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Super Bowl XXXIX
 
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Patriots ~ Divisional Playoff Analysis
« on: Jan 8th, 2004, 2:31pm » |
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Last time these 2 met the Patriots were 2-2 & had just come off a tough loss to the Washington Redskins. While the Pats & Titans took the field many fans in New England were glued to another sporting event. Game 5 of the divisional playoffs between the Red Sox & the Athletics. Mike Cloud was the hero of that day. Cloud returned that Sunday from a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 15-yard run with 3:14 left to give the New England a 38-30 win over Tennessee. He ended the day with 2 scores & 73 yards on only 7 carries. The Titans were driving on the next series, but Ty Law jumped in front of Calico and raced down the sideline untouched. Law was playing with a sprained ankle on a defense that has been without as many as 9 starters this season. "Any time our offense gives us 30-something points, we've got to win. We got 30 and we did not hold up our end of the bargain. No pointing fingers. I play on defense and we've got to get our (expletive) together. Bottom line: We let a mediocre team run up our butts."
-- Titans Linebacker Keith Bullock after the game on 10-5-03
Here's a recap of that game if you're interested: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20031005017
On Saturday night the high temp is expected to be about 10 degrees with a low of about -2 oh & it'll be windy as well.  I'll be nestled underneath about 5 blankets with my feet up on the lay-z-boy sipping hot chocolate.  I expect a physical battle right from the opening kickoff. The Titans may have the NFL's best defense against the run but are ranked better than only Houston and Atlanta against the pass. They shut down the best back in football last week. However, there is a weakness in the secondary in my opinion. Especially, with Samari Rolle banged up the Titans are susceptible to the deep ball. We saw Todd Heap make some big plays & I think Graham could do the same. Offensively the Titans have the co-MVP in Steve McNair. Whether he deserved it or not is debatable. Regardless, McNair is a great player and has the ability to hurt the Pats with his legs, arm and mind. The Pats have to use LBs Vrabel, Bruschi & McGinest to get after him and force him to make the wrong decision. If he's given time then the Pats will be in trouble because he's an extremely intelligent QB. Last week Eddie George looked 5 years younger but it came at a high price. He dislocated his shoulder & has been very limited in practice. I'm sure he'll be ready for game time but I don't expect him to come any where near the century mark against our D.
The Patriots released their injury report on Wednesday, and there were no players listed for Saturday night's game against the Tennessee Titans. Unfortunately for the Titans there were quite a few names listed for this weekend. LB Ken Amato (Ankle/Hamstring), WR Eddie Berlin (Concussion), LB Rocky Calmus (Leg), RB Eddie George (Shoulder/Ankle), RB Robert Holcombe (Hamstring), Steve McNair QB (Ankle/Calf), CB Samari Rolle (Concussion), and WR Jake Schifino (Lower Leg) were all listed as "Questionable" for the Tennessee.
Patriots Statistical Breakdown:
Tom Brady ~ 275 yards passing, 3 TDs & 1 INT
Kevin Faulk ~ 20 yards rushing, 40 receiving & 1 TD
Antowain Smith ~ 30 yards rushing, 25 yards receiving
Larry Centers ~ 10 yards rushing, 10 yards receiving
Troy Brown ~ 100 yards receiving & 1 TD
Deion Branch ~ 10 yards receiving
David Givens ~ 30 yards receiving
Christian Fauria ~ 10 yards receiving
Daniel Graham ~ 50 yards receiving & 1 TD
Adam Vinatieri ~ 1 FG & 4 PATs
D/ST ~ TD
Titans Statistical Breakdown:
Steve McNair ~ 300 yards pass 1 td, 30 yards rush 1 td 2 INTs
Eddie George ~ 40 yards rush, 10 yards rec
Chris Brown ~ 20 yards rush, 20 yards rec
Derrick Mason ~ 25 yards receiving
Justin McCareins ~ 100 yards receiving & 1 TD
Tyrone Calico ~ 75 yards receiving
Drew Bennett ~ 20 yards receiving
Frank Wycheck ~ 20 yards receiving
Erron Kinney ~ 30 yards receiving
Gary Anderson ~ 2 FGs & 2 PATs
FINAL SCORE
31
20
Yeah Tennessee has the great run D, but everybody knows the Pats don't run the ball anyway. The Pats D is just as good if not better than the Ravens. The difference is on offense we have Tom Brady & they had Anthony Wright. New England is moving on to face the winner of  vs.  for the AFC Championship. See you next week. 
