Can the Titans' defense rattle Tom Brady - and will it matter?

The New England Patriots scored 184 more points than the Tennessee Titans during the regular season, and are rightfully big favorites in Saturday's AFC divisional round matchup.

Slowing down Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense is a daunting task, especially in Foxboro. And going back to his days with the Steelers, Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau hasn't had much success doing so - particularly in the playoffs.

New England's biggest weakness on offense is its pass protection. This has become more obvious with the loss of Marcus Cannon, who's on injured reserve. However, Brady is a great remedy for this problem, as he recognizes blitzes and the rush in general as well as any quarterback in history.

Brady is still a good deep passer, and while he's better in the shorter areas of the field at this point in his career, New England's passing game has been more vertically inclined this year than in recent seasons. Brady, while not a great athlete, is a master of stepping up and making subtle movements within the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield to deliver the ball. He handles pressure as well as any quarterback in the league.

Still, the Titans have some pass-rushers that could cause problems. Tennessee registered 42 sacks during the regular season, with a high percentage of them coming from Jurrell Casey, Derrick Morgan, and Brian Orakpo. The Titans may have their best one-on-one advantage against New England's tackles, but getting to Brady from the outside is very hard to do.

To aid his pass rush, LeBeau should also bring Wesley Woodyard - who has Tennessee's fourth-most sacks this season - on interior blitzes.

In fact, Blitzes have done some damage against the Patriots' passing game this year, and LeBeau should try to be very aggressive coming after Brady, especially with Woodyard through the A and B gaps.

In the secondary, the Titans have become mostly a man-coverage team, and they stack up reasonably well against New England's wide receivers. As we saw against Tyreek Hill last week, Adoree' Jackson is capable of hanging with top speed receivers, and he should see plenty of Brandin Cooks this weekend.

Former Patriot Logan Ryan has been an excellent pickup for Tennessee. He's a physical corner with size and does his best work in the slot. The Titans should have an advantage with Ryan against any of New England's secondary wide receivers.

The problem here is Rob Gronkowski, who's as difficult to account for in man coverage as any player in the league.

Tennessee does have active linebackers, while Johnathan Cyprien and Kevin Byard form a diverse and effective safety combination. Byard is better in coverage than Cyprien and has proven to be a ball hawk, but manning him up on Gronkowski would remove the Titans' best middle-of-the-field deep defender and could compromise the help given to the cornerbacks. But none of these players can handle Gronkowski one-on-one.

Of course, there are ways of helping the primary cover man, but if LeBeau blitzes a lot, surely Gronkowski will see single coverage and the Patriots are excellent at scheming him into such favorable matchups. Travis Kelce was causing the Titans all kinds of problems last week, and was on pace for a dominant performance before falling to injury.

The Patriots' stable of running backs could also be a problem for Tennessee. The Titans have been exceptional this year at taking away the deep ball, but the short quick-hitting passing game has eaten them up. And we know how deadly Brady can be in this capacity.

Only three defenses have allowed fewer yards on the ground per game than the Titans. The league’s leading rusher, Kareem Hunt, was a non-factor against Tennessee last week. Over their last eight games, Tennessee has allowed just 555 rushing yards to running backs.

Tennessee is big and powerful up front and is capable of controlling the line of scrimmage. They also don’t miss a lot of tackles at any level. Cyprien is at his best near the line of scrimmage, but surely Brady will go to the air if he repeatedly sees an extra defender in the box.

Since Week 10, Dion Lewis has been pretty remarkable, and handled 61 touches over New England’s final two games. Over the course of the season, he combined with Rex Burkhead and James White to rack up 2,228 total yards and 20 touchdowns - big-time production from the running back position.

Even if Cyprien spends a lot of time in the box, don’t expect the Patriots to give up on the run as Kansas City did in the wild-card round, even against a strong Titans run defense.

It may shock some, but at least on paper, the Titans' defense (with the massive exception of defending Gronkowski) looks like it should be able to hold its own against one of the NFL's best offenses. However, if Tennessee doesn't get a lot of help from Derrick Henry and its ground game, it could be all for not.

Henry got a lot of yardage on his own last week and needs to have another dominant performance. Marcus Mariota is far superior when using play action and the Titans must play keep-away on the road.

Tempo and time of possession will be vital, as the Patriots' offense is among the league leaders in terms of offensive plays run while Tennessee ranks near the bottom. New England should also be a healthy and well-rested offense, which is especially important for Brady, Burkhead, White, and Chris Hogan - who are all nursing injuries.

If they can keep Brady on the sidelines and execute on defense, the Titans might just have a chance at the upset. However, Belichick knows what Tennessee wants to do with the ball and will focus on taking it away. And for that reason, New England should do as expected and advance to the AFC Championship Game.

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast." Find him on Twitter @WilliamsonNFL.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)