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The Titans stomped the Patriots on Sunday, 34-10, and first-year Tennessee running back Dion Lewis, who spent the previous three seasons in New England, told reporters afterward why his new team was able to prevail over his old on.
“I didn’t have to prove anything,” he said. “I know I can play. I just had to let our team know that these guys are beatable … I know those guys. I know that you [have] be physical with them and let them have it and they’ll fold.”
And before you ask — “Hell yeah, it’s personal,” Lewis continued. “That’s what happens when you go cheap. You get your ass kicked.”
The winners write history and all that, but we’re only 10 weeks into the season and Lewis’ former teammate, Tom Brady, knows there’s a long way to go.
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“It’s an emotional thing,” Brady said Monday morning during his weekly appearance on WEEI radio. “I think people have different emotional feelings. Dion had a great career here. It’s hard to see great players go and I know it’s not the first time it’s happened, it has happened to a lot of guys. I am sure when they go to different places they want to beat us, absolutely. I can understand that emotion. We’ve had guys come from other teams and they have wanted to beat that team. It’s just part of the sport.
“I give them credit, they beat us,” he continued. “When you win, you can say a lot of things. That is the reality of winning. We’ll just take our lumps and try and learn from them. And come out here and do a lot better job the next six weeks.”
After the game first-year Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who played for Bill Belichick in New England from 2001-2008, explained how he convinced his players they could beat the Patriots.
“The biggest thing I told them is that we have to be more physical than the Patriots in all three phases,” Vrabel told PFT’s Mike Florio after Sunday’s victory. “If they gain yards, they have to beat you. We can’t give them easy yards. We have to exceed their operation and execution.”
Vrabel’s game plan worked perfectly. But a lot can happen over the next seven weeks. We’ve seen the Patriots take a beating in the regular season only to come back stronger than before during the playoffs. As it stands, the Titans are 5-4 and a game behind the Texans in the AFC South. The Pats, meanwhile, are 7-3, two games clear of the Dolphins and headed for another AFC East title.
The bigger issue is this: Can New England earn homefield advantage? Because that’s where they’re dangerous. Every NFL team struggles on the road but the Pats are just about unbeatable at home, especially in January. The Chiefs (9-1) and Steelers (6-2-1) currently hold the top two spots in the AFC but as we just noted, a lot can happen over the next seven weeks.
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