Game Thread: Pre-Season Game 2 - Patriots vs Titans

[BigKen]

Second game in two weeks with a team that beat the Patriots in 2018.

Titans under Mike Vrabel are trying to build a stronger defensive team than they were known for in the past. Typical Belichick mentality, build a strong defense abd the offense will follow.

Titans beat the Easgles in their first preseason game 27-10. All indications are that the defense is much improved from 2018 and that the Titans just might be ready to knock off the Colts from the top spot in the AFC South.

Patriots will fly out tomorrow and have combined practices with the Titans on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is a scheduled walk-thru and the game is scheduled for 7:30 PM Saturday night.

Up here in New England, they're being covered by WBZ the Boston CBS affiliate.

 

[Yankee Traveler]

Down here in Tennessee it will be covered by....who cares, I'll be there!!

Probably the only Pats game I make this year.

 

[nefansince75]

Second game in two weeks with a team that beat the Patriots in 2018.

Titans under Mike Vrabel are trying to build a stronger defensive team than they were known for in the past. Typical Belichick mentality, build a strong defense abd the offense will follow.

Titans beat the Easgles in their first preseason game 27-10. All indications are that the defense is much improved from 2018 and that the Titans just might be ready to knock off the Colts from the top spot in the AFC South.

Patriots will fly out tomorrow and have combined practices with the Titans on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is a scheduled walk-thru and the game is scheduled for 7:30 PM Saturday night.

Up here in New England, they're being covered by WBZ the Boston CBS affiliate.

Does the 2018 outcome matter since the pats managed to salvage the season?

 

[BigKen]

Does the 2018 outcome matter since the pats managed to salvage the season?

The Patriots have historically struggled against teams that have previously beaten them within a year. Vrabel has done a much better job with the Titans than Patricia has done with the Lions. That and I believe that Vrabel will crank up his team like they're playing for the AFC Championship. As will every coach the Pats face this year.

 

[BigKen]

The first cuts will start after this game. Teams now keep 90 guys until after game 3 when they usually trim to 70. 10 of them will be PS players if they don't get snagged by another team. The new rules that were put into place last year make grabbing another team's PS players a bit costly because the team that takes a player must put him on the 53 man roster and can't sign a guy and stick him on their PS.

BB doesn't like to keep the full complement after Game 2. He generally has 17-20 guys that he wants to fight it out for the PS and if they really think that a player is worth protecting, they bump his pay and get his loyalty.

Starters are scheduled to play at least one full quarter and some will get two this week.

 

[nefansince75]

The Patriots have historically struggled against teams that have previously beaten them within a year. Vrabel has done a much better job with the Titans than Patricia has done with the Lions. That and I believe that Vrabel will crank up his team like they're playing for the AFC Championship. As will every coach the Pats face this year.

We actually want the Pats to lose THIS game because you learn more from failures than successes. In theory winning a bad game is better but this is preseason so who cares who wins?

Don't take me literal. I'm just magnifying the insignificance of preseason wins.

 

[Southieinnc]

The first cuts will start after this game. Teams now keep 90 guys until after game 3 when they usually trim to 70. 10 of them will be PS players if they don't get snagged by another team. The new rules that were put into place last year make grabbing another team's PS players a bit costly because the team that takes a player must put him on the 53 man roster and can't sign a guy and stick him on their PS.

BB doesn't like to keep the full complement after Game 2. He generally has 17-20 guys that he wants to fight it out for the PS and if they really think that a player is worth protecting, they bump his pay and get his loyalty.

Starters are scheduled to play at least one full quarter and some will get two this week.

BB will make cuts but does he have to?

NFL owners eliminate first roster cut-down period

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

Looking back at the two years that rule change has been in effect, it seems the preponderance of moves were made at the final cutdown day or very close to it.

 

[BigKen]

BB will make cuts but does he have to?

