New England held a 16-13 lead heading into the halftime locker room, but the defense was able to shut the door over the final two quarters.
On a second-and-4 run in the third quarter, D’Onta Foreman ripped off a 30-yard run that was set to flip the field for Tennessee as they trailed by six.
Running back Dontrell Hilliard led the Titans with 131 yards rushing, most of that coming on a 68-yard touchdown run just prior to halftime.
The unit was able to force a fumble that negated a long run by D’Onta Foreman and later picked off Ryan Tannehill iin the end zone after the Titans moved the ball all the way to the Patriots 2-yard line.
Offensively, Mac Jones was efficient enough to get the win and seems to be increasingly more comfortable with deep passes as he threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns .
Out of the gate, special teams penalties on the opening kickoff and then on an ensuing fourth-down punt on the opening possession gave the Patriots the football on the Titans 37-yard line, which they proceeded to cash in with a Kendrick Bourne touchdown.
Even after giving up that touchdown, Tennessee was able to start matching the Patriots scoring output, but a missed PAT and missed field goal by Randy Bullock kept the Titans playing catch up.
However, the defense was able to keep up its clutch play as they quickly forced a three-and-out against Tennessee that gave the ball back to the offense after just 67 seconds.
That was Jackson’s first forced turnover of the day and also added yet another interception to his collection for the year as he picked off Tannehill in the end zone to begin the fourth quarter.