3 winners, 3 losers from Patriots’ preseason win over Titans

Jarrett Stidham (WINNER)

At the opposite end of the good/bad spectrum on Saturday night was Jarrett Stidham, who looked calm, cool, and composed as the New England signal-caller.

You may recall that Stidham fared impressively during action against the Lions one week earlier, as well. In that game, he completed 14 of 24 passes for 170 yards and a score. Belichick sung his praises after it was over – which obviously is the most you can possibly hope for as a rookie with the Patriots: getting complimented by the greatest coach in NFL history.

Stidham was even better against the Titans, completing 14 of 19 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown. He still has yet to fumble or throw an interception, and while the mistakes will surely come at some point, if he can survive the final two weeks of the preseason while maintaining a “clean sheet” in the turnover column, it will speak volumes of his poise and potential as a developmental project.

Of course, the rookie is far from perfect. He’s made his share of mistakes in practices and scrimmages, all of which have been noted and recorded through various media outlets.

That said, the fact that he hasn’t made a mistake during actual game action has got to be highly encouraging for Patriots fans everywhere. While any football fan is going to want their backup quarterbacks to be competent, Stidham obviously represents much more than just injury insurance – he could be the future of the franchise when (if?) Brady retires one day.