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Bleacher Report predicts Patriots will smoke Titans in wild card game

By Michael Moraitis

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans watches the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans watches the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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While many in the national media are giving the Tennessee Titans a solid chance to upset the New England Patriots on Saturday, Bleacher Report is going in the opposite direction.

A struggling New England Patriots team has opened the door for many in the media to give the Tennessee Titans a chance to pull off an upset on wild card weekend.

However, Bleacher Report doesn’t see it that way.

In fact, according to B/R’s Jake Rill, he thinks the Patriots will handle the Titans easily with a score prediction of 31-13 in favor of New England.

"The Patriots had the top-ranked defense in the NFL this season, as they allowed 275.9 yards per game. The Titans offense played well during the second half of the season, but it’s going to have a huge challenge facing this New England unit."

Rill also mentions the fact that the Patriots will have extra motivation to come out and play strong, as head coach Bill Belichick’s team surrendered the No. 2 seed in Week 17 thanks to a disappointing loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Motivation for the Pats will also come in the form of many in the media picking the Titans to win this game, and people like FS1’s Jason Whitlock already pronouncing the Patriots’ dynasty as “dead.”

Both teams come into this contest having struggled in the month of December. The Pats lost three of their five games in the month, and Tennessee lost two of its last three contests against strong passing attacks that took advantage of its injury-riddled secondary.

There normally wouldn’t be a lot of optimism in Nashville given the Titans’ struggles on offense during the Marcus Mariota era, but this isn’t your average Titans team after the offense was elite with Ryan Tannehill at the helm and Derrick Henry running wild in the second half of the season.

Because of that, Tennessee stands a real chance to go into Foxboro and grab a win over New England and its elite defense. Not to mention, the Pats have seen their fair share of struggles on offense, particularly when throwing the football.

This game has no shortage of notable storylines and sets up as one of the more interesting games of the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs.

Tennessee and New England will kick off at 7:15 p.m. CST on Saturday.

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