Patriots Come Back to Beat Titans 22-17 in Preseason Game 2
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
Patriots Come Back to Beat Titans 22-17 in Preseason Game 2
Many of the starters for the Patriots, including Tom Brady, did not play in the game.
“I thought we really gave a solid 60-minute effort in all three phases of the game. Obviously, the Titans are a good team and they are a physical team so this was a good challenge for us, a good matchup for us. We learned from the whole week,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in his post-game press conference.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNew England is now 2-0 in the preseason.
See the 5 Takeaways in the Slideshow Below
Patriots Rally in 2nd Half
Trailing 17-8 at the start of the third quarter, the Patriots rallied behind quarterback Jarrett Stidham.
In the third quarter, Stidham led the Patriots on a 10-play, 81-yard drive resulting in a one-yard touchdown run by Nick Brossette to cut the Titans lead to 17-15 following a Stephen Gostkowski extra point.
Brossette had nine carries for 19 yards in the game.
Still trailing 17-15 in the fourth quarter, Stidham led the Patriots on an 11-play, 99-yard drive capped off with a. Stidham to Damoun Patterson 23-yard touchdown pass to put the Patriots up 22-17 after a Gostkowski extra point.
Stidham finished the game completing 14 of 19 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown.
"Stidham has a good arm. I think he throws the ball accurately. I think he has shown that all the way through from Baylor to Auburn to his pro day and his spring workouts, so I don’t really think that has been the issue,” said Belichick.
The Titans had one more possession in the game, but would not threaten.
Next Up
The Patriots will play their third preseason game on Thursday, August 22 against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium.
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
See 5 Takeaways in the Slideshow Below
5 Takeaways From the Patriots 22-17 Preseason Win Over Titans - August 17, 2019
Jarrett Stidham
After a nearly flawless performance in the Patriots first preseason game, quarterback Jarrett Stidham got off to a rocky start in the game before turning it around in the second half.
Stidham replaced Brian Hoyer at quarterback with about four minutes left in the first half.
On his opening drive, Stidham was called for a penalty in his own end zone resulting in a safety, giving Tennessee a 17-8 lead at the time.
Later in the second quarter, Stidham nearly through an interception while trying to throw the ball away.
“I got pretty lucky there a couple of times, but I trust my guys to go make those plays and sure enough they did. I don’t need to put the ball in too much danger, so I got to work on that,” said Stidham after the game.
However, he bounced back.
In the third quarter, Stidham led a 10 play, 81-yard drive resulting in a Patriots touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Stidham connected with Damoun Patterson on a 23-yard touchdown pass to give the Patriots a 22-17 lead and the win.
Overall, Stidham completed 14 of 19 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown.
PHOTO: Patriots media website
Chase Winovich
Rookie defensive lineman Chase Winovich has had an impressive showing so far in training camp.
He continued his good play on Saturday night against the Titans.
“Chase is a high-motor player. He plays hard. He’s very good in pursuit. You see it in the kicking game, see it on defense,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick after the game.
In the second quarter, Winovich hit Titans running back Jeremy McNichols for a three-yard loss.
Winovich followed up with two near sacks on Titans back-up quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
He finally got the sack at the end for the first half to stop the Titans from extending their lead.
The player that was blocking Winovich, Tyler Marz, was called for holding on the play.
The Patriots drafted Winovich in the 3rd round of last April’s draft out of Michigan.
PHOTO: Patriots Media website
Isaiah Wynn
Patriots left tackle Isaiah Wynn got his first live game reps of the preseason, and first live game reps since suffering a torn ACL last preseason.
Wynn started at left tackle for the Patriots and played nine snaps.
In those nine snaps, Wynn came away clean, not allowing a sack or much pressure against some of Tennessee’s projected starters such as Austin Johnson, LaTroy Lewis, and Brent Urban.
“I think Isaiah did a good job. You obviously got to go back and watch the film. But from when I was back there, I thought for him to get out there, it was great to see him out there,” said Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer in his post-game press conference.
Prior to Saturday night’s preseason game, Wynn had only seen action in 11 vs 11 drills in training camp.
PHOTO: University of Georgia Athletics
Penalties
A focus of the Patriots for the remainder of the preseason will be cleaning up the penalties.
Against Tennessee, the Patriots were penalized 12 times, costing them 99 yards.
A majority of the penalties came on the defensive and offensive line with holding calls and illegal hands to the face calls.
So far this preseason, New England has been penalized 24 times.
PHOTO: Lee Winder/Flickr Commons
Stephen Gostkowski
For the second straight preseason game, kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal, this one from 40 yards out.
Gostkowski signed a two-year deal worth $8.5 million in the offseason to stay with New England.
Last season, Gostkowski hit 27 of 32 field goals including one in the Super Bowl to seal the win.
PHOTO: U.S. Army National Guard/Wikipedia
