Patriots Top Titans 34-13

As expected, the Patriots started their ninth consecutive season with a win, this time a 34-13 over the rebuilding Titans in Tennessee.  The win put the Patriots atop the AFC East, tied with the victorious New York Jets.  And next week they hold their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals, who showed little offense under QB John Skelton in eking out a win over Seattle.

The Titans play a soft zone defense, so they had little chance of stopping the Patriots offense.  Tennessee was also the perfect team to face early in the season, given that they rarely blitz and play little man-to-man.  Those kind of defenses could have caused problems with the troubled Patriots offensive line.  But with the soft zone, Tom Brady faced only mild pressure and was hit very few times -- while slicing through the Titans like a skilled surgeon.

The Patriots used up-tempo offense and the running game to mask their offensive line problems.  And there were problems, specifically at the edges.  Nate Solder got beaten a few times and Sebastian Vollmer did okay but not great -- as most of the pressure came from outside.  Brady did a nice job moving in the pocket to buy time when there were missed assignments.  And overall the interior linemen did a very good job.

Brady was not perfect, throwing several passes at receivers' feet and missing a few timing throws down field.  But he ended the day an efficient 23 of 31 for 236 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions (117.1 QB rating).  Not bad for a guy with a busted nose, which he got on the only Tennessee sack of the day.  He was hit a few times, too, but overall did a nice job checking into and out of plays and going no-huddle to keep the Titans guessing.

It was surprising that it was Stevan Ridley who ran 21 times for 125 yards, while Tennessee back Chris Johnson had just 4 yards (his career low).  If Ridley can correct his fumble-itis from last year, he has a chance to be a star in this league.  He runs under control, so he can make multiple moves as he goes down the field, and he catches the ball well out of the backfield and blocks nicely on blitzes.

The tight ends carried the load among receivers.  Rob Gronkowski pulled in 6 catches for 60 yards (and a nifty touchdown), and Aaron Hernandez got 6 of his own for 59 yards.  And Brandon Lloyd did a credible job, messing up a few times, but grabbing 5 for 69 yards of his own.  You could see his talent on a sideline catch that had him looking like Spiderman to get both feet down.  Once he and Brady get their timing down, you'll see his name on top of the receivers list most weeks.

Both Danny Woodhead and Wes Welker were almost completely ineffective.  Woodhead had one nice run around right end, but he ended the day with 6 rushes for 20 yards and no catches out of the backfield.  And Welker grabbed only 3 catches for a meager 14 yards, and converted only one first down.  (Trivia question: when was the last time Welker had fewer catches and yards in a game -- answer below.)

Maybe missing the preseason set them back, or perhaps the other weapons have surpassed them.  The next few weeks should tell the tale.  I expect Welker to return to form, but I was never sure Woodhead was the final answer as a third-down back.  Although they don't have a lot of good options if he isn't the answer.

All three defensive groups were better yesterday than they were last year.  The line shut down the inside run, the linebackers closed off the wide runs, and the secondary gave up some yards but made big plays when necessary.  Still a work in progress with all the rookies and new guys, but a very good first effort.  And it was mostly old-fashioned beating the player across from you -- should be interesting once they put more exotic packages back into the playbook.

The interior line had a stellar day.  Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, and Brandon Deaderick make a brick wall that no one was getting through.  On the outside, rookie Chandler Jones got his first sack and forced a fumble on the play, and he got inside pressure a few times.  But most impressive was his discipline at holding the edge against the run.  It meant he couldn't just pass rush with abandon, but he did it anyway, which is what Belichick requires.

The new linebacker alignment, with Jerod Mayo and Dont'a Hightower outside, and Brandon Spikes and some relief inside, worked out perfectly.  Mayo (13 tackles) and Hightower (5) stopped any runs that breached the defensive line.  And even though their pass coverage wasn't perfect, they made sure tackles after catches, and Mayo even knocked away one pass.  Even Jermaine Cunningham got into the act, with 3 tackles, a sack, and QB pressure that was a tick late to stop a touchdown pass.

In the secondary, the results were more mixed.  Nickel back Ras-I Dowling played the part of the whipping boy, repeatedly targeted and torched early in the game.  (In fact, if not for some Tennessee dropped passes, people might be calling for Dowling to be cut today.)  Fortunately, there were no understudies to Dowling -- both Kyle Arrington and Devin McCourty were beaten a time or two but played well overall.  In fact, McCourty was second on the team in tackles (7) and had 2 passes defended.

Safety play was much better than the dreadful stuff they trotted out last year.  New man Steve Gregory only got beaten once that I saw, and Patrick Chung was flawless.  Only one problem with Chung, he went out with an injury (extent unknown at this point, of course).  Rookie Tavon Wilson made a nice play on an interception, and the secondary overall benefited from some Tennessee dropped passes.  But a step up in any event.

Special teams were absolutely brilliant on the day.  Of the Titans 11 possessions, 10 of them started at or inside their own 20 yard-line.  And the 11th one started at their 21 yard-line.  Aside from one touchback, a great day of punting from Zoltan Mesko.  And kicker Stephen Gostkowski not only drilled his scoring kicks right down the middle, he made a tackle on one kickoff return.

The coaching was a bit above the norm.  Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels was smart to keep Brady away from long passes that require lots of time and protection.  And his commitment to the running game is refreshing and should pay dividends down the road.  On defense, Matt Patricia's players gave up a 12-play 70 drive to start the game, but their adjustments shut down the Titans for the rest of the half and held the opponent to field goals on two very long drives (12-plays and 16-plays).

So where does this leave us?  1-0 is better than 0-1.  The Pats have now won nine season openers in a row, and they should be 2-0 after next week's game against Arizona.  It has to happen -- my predictions are perfect to this point in the season :)

Statistical Oddity of the Week: Aside from the kneel-down to end the first half, every single Patriots drive reached at least their own 45 yard-line -- and 7 out of 9 ended up in Tennessee territory.

Telling Statistic of the Week: 10 of the 18 players who made tackles for the Patriots yesterday did not make any tackles for the team on opening day 2011.

Weekly Water-cooler Wisdom: "The secondary still scares me against good quarterbacks, but no one will run on this team."

Keep the faith,

- Scott

PS.  1-0!

PPS.  Trivia Answer:

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Welker had 1 catch for 12 yards against the Houston Texans on 1/3/2010.  He left that game with a disastrous knee injury that cost him the chance to play the next week in the playoffs.