Pats win to stay atop AFC, but can’t stop parade of injuries

Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins sacked Mariota for a loss of 8, and the quarterback just sort of crumbled in an awkward heap. Zach Mettenberger is thus in line to start the Titans’ final two regular season contests. The coach said Mariota’s injury is less serious than the sprained left knee that kept the quarterback out of two games earlier this season and the rookie wants to play.

Mariota, the second overall pick of the NFL Draft, has already broken several franchise rookie records, including most touchdowns (19), completions (230), passing yards (2,818) and passing attempts (370). There was no reason for him to be sent back into the game after suffering a minor knee injury in the first half on Sunday.

“I wish we could execute like we did on the first drive for the entire game”, Brady said. Momentum swung right back to New England on a long punt return that gave the Patriots a short field to score another touchdown. Safety Patrick Chung injured his hip in the fourth quarter and did not return to the game, either.

The Patriots have won two in a row since stumbling to consecutive losses – their first two-game losing streak since 2012. “You try and win at home and that’s what we did today”. I’d just rather keep preparing hard like we have. Gronkowski, who missed practice on Friday because of the death, had five catches for 54 yards. Brady now has 10, 12-win seasons – the second-most all-time trailing just Manning who has 11. White turned a simple screen pass into a 30-yard touchdown reception, and Iosefa demonstrated an impressive ability to run through would-be tacklers.

Fantasy Impact: There was some concern about Brady after he was listed as questionable with an illness going into Sunday. He is completing 62.2 percent of his passes and has a 91.5 passer rating. He has, however, been sacked 38 times, tied for fourth-most in the league. The Titans are 3-11 this season, and miss the playoffs.

In the second half, Brady threw 16 passes, and eight of them were directed towards tight end Rob Gronkowski. If nothing else, thanks to how things played out Sunday, they can at least know that they’ll have time to get guys healthy when they start playing games that will decide whether or not they’ll be able to repeat as champs in February.

Mettenberger has shown flashes of competence in his two-year career, but he’s not a recommended starter for fantasy championship week against the Houston Texans.