Patriots vs. Titans What To Watch For: Will Drake Maye work more magic in Tennessee in Mike Vrabel's return?

The New England Patriots... excuse me... the first place New England Patriots are paying a visit to the Tennessee Titans this weekend, and there is no shortage of storylines surrounding the matchup. Mike Vrabel is returning to the Music City to take on the team that fired him two years ago, and Drake Maye is returning to the field where he authored his signature moment during his rookie season.

There's also the fact that the Patriots are rolling right now, sitting at 4-2 on the season after three straight wins. They've won two straight on the road, and will look to make it three straight road victories this weekend. It's a feat New England has never accomplished in the regular season, though the Patriots did win three games away from Foxboro in the 1985 playoffs en route to a Super Bowl XX appearance. 

Vrabel was only 10 years old when that happened. He'll look to notch a franchise-first for the Patriots this weekend while sticking it to his former employer.

The Patriots head into the matchup favored by a touchdown over the Titans, who are really reeling right now. Tennessee fired Vrabel's replacement, Brian Callahan, Monday after a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders dropped the Titans to 1-5 on the season. Callahan was just 4-19 since replacing Vrabel on the Tennessee sideline.

Still, the Patriots cannot take the Titans lightly. Having to play on the road for a third straight week is no easy task, and while they're on a roll, the Patriots are not a team that can overlook any opponent.

Here's what we'll be watching for when the Patriots and the Titans square off on WBZ-TV Sunday afternoon.

Mike Vrabel's return to Tennessee

The Patriots head coach has said all the right things about his return to the Music City this weekend. He's been professional in every aspect, and is trying to deter the spotlight to his current team's success -- not his tumultuous ending with the Titans. Vrabel even made sure to reach out to Callahan this week after he found out he had been let go by the Titans.

It's all very admirable, but inside, Vrabel is absolutely itching to show the franchise and Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk they made a huge mistake moving on from him after the 2023 season.

Vrabel would probably love to beat the Titans by 50 points on Sunday. But he doesn't want to make put the focus of the game on himself. He is also probably aware of all the unknown surrounding the Titans with interim head coach Mike McCoy, which could make the Titans a dangerous foe in Week 7.

While Vrabel wants to beat the Titans, the Titans are going to want to beat their old head coach for their new head coach. It's no coincidence Callahan was let go this week, with the Titans looking to avoid Vrabel beating the tar our of his replacement and hoping to get a "fired coach" boost on Sunday.

Drake Maye vs. Titans pass defense

The Titans pass defense has been having a rough go to start the 2025 season. While Tennessee is allowing just over 200 passing yards per game, opposing quarterbacks are completing 71% of their passes against the Titans -- which ranks 28th in the NFL. 

Now they're going against one of the most efficient quarterback in the NFL this season in Maye, who has the NFL's second best completion percentage at 73.2%. He has 10 touchdowns and only two picks on the season, and has gone three straight games without turning over the football. New England is 4-0 when Maye doesn't complete a pass to the opposing defense. 

Maye is in line for another big game, and it was in Tennessee last season when we caught our first glimpse of "Maye Magic." There weren't many highlights from the 2024 New England Patriots, but Maye scrambling around for nearly 12 seconds before hitting Rhamondre Stevenson for a game-tying touchdown with no time on the clock against the Titans tops the list.

Maye reflected on that moment Wednesday, and said it lost its luster when the Patriots ended up losing, 20-17, in overtime. He still seemed upset with himself for throwing a game-ending pick in overtime that Sunday afternoon.

"Yeah, it would've been special if we had won the game. That's the biggest thing I remember; we didn't come up with a win," Maye said. "I made a bad decision in overtime, and I had Hunter [Henry] on that play earlier. So, Rhamondre made a great play, but yeah, I wish we would've come out with a win. So, that's the goal this time, going down there, and we've got a tough challenge.

"They've got some good guys on defense, some good players. Some of them from last year, they made some plays on me and on us, so I'm looking forward to getting down there," added Maye.

While Maye completed 29 of his 41 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown against the Titans last season, he was also picked off twice by Amari Hooker and lost one of his two fumbles. Tennessee game-wrecker Jeffrey Simmons sacked Maye once that afternoon, as did current Patriots Jack Gibbens and Harold Landry. The Titans put on nine QB hits on Maye in the game.

The Patriots are a lot different than the last time these two teams met. Vrabel gives them a huge edge on the sideline, the offensive line is much better, and Maye is a lot wiser and a more comfortable quarterback. 

But Simmons has 27 QB pressures this season and is still a guy who can ruin an afternoon in a hurry. Maye will have to really protect the football against a Tennessee defense that has nine takeaways on the season, tied for the fourth-most in the NFL.

Can the Patriots get their run game going?

The Titans run defense has struggled even more than their pass defense. Tennessee has allowed 133.7 rushing yards per game (25th in the NFL) and a robust 4.5 yards per attempt (21st). 

This would be a good weekend for Patriots running backs to break out, since New England has gotten very little out of the position this season. New England is 26th in the NFL at 91.5 rushing yards per game, and 29th at 3.5 yards per carry. 

Stevenson went fumble-free last weekend against New Orleans, but he only had 18 yards on his 13 carries. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson had 27 yards on his nine carries, but what outdone by Maye as a rusher, with the QB picking up 28 yards on his nine attempts. 

Stevenson had four of his runs go for negative yardage last Sunday in New Orleans, and picked up zero yards on a key third-down carry. Henderson lost yards on two of his carries, and has no gain on two others. That needs to stop. 

The Patriots can survive without a run game against the likes of the Saints and potentially Sunday against the Titans. But Stevenson and Henderson are going to have to show up soon if the team wants to keep rolling, especially against better opposition.

Can Pats' pass rush get to Cam Ward?

Everyone else's pass rush is getting to Ward, so why not New England's this weekend? The No. 1 pick has been sacked a league-high 25 times so far this season, and it's led to a lot of rookie mistakes from Ward. He's also turned the ball over eight times through the first six games.

Tennessee's offensive line is also in flux this week, as offensive line coach Bill Callahan -- Brian's father -- left the team after his son was fired. The Titans' O-Line could be ripe for the taking on Sunday. 

But while the New England defense has been much better over the last three weeks, the pass rush is still looking to get going. The Pats are tied for 18th in the NFL at 2.2 sacks per game this season, and the team's 113 QB pressures are 20th in the league. Quarterbacks are enjoying the extra time they get in the pocket against New England, with the Patriots allowing 239 passing yards per contest -- the eighth-most in the NFL.

Former Titan Harold Landry missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday, though he's officially questionable to play against his old team. But the Patriots should be able to put some pressure on Ward this weekend with Christian Barmore and Milton Williams up the middle, and guys like K'Lavon Chaisson and maybe Keion White off the edge. The pressure should lead to more mistakes from the rookie QB and a decent showing from the New England pass rush.

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