Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Was it Tom Brady‘s final home game at Gillette Stadium?
If it was, it was not the way Brady, the Patriots or Patriots fans wanted to see it end.
The Patriots quarterback sat on the bench for 2:55 of the final 3:10 as time ran out on New England’s season and perhaps on Brady’s career with the Patriots. The only points by either team in the second half came on a Logan Ryan pick-six of Brady with 9 seconds remaining.
The Titans won 20-13. They will play the Ravens in the divisional round next Saturday, with the Texans traveling to play Kansas City on Sunday.
The Patriots trailed 14-13 and were in need of a miracle when Brady got the ball back on his own 1-yard line with 15 seconds left. His pass bounced off Mohamed Sanu‘s hands and into the hands of Ryan, who returned it 9 yards for the score.
The Patriots’ season ended with stunning back-to-back losses. The defending Super Bowl champions lost to Miami 27-24 in the regular-season finale, denying them the second seed and a first-round bye, before ending their season with the loss to the Titans on Saturday.
Derrick Henry set a team postseason record with 182 rushing yards on 34 carries in willing the Titans to the win. His touchdown came on a 1-yard run. Henry also caught a pass for 22 yards.
The Patriots are 17-0 at home in the postseason since 2001 when allowing fewer than 120 rushing yards. They now are 3-4 when allowing 120 or more as the Titans ran for 201 yards.
Ryan Tannehill completed only 8 of 15 passes for 72 yards and an interception. But he threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Firkser on the team’s first possession and found Firkser for an 11-yard gain on third-and-eight from the Tennessee 15 with 2:54 left.
Tannehill had never won in New England, going 0-6, which was the most road losses ever to the Patriots without a win. That drought is over, ending the Patriots’ hopes for back-to-back titles.
Brady went 20-of-37 for 209 yards and the pick. The Patriots crossed midfield only once in the second half, reaching the Tennessee 47, and they were stopped on three runs inside the Tennessee 2-yard line in the first half.