This Week: The New England Patriots (8-5) will travel to Nashville, Tennessee and face the Titans (8-5) at The Coliseum (68,798 capacity) on Monday Night Football. The game will feature a battle between two of the hottest teams in the NFL. The Patriots have won five of their last six games, while the Titans have been victorious in seven of their last eight contests. It will be the Patriots second game on Monday night this year and the Titans first. New England defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-14 in the opening weekend of the regular season on Monday Night Football. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.
Television: This week's game will be broadcast nationally on ABC (WCVB Channel 5 in Boston). The play-by-play duties will be handled by analyst Al Michaels who will be joined by color commentator John Madden. Melissa Stark will provide sideline reports throughout the game.
Radio: Every Patriots game can be heard in stereo on the Patriots official flagship station WBCN 104.1 FM. Gil Santos, now in his 26th season as the voice of the Patriots, will call the game along with Patriots Hall of Famer Gino Cappelletti, who will provide in-depth analysis for his 22nd season. A complete list of the Patriots WBCN Rock Radio Network can be found on pages 462-463 of the 2002 Patriots media guide or at www.patriots.com.
National Radio: This week's game will be broadcast nationally on CBS Radio. Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason will be calling the play-by-play and Bonnie Bernstein will report from the sidelines.
The Road Ahead: The Patriots have won five of their last six games this season, including three road victories. The combined record of the Patriots final four opponents is 23-16, which is the toughest schedule in the AFC East and the second toughest in the entire AFC. While the Patriots will venture from Gillette Stadium this week to face the Titans, they will return to Gillette for their final two games of the season against division opponents.
Another December to Remember?: The Patriots have a 7-2 record in the month of December since Bill Belichick assumed the duties as head coach in 2000, including a current five-game winning streak. As the temperatures have cooled in recent years, the Patriots have heated up. Since 1993, New England is 13-4 when it's 36 degrees or colder.
Catch Him if You Can: Wide receiver Troy Brown leads all Patriots receivers with 79 receptions and is on pace to catch 97 passes, despite missing two games earlier this season due to injury. With one catch this week, Brown will become the only Patriot to ever record three 80-catch seasons (83, 2000; 101, 2001). Brown ranks sixth in the AFC and eighth in the NFL with 79 catches this season.
