The Titans destroyed the Patriots and trolled them along the way

In October, the Tennessee Titans lost to the lowly Bills, 13-12. On Sunday, they smacked the Patriots, 34-10.

The latter is by far the more surprising of the two. The Titans aren’t a team most would see on their schedule and mark it down as a big or tough game. And well, the Patriots are the Patriots. They’re the greatest dynasty the NFL has ever seen.

The Patriots weren’t the Patriots on Sunday. Tom Brady looked human, completing just 21 of his 41 pass attempts for 254 yards and no touchdowns. When he’s not playing well, everything falls apart for New England because he makes everybody around him better.

Marcus Mariota had a solid afternoon, completing 16 of 24 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Derrick Henry and former Patriot Dion Lewis combined for 115 yards, with Henry having a pair of touchdowns. We’ll get back to Lewis later.

The Titans jumped out to a 14-3 lead midway through the first quarter, and never really looked back from there.

But the Titans’ victory came some trolling, which made the win seem even stranger than it already was.

Down 27-10, the Patriots ran a trick play where Julian Edelman (he used to play quarterback, did you know? LOLOL) threw Brady a pass. Brady caught it, and fell to the ground like a child taking their first steps:

The Patriots weren’t able to make anything of the drive. Less than a minute later, the Titans saw a good opportunity for a damn good troll job:

It’s one thing to troll a team with a petty timeout, or some bait-y quote before or after a game. But the Titans brought the troll to the field, so very quickly after the Patriots ran the same play.

That’s a supreme flex.

You wouldn’t think a team would have the gall to do that against the Patriots. Though perhaps it’s not so surprising when you consider Titans head coach Mike Vrabel played for the Patriots under Belichick for years.

Vrabel confirmed the the flex after the game:

He’s not the only former Patriot who took a dig at his former team. Let’s revisit our friend Dion Lewis:

For a pair of other former Patriots on the Titans, it wasn’t that deep. Which isn’t nearly as fun, but to each his own:

The Titans’ win is one of the weirdest we’ve seen this season. It’s probably a close second to the Bills running all over the Vikings in Week 3. It’s hard to imagine something topping that one.

And come January, we’ll probably forget this even happened because once again, the Patriots are the Patriots.

Let’s run through Week 10.

As a Falcons fan, I would say typing the following is about to bring me pain. However, my soul went completely numb shortly after James White crossed the goal line in overtime of Super Bowl 51. Let us proceed.

The Falcons went into Week 10 having won three games in a row after starting 1-4. The offense was clicking, and they made us think that a game like Sunday’s against the Browns could be one that they walk out of with a relatively chill win.

The scenario, metaphorically drawn out (translated: here’s a meme, y’all):

Of course, the Browns still got some Brownsing in because Browns game isn’t complete without a stupid blunder or two.

Baker Mayfield started the game 9 of 9 for 121 yards and a touchdown when the Browns decided the best possible play to run in the moment on a first-and-10 from the Falcons’ 34-yard line was this:

Not even the Falcons would disregard the No. 1 overall pick’s hot start to let [checks notes] Dontrell Hilliard throw a pass in Week 10.

Things stayed fine for the Browns though. Nick Chubb had 20 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown. His longest run was this 92-yard touchdown, which is the longest in Cleveland Browns’ history:

The least shocking thing in the world is that the Falcons were the team to give up that run. The Falcons are a team that doesn’t just settle for doing things bad. The Falcons will do them the worst, like a blown Super Bowl lead.

Let’s go to Matt Ryan for his reaction:

Mhm, yep. And just when you think things for the Falcons can’t get worse after the whistle, buddy, THINGS GET WORSE:

Combine that with Baker Mayfield waking up on the right side of the bed, and the Falcons were doomed from the start:

We’ll do it again next week, Falcons fans. Prepare your drink of choice.

