The New England Patriots will play the Tennessee Titans in Week 3 of the NFL preseason on Friday night at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Both of these teams lost the first game of the preseason, but they bounced back with wins in Week 2. Which team will get the job done here and finish the preseason with a winning record?
Patriots Preview
The New England Patriots are 1-1 so far in the preseason after they defeated the Green Bay Packers by a score of 21-17 in their last game. The game was not completed after Isaiah Bolden went down with a serious injury early in the fourth quarter. New England scored an early touchdown on a one yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson, but gave up the lead towards the end of the first quarter. The Patriots added a Kayshon Boutte 42 yard touchdown reception from Bailey Zappe with under a minute left in the first half, but allowed Green Bay to drive down and get a field in 55 seconds. New England shut the Packers out in the second half and was able to score on a six yard Bailey Zappe run for the win. New England was out gained by a total of 340-245 and they turned the ball over once in the win. The Patriots went 5-9 on third down attempts and 1-1 on fourth down. Mac Jones did play a little bit, going 6/9 for 52 yards. Bailey Zappe went 10/22 for 117 yards and a touchdown, while also adding a rushing score. New England lost their first game in the preseason by a score of 20-9 at home to Houston.
Titans Preview
The Tennessee Titans are 1-1 this preseason after they defeated the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 24-16 last weekend. The Titans scored the only points in the first quarter, which came on a 33 yard touchdown scamper by Tyjae Spears. Tennessee was out scored by a total of 9-0 in the second quarter and trailed 9-7 at the half. The Titans would respond in the third quarter with a 22 yard field goal from Trey Wolff and a Julius Chestnut five yard touchdown run. Tennessee would tack on a Julius Chestnut one yard touchdown reception from Malik Willis in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Tennessee out gained Minnesota by a total of 352-262 and turned the ball over two times in the game. The Titans went 7-13 on third down and didn’t attempt a fourth down in the win. We only saw Malik Willis under center for the Titans, as he went 10/17 for 85 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, while also adding 91 rushing yards. The Titans lost their first game by a score of 23-17 to the Bears in Chicago.
Pick
New England had their game stopped last week after watching one of their players, Isaiah Bolden, go down with a serious injury early in the fourth quarter. After the injury, both teams decided to call the game and New England actually cancelled the scheduled joint practices with Tennessee this week. It sounds like we may see some of the Tennessee starters play a few series in this game, while it is not clear what the Patriots are going to do. Malik Willis didn’t play great against the Vikings, but he did enough to get the win and showed off his rushing skillset. I think he will get the offense going again in this game and I like the over in this matchup.
AUTHOR: David Racey
