New England Patriots vs Tennessee Titans Match Player Stats On Sep 09, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 9, 2012

Patriots 34, Titans 13: Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes and got plenty of help from the running game as the Patriots cruised past host Tennessee for their ninth straight win on opening week.

Brady, who finished 22-for-31 for 236 yards, threw scoring passes to tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski and went over 40,000 passing yards for his career. New England's Stevan Ridley contributed in a big way, rushing for 125 yards on 21 carries and scoring once.

The much-maligned New England defense, which finished 31st in the league last season, turned the Titans into a one-dimensional team. Tennessee rushed for just 20 yards in the game - putting the pressure solely on the shoulders of first-time starter Jake Locker, who completed 23 of 32 passes for 229 yards before leaving the game with an injury in the third quarter.

Titans running back Chris Johnson was held to a career-low four yards on 11 carries.

After the Titans opened the scoring with a 28-yard Rob Bironas field goal, Brady connected with Hernandez for a 23-yard touchdown and New England never trailed again.

New England, the defending AFC champions, extended the lead sparked by its pair of first-round defensive draft picks. After Chandler Jones forced a fumble, Dont'a Hightower scooped it up at the Titans 6-yard line and returned it for a touchdown early in the second quarter.

Locker hit Nate Washington with a 29-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 21-10. But Ridley responded with a 1-yard touchdown run late in the period to give the Patriots a 28-10 lead.

Both Locker and Washington were injured on the same play in the fourth quarter. Washington was hit by a pair of Patriot defenders after making a long, leaping catch and fumbled the ball. Locker then injured his shoulder making a tackle on the fumble return.

Neither Locker nor Washington returned to the game. The play was overturned by replay and ruled an incomplete pass.

Matt Hasselbeck replaced Locker and was 6-of-11 for 43 yards.

Stephen Gostkowski had a pair of field goals for New England in the fourth quarter.

Game notebook: Brady has thrown at least one TD pass in his last 33 games and earned his 125th career victory, the fifth most in NFL history. ...Brady has thrown at least two touchdown passes in each of his past 14 road games. ...Brady went over the 40,000-yard mark with a pass to Gronkowski in the first quarter. ... All of Locker's four touchdown passes last season were thrown to Washington. ... Both Gronkowski and Hernandez finished with six receptions. ... WR Wes Welker finished with three catches, tying him with Troy Brown for the most in Patriots history with 557.