New England Patriots @ Tennessee Titans
Final Score: Patriots 31, Titans 13
Writer: Griffey Geiss (@ggeiss_mlb and @ggeiss_PL on Twitter)
This game was thoroughly won by the Patriots. Clean football with limited penalties for once, no turnovers, a massive boost in the run game, and elite QB play by Drake Maye. Everything is coming together at once for this team — offense, defense, and special teams. The Patriots look the part seemingly en route to a top seed in the AFC. As for the Titans, they showed glimpses but overall made some really poor mistakes. Cam Ward‘s turnover issue continues to be a problem, he added two more to his season total Sunday, and they really don’t have anything exciting going on offense. Perhaps Chimere Dike could be that guy we keep an eye on moving forward?
Three Up
- Drake Maye — Continues to prove he’s a top-five QB.
- Rhamondre Stevenson — Most rushing yards a game since Oct. 6 of last year.
- Chimere Dike — Turned in his best game as a pro.
Three Down
- TreVeyon Henderson — His role continues to be a question mark.
- Tony Pollard — Brutal day in the run game, plus Tyjae Spears continues to look good in limited samples.
- Elic Ayomanor — Despite the volume, couldn’t get anything to stick.
New England Patriots
Quarterback
Drake Maye: 21/23, 222 yards, 2 TDs | 8 carries, 62 yards
Drake Maye? Drake Maye. He’s elite … need I say more? The young phenom continues to dominate the competition left and right, spreading the wealth to all of his targets, getting creative when the play breaks down, and using his legs when he needs to. Not to mention, the efficiency is (literally) second to none. Maye leads the AFC in completion percentage and passing yards, ranks second in average yards per attempt, and boasts a lovely 112.5 passer rating. He is a top-five QB despite a shaky offensive line and iffy weapons outside of his WR1 and TE1. Maye did briefly leave to get checked out for a head injury, but returned almost immediately.
Missed Opportunities
- Overthrew Kyle Williams in tight coverage on third down.
Josh Dobbs: 1/1, 12 yards | 2 carries, -2 yards
Josh Dobbs took over for Maye while he was in the tent, converting a huge third down on a nifty move in the pocket to evade a defender. This conversion led to the Patriots scoring a touchdown. He also took the two knees at the end of the game.
Running Back
Rhamondre Stevenson: 18 carries, 88 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 0 yards
Where has this Rhamondre Stevenson been all year? My goodness, he looked like a totally different player. Stevenson had 11 of his touches in the first half where he really showed out, playing 42 of 45 snaps and breaking off four consecutive runs or 8 or more yards to start the game. It was clear he became the Pats’ every-down back and he proved their decision to be correct. Stevenson entered the game with 88 rush yards in his past four games. He tied that number on 18 carries Sunday.
Terell Jennings: 5 carries, 18 yards
Terrell Jennings, elevated from the practice squad, finished off the game in garbage time.
TreVeyon Henderson: 2 carries, 5 yards
TreVeyon Henderson was elite during the preseason, but simply hasn’t been able to generate any sort of consistent sample size in the regular season. He’s become borderline droppable in some shallower leagues, and I don’t blame fantasy managers if they do make a move. He only played nine snaps Sunday. Then again, he could very well break out in the second half, especially with Stevenson’s fumble habits and the loss of Antonio Gibson. He sits 9 yards behind Stevenson’s team lead in rushing yards despite far fewer opportunities in terms of snap count and carries. Quite the predicament.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Stefon Diggs: 7 targets, 7 receptions, 69 yards
Stefon Diggs continues to excel in his new role with New England. He’s hauling in passes on all types of routes and making guys miss in the open field to gain yards after the catch, despite apparently being “50% comfortable” in the Pats’ system. Things are looking good for New England’s WR1.
Kayshon Boutte: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 55 yards, TD
Kayshon Boutte is becoming a must-roster in deeper leagues, developing into Maye’s go-to WR2. His four touchdown receptions lead the team. He has three total over his last four games.
Mack Hollins: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 49 yards | 1 carry, 4 yards
Mack Hollins continues to be effective as a swiss army knife option in New England, turning in great numbers as a blocker and hauling in a few catches if need-be.
Hunter Henry: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 33 yards
Henry saw a slight tick down in usage this week. As PFF noted, Henry entered the game playing 91.4% of 12 personnel snaps. Sunday? Just six of 13 (46.1%). He was still targeted often (second-most on the team) and ranked second in total snaps among pass catchers.
Demario Douglas: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 17 yards
After losing his job after some brutal mistakes early in the year, Demario Douglas has found a small role to fulfill and he’s found quite a bit of success. He has 10 catches for 105 yards over the past three weeks.
Austin Hooper: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 11 yards, TD
Austin Hooper caught his first touchdown pass of the year on what was maybe the greatest catch of the week, leaping up and Mossing the ball over the defensive back.
Kyle Williams: 1 target
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback
Cam Ward: 25/34, 255 yards, TD, INT, fumble (lost)
Cam Ward showed some poise and made some plays, but overall there was nothing notable from his performance. There were glimpses of his ceiling — his touchdown pass to Chimere Dike was quite beautiful — but he continues to turn the ball over left and right. His fumble resulted in a scoop and score, plus the interception is what dealt the final blow to the Titans’ chances coming back in this game. I will say, he did go to make a turnover-worthy play, faked the toss, and took the sack instead which is huge progress.
People need to get a grip (pun intended … sorry, I had to), Ward is not a bust yet after a minuscule sample size. He’s making rookie mistakes and fixable ones at that. He produced his best passer rating and completion percentage as a pro Sunday.
Running Back
Tyjae Spears: 5 carries, 22 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 18 yards
Tyjae Spears made the most of his 23 snaps, being active in both the passing and running game. He’s averaging a whopping 4.8 yards per attempt through a limited sample size — perhaps we see that tick up soon?
Tony Pollard: 6 carries, 18 yards | 6 targets, 6 receptions, 43 yards
Tony Pollard couldn’t get much working on the ground, turning in sub-20 rushing yards for the first time since Nov. 17, averaging just 3 yards per attempt and going for a long of 6. Yet, he was able to haul in a season-high six targets, his most since Dec. 1. That should alleviate the pain from his disappearance in the run game, but this is something to note.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Chimere Dike: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 70 yards, TD | 1 carry, -1 yard
Chimere Dike, Tennessee’s fourth-round selection this year, turned in by far his best game as a pro despite splitting snaps. All of his pass-catching production was logged in the first quarter, where Dike put on a clinic — even when (at tines) facing a tough challenge in being guarded by Christian Gonzalez. Dike also returned three kicks for 84 yards and a punt for 15 yards. A really good day all-around. I’d look to possibly stash him in a deeper league.
Van Jefferson: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 41 yards
Van Jefferson, who was limited in practice this week, was really solid early. He hauled in three catches in the second quarter, but did end up leaving with an apparent injury. Jefferson then returned and finally caught his fourth target in the fourth quarter. Even despite the injury, Jefferson played the second-most snaps on offense.
Gunnar Helm: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 36 yards
Gunnar Helm saw a snap rate over 50% for the second consecutive week and turned in a 36 yards, his single-game high. The stock for the 2025 fourth-rounder is rising, slowly but surely.
Elic Ayomanor: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 29 yards
Elic Ayonamor was tied for a team-high in targets and led the offense in snaps and routes run by a wide margin, but couldn’t get anything brewing. With Calvin Ridley out, Ayomanor saw a majority of his time as the Z receiver.
Tyler Lockett: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards
Chig Okonkwo: 2 targets