NFL owners eliminate first roster cut-down period

Bill makes the cuts as early as possible because he like to give anyone who's been in his camp a chance to catch on elsewhere. Most of his early cuts get immediately snatched up.

 

[BigKen]

From the Titans Media point of view......

Tuesday, Aug 13, 2019 12:21 PM

Six Things to Watch in Titans-Patriots Practices this Week in Nashville

Jim Wyatt
Senior Writer/Editor

Richard Suter
NASHVILLE – Get your popcorn, um, sunscreen ready.

The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots are headed to Music City to practice against the Tennessee Titans.

The two joint practices – from 9:50 a.m.-noon on Wednesday and Thursday – will be free for fans to attend at Saint Thomas Sports Park, with no ticket required.

So, head on out. And here’s a look at six things to watch…

Tom Brady vs. the Titans secondary

Some refer to Brady, New England’s quarterback, simply as the GOAT. Hey, this is the Titans website here, so we’re not going there. But we’re going to give the guy credit – he’s won six Super Bowl rings, three league MVP awards, and four Super Bowl MVP awards. The Titans secondary has been on fire during training camp, and you can be sure former Patriots defensive backs Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan will be stoked for these practice sessions. The competition should be fun to watch, even though receiver Julian Edelman won’t be out there. He’s still out, recovering from a thumb injury.


Marcus Mariota vs. Patriots Defense

Mariota has been mostly solid during training camp, although the Tennessee defense has had the offense’s number in some recent practices. So it will be interesting to see how the offense fares against the Patriots, and their defense. Mariota had plenty of success against the Patriots last season, throwing for 254 yards and two touchdowns in a win in Nashville. How will the Titans and the team's receiving corps, including Corey Davis and Adam Humphries, look against New England this time around? Remember, Humphries picked the Titans over the Patriots in free agency. In his return, former Titans cornerback Jason McCourty will be among those trying to frustrate them all in a Patriots jersey.

Feistiness?

Logan Ryan on Monday scoffed at the notion the Patriots might be coming to town with something to prove. After all, the Titans did thump the Patriots, 34-10, in a game at Nissan Stadium in November. “They won a Super Bowl last year,” Ryan said with a smile (see video below). “So they got the last laugh in that regard.” At least one Patriot, however, admitted this week, “You never forget” when asked about the game, and some stinging comments from Titans running back Dion Lewis, formerly with the Patriots, afterward. “You never forget the remarks after the game,” said Patriots safety Duron Harmon, per the Boston Herald. “You don’t forget how we played, what it felt like to lose that way. You remember that stuff.” Joint practices always spice things up. With the past – from players to coaches to last year’s game - this one could be feisty.


Edge Rush vs Patriots

Watching the Titans in practices, I’m getting a sense the defense could be pretty special this season. If there’s a question mark, it has to center on the pressure from the edge rushers. The Titans have talent at OLB, no question. Cameron Wake has proven it during his career, and now Harold Landry and Sharif Finch would like to prove themselves to be disruptive defenders on a more regular basis. Same for Kamalei Correa. All three have flashed in camp, especially Finch and Landry. And they’ve been competing against guys who know them. This week, they’ll try out their moves vs o-linemen in another uniform.

The Head Coaches

Titans coach Mike Vrabel enjoyed a great deal of success playing under Belichick in New England, and their friendship and working relationship helped put this week’s practice plan in motion earlier this offseason. It’s always entertaining to watch Vrabel, who bounces from one field to the next, oftentimes working in drills himself. And if you’re a football fan, this week provides a chance to set your eyes on one of the greatest coaches ever in Belichick, who was born in Nashville and shares a home in the area with his long-time girlfriend. “We just love the people and love the atmosphere down there,” Belichick said of Nashville prior to last year’s game.” I’ve gone over to Puckett’s, it’s a great area. We love the people down there.” It will be cool to see these coaches work against one another this week.


Practice vs. Game Reps?

