Pats Pulpit
Pat Lane and Matt St. Jean relive New England’s 2 AFC playoff games, against both MVP’s, McNair’s Titans and Manning’s Colts
Twenty-one years ago, the New England Patriots completed the most dominant streak in the history of the NFL, finishing with 21 wins in a row across two seasons. Since it was such a dominant run, we have decided to take a look back at each one of the games.
This is the seventh in the series, so expect a ton more to come, and make sure to follow along on YouTube for the accompanying videos for each game as well.
Today, let’s take a look at Wins No. 13 and 14.
2003 AFC ddivisional round | Jan. 10, 2004, 8:15 p.m. ET | Gillette Stadium
Setting the scene: A week earlier, the Associated Press had named both Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning co-MVPs of the 2003 NFL season. Both led their teams to victories in the wild card round of the playoffs, meaning that the fifth-seeded Titans were coming to Foxborough with the third-seeded Colts headed to Kansas City.
Fresh off a bye week, the Patriots were ready to host the Titans following their win in Baltimore. Unlike the meeting between these teams in Foxborough earlier that season — a 38-30 win that kicked off the win current win streak — this game would be played at bone-chilling temperatures. The high that Saturday was 13 degrees Fahrenheit, but by the time the game kicked off that night, it had dropped to just 8 degrees with winds gusting up to 31 miles per hour.
By the end of the game, the wind chill dropped to more than 20 degrees below 0.
Game breakdown: The first meeting between these teams in the 2003 regular season finished as a scoring frenzy; the second half featured five lead changes and no punts with the defenses hanging on for dear life. While the weather was different for the AFC divisional playoff game, the offenses picked up right where they left off.
Tennessee got the opening kickoff, and an early false start would set up a 3rd-and-13 on the game’s first set of downs. The Patriots brought an all-out blitz, and Titans receiver Drew Bennett got wide open behind the defense for what could have been a walk-in 65-yard score. Instead, McNair’s throw sailed, and the Titans were forced to punt.
Tom Brady was faced with a 3rd-and-5 on his first possession, but he hit Kevin Faulk matched up one-on-one with a linebacker for a 19-yard gain. Now in Tennessee territory, the Patriots once again saw a third-and-medium. Brady did not like the look from the defense and called timeout to change the play. It worked. Rookie wide receiver Bethel Johnson got behind the defense, and Brady hit him in stride for a 41-yard touchdown as the Patriots scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the fourth consecutive game.
Tennessee...
