The top-seeded New England Patriots will host the sixth home playoff game in club history when they welcome the fifth-seeded Tennessee Titans to Foxborough on Saturday night. In their first playoff game at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots will see a familiar foe in the Titans, who last paid a visit to New England on Oct. 5, 2003. In that game, the Patriots prevailed in a 38-30 shootout, the first win in a franchise-record 12-game winning streak to end the 2003 regular season with an NFL-leading 14-2 record.
The Patriots will participate in their first playoff game since their victory in Super Bowl XXXVI, and have compiled a 6-3 record in the playoffs since 1996. While the Patriots are coming off of a first-round bye, the Titans are fresh off of a 20-17 win at Baltimore in the Wild Card Round that punched their ticket to Foxborough. Like the Patriots, the Titans have enjoyed recent postseason prosperity, having won the AFC Championship in 1999 and reached the conference championship last season. With a berth in this year's AFC Championship at stake, the Patriots will face their toughest challenge to date.
TELEVISION: This week's game will be televised by CBS. The game can be seen locally on WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston. Greg Gumbel will handle the play-by-play duties and Phil Simms will provide analysis. Armen Keteyian will provide reports from the sidelines throughout the game.
RADIO: WBCN 104.1 FM is the flagship station for the Patriots Rock Radio Network. Play-by-play broadcaster Gil Santos is in his 27th season as the voice of the Patriots and calls the action along with Patriots Hall of Famer Gino Cappelletti. In 2003, Santos and Cappelletti celebrate their 20th season as a broadcast tandem.
NATIONAL RADIO: This week's game will be broadcast nationally by CBS Radio. Brad Sham will call the play-by-play, and he will be joined in the booth by analyst Kellen Winslow. John Dockery will report from the sidelines.
HOME COOKING
The Patriots finished 8-0 at Gillette Stadium this season, recording the first undefeated home season in team history. New England is 17-3 in its last 20 home games. The Patriots are 4-1 at home in the playoffs.
RECORD STREAK
The Patriots ended the 2003 regular season with a 12-game winning streak to finish the season at 14-2. The streak is tied for the third longest season-ending winning streak in NFL history. Every other NFL team to end a season with 12 or more consecutive wins has advanced to play for the league championship. Only three teams in league history have ended a season with more consecutive wins than the Patriots, and only one team has done so in the last 30 years (Denver, 1998). The first 11 wins in the Patriots' streak were all by 14 points or fewer, making them the first team in league history to win so many games by such a narrow margin.
MOST CONSECUTIVE WINS, SINGLE SEASON
| Wins | Team, Year | Playoff Result |
| 14 | Miami, 1972 | Won Super Bowl VII |
| 13 | Chicago, 1934 | Lost in NFL Championship Game |
| Denver, 1998 | Won Super Bowl XXXIII | |
| 12 | New England, 2003 | |
| Minnesota, 1969 | Lost Super Bowl IV | |
| Chicago, 1985 | Won Super Bowl XX | |
SERIES HISTORY
The New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans will play for the second time in the playoffs and for the 37th time overall. The teams last tangled on Oct. 5 at Gillette Stadium, with the Patriots winning a 38-30 shootout. The series between the teams dates back to the days of the Boston Patriots and Houston Oilers of the American Football League. The Patriots have an overall lead in the all-time series, holding a 19-16-1 advantage. The teams played twice each year from 1960-1969 in the AFL, and have played 15 times since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. In those 15 post-merger games, the Patriots have a 9-6 record. The Patriots have had significant recent success against the Titans in Foxborough, coming out on the winning end six of the last seven times the Titans have traveled to New England. The other time the teams met in the playoffs, the Oilers spoiled the Patriots' first home playoff game in club history with a 31-14 win in the 1978 Divisional Round.
