- Coming off their second loss of the 2003 season, the New England Patriots hosted the Tennessee Titans in Week Five. The game was an important match-up for both teams, but took on a surreal atmosphere as the sell-out crowd at Gilette Stadium cheered loudly at seemingly inopportune times, such as a kick-return for a touchdown by the Patriots' Troy Brown that was nullified by a penalty, and a standing ovation by the crowd for a Steve McNair rushing touchdown late in the game. The reason for the oddly-timed crowd celebrations was that they were simultaneously keeping track, via radios and periodic updates on the stadium scoreboard, of the Boston Red Sox and their crucial playoff game with the Oakland Athletics, a late-inning victory by the Red Sox. As for the bemused Patriots, they faced a hard-hitting Titans squad but hit back and held a 31-27 lead with less than four minutes to go, trying to stop the fast-moving Titans as the clock ticked toward zero.—Michael Daly
- The Tennessee Titans visited Gillette Stadium to face the New England Patriots on the first Sunday of October 2003. The Titans were considered one of the most physical teams in the NFL's American Football Conference and had manhandled the Patriots the previous December in Nashville. The Titans entered the game at 3-1 with the Patriots at 2-2 following a demoralizing loss in Washington.
The game was taking place at the same time as Game Four of the 2003 ALDS between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's, and most members of the sellout crowd were focused more on the Red Sox game via radios and the broadcast of the game on the stadium jumbotron; this gave the game a bizarre atmosphere as periodic updates from Fenway Park were announced, and also led to several oddly-timed eruptions of cheering from the crowd - in the second quarter Patriots receiver Troy Brown returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back by an Asante Samuel holding penalty; the crowd, however, erupted in cheers because at the same moment the Red Sox hit a two-run homerun.
The game itself was a ferocious affair. The Titans kicked two field goals in the first period, and after a missed Adam Vinitieri kick the Patriots finally got on the board at the end of the first quarter with a 58-yard Tom Brady touchdown pass to Troy Brown. Another missed Vinitieri field goal in the second quarter would be answered by an exchange of punts before the Titans drove down and Steve McNair ran in a touchdown. A missed Titans field goal ended the half, and from there the scoring accelerated with a 59-yard Patriots drive in the third ending in an Antowain Smith touchdown run. Smith, however, was knocked out of the game and reserve back Mike Cloud took over. After a Titans field goal Cloud led a ground attack that ended in a touchdown.
After an exchange of field goals - and a crowd eruption when they learned that the Red Sox had taken a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning of their playoff game - the Titans drove 86 yards and McNair, who was putting up 372 yards in the air, ran the ball in for another touchdown; seconds later the crowd exploded in cheers, for the last out at Fenway signalled a comeback Red Sox win, and left the players in Foxboro bewildered. The Patriots then got a monstrous kick return of 71 yards from rookie Bethel Johnson, and Mike Cloud carried the ball into the endzone, leaving the score 31-27 Patriots. But the Titans began driving once more, looking for another touchdown in the game's final three minutes.
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