New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots play another game on Sunday!
New England is absolutely rolling, which you already know, so let’s quit wasting time and dive into the top storylines entering their upcoming matchup with the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium:
Mike Vrabel will be making his return to “The Music City” on Sunday, the place that he called home for six seasons and made many memories.
I doubt that this is the first you’re hearing of it, but in case you’ve been unconscious for the last week, there you go.
Vrabel’s tenure down south carried far more highs than lows, but ended on a particularly sour note after ownership cleaned house following back-to-back losing seasons despite their head man previously earning AP Coach of the Year honors in 2021 and making the 2019 AFC Championship Game.
The Titans probably assumed things would get better…
Tennessee has fallen into quite the hole, having made two complete regime changes in the last three seasons, and are well on their way to a fourth consecutive losing campaign. Vrabel, on the other hand, has his new franchise on the way up and will almost certainly be looking to run that in his former team’s face this weekend.
The Titans made another coaching change earlier this week, firing Brian Callahan after a 4-19 record to begin his tenure with the franchise — which also led to the club losing his father and legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan.
I doubt that this is the first you’re hearing of it, but in case… you know what, I won’t make that joke again.
Mike McCoy will take over as the interim coach, which has led many to believe the club could receive something of a bump playing under the direction of someone new. Callahan’s departure — the older, better one — will cause more problems than it fixes, though, which could lead to an ugly day for that already sputtering offense.
Cam Ward has been… fine.
The No. 1 pick typically needs to be more than fine to be considered a success, but it’s going to be hard for him to turn a corner this week against an extremely disruptive defensive front that will likely take advantage of an offensive front without their coach.
Ward will have his work cut out for him.
Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson need to get it going eventually, right?
The Titans have allowed the sixth-most rushing yards (802) of any defense this season, as well as the most rushing touchdowns (11) and most 40-plus yard rushes (four).
The Patriots will undoubtedly force things early in the game in an effort to get that duo going, and if that process doesn’t heed any results, perhaps some personnel changes need to take place.
Vrabel is going to want to run this thing up, which...
