Patriots 17
Titans 14
FOXBORO – The temperature at game time was 4 degrees with a wind-chill of 10 below zero, marking the coldest game in Patriots’ history and the NFL’s fourth-coldest game ever. By halftime, the temperature had dropped to 3 degrees, and the wind made it feel like 12 below.
Last night’s AFC divisional playoff game featured a tug-of-war between the NFL’s two most resilient teams, the Patriots and the Titans, with a berth in the AFC Championship Game hanging precariously in the balance.
The game was deadlocked at 14-14 with the game clock winding down in the fourth quarter, exactly the way a game between these two teams should have unfolded with a dramatic ending in store.
Something had to give.
And in the end it was a familiar hero for New England, kicker Adam Vinatieri, who booted a 46-yard field goal with 4:06 remaining to give the 15-2 Patriots a gritty 17-14 victory and a home date in next Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the winner of today’s game between the Chiefs and Colts.
Vinatieri’s kick seemed to hang in the frigid Foxboro air forever before barely clearing the crossbar and throwing the crowd, which had been holding its collective breath, into an utter frenzy.
“They weren’t real soft,” Vinatieri said of the rock-hard footballs. “But the nice thing about it was you couldn’t feel your feet anyway.”
Vinatieri, you might recall, kicked a 45-yarder in a driving snowstorm at the old Foxboro Stadium to tie the 2001 AFC divisional playoff game against the Raiders, and later won it with a 23-yarder in overtime. Weeks later, he kicked a 48-yarder at the end of the Super Bowl to give the Patriots the title.
Last night’s FG was the third of Vinatieri’s career that gave the Patriots a lead or a victory in the postseason. Vinatieri is 15-of-20 in game-tying or game-winning FG attempts in his career.
Vinatieri’s latest heroics became possible after New England took possession with 6:40 remaining in regulation and began its climactic drive at the Tennessee 40-yard line after the Titans had been forced to punt from deep in their own territory.
The key play was a fourth-and-three from the Tennessee 33 with Tom Brady, who called last night “the coldest game I’ve ever played in,” connecting with Troy Brown for three yards to prolong the drive with 5:09 remaining.
The Titans made a last-ditch attempt to tie the game, but ran out of chances with 1:38 remaining when Titans’ WR Drew Bennett dropped a desperation pass from Steve NcNair (18-of-26, 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) that, if caught, would have set up a short game-tying FG and sent the game to OT.
“I should have made the play, but I didn’t. That was a tough way to end it,” Bennett said.
“That was 60 minutes of football out there,” said a breathless Bill Belichick. “We said all week this would be the toughest game of the year, and it was.”
Brady (21-of-41, 201 yards, 1 TD) was a star, throwing an early 41-yard TD to Bethel Johnson and managing the game magnificently, as seems to be the norm. He’s now 38-12 in his career as a starter, 26-4 after Nov. 1 and 4-0 in postseason.
The TD pass to Johnson, the dynamic rookie receiver, was the highlight of the game as Johnson dusted former Hofstra safety Lance Schulters.
“I don’t care if you’re Carl Lewis, it’s tough to run with Bethel,” Brady said.
The Titans, as resilient a group as there is in the NFL, didn’t panic – despite opening the second half down 14-7 after the Johnson TD and an Antowain Smith TD – tying the game at 14-14 on McNair’s 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Derrick Mason with 4:14 remaining in the third.
“They were talking so much smack and we were humble, we stayed quiet,” said Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who made one interception and five tackles. “This was a very fulfilling victory.”