Patriots vs. Titans Preview: Pats WRs Desperate for a Rebound originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO – Five drops. Five.
Kendrick Bourne twice. Kayshon Boutte twice. Tyquan Thornton.
It was an epidemic. And the Patriots hope it will be short-lived.
They survived a crippling case of falls in a Week 8 win over the Jetsbut starting this weekend in Tennessee, expectations need to be higher for this particular position group. It’s time to learn exactly what they have when it comes to the smugglers around Drake Maye.
During practice this week, it appears the Patriots receivers have done what they can to respond to their appearance at home a week ago.
“I would say first of all there weren’t a lot of ground balls,” coach Jerod Mayo said. “I think that was first and foremost, and it comes back to focus. I would also say that these guys came out with good energy, knowing that last week just wasn’t good enough. I think we all Looking forward to getting these guys out there and putting in a good performance.”
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This week in Nashville could represent a slight change in receiver usage and provide a window into how the Patriots view the future at that spot. Second-round rookie Ja’Lynn Polk could be back in the lineup as he was a full participant in practice after missing a game while recovering from a concussion. Fourth-round rookie Javon Baker, after seeing snaps only in the kicking game a week ago, could also be in the offensive group.
“The last couple of weeks, he’s put together some great weeks of practice,” Mayo said of Baker. “Now I hope he gets an opportunity to go out there and play a receiver role. He’s an explosive player. We have to see him on Sunday.”
Add those two names to second-year players DeMario Douglas and Boutte, who have had impressive moments in recent weeks, and the Patriots have a young core they’d likely like to see more of during the remainder of 2024. Kendrick Bourne, a one year after tearing his ACL, is a vet who also deserves enough snaps to prove what he can do.
How they perform as individuals could have a real impact on how the team manages its roster moving forward.
Can Bourne get back to where he was before his injury? Is Polk a beginner caliber player? Is Baker someone who should have a roster spot for 2025? Can we count on Boutte as a constant contributor? Can Douglas handle a steady diet of targets and stay on the field? If they play Sunday, they will have the opportunity to play against a hot and cold Titans pass defense. (More on this below.)
Waste those chances? Not only could the Patriots have the dishonor of being one of two teams to lose to Tennessee this season, but the worst offenders could hurt their chances of getting a job next fall.
Match that will determine the result
Christian Gonzalez vs. Calvin Ridley
When Patriots corner coach Mike Pellegrino told Christian Gonzalez last week to be ready for a one-on-one shot against Davante Adams, the prognosis was pretty simple: Adams hadn’t seen the ball for a while, and receivers like him tend to do it. I want the ball.
Gonzalez will see another one this weekend when he is expected to race with Calvin Ridley. After complaining about his production earlier this season, now that DeAndre Hopkins has been traded to Kansas City, Ridley — who the Patriots pursued this offseason — is busy. He saw 15 targets against the Lions last week, catching 10 for 143 yards.
According to NextGen Stats, Ridley now accounts for 47.7 percent of his team’s air yards (the number of yards targets travel beyond the line of scrimmage), which leads the NFL. He also leads the NFL in air yards on incomplete targets – an indication of both the team’s willingness to play him deep and its inability to do so – with 561. No other player has 500 yards of this type, according to NGS.
All this attention makes this a critical match for Gonzlaez. Without Ridley, the Titans don’t have many other ways to advance the football; They are the second-worst team in the league in expected points added (EPA) per dropback, and their top running backs Tajae Spears (hamstring, out) and Tony Pollard (foot, questionable) are injured.
After a strong performance against Adams in Week 8, Pellegrino was asked what made his top corner so effective this season.
“The emphasis is on being obsessed with the receivers you’re going to use,” Pellegrino said of Gonzalez. “It’s super important. What [the receiver] what are you doing at the line of scrimmage? What is he doing at the top of the course? What are his manners at the top? Is it speeding up or slowing down? Is his body going up? Is his body falling apart? I can tell him these things. But you’re proud as a coach when they can tell you those things. »
A match that will surprise you
Patriots passing game against Titans defense
How this match goes will of course depend on whether Drake Maye – who remains in concussion protocol from Friday afternoon — I can play. But if he can, you might be surprised what he can do against a pass defense that has impressive stats at this point in the season.
What if I told you that the last-place Titans (1-6) allow the fewest passing yards allowed per game in the NFL (151.6)? They are also second in passing yards allowed (6.2) and fifth in the NFL in completion percentage allowed (61.6).
This looks like a dominant unit on paper.
But they will be without their big offseason acquisition in corner L’Jarius Sneed, who has been ruled out with a quad injury. And they have just three takeaways all season, contributing to a league-worst -13 turnover differential.
Additionally, the Titans have shown some tendencies that Maye and the Patriots could exploit.
For example, the Titans are among the league’s least likely teams to use a single high-safety defense — according to MatchQuarters’ Cody Alexander, they use those looks on just 47.9 percent of snaps — and are ninth-worst of the NFL when it comes to the EPA allowed in these looks.
But if the Patriots are seen by this week’s opponent as wanting to have a run-first approach, or if the Titans feel like dropping a defender in the box to control Maye’s running ability, New England can she benefit from it? porous single-height looks from Tennessee?
Maye has shown a willingness to push the ball down the field in one-on-one situations to the outside against single safety coverages, and he has been able to create explosive plays against this type of defense. If the Titans want to entice him to try again this week, there’s a good chance he won’t hesitate to look for big winners on the outside.
Tennessee is sixth best in the NFL from an EPA perspective when using dual-height safety shells. They can hide their intentions under these looks and blur the image of the quarterbacks. But maybe that leaves some wiggle room for what has been a tough running game for the Patriots, and maybe Maye’s midfield passers like Douglas and Hunter Henry — arguably his two best — can find an open space against these gazes.
It may not be perfect. Especially after a week of limited practice reps. But Maye might be able to break through a Titans defense that, on paper, has been one of the best against the pass in 2024.
A match that will take years off your life
Patriots offensive line vs. Jeffery Simmons
Familiarity breeds skill along the offensive line, and the Patriots have benefited from a little more consistency up front from a personnel standpoint.
They’ve seen their pressure rate allowed over the past four weeks steadily decline from 51.4 percent… to 47.6… to 38.1… to 30.6 last week against the Jets.
And there’s reason to believe it could continue in the same direction this week against the Titans. A mid-pack defense when it comes to pressuring quarterbacks (32.4), Tennessee hasn’t been able to muster up many “quick” pressures (less than 2.5 seconds after the snap ) this season. According to NGS, they have only accumulated 34, which is the seventh-fewest number in football.
And yet, Jeffery Simmons remains a scary matchup.
He is the sixth-best defender among interior linemen this year, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s a two-time second-team All-Pro (2021, 2022), and he faces a line that has at times struggled to communicate things like stunts along the line of scrimmage. Tennessee, according to MatchQuarters, has the fifth-highest rushing rate in the NFL.
For Patriots center Ben Brown and guards Michael Jordan and Mike Onwenu, making sure Simmons doesn’t destroy the game has to be a priority.
