Tennessee Titans vs New England Patriots Match Player Stats On Dec 20, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Dec 20, 2015

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots moved a step closer to wrapping up the top seed in the AFC with a 33-16 victory over the lowly Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

The Patriots (12-2) finished a 7-1 home season and are sure of earning the top seed in the AFC playoffs if they win their final two games. They finish the regular season at the New York Jets next Sunday and at Miami on Jan. 3.

New England has a chance to clinch a first-round bye depending what happened to the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals later Sunday.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes and defensive end Akiem Hicks recovered a fumble and scored New England's first non-offensive touchdown of the season in the first half as the Patriots reached 12 wins for the 10th time, tying them with the Denver Broncos for third on the NFL's all-time 1ist.

Brady hit tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back James White with his 34th and 35th touchdown passes of the season -- his fourth 35-touchdown season, tying him with Peyton Manning for the all-time record.

Brady finished 23 of 35 for 267 yards.

Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals for the rest of the home-team scoring. He missed a 48-yarder in the second quarter and is 30 of 32 on the season.

Tennessee rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota, whose fumble off a sack by defensive end Chandler Jones gave the Patriots their third touchdown, left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return.

Zach Mettenberger replaced Mariota and hit tight end Delanie Walker with two touchdown passes, Walker's fifth and sixth touchdown catches of the season. Walker broke the Titans' franchise record for receiving yards by a tight end (935 yards) and catches by a tight end (76 catches).

After Mariota was 3 of 6 for 32 yards, Mettenberger was 20 of 28 for 242 yards and two interceptions.

Jones' added a sack in the third quarter, giving him a career-high 12.5 for the season, tied for third place on the team's all-time list.

The injuries keep mounting for the Patriots, with wide receiver Danny Amendola, linebacker Dont'a Hightower, safety Patrick Chung and wide receiver Brandon LaFell leaving with injuries -- with Amendola and Hightower tweaking previous knee injuries. Chung left with a hip injury and LaFell hobbled off after.

Hightower returned Sunday from a two-game absence.

Gronkowski came in having dedicated the game to a family friend, who died late last week. Gronkowski, who missed practice on Friday because of the death, had five catches for 54 yards.

New England wide receiver Keshawn Martin ripped off a 70-yard kick return and was guilty of an interference call that wiped out a 70-yard catch and run by White (seven catches) in the fourth quarter.

Late in the fourth quarter, linebacker Jamie Collins ran 51 yards with a deflected interception, leading to Gostkowski's late field goal.

NOTES: New England rookie RB Joey Isoefa was summoned from the Patriots practice squad to be the third running back and showed power on a 15-yard run that left CB Coty Sensabaugh behind. His NFL debut produced 51 yards on 14 carries. ... WR Julian Edelman was still out for New England and the home team was also missing S Devin McCourty, TE Scott Chandler and C Bryan Stork because of injuries. ... WR Damaris Johnson, claimed off waivers by the Titans from New England earlier in the week, was inactive. ... New England RB Montee Ball, picked up earlier in the week, remained on the practice squad. ... WR Leonard Hankerson, claimed off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the week, caught a pass in his Patriots debut. ... The end of the game meant the start of preparing Gillette Stadium for the NHL's Winter Classic.