Titans send Tom Brady, Patriots to earliest playoff exit in 10 years

Nancy Armour | USA TODAY

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The dynasty might have been done in by the King.

Derrick Henry ran roughshod over the New England Patriots on Saturday night as the Tennessee Titans pulled off a stunning 20-13 upset at Gillette Stadium that could spell the end of the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era in New England. It’s the earliest the Patriots have lost in the playoffs since 2009, which also was the last time they played in the wild-card game.

If this was the end, what a mighty fall.

The Patriots had played in the last three Super Bowls, winning two of them, and Brady and Belichick have combined to bring New England six titles during their nearly two decades together. But this was not a typical Patriots team, and it certainly wasn’t a typical Brady.

His final pass was a pick-six. On the second-to-last drive, Julian Edelman, for so long his go-to receiver, dropped a pass on second down and then Brady overthrew Phillip Dorsett on third down.

He finished 20 of 37 for 209 yards and a 59.4 passer rating.

"I wish we would have won tonight. I wish we’d done a lot of things better over the course of the season," a somber Brady said. "We just didn’t get the job done."

Henry sure did. The NFL's leading rusher finished with 182 yards rushing, the most ever by a single player in the playoffs against a Belichick defense, and also had a 22-yard catch. As for the rest of the Titans? They combined for 68 yards.

Henry will try to power the Titans to another upset next Saturday in a divisional-round game against the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens.

While Tennessee celebrated its first victory at Gillette Stadium in so long they were the Houston Oilers when they did it, Brady hugged Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and then quickly left the field.

And now the uncertainty sets in.

"I was proud to be a part of this team, not only this year but every year," Brady said. "Again, I just don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m not going to predict it. No one needs to make choices at this point.

"I love playing football, I love playing for this team. I've loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. I just don’t know what it looks like moving forward so we’ll just take it day by day."

It seemed apropos – or maybe ominous, depending on how you want to look at it – that Gillette Stadium was shrouded in fog for most of the night, given the questions that have hung over Brady and the Patriots all year.

His contract voids at the end of the new league year, and it includes a provision that New England cannot place the franchise or transition tag on him.

The 42-year-old has said he’d like to play until he’s 45, so you do the math. Asked directly if he'd consider retiring, he said it was "unlikely."

Someone will throw a bunch of money at him, but who will it be? Belichick and the Krafts have seen the seen signs of his decline up close and might not be inclined to do it. The future Hall of Famer threw for his fewest touchdowns during the regular season since 2006, and his completion rate was his lowest since 2013.

As for Brady, he might look at New England’s porous offensive line and lack of receiving weapons and wonder what he can do if he goes somewhere else.

Though Brady repeatedly said he didn't know the future, he didn't sound like someone likely to return to New England, either. He gave a heartfelt thank you to fans, and talked of how lucky he's been to play for owner Robert Kraft and Belichick.

"There’s nobody that’s had a better career I would say than me, just being with them," he said. "I’m very blessed. And I don’t know what the future looks like so I’m not going to predict it."

One thing is certain, though. The Patriots season is done, while Henry and the Titans are rumbling on.

Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.