Don’t Call Out Patriots for Running Up the Score Against Hapless Titans

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Oct 20, 2009

Don't Call Out Patriots for Running Up the Score Against Hapless Titans FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Don’t blame the New England Patriots for the ineptitude of the Tennessee Titans.

After his team’s 59-0 loss on Sunday, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher was asked if he thought the Patriots were running up the score, and he shot down the claim. Naturally, the Patriots can’t escape the belief that they’re running up the score on teams after they had so many lopsided victories in 2007, but that notion shouldn’t hold any weight in Sunday’s game against Tennessee.

The Patriots entered Sunday’s game ranked ninth in the NFL in total offense and 17th in offensive scoring, both of which are far below expectations. Trying to get the offense up to speed while dealing with the return of quarterback Tom Brady and the loss of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels — along with injuries to wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker that have impeded that process — has been a difficult task.

For a team with Super Bowl aspirations and an imposing identity on the offensive side of the ball, these struggles were alarming. While Brady and Co. maintained they had been performing well in practices — particularly with the execution of longer plays — they couldn’t do it in games. Head coach Bill Belichick said the Patriots were the only team in the NFL at that point in the season without a passing play of at least 40 yards or a running play of 20 yards.

New England quickly found its rhythm against the Titans, whose turnovers and broken coverages in the secondary helped contribute to Brady’s NFL-record five second-quarter touchdown passes. It’s not Belichick’s responsibility to slow down his offense and put some makeup on the Titans once they outright gave up.

“We went into the game with a game plan,” Belichick said. “I know the score got out of hand, but we were just trying to run our offense.”

The Patriots weren’t trying to embarrass the Titans. Rather, they were trying to find an offensive rhythm during live game action. They capitalized more often than not and handed the Titans an historic beating as a result, but don’t pin the blame on Belichick, who likely had January on his mind on Sunday — not the Titans’ anemic defense.

Who’s Hot

1. Merely hours after rookie cornerback Darius Butler found out friend and former UConn teammate Jasper Howard was murdered in an on-campus fight, Butler earned his first career start for the Patriots and recorded his first interception. Butler said he was playing with a heavy heart and couldn’t help but think about Howard during the game.

2. Brady had 380 passing yards and six touchdowns, Welker had 10 catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns and Moss had eight receptions for 129 yards and three scores. The Pats’ passing game was just steamrolling the Titans.

3. The Patriots’ defense forced five turnovers against the Titans — three fumbles and two interceptions — to bring their total to 12 on the season. While New England’s offense gets the attention for scoring 35 points in the second quarter, the defense forced three turnovers to set up 21 of those points.

4. Rookie left tackle Sebastian Vollmer earned his first start in place of the injured Matt Light, and he held his own against Tennessee’s tough front seven. Vollmer turns heads with his size — 6-foot-8 and 315 pounds — but the second-rounder’s play is now even more noticeable.

5. Rookie wide receiver Brandon Tate (reserve/non-football injury list) and third-year tackle Mark LeVoir (reserve/physically unable to perform list) will be eligible to practice Tuesday for the first time in the regular season, and Belichick said Monday there is “a pretty good chance that they’ll be out there this week.” Starting Tuesday, the Patriots have three weeks to decide whether or not Tate or LeVoir can return to practice. Once they do return to practice, the Patriots have a 21-day window to place them onto the active roster. If they are not activated by the end of that deadline, their seasons are effectively over, and they’re placed on injured reserve.

6. The Patriots coaching staff also deserves credit for its use of rookie quarterback Brian Hoyer, who replaced Brady in the third quarter. Hoyer completed 9-of-11 passes for 52 yards and added a rushing touchdown in mop-up work, but Belichick didn’t allow Hoyer to just play out the string. The coach made sure Hoyer treated his appearance as an emergency relief situation, keeping members of the first-team offense on the field and allowing him to make his own checks under center. Obviously, they don’t want Hoyer to need that experience this season, but in the event he is called upon, he’s got some live reps to draw from.

Who’s Not
1. Linebacker Adalius Thomas was a healthy scratch for the first time in his three-year Patriots career. Heading into the Titans game, Thomas had just 12 total tackles (11th on the team) and eight solo tackles, according to coaches’ film review. He also recorded one sack, two quarterback hits and one pass defended. At times, Thomas has been invisible on a defense that is playing very strong football, and Belichick opted to go with players who could contribute in different areas of the game.

2. Wide receiver Joey Galloway may be particularly interested in Tate’s situation. If Tate proves he is healthy enough to play and able enough to contribute, Galloway’s tenure in New England could be over. Galloway has been a healthy scratch in each of the last three games. As it currently stands, Moss and Welker aren’t going anywhere, and neither is rookie wideout Julian Edelman. Fourth-string wide receiver Sam Aiken is the special teams captain, so he is secure, too. If Tate — who could be a force on special teams — is activated, there is no reason to believe the Patriots would keep six wide receivers, meaning Galloway would be the odd man out.

3. This is closer to the purgatory section of “Who’s Not,” but defensive coordinator Dean Pees called out his players during Monday’s conference call for missing tackles. When asked about the physical nature and playmaking ability of safeties Brandon Meriweather and Brandon McGowan, Pees responded, “They’re flying around, and they’re playing hard just like the rest of the guys are. The thing we have to do a better job of is missed tackles. They’re costly. They made some great tackles. They made some great plays. I don’t want to in any way, shape or form slow them down from playing hard and aggressive — and we won’t — but at the same time, there’s a time to make the big hit, and there’s a time just to make a tackle. We have to make sure we make that tackle and that ball doesn’t get out.”

Also, earlier in the call, Pees noted the Titans gained an additional 86 rushing yards Sunday after the Patriots had their first chance to record a tackle.

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