At the end of the week, the Titans and Patriots will face each other at Nissan Stadium in preseason game No.2. We’ll have to wait until then to find out how much the starters play in that game. It will also be interesting to see how the two coaches – Vrabel and Belichick – treat the practices vs. the preseason game. I suspect we’ll see a lot of guys get work in over the next few days that could see their work scaled back when the pads come on Saturday. So if you’re looking to see 1s vs 1s and great competition for an extended period, the practices might provide that more than the game, when the work of the first-teamers will likely be more limited.

 

[BigKen]

Interesting take on the Patriots WRs for this week against the Titans.

Titans two starting CBs are Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan, both former Patriots. Both are 5'11" but both play bigger. This will be a really good test for the rookies against two really good DBs. If they can pull down 30 or so passes then we'll get to see how well they can separate, go up above the defenders and get yards after the catch. Should be very interesting.

According the most recent reports, Tom Brady will play for at least the first quarter. If things go reasonably smooth, he may play the first half but no longer.

Reports from Nashville are that the Titans are really going to work on any offensive line weaknesses because the last thing they need is for the Patriots to get 6 sacks against Mariotta or a total of 9 sacks against all of their QBs like they did against the Lions.

 

[BigKen]

Report from Tennessee about practice on Thursday 8/15/2019......

Titans' offensive line could not handle the Patriots defense at all. On multiple plays the Pats defense busted through and touched Mariotta and other Titan QBs. At one point the WRs got frustrated and one shoved Stepon Gilmore and a lot of shoving ensued. Not one punch was thrown.

Brady, on the other hand was electric and shredded the Titans secondary. He didn't pick on anyone in particular but connected at least twice with every WR on the field. Titans secondary was totally frustrated.


Brady who is 2 years younger than Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, gave Vrabel a birthday gift. A smal plastic participation trophy with the score 34-10 2018 on it and told him to enjoy the memories. Then the Pats players sang 'Happy Birthday'.

Today is a walk through only with no pads.

Game tomorrow is at 7:30 pm. It's being shown locally on CBS.

NFL Network has the Steelers and Chiefs at 7:30 pm. Then the Cowboys and Rams. At 1:00 am Sunday morning they are replaying the Patriots and Titans just in case you want to DVR it.

 

[Yankee Traveler]

Down here in Tennessee it will be covered by....who cares, I'll be there!!

Probably the only Pats game I make this year.

FUCK YES!!!

BOX SEATS!!!

WHOOP WHOOP!!!

 

[BigKen]

Pats sacked Mariotta on his drop back.

Then Hoyer threw a horrible pass that was intercepted by Logan Ryan.

The pats are playing some starters but mostly backups. The Titans have started all of their starters on both offense and defense. Vrabel is going no huddle and the temp on the field is 98.

Patriots don't look anywhere near what they looked like last week.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

D. Harris looks good. And BB should’ve challenged that PI call on JCJ

 

[BigKen]

Mariotta threw a TD pass to his TE and the ran the ball in for a 2 point conversion. But he took a wicked hit and flipped about six feet in the air and landed on his back 8-0 Titan.

Pats took the kickoff and Damien Harris was pretty much the offense rushing 7 times for 46 yeard and catching two tough passes. After Harris got the ball to the half yards line Bolden took it in for the TD . Hoyer made a perfect pass to Meyers for the 2 point conversion. 8-8 .

Second Quarter.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

Meyers is legit

 

[NWPATSFAN]

Hard game to watch thus far.

Lots of good teaching points coming out of this one.

Especially the penalties. Two games in a row.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

That Kendricks penalty oof. That was get cut at halftime stupid.

 

[BigKen]

Not impressed at all with Hoyer tonight. He's more worried about getting hit than playing quarterback.
There are guys who are going to make the team because they're playing their ass off. Others will not because their making ass plays.

Penalties are game killers and these guys have got to start tightening up.

It could be worse than 17-8. Stupid holding in the end zone safety ......Second half will be also rans and there's no reason why the Pats can't come back win this game if they just "Do Their Job".