The Live Feed of Sunday’s Patriots-Titans Week 1 showdown:
1:05 pm EDT: First 3rd down of the season and Jake Locker completes a pass to Kendall Wright for the 1st down, the more things change the more they stay the same for the Pats D.
1:07: Tough pass interference call on Ras-I Dowling, he was also beat on the 3rd down conversion.
1:10: Titans go for it on 4th and inches, Locker finds Jared Cook. Ah yes, I remember this Patriots defense well.
1:13: Patriots defense gets a stop on 3rd down and Titans settle for a field goal, that’s a win the way that drive was looking for Tennessee.
1:16: Devin McCourty takes New England’s first kickoff, I’ll take him over Danny Woodhead or Julian Edelman, but miss you already Jeff Demps!
1:19: Aaron Hernandez with an 8-yard catch and run on New England’s first play from scrimmage. I’m expecting big things from him this season.
1:19: Nice 17-yard run by Stevan Ridley as the Pats go no-huddle. Yikes, Brandon Lloyd drops a relatively easy deep ball after getting turned around.
1:22: Let the Wes Welker being distracted fake controversy begin after he drops a 3rd down pass from Brady.
1:25: Phil Simms has his first Patriots-related orgasm, waxing poetic about their defensive line. On cue, the defense gets a stop on 3rd down. Thanks Phil.
1:29: Rob Gronkowski’s 1st catch of the season is for 28 yards.
1:30: Ridley is cooking too, a spin move leads to 17 yards.
1:32: 23-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Aaron Hernandez. Great job by Brady to step up in the pocket and find Hernandez. The Titans double-teamed Gronk, giving Hernandez more space to operate on the other side.
1:37: Impressive throw (19 yards) from Locker to Jared Cook on 3rd down, Pats secondary was right there but he held on after a decent hit.
End of 1st quarter: Patriots 7, Titans 3
1:41: Tavon Wilson records his 1st career interception (also Locker’s 1st) after Kyle Arrington knocks the ball up while covering Nate Washington on a deep ball. Great play.
1:42: Lloyd makes what looked like a beautiful 28-yard catch along the sideline, tapping both feet. The Titans challenge it, I feel like it should stand.
1:46: It does, hell of a grab by Lloyd.
1:48: Kamerion Wimbley sacks Brady on 3rd down. He should have gotten rid of it faster, then again he barely had any time. He also gets a bloody nose for his troubles, Uggs will not be happy about that.
1:53: So yeah, Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower are good football players. Jones causes a fumble, Hightower scoops it up for a 6-yard fumble return and TD. Wow, love it.
2:02: Tennessee comically interferes with Julian Edelman on a punt return; Brady looks like Hurricane Peter McNeely all bandaged up with gauze in his nostril.
2:05: Ridley is up to 50 yards on 8 carries, stats are for losers but he looks really explosive.
2:07: Brady throws one too far for Welker, who doesn’t have a catch yet.
2:10: Brady and Josh McDaniels are spreading it around beautifully, direct snap to Hernandez, pass to Edelman, pass to Welker.
2:13: Bon Jovi and the Krafts hanging out in the owner’s box, no doubt Jonathan is checking his fantasy team on his iPad.
2:15: First Brady to Gronkowski touchdown pass of the season. Titans had good coverage too, that play is basically unstoppable. It was reviewed but it stands. 21-3, this could get out of hand. All of New England laughed as the Gronk spike didn’t happen, the ball slipped out of his massive hands before he could do it.
2:21 p.m.: You know things are going your way when Jermaine Cunningham is making plays, haha sack for everyone’s favorite bust.
Halftime: Patriots 21, Titans 3. New England is off to a great start, more of the same effort and execution in the second half and this will be an easy win. They are taking advantage of another scrub quarterback and average at best opponent.
2nd Half
2:40: Plenty of highlights from that 59-0 beating in 2009 that the Patriots threw the Titans in the October snowstorm. The biggest joke of an NFL game I’ve ever seen.
2:43: Edelman juggles and supposedly drops a quick screen from Brady, that was close. Regardless, the Pats are forced to punt.
2:48: Cook with a 35-yard grab, he was wide open.
2:50: 29-yard touchdown pass from Locker to Nate Washington. Excellent play to stay alive (while Jones was about to sack him) and finding Washington who broke a few tackles. Titans are back in it, down 21-10.
2:55: Hernandez makes a catch but appears to tweak his knee/ankle a bit.
3:00: Two possessions for the Pats in the 2nd half, 2 punts.
3:03: Locker throws a pass right to Devin McCourty. He caught it but then it squirted out so it is being reviewed. Could go either way.
3:06: The immortal Jerry Frump (classic name) announces that it’s an incompletion. Oh well.
3:08: Haha who is calling the plays for Tennessee? A quick screen on 3rd and 15, backed up on their own goalline. Shocked that didn’t go the distance.
3:13: Ridley is over 100 yards (105 for the game) and he adds to that with a 1-yard touchdown run. He looks great, he’s running very hard. First career 100-yard game.
3:18: Vince Wilfork with the rare kill shot on Locker, haha let the big man eat.
End of 3rd quarter: Patriots 28, Titans 10. This one is all but over, I can’t see Tennessee coming back at this point. Remember when Chris Johnson had 2000 rushing yards? Now he’s just another guy, such a painfully short shelf life for top-flight NFL running backs.
3:22: Scary play as Washington got knocked out after making a catch and fumbling; to make matters worse, Patrick Chung picked it up and Locker hurt his shoulder making the tackle at the end of the play.
3:27: Correctly ruled an incompletion, Washington walked off the field and BC’s Matt Hasselbeck is in the game.
3:33: Wilfork tackles Johnson in the backfield.
3:35: Good coverage by Chung on Cook forces an incompletion on 3rd down. Sneaky big stop, Wilfork’s play changed that series. Titans settle for a field goal, they trail 28-13 w/9:17 left.
3:38: Matthew Slater returning kickoffs is never a good thing.
3:41: Pretty backshoulder catch by Lloyd. As always, the preseason means nothing. They have good chemistry already.
3:45: Titans were scared to death to take risks, hence the field goal and now they’re letting Ridley and Woodhead run it down their throats. Not how you want to attack the Patriots.
3:49: Pats settle for a 25-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal but they took 5+ minutes off the clock which is just as important. 31-13 w/4:15 left. This is over.
3:52: Surprised that it took this long for a shot of the McCourtys mom with her half Patriots-half Titans jersey. Somewhere Brady Quinn’s sister begs to be remembered.
3:59: Nantz and Simms are cracking terrible jokes, can you say garbage time? Gostkowski adds another field goal. Patriots probably going to win 34-13.
4:02: New England transplants/floozies with cardboard cutouts of Brady with different looks. Well done ladies and the exclamation point, some drunko from Southie pops up at the end.
Final: Patriots 34, Titans 13. Business as usual, New England wins its ninth straight opener thanks to Ridley’s 125 rushing yards & TD; 2 TDs from Brady and 2 turnovers from the Pats’ new and improved defense.
