The Titans are favored vs Patriots
The New England Patriots got their second win of the season against the Jets on Sunday. Most thought it would be the “get right” game for New York and instead, it may have ended their hopes this season. Head Coach Jerod Mayo was criticized for calling the team soft after the loss in London to the Jaguars. Despite the poor comments, the team responded and showed resiliency in the 25-22 win. The Patriots now have a chance to win consecutive games when they head to Tennessee this Sunday. The Titans are coming off a blowout loss to Detroit 52-14 and dropped to 1-6 on the season. They also have a rookie head coach, similar to Jerod Mayo and both have different results.
Tennessee hired young offensive mind Brian Callahan who previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2019 to 2023. At 39 years old, Callahan became the sixth-youngest head coach in the NFL. Callahan & Mayo both have something in common, they are both replacing coaches who have got their team to the playoffs in the last five years. The Titans, who fired head coach Mike Vrabel after six seasons. Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk came to believe her faith in Vrabel was not being reciprocated, and was also unhappy about Vrabel’s visit to New England in October to be enshrined in the Patriots’ Hall of Fame. Most thought he would be considered to be the next Patriots coach. Instead, Robert Kraft went with Mayo.
Callahan in his career has worked with quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr and Joe Burrow. Last season, Callahan worked with back up quarterback Jake Browning who went 4-3 last year, including a 3 game winning streak after never starting a game before.Browning finished the 2023 campaign ranked first in completion percentage (70.4%) and tied for fourth in yards per attempt (8.0). The Titans have a young quarterback in need of developing in Will Levis. Tennessee has had one of the worst offenses over the last three years, finishing No. 17 in total yards in 2021, No. 30 in 2022 and No. 28 this past season. The Titans averaged 17.9 points per game in 2023. The Titans have a new power structure just like the Patriots. They promoted Ran Carthon to Executive Vice President/General Manager and Chad Brinker to President of Football Operations. Carthon has been given control of the roster, along with draft and free agency decisions. They replaced Dereck Henry and singed Tony Pollard to a 3 year deal with 24 million dollars. They also added veteran quarterback Mason Rudolph who has started the last two games after Levis was inactive with a shoulder injury.
I personally thought the Titans would be better than the one win this season. They traded DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City before the loss on Sunday. They are 3 point favorites against the Patriots despite ranking 31st in the NFL on offense. They rank 15th in defense and the Patriots rank 28th while the Patriots have the top special teams in the league, the Titans rank 28th. Jacoby Brissett vs Rudolph was not the matchup anyone hoped for. Callahan has a chance to turn his season around like Mayo did last week. With the total set at 39, I expect a very low scoring game on Sunday.