On January 4, Patriots fans from all over New England gathered at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to watch what they thought would end in a win that would acquire the Patriots a spot in the AFC divisional rounds. Little did they know, they would be walking out of the stadium wondering if they would ever see Tom Brady play again. 

After a hard loss against the Miami Dolphins on December 29, a week prior to their game against the Tennessee Titans, the Patriots had lost their bye for the wildcard round. Ranked number two in the AFC, their appalling loss against Miami put them in third. 

“Going into the game [against the Tennessee Titans], I was nervous based on how the Miami game went. They were not really playing like the Patriots that I have always known, but I tried to stay positive and hope for the best,” said Samantha Shepard ‘22.

Some would say the game was pretty evenly matched for the majority of the time, with the score close: 14 Tennessee, 13 New England. It was not until the end when things started to become nerve-wracking for New England Fans. 

“When there were about seven minutes left, I started to worry because our offense was not performing nearly as well it should have been. The Patriots were only losing by one point, but it felt like they were losing by 20 [because] they failed to get anything done in the offensive zone,” said Jonah Sacks ‘22 who was there to watch the Patriots be defeated. 

“I knew the game was over when Tom Brady threw the interception with a minute and thirty left you could see and feel the stadium stand and leave right as the Titans got that last touchdown.” said Teresa DeMaio ‘20, who was also present at the game. 

At the start of the game, “The environment was way louder and more energetic than a regular-season game. I have never heard the fans so loud in person and it was amazing to hear,” said Sacks ‘22. But that took a quick turn. 

“[When they lost], the stadium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Fans were dejected and many people were talking about how the Patriots would never be good again,” said Sacks ‘22. Many Patriots fans were left shocked after the devastating loss against Miami but were left speechless after their loss against the Titans, ending the Patriot’s season.

Many also worried that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would never play again, but were relieved when he ended his most recent instagram post with, “You don’t always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again and that’s right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove.” 

While this implied that he was not done playing football, the next big question many fans asked, was where? Will Brady continue his legacy with Bill Belichick wearing a Patriots Uniform or start a new journey somewhere else? We will have to wait until March 18 to find out.