NASHVILLE, TN - AUGUST 17: Head Coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans talks with Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots before a week two preseason game at Nissan Stadium on August 17, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

The Patriots’ defense will be tested against the Titans by Brandon Gimpel

The New England Patriots have a tough wild card matchup this weekend against the Tennessee Titans, as the AFC No. 6 seed has put together a great season.

In a surprising turn of events, the New England Patriots unfortunately couldn’t defeat the Miami Dolphins in their regular season finale. As a result, they missed out on securing a first-round bye, and now will have to play in a Wild Card game against the Tennessee Titans.

If any team is going to march into Gillette Stadium and take down the New England Patriots, it’s going to be a Mike Vrabel-led Tennessee Titans team.

Vrabel has turned the Titans into a legitimate playoff contending team. Vrabel spent eight seasons playing for Bill Belichick and was part of the three Super Bowl-winning teams from 2001-2004.

To get more production from his offense, Vrabel made the executive decision to start Ryan Tannehill over Marcus Mariota in Week 6 of the 2019 season. It has since very much appeared to be the right move. Since Week 6, the Titans are first in the NFL in yards per attempt (6.6), second in completion percentage (70.3), and third in quarterback rating (117.5).

The Titans also have an aggressive running attack that has averaged 138.9 yards per game this season. It’s one that is led by Derrick Henry, who just earned himself the rushing title for 2019. Henry finished the season with 1,540 yards while averaging 5.1 yards per carry, to go along with 16 touchdowns this season.

The New England Patriots are also going to have a tough time matching up with the big Tennessee receivers AJ Brown and Corey Davis.

Brown is 6-foot-1 and 226 pounds, while Davis on the other side is 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds. Brown led the Titans in receiving with 82 receptions, 1,051 yards, and eight touchdowns – all while impressively averaging 20.2 yards per catch this season.

The New England Patriots secondary most recently has gotten beat in two consecutive weeks, and could make it a third on Saturday (John Brown, DeVante Parker). Stephon Gilmore and JC Jackson need to be prepared for anything, especially in zone coverage. Thankfully, there’s a huge possibility Jason McCourty returns to the field on Saturday night.

"We have a chance to go on a revenge tour" Kyle Van Noy can't wait for Saturday night's wild-card game pic.twitter.com/B32Gv3t8Rw — Patriots on NBCSB (@NBCSPatriots) December 30, 2019

The Patriots are going to have a challenging time moving the ball against this Titans defense. The Titans have three defenders who all finished the regular season with over 100 tackles: Logan Ryan, Jayson Smith, and Rashaan Evans.

Bill Belichick says this is what #Patriots have worked for all year, and have a good attitude this morning. On #Titans: “Probably as explosive as anybody we’ve seen in a while.” pic.twitter.com/1rujvEl55d — Sean T. McGuire (@BySeanMcGuire) December 31, 2019

Given the recent struggles of New England’s offense, nothing about this matchup is going to be easy. This could be a shootout type of game, but the Patriots unfortunately bring “knives to a gun-fight” this season on offense, and are unable to last in a shoot-out.