Tennessee Titans 14 @ New England Patriots 35
THE REIGNING SUPER Bowl champions reached a seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game in the early hours of Sunday morning with a comfortable victory over the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans looked good early, scoring late in the first quarter with over 100 yards of offence. However, they managed just 159 yards the rest of the way as the Patriots’ defence kept the Tennessee ground game in check.
In addition to sacking Marcus Mariota eight times, Derrick Henry, who rushed for 156 yards against the Chiefs, was allowed just 28 yards on 12 carries last night.
It had all looked so good for the Titans when Marcus Mariota found Corey Davis in the end zone; his one-handed diving catch capping an 11-play, 95-yard drive in the first quarter.
But it was all New England after that, scoring on their next three possessions to take a 21-7 half-time lead with James White (2) and Chris Hogan capping off clinical drives.
The Patriots continued their dominance in the third quarter, Brandon Bolden strolling in from two yards out to make it 28-7 before Rob Gronkowski wrapped up their scoring in the fourth quarter.
While Davis did get a consolation score for Titans, it was far too little, far too late and it’s New England that set up a home AFC Championship Game against the winners of the Jaguars at Steelers later today.
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