 yards and was targeted by both Tom Brady and Brian Hoyer throughout the game as he rotated in with Julian Edelman as the Patriots' fourth receiver. Aiken's best catch came on a 12 yard completion from Brady that was challenged but upheld after replay confirmed that Aiken had gotten both feet down on the catch.