By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The difference in the game was simple the Titans had a punter and a running game, and the Patriots didn’t.

Multiple times the Patriots wanted to back the Titans offense up with a punt and Rooke Jake Bailey kicked it into the endzone for a touchback.

And offensive coordinator Arthur Smith called this game perfectly.

A passing attack that had under 100 yards passing and barely .500 completion percentage.

With Titans-Patriots concluded, we wrap-up our sharing with Boston Sports Journal, another independent site. Greg Bedard is the site's columnist/Patriots analyst, editor and owner.

By GREG BEDARD

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.  — After 20 years, he’s certainly earned this mulligan.

Bill Belichick is already one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. What he built in this town that football seemed to forget for 40-plus years will stand the test of time. What he’s done in the salary-cap era will most likely go unmatched.

Six Super Bowl titles, 304 wins, 17 consecutive 10-win seasons. All the numbers are ridiculous. You probably know them by heart.

But Belichick is also not perfect. He’s not infallible. This season proved that not that you didn’t know that beforehand.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s premature to say the Titans toppled a dynasty at Gillette Stadium Saturday night.

But they showcased their bruiser birthday running back as they dethroned the champions with an imperfect game, advancing to a matchup in Baltimore to renew a once violent rivalry. They won a wild card playoff game for the second time in three seasons.

And that’s plenty.

“We’ve been on the other side of it,” said Logan Ryan, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots but was part of the 2017 Titans who lost here in the divisional round. “The whole thing was you can’t get caught looking at the pinstripes. They are a championship organization, they are all class, they’ve got the best quarterback, the best coach.

As we head toward Titans-Patriots, we'll do a bit of sharing with Boston Sports Journal, another independent site. Greg Bedard is the site's columnist/Patriots analyst, editor and owner.

By GREG BEDARD

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Each team tries to gain an advantage over their opponent by targeting weaknesses of the opponent but also playing to your own strengths. There aren't really any magic elixirs like personnel groupings and huge mismatches — these games basically come down to which team has the better players and whether they play to that level thanks to coaches that put them in the best position for success.

After going through the film, here are three ways I think the Titans and Patriots will try to gain an edge on the other.

TITANS VS. PATRIOTS

1. Get after Brady up the middle.

This is no magic formula. Mike Vrabel knows it. Dean Pees knows it. The Patriots know it. Get some early hits on Brady and he gets sped up, never feels comfortable and his accuracy is off just enough to keep them disjointed on offense. You don't have to even pressure all that much — the Titans made Brady feels pressure just 25.5 percent of the time in last year's game yet Brady couldn't have played more spooked.

The Titans were, however, very effective at bringing players from the second level up the middle to help move Brady off his spot. That led to Brady and James White allowing almost half (five of 12) pressures.

2. Take care of Edelman and White.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Patriots always aim to eliminate an opponent’s most dangerous threat. Take him away and see how they function without being able to lean on him.

New England has been hurt by big days this season, from the likes of Frank Gore, Golden Tate, Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon and Devonta Parker.

But the defense minimized weapons like Ezekiel Elliott, DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Kelce, Le’Veon Bell and Terry McLaurin this season. And historically it’s been their defensive goal.

Saturday night, presumably, the Patriots will look to quiet Derrick Henry. And if they can do that, they’ll also look to quash A.J. Brown.

As we head toward Titans-Patriots, we'll do a bit of sharing with Boston Sports Journal, another independent site. Greg Bedard is the site's columnist/Patriots analyst, editor and owner.

By GREG BEDARD

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- We all know what we saw on Sunday against the Dolphins. Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, the self-professed best corner in the game and contender for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was picked on by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins to the tune of 119 yards and a 77.8 completion percentage with a bye on the line Sunday.

And that’s bad news for the Titans heading into the wild-card game.

Wait … what?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans’ turnaround, from hard-to-watch 2-4 dud to high-flying, must-watch 9-7 playoff qualifier has been a terrific story.

I wanted to find the play that turned it, and I figured it would require some serious digging.

There was a lot that went into the flip once Ryan Tannehill took over as the starting quarterback and started the work that amounted to the best stretch of offense in the franchise’s Tennessee history.

Alas, the search was pretty simple. Start at the very beginning and stop right there.

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Patriots QB Tom Brady is arguably the best in NFL history. But this season he has started to show tendencies that defenses can use against him.

Brady does not want to take hits anymore. He will take a non-hit sack by falling down to avoid contact, he will throw the ball away quickly under immediate pressure or check down to a receiver short of the first down to get the ball out of his hand.

This does not indicate that Brady isn’t tough, because he is tough, but he has become savvier in his last few years to avoid hits.

The Titans must put pressure on the QB to force him into these mistakes.