PATRIOTS 19, HOUSTON/TENNESSEE 16 (1 tie)
| 1960-Houston 24, at Boston 10 | -14 | BU Field | |
| at Houston 37, Boston 21 | -16 | Jeppesen Stadium | |
| 1961-at Boston 31, Houston 31 | tie | BU Field | |
| at Houston 27, Boston 15 | -12 | Jeppesen Stadium | |
| 1962-at Boston 34, Houston 21 | 13 | BU Field | |
| at Houston 21, Boston 17 | -4 | Jeppesen Stadium | |
| 1963-at Boston 45, Houston 3 | 42 | Fenway Park | |
| Boston 46, at Houston 28 | 18 | Jeppesen Stadium | |
| 1964-at Boston 25, Houston 24 | 1 | Fenway Park | |
| Boston 34, at Houston 17 | 17 | Jeppesen Stadium | |
| 1965-at Houston 31, Boston 10 | -21 | Rice Stadium | |
| at Boston 42, Houston 14 | 28 | Fenway Park | |
| 1966-at Boston 27, Houston 21 | 6 | Fenway Park | |
| Boston 38, at Houston 14 | 24 | Rice Stadium | |
| 1967-at Boston 18, Houston 7 | 11 | Fenway Park | |
| at Houston 27, Boston 6 | -21 | Rice Stadium | |
| 1968-Houston 16, at Boston 0 | -16 | Fenway Park | |
| at Houston 45, Boston 17 | -28 | Houston Astrodome | |
| 1969-at Boston 24, Houston 0 | 24 | B.C. Alumni Stadium | |
| at Houston 27, Boston 23 | -4 | Houston Astrodome | |
| 1971-at NE 28, Houston 20 | 8 | Schaefer Stadium | |
| 1973-NE 32, at Houston 0 | 32 | Houston Astrodome | |
| 1975-Houston 7, at NE 0 | -7 | Schaefer Stadium | |
| 1978-Houston 26, at NE 23 | -3 | Schaefer Stadium | |
| *Houston 31, at NE 14 | -17 | Schaefer Stadium | |
| 1980-at Houston 38, NE 34 | -4 | Houston Astrodome | |
| 1981-at NE 38, Houston 10 | 28 | Schaefer Stadium | |
| 1982-at NE 29, Houston 21 | 8 | Schaefer Stadium | |
| 1987-NE 21, at Houston 7 | 14 | Houston Astrodome | |
| 1988-at Houston 31, NE 6 | -25 | Houston Astrodome | |
| 1989-at NE 23, Houston 13 | 10 | Foxboro Stadium | |
| 1991-at NE 24, Houston 20 | 4 | Foxboro Stadium | |
| 1993-Houston 28, at NE 14 | -14 | Foxboro Stadium | |
| 1998-at NE 27, Tennessee 16 | 11 | Foxboro Stadium | |
| 2002-at Tennessee 24, NE 7 | -17 | The Coliseum | |
| 2003-at NE 38, Tennessee 30 | 8 | Gillette Stadium | |
| *AFC Divisional Playoff | |||
SERIES TRENDS
Overall Record in Series 19 wins, 16 losses, 1 tie
Record in Postseason 0 wins, 1 loss
Total Points Patriots 841, Titans/Oilers 757
Record in New England 14 wins, 6 losses, 1 tie
Record in Houston 5 wins, 9 losses
Record in Tennessee 0 wins, 1 loss
TALE OF THE TAPE
| 2003 Regular Season | New England | Tennessee |
| Record | 14-2 | 12-4 |
| Divisional Standings | 1st | 2nd |
| Total Yards Gained | 5,039 | 5,501 |
| Total Offense (Rank) | 314.9 (17) | 343.8 (8) |
| Rush Offense | 100.4 (27) | 101.4 (26) |
| Pass Offense | 214.5 (9) | 242.4 (5) |
| Points Per Game | 21.8 | 27.2 |
| Total Yards Allowed | 4,666 | 4,901 |
| Total Defense | 291.6 (7) | 306.3 (12) |
| Rush Defense | 89.6 (4) | 80.9 (1) |
| Pass Defense | 202.0 (15) | 225.4 (30) |
| Points Allowed/Game | 14.9 | 20.3 |
| Possession Avg. | 30:50 | 32:52 |
| Sacks Allowed/Yards Lost | 32/219 | 25/153 |
| Sacks Made/Yards | 41/253 | 38/223 |
| Interceptions By | 29 | 21 |
| Penalties Against/Yards | 111/998 | 110/887 |
| Punts/Avg. | 88/37.1 | 71/43.9 |
| Takeaway/Giveaway Ratio | 17 | 13 |
