New England Patriots

A quick look at the Titans, the Patriots’ divisional round opponent

Derrick Henry runs past Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Ron Parker for a 35-yard touchdown during the second half.

By Rachel Bowers

2 minutes to read

For the first time in 14 years, the Titans are through the first round of the playoffs.

Now, they will come to Foxborough for the divisional round to face a team they have lost six straight to, including the teams’ last postseason meeting 14 years ago. (The Patriots won, 17-14, en route to their Super Bowl XXXVIII victory.) And the Titans have not won in New England since 1993, a couple weeks before their starting quarterback, Marcus Mariota, was born.

So here is a quick look at the Titans ahead of Saturday night’s AFC divisional playoff contest:

Regular season record: 9-7. Playoff seed: 5.

How they got here: Tennessee overcame an 18-point halftime deficit on the road to defeat Kansas City, 22-21, in the wild-card round.

Briefly: The Titans were plagued by slow starts in the regular season, going 7-1 when they scored first and 2-6 when they didn’t. Over the final six games of the regular season, they scored just 9 first-quarter points, 6 of which came against the Colts in Week 12, and averaged just 9.7 points per first half. They went 3-3 in that stretch.

The wild-card contest against the Chiefs was no different. They managed just a field goal in the first two frames.

But in the second half, Dick LeBeau’s defense held the Chiefs scoreless and Mariota and running back Derrick Henry led the comeback. Over the final two quarters, Mariota completed 12 of 18 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including one to himself, and Henry ran for 114 of his career-high 156 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Indeed, going 7 for 7 on third down will greatly help the comeback cause. (On those third downs, Mariota went 4 for 4 for 39 yards and the touchdown to himself, and he ran twice for 28 yards. Henry broke off a 22-yard run on a third and 10.)

The defense stacked the box against rookie Kareem Hunt, holding the league’s leading rusher to 42 yards on 11 carries. The run defense, which finished the regular season ranked fourth at 88.8 yards per game, gave up just 69 yards to the Chiefs, who averaged 118.9 yards per game on ground (ninth in the league) entering the playoffs. Just five times in the regular season and only twice since Week 6 did an opponent rush for more than 100 yards against the Titans.

Mariota leads the NFL in fourth-quarter and overtime comebacks this season with five. And Tennessee is now 2-14 with Mariota when trailing by 14 or more points. And both wins were against the Chiefs.

“I’m part of a great team. I’m part of a group of guys that really believe in each other,” Mariota said. “And it’s something special.”

Make your reads: Derrick Henry is a man on a mission. The no-quit Titans and Mike Mularkey silenced doubters with this playoff win. The Titans can no longer be lukewarm on Mularkey.