NFL news: Titans-Patriots: most-watched AFC Wild Card Game in 9 years

The Tennessee Titans upset the dynastic New England Patriots on Saturday night, bouncing Tom Brady and company from the NFL postseason.

The Tennessee Titans upset the dynastic New England Patriots on Saturday night, bouncing Tom Brady and company from the NFL postseason in the AFC's wild card round.

That game was also the most-watched wild card matchup in nine years, according to Titans Online's Jim Wyatt, with an average of over 31 million people watching the league's leading rusher, Derrick Henry, tread over Brady and the Patriots, who were trying to extend their dominance over the AFC.

The Titans got big ratings:

Last night's @Titans–@Patriots contest was the most-watched AFC Wild Card game in primetime in 9 years. The game was seen by an average of 31.418 million viewers, up 23% from last yr’s Chargers-Ravens game & up 7% from last yr’s Seahawks-Cowboys WC playoff game in primetime.

— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) January 5, 2020

Former Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan sealed the game in the last minute with a pick-six via ex-teammate Brady, sealing the first-round contest for the Titans in the expiring seconds in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The surprising win by the Titans—which now puts them on path to face the AFC's No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens next week in the Divisional Round—may spell doom for head coach Bill Belichick and the vaulted New England team.

Brady, at 42, for example, is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his long career, and the six-time Super Bowl champion, after the loss to the Titans, could decide to retire or play with another franchise, with his future in New England in jeopardy.

Brady remained aloof on his immediate future both with the Patriots and playing professional football after the loss to the Titans:

“I just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Tom Brady said via Ian O’Conner of ESPN, “and I’m not going to predict it. And no one needs to make choices at this point. I love playing football. I love playing football for this team. I’ve loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. And again, I don’t know what it looks like moving forward, so we’ll just take it day by day.”

That being said, America and beyond were very much invested in watching Brady and the Patriots' playoff story come to a screeching halt at the hands of the Titans.