Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Tuesday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
The schedule for the bye week is starting to shape up. The Patriots will apparently be in for meetings on Tuesday, and will get out on the practice field Wednesday for a (likely) walkthrough. After that, they'll probably be off for the rest of the weekend. That means it's going to be a light schedule for the next few days.
--Greg is making his weekly appearance with the fellas from "Felger & Mazz" Tuesday from 2-4. Listen live here.
--Sunday's loss was the first of the year for Josh Gordon. He was with the Browns for the opener (and that game ended in a tie), and the Pats won all six games he was uniform at the start of his career with New England.
Tuesday’s schedule
11 a.m.: Conference Call with Bill Belichick
5-5:45 p.m.: Approximate time for player availability (locker room)
Now, on with the links...
1. I wrote about this in the game report on Sunday afternoon, and wanted to follow up with more totals, but the targets and catch percentage for Gordon are really something, and seem to back up my philosophy that Gordon's accelerated program is taking targets away from others at the expense of the overall offensive philosophy. I'm all for working Gordon into the offense, but there's a fine line between getting him up to speed quickly and force feeding him.
2. The AFC Playoff Picture is really interesting. The Patriots currently hold the No. 3 seed, two games behind the Chiefs. The Steelers, who sit at No. 2, have more games against plus-.500 teams than any of the other elite teams in the AFC.
3. Another epic Overreaction Monday Q&A. In a weird twist, a lot of you wanted to know more about Gordon's targets over the last few weeks. (You guys ask, BSJ delivers.) Also got a lot of good questions about a variety of stuff, including what former Patriots (active and/or retired) would you like to see get a do-over in New England in some form or fashion. Oh, and a lot of people didn't like Dion Lewis' statements after the game.
4. Brady was asked about Lewis' comments. "When you win, you can probably say whatever you want," he responded.
5. Our pal Tom E. Curran says that when you come right down to it, a little bitterness pushed the Titans past the Patriots. "We ignored the fact that, in a cutthroat profession where mining for motivating slights is a pastime, several Titans had a pocketful of them and their teammates were happy to draft off their irritation," writes Curran, reflecting on the pregame predictions of many in New England.
6. The ankle injury sustained by Julian Edelman isn't considered serious. The outlook is "positive," per Adam Schefter.
7. Based on what happened against the Lions and Titans, Mike Reiss says Belichick has a new challenge -- how do deal with former assistants and players who are coaching against you. "The team’s two worst performances of the season were road losses against former Patriots defense coordinator Matt Patricia’s Detroit Lions and former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel’s Tennessee Titans," notes Reiss. "In those games, they scored 10 points apiece and quarterback Tom Brady completed 52 percent of his passes."
8. Pro Football Focus takes a look back at Patriots-Titans. Thought this was interesting: "It’s fair to say this hasn’t been the best year of Dont’a Hightower‘s illustrious career, but there were signs of him getting back to his best as the Patriots deployed him a number of ways. His work in the run game around the line of scrimmage was particularly good this afternoon."
9. The Titans have now beaten both of the teams involved in last year's Super Bowl. "It's just another step," quarterback Marcus Mariota said after Sunday's game. "If we just sit here and feel good about ourselves, the next week we're not going to play very well. It's nice to build off of it. It's a great win for us. But, this is not where we want to be and not where we want to go. So, we have to continue to work."
10. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Media always delivers smart and insightful analysis. Here, he takes a look at Brady's mechanics in Sunday's loss.
Extra Point:
Best/worst-rated QBs vs the BLITZ this season...
Worst-rated QB is a shocker, but not if you've been watching their tape.#Seahawks #GoPackGo #GoSaints #SeizeTheDEY #KeepPounding #HereWeGo #LARams #GiantsPride #FightForEachOther #Skol #GoPats pic.twitter.com/3y8OONVGn7
— NFL Matchup on ESPN (@NFLMatchup) November 12, 2018