Joshua McInnis
FRANKLIN, MA (@J_Money_426) Week 10 of the NFL season is now upon us and the New England Patriots will be taking on former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans, Sunday afternoon at 1 PM at Gillette Stadium. Patriots are coming into the week riding a 6 game win streak and fresh off a win against the Green Bay Packers led by Quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Tennessee Titans are coming into Gillette off a short week after winning the Monday night showdown against the Dallas Cowboys. With both teams coming off wins, this week’s game should be an exciting one to watch for sure. Former Patriots corner Malcolm Butler will make his first start against New England, where his career started off. Former Patriots running back Dion Lewis will play his first game against New England since leaving for Tennessee this past offseason. Lastly, Mike Vrabel will be taking on his former team for the first time in his head coaching career. Patriots The Patriots have been on a roll in recent weeks led by the emergence of wide receivers Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, James White, and Tom Brady on offense. Gordon has been a real spark for New England with 13 catches and 272 receiving yards over the last 3 weeks, with two of the games reaching the 100 receiving yard mark. James White has been terrific since taking a full-time role since Sony Michel went down a couple weeks ago with a knee injury. Michel is on track to make his return this weekend after being out since week 7 when he injured his knee in the 2nd quarter against the Chicago Bears. On the defensive side of the ball, defensive end Trey Flowers and linebacker Kyle Van Noy have led the way to stopping opposing offenses. Van Noy has been terrific for New England this season and has made a big impact so far through nine games with 53 tackles, 2 sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble. Another player who has been a stud for the Patriots is defensive end Trey Flowers and has accumulated 32 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Flowers has wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks even though the statistics might not show it. Titans The Titans are coming off a very good performance this past Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys with a 28-14 victory. Tennessee has been good this year despite the record sitting at 4-4 on the season. On another note, the defense has been very solid all season; only the inconsistent offense has really held them back so far through 9 weeks. 4th year starting quarterback Marcus Mariota has been decent this year but needs to be more consistent if the Titans are expecting to make a playoff run. The offense has been below average, only scoring just under 17 points a game with a group of young talent with the likes of 2nd year wideouts Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor leading the way with veteran tight end Delanie Walker who is currently on injured reserve and out for season with an ankle injury. On defense they have been pretty stout against teams all year with the help of defensive end Jurrell Casey and safety Kevin Byard who has led the defense. Players To Watch Malcolm Butler – He is someone to watch out for as he plays his first game against his former team. Butler has had a pretty down year but still could show up fueled by fact he was benched in last year’s Super Bowl and then not resigned by Bill Belichick in offseason. Josh Gordon- Flash is another player to watch out for this weekend against Titans. He’s coming off a big game where he finished with 5 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown against Green Bay last Sunday night. He will be matched up against two former Patriots corners in Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan. The question is, can he keep this hot streak he has been on in recent weeks and keep offense rolling with star Tight End Rob Gronkowski, who is not expected to play Sunday. Prediction: New England Patriots 28 Tennessee Titans 20 Joshua McInnis FRANKLIN, MA (@J_Money_426) Tonight, in primetime two of the greats square off featuring Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers in a Week 9 match-up that is expected to be must watch television. Brady and Rodgers will face off for the second time going head to head in their careers. It will be the first time since week 13 in 2014 when the Packers defeated the Patriots 26-21. This game is very important to both teams on their quest for the Lombardi trophy. It will be the first time Rodgers visits Gillette Stadium, a place where Brady is very good boasting a record of 111-19. Tom and the Patriots have been very good of late winning the last 5 after starting 1-2. They look to keep this hot streak going with a win tonight. This game is very big because a match-up like Brady vs Rodgers only happens a few times in history of the game when two future Hall of Famers get to face each other. This game will also hopefully settle some debates of who people consider the greatest of all-time. Tonight’s game will help clarify the argument when Tom and Aaron faceoff for 2nd time at TB12’s house and not Lambeau. Brady/Rodgers 2018 Stats 16 TD 13 7 INT 1 2200 Passing Yards 2283 275.0 Yards Per Game 326.1 7.5 Yards Per Attempt 8.0 67.5 Completion % 61.3 199 Completions 174 295 Pass Attempts 284 11 # of Times Sacked 22 Prediction: New England Patriots 24 Green Bay Packers 17 |