Just a week ago, it seemed like the New England Patriots were going to be able to cruise into a Week 17 victory to earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC. They were playing the lowly Miami Dolphins and so long as the Dolphins, who hadn't won in Foxboro since 2008, didn't surprise them, they'd have a week off before likely getting a chance to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Well, not so fast. The Patriots did overlook the Dolphins. Now, they're playing on Wild Card weekend and will have to win to have a chance to play the Chiefs.
The Tennessee Titans will be coming to New England to take on the Patriots. The Titans are 7-3 in their last 10 since making Ryan Tannehill the starting quarterback and now, they'll get a chance to try and give the Patriots their second straight shocking home loss.
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And it's possible that they could.
On the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast, Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry discussed the matchup between the Titans and the Patriots. And both of them identified several areas where the Titans could have an advantage on the Patriots.
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More specifically, Perry spoke about one of the reasons that the Titans may match up better than expected against the Patriots on defense. The Titans run a lot of featuring two or three tight ends. And tight end-heavy sets have been one of the Patriots weaknesses, says Perry.
The Titans are in some ways, because of that, quote on quote, built to win this game. Because they do exactly what the Patriots don't like, which is put big bodies on the field and say you can either try to match up with us with Patrick Chung or Devin McCourty or whoever else you want to throw at these tight ends. Or, we can squeeze them all down toward the line of scrimmage and play smashmouth football and try to run it against you with our 250 pound running back. It's part of the reason they've been so damn effective the last couple of months here.
So if the Titans can use this to wear down the Patriots defense with these formations, it's possible that they could keep this game close, at the very least. And given that they match up well against the Patriots in other aspects of the game, as both Curran and Perry noted, the Patriots certainly can't afford to take the Titans lightly.
For more on the Patriots' first wild card game since 2009, how they match up against the Titans, and where Josh McDaniels could land, check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast, which drops every Tuesday and Thursday as a part of the NBC Sports Boston podcast network.