New England Patriots @ Tennessee Titans
Final Score: Tennessee Titans 20, New England Patriots 17
Writer: Matt Bevins (MattBQBlist on Reddit/X)
The New England Patriots are circling the drain in their slow, droning path to a top 5 pick in next year’s draft. The Titans are somewhere between cellar dwellers and top pick holders, as their moving on from DeAndre Hopkins signaled a white flag with their blueish team-colored tint to it. This game was oddly satisfying to someone who appreciates a good defensive slog, but otherwise, this game didn’t give us much to chew on (this was written up before the final 5 minutes of the game). The game wasn’t fascinating until the Patriots turned on their afterburners late. You’ll see it all next week, but the 13-second pocket scramble that Drake Maye performed on the final play of the regular game time will be one of the better highlights of a throwaway Pats’ season. Mason Rudolph played solid enough and is making the case that when he can return, Will Levis, a.k.a Mr. Mayo, can sit and be an understudy for the rest of the season.
New England Patriots
Quarterback
Drake Maye: 29/41, 206 Yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs | 8 carries, 95 yards
The Patriots have spent a lot of their season trying to keep Drake Maye off the field, wielding consistent “NO’s” to the questions asked while riding the tired and weary body of Jacoby Brissett. Brissett made their decisions a bit harder a few weeks back when the team was riding a 4-week losing streak, and Brissett wasn’t looking too good during them. Maye has not gone on to win very many of his first starts, but he’s starting to gain some trust and interest from the Patriots faithful. Despite losing this game 17-20, Maye may have turned the corner today. While the game was a matchup where both teams threw punches, the Patriots always felt on the verge of blowing the game, but on the final drive of the first four quarters, Drake Maye made himself a player of notice in New England and may have gained a lot more fans today. Maye had 4 seconds on the clock and a few yards to gain to tie the game (down 7). The pocket started to melt quickly, and Maye ended up performing some amazing footwork (over 13 timed seconds) before he was able to find Rhamondre Stevenson heading to the corner of the end zone. Maye isn’t a top 10 QB just yet, but his ability to rush out on broken pockets while also being able to hold the ball for longer if need be may make him a quarterback to watch in 2025.
What should also be mentioned is that there were times in this game when Maye showed growing pains, and one of those was seen very evidently when Maye threw a pass over the middle while being hurried and severely underthrew his target with an interception. This play, though…
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1853181249935888478
Running Back
Rhamondre Stevenson: 10 carries, 16 yards, 1 TD | 5 targets, 5 receptions, 38 yards, 1 TD
Antonio Gibson: 1 carry, -1 yard | 1 target, 1 reception, 12 yards
Rhamondre Stevenson was almost a game-saver for the Pats at the end of the game, but that doesn’t take away from the fact he was very inefficient on the ground. He was unable to make much movement in this game, and his style of bruising downhill rushing was not seen at all today. While it’s nice to see Stevenson not fumbling the ball, you still need the man to rush through the given holes like he’s running away from a stick of lit dynamite. The touchdown on the short rush and the touchdown on the game-ending pass saved his day for fantasy purposes, but it was a really ugly way to get there. Despite the ugly nature of his box score, it wasn’t like anyone else capitalized in the backfield, as Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty combined for one carry behind him.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Demario Douglas: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 35 yards
Kayshoun Boutte: 6 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Hunter Henry: 8 targets, 7 receptions, 56 yards
Kendrick Bourne: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 61 yards
The wide receiver room is really interesting to watch develop in real-time with Drake Maye. Maye spent a large portion of the preseason bonding with players like Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas, and now both are going to see the majority of Maye’s pass attempts. Maye didn’t move the team down the field in large chunks, and it seemed as if both team’s defenses were just giving away field position via punt. The two players who may be starting to see consistent targets are Demario Douglas and Hunter Henry. Henry is continuing to leverage his body type as the big-bodied middle-of-the-field threat into consistent targets, and he may be a key to Maye’s growth as a quarterback. Demario Douglas can make plays, and his career will likely grow with Maye’s as well, but there remains to be seen why this team cannot find a legitimate 1a wide receiver like so many teams are starting to be in pursuit of. There were various points in this game where the balance of the matchup was in the hands of the offense, and the Patriots couldn’t find a player to make a play.
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback
Mason Rudolph: 20/33, 240 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT | 4 carries, 19 yards
Mason Rudolph is only “the starting quarterback” until Will Levis returns from injury, but his ability to control and run an offense may be just enough to keep this job and try to build out some value for what’s left of offensive weapons in Tennessee. Mason plays the game slow and poised behind center, and there isn’t a lot of spice or exciting playmaking to be made when he’s running the offense. Without DeAndre Hopkins, this team has a few options on offense but never really finds an identity, time and time again. The offense was saved today by Tony Pollard and his ability to rush downfield and make the necessary cuts when needed. Early on in the game, the quarterback found Nick Vannett for a touchdown in the left corner of the endzone on a soft pass. Other than this, the team looked to mostly avoid any harm and played a relatively conservative offensive effort. Rudolph will not be an exciting option in fantasy and may be one of the lowest-impact fantasy players you can find at the position.
Running Back
Tony Pollard: 28 carries, 128 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 26 yards
Julius Chestnut: 5 carries, 22 yards
Tony Pollard was the #1 offensive player in this game, and he’s mostly what kept the Titans from losing this game. His efforts and downhill rushing prowess make him the engine that the team revolves around. Stymied last year in Dallas, Pollard is now a defacto stud running back and can chew up yardage. He was unable to leverage his rushing efforts into a touchdown, and the first drive looked primed for one before the pass to Vannett. Pollard took a rush in the first half for over 20 yards on a double cutback to chew through defenders. Pollard was able to take a rough offensive effort and still averaged almost five yards per carry. The team will continue to flounder but will hold the offense to a mostly rush first option.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Calvin Ridley: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 73 yards
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 50 yards, 1 TD
Chig Okonkwo: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards
Nick Vannett: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 33 yards, 1 TD
The Titans’ offense is predicated on ground and pound due to their lack of depth behind center. Going out and signing Calvin Ridley may finally be looking like it’s turning the corner to being a good thing. He’s running sold routes as well as looking for ways to get open, and this is, oddly enough, something that isn’t seen enough here in Tennessee. Ridley quietly had a solid day, but the team may have also found their number 2 today in Nick Westbrook0-Ikhine. Westbrook-Ikhine has been on the brink of being something here in Tennessee for a long time, but given the team’s usual tight purse around free-agent wide receivers, he may be just running routes into the next couple of years without a reliable number 2 option breathing down his neck. Westbrook-Ikhine broke to the edge on a shotgun formation and broke free from Jonathan Jones with ease. When a backup quarterback becomes the team’s starting option, they usually have a player or two they’ve jived with more on the practice fields, and it looks like we may have found the one that Rudolph has in mind. He now has a receiving touchdown in each of the past four games.