The Saints signed Dez Bryant going into Week 10, and had to quickly place him on injured reserve after he tore his Achilles. That’s an unfortunately quick turnaround, but Bryant clearly made his impact felt among the team.

During the Saints’ 51-14 demolishing of the Bengals on Sunday, Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara, and Michael Thomas all did Bryant’s signature “throw up the X” celebration:

Ingram, along with other Saints had said they would do so during the week. Once Bryant saw them, he obviously appreciated the gestures on Twitter:

Bryant never played a game for New Orleans, but for the Saints to show so much love for him after such a short time is telling of the immediate bond. The chances seemed high that Bryant’s tenure could be a short-term thing for the Saints, and that could still be the case.

But the chance for the two to pair up in 2019 certainly isn’t out of the question. Sunday’s display of solidarity with Bryant might even suggest it’s likely.

There weren’t a lot of good things to discuss in regards to the Bengals on Sunday. But this stat Fox threw up on head coach Marvin Lewis is just funny:

Lewis is the NFL head coach who has nine lives, much like a cat (no pun intended). It seems like he’s been on the hot seat the past decade, and yet, he prospers.

And for as good as the Bengals have been under him at home for 1 p.m. starts, the Steelers still have his number.

At least they aren’t the Browns, I guess.

Bob Wylie is one of the best characters in the NFL. He’s got a stomach that bounces like an exercise ball when he yells “hut!” and he doesn’t believe in stretching muscles.

During the Falcons-Browns broadcast on Fox, a clip from earlier in the season was shown of Wylie telling Nick Chubb to sit down so they could chit-chat. Wylie ultimately ended up sitting next to the rookie running back.

Chubb was not comfortable:

Chubb certainly looks less than pleased here, when Wylie has popped a squat next to him:

Personal space is important. Though I’d lowkey like to sit next to Bob Wylie and have a conversation, even if it wasn’t the most comfortable.

Khalil Mack is going to have some serious aging to do before he goes from this super-mega-beast of a football player to just Really Good. Even then, I imagine we’re still going to find most of what he does incredible.

In the Bears’ 34-22 win over the Lions, Mack made Levine Toilolo and Taylor Decker look like small children on his way to this sack of Matthew Stafford:

There’s just not a whole lot you can do about Mack when he gets a full head of steam like that. Condolences to Stafford.

The Rams have an audible that’s simply “Halle Berry” which appears to be a Jared Goff handoff to Todd Gurley:

As you might imagine, Berry wanted some answers:

Goff provided a very vague answer that left plenty of room for interpretation:

We’ll leave it at that, but there are interesting replies from the Goff tweet. The Rams beat the Seahawks, 36-31, and are now 9-1 on the season.

Quenton Nelson had the pancake of the week against the Jaguars, and you’ll see the play below.

More importantly, Nelson just decided to scream his ass off along the way, which certainly doesn’t hurt, and is kind of hilarious:

That’s Barry Church on the receiving end of the scream and leveling. I would say I feel bad for the man, but Nelson let him know that he was coming with that howl.

You kinda gotta be prepared when the siren is going off like that. The Colts beat the Jaguars, 29-26, and the AFC’s runner-up from 2017 is now 3-6.

There’s not a whole lot to be said here except that Pat Mahomes is now emperor of the world in this Starter jacket:

That’s some Big Drip from the rook. Mahomes didn’t have one of those stupid games where he makes his stats ooze out of the box score, but still completed 21 of his 28 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals in a 26-14 win. The job was done, and the sauce was displayed.

They’re on to Los Angeles (Rams).

See y’all next week.

The Chargers and Raiders played, despite heavy smoke from wildfires.

Christian D’Andrea goes over why the Patriots’ loss to the Titans shouldn’t be a big concern.

The Buccaneers had 501 yards of offense. It resulted in THREE points.

Derek Carr throwing the ball away on 4th down is all you need to know about his season.

Andrew Whitworth donated his entire game check to victims of the Thousand Oaks shooting.