The New England Patriots got a win for head coach Mike Vrabel in his return to Tennessee on Sunday, thanks to another near-perfect afternoon from quarterback Drake Maye. The Patriots shook off a slow start and crushed the Titans, 31-13, in Week 7 in Nashville.

Vrabel spent six seasons on the Tennessee sideline as head coach of the Titans, but was let go after the 2023 season. He got the last laugh with Sunday's blowout win, and now has the Patriots at 5-2 and in first place of the AFC East through his first seven weeks as head coach in New England. The Patriots are one of the hottest teams in the NFL with four straight wins. 

Tennessee fans were chanting "Vrabel! Vrabel! Vrabel!" as the Patriots killed clock late in the fourth quarter.

"I appreciate the support of our fans who came down here to support our football team," Vrabel said after the win. "Happy for these players to have a little momentum, and they continued to build it throughout the week."

"He brings it every day. He challenges us but he also cares about us, and cares about us outside the building," Maye said of his head coach. "He's awesome to play for and it's awesome to celebrate in the locker room."

After a slow start Sunday, the Patriots offense ripped off three straight touchdown drives between the second and third quarters to take control of the game. New England also got a defensive score midway through the third to jump on top, 31-13.

Maye was surgical again as he completed 16 straight passes at one point and finished 21-of-23 for 222 yards and two touchdown passes. He set a new Patriots record for the highest completion percentage in a single game (91.3%) to best Tom Brady's 88.5% against Jacksonville on Dec. 27, 2009.

Maye had the deep ball working again, including a 39-yard touchdown to Kayshon Boutte ahead of halftime. Stefon Diggs was his favorite target on Sunday with seven receptions for 69 yards. Tight end Hunter Henry had four receptions for 33 yards, while five others had at least two catches for the New England offense.

Rhamondre Stevenson got going on the ground too, rushing for 88 yards on his 18 carries. New England rushed for 175 yards in Week 7, as Maye picked up 62 yards on the ground on his eight scrambles.

The New England defense let Cam Ward lead the Titans to a touchdown drive and two field field goals in the first half, but locked down in the second half. Tennessee's rookie QB finished the game 25-of-34 for 255 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and a lost fumble. The Patriots' defense sacked Ward five times on the afternoon. 

The Patriots won on the road for a third straight Sunday, something the team hadn't done in the regular season since 1961. The Patriots will host the Cleveland Browns in Week 8.

Here's how Sunday's win in Tennessee played out for the Patriots:

Titans, Patriots open game with field goals

The Titans jumped on top early after they picked up 31 yards on the first two plays from scrimmage, and ended their opening drive with a 49 yard field goal from former Patriots kicker Joey Slye. The Patriots drove deep into Tennessee territory on their first possession, but Maye was sacked on back-to-back plays (one was when he was pushed out of bounds on a scramble) and their opening drive ended with a 36-yard field goal from rookie Andy Borregales to tie the game at 3-3.

Stevenson ran for 42 yards on five carries on New England's first possession, which surpassed his rushing yards from the previous two weeks combined. 

Cam Ward, Chimere Dike burn Patriots on deep touchdown

After rookie receiver Chimere Dike gave the Titans great field position with a 29-yard kickoff return, he put Tennessee up by seven when he burned the New England secondary (Marcus Jones and Craig Woodson) and hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Ward. Dike -- a fourth-round pick by Tennessee -- also had an 18-yard reception just before his big TD catch and had 56 yards on the drive. 

The Patriots couldn't answer either. Stevenson picked up a first down for New England with a 16-yard run on second down, but the Patriots had to punt it away three plays later when Maye threw high to Kyle Williams on third-and-8.

Maye was 3-for-4 for just eight yards on New England's first two drives of the game.

Patriots' offense wakes up in second quarter

After forcing a Titans punt, Maye and the Patriots offense got going. Maye was a perfect 5-for-5 for 51 yards on the team's first drive of the second quarter, and also picked up 23 yards on a pair of scrambles.

After Johnny Hekker's punt set the Patriots up at their own 7-yard line, Maye hit Henry for 12 yards to get things started. He then burned the Titans' defense on a 21-yard scramble, and four plays later, Maye floated a second-and-12 pass to Kayshon Boutte for 17 yards and a fresh set of down.

Two plays later on a second-and-8, Maye delivered a beautiful deep ball to Mack Hollins down the right sideline -- a pass only the receiver could catch. It set the Patriots up at the Tennessee 7-yard line.

Stevenson and Maye got six yards on the ground on the first two goal-to-go plays, before Maye hit tight end Austin Hooper for a touchdown strike from three yards out. It was the first touchdown of the season for the former Titan Hooper, who "Mossed" L'Jarius Sneed on the play to knot the score at 10-10.

Titans add field goal, but Maye hits Boutte for long touchdown before halftime

The New England defense let Ward find Van Jefferson for a pair of receptions that went for 27 yards and helped set up a 50-yard field goal by Slye with 1:48 left in the first half to give the Titans a 13-10 edge.

Slye then did his former team a favor when his kickoff went out of bounds and gave New England the football at their own 40 ahead of the half. That gave Maye a short field, and he took full advantage.

Maye scrambled and slid for nine yards on first down and then hit Henry for 12 yards to get the Pats to the Tennessee 39. The quarterback then casually tossed a beautiful deep ball to Boutte, who made a great finger-tip catch in the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the season.

The Patriots' offense needed just three plays and 59 seconds to go 60 yards downfield to take a 17-13 lead. 

Josh Dobbs helps Patriots with double score out of halftime

Maye continued to deal out of halftime, with a 24-yard completion to Diggs and a 27-yard connection to Hollins for his 10th straight completion. But the QB had to leave the game briefly after he hit the back of his head on the turf at the end of a six-yard scramble. 

Josh Dobbs took over and kept things rolling for the offense. On third-and-4, the veteran shed a sack and hit DeMario Douglas downfield for a 13-yard pickup and a fresh set of downs.

Maye returned a few plays later, and on fourth-and-1, Douglas came through again with a beautiful one-handed grab when Maye threw a pass behind the receiver.

It was Maye's 13th straight completion, and Stevenson took it in untouched from four yards out on the next play to give the Patriots a 24-13 lead midway through the third quarter.

K'Lavon Chaisson scores first career touchdown on Ward fumble

The Patriots found the end zone again just 11 game seconds later, this time on defense. Ward lost his handle as he went back to pass on first down, and K'Lavon Chaisson scooped it up and took it in four yards for his first career touchdown.

The defensive touchdown broke the game open for the Patriots, 31-13. Chaisson ended his afternoon with two of New England's five sacks.

The Titans started the second half by going backwards, with negative-3 yards of offense on their first three drives out of halftime. New England held Tennessee had just 90 yards of offense in the second half on Sunday. 

Marcus Jones picked off a bad pass by Ward that was behind Jefferson and deflected off the receiver's hands with 3:37 left in the game, and the Patriots ran out the rest of the clock for the team's fourth straight win.