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| « Last Edit: Jan 8th, 2004, 2:43pm by bakes781 » |
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# 236
Super Bowl XXXIX
Posts: 290
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Re: Patriots ~ Divisional Playoff Analysis
« Reply #4 on: Jan 13th, 2004, 7:27pm » |
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on Jan 8th, 2004, 2:31pm, bakes781 wrote:
Patriots Statistical Breakdown:
Tom Brady ~ 275 yards passing, 3 TDs & 1 INT
Kevin Faulk ~ 20 yards rushing, 40 receiving & 1 TD
Antowain Smith ~ 30 yards rushing, 25 yards receiving
Larry Centers ~ 10 yards rushing, 10 yards receiving
Troy Brown ~ 100 yards receiving & 1 TD
Deion Branch ~ 10 yards receiving
David Givens ~ 30 yards receiving
Christian Fauria ~ 10 yards receiving
Daniel Graham ~ 50 yards receiving & 1 TD
Adam Vinatieri ~ 1 FG & 4 PATs
D/ST ~ TD |
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Patriots Actual Breakdown:
Tom Brady ~ 201 yards passing, 1 TD & 0 INTs
Kevin Faulk ~ 22 yards rushing, 31 receiving(pretty accurate)
Antowain Smith ~ 69 yards rush(maybe his best game this season)
Larry Centers ~ 4 yards receiving(non-factor)
Troy Brown ~ 11 yards receiving (ouch)
Deion Branch ~ 10 yards receiving(right on target)
David Givens ~ 26 yards receiving (once again close to actual)
Christian Fauria ~ 42 yards receiving (made up for Grahams errors)
Daniel Graham ~ -1 yards receiving (stone hands)
Adam Vinatieri ~ 1 FG & 2 PATs (clutch as always)
D/ST ~ TD (never got that one TD but they played well)
on Jan 8th, 2004, 2:31pm, bakes781 wrote:
Titans Statistical Breakdown:
Steve McNair ~ 300 yards pass 1 td, 30 yards rush 1 td 2 INTs
Eddie George ~ 40 yards rush, 10 yards rec
Chris Brown ~ 20 yards rush, 20 yards rec
Derrick Mason ~ 25 yards receiving
Justin McCareins ~ 100 yards receiving & 1 TD
Tyrone Calico ~ 75 yards receiving
Drew Bennett ~ 20 yards receiving
Frank Wycheck ~ 20 yards receiving
Erron Kinney ~ 30 yards receiving
Gary Anderson ~ 2 FGs & 2 PATs
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Titans Actual Breakdown:
Steve McNair ~ 210 yards pass 1 td, 11 yards rush 1 INT (good but not great)
Eddie George ~ 48 yards rush, 7 yards rec (held in check as predicted)
Chris Brown ~ 35 yards rush
Derrick Mason ~ 90 yards receiving & 1 TD (open too many times)
Justin McCareins ~ 21 yards receiving
Tyrone Calico ~ 30 yards receiving
Drew Bennett ~ 48 yards receiving (made some BIG plays but missed it when they needed one the most)
Frank Wycheck ~ 9 yards receiving
Erron Kinney ~ 5 yards receiving
Gary Anderson ~ 0 FG & 2 PATs (missed a FG that could have sent this into OT oh well  )
on Jan 8th, 2004, 2:31pm, bakes781 wrote:
ACTUAL FINAL SCORE
17
14
Game was closer than I had expected, but in the end we came out on top as usual. 
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"patriotic" showdown in the Super Bowl! 
Anyway, enjoy, man! 