Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair armed and ready to take on New England.

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – The way Steve McNair is playing, Tennessee’s domination of New England last year might seem like a squeaker compared to Sunday’s rematch.

McNair is the NFL’s top-rated passer. The Patriots’ defense is beat up. At least New England will be home.

“That’s the biggest advantage you can get is playing at home, aside from knowing what the other people are going to do ahead of time,” Patriots tackle Matt Light said.

That didn’t help last year, when they knew McNair and Eddie George would run, but still allowed 238 yards rushing in a 24-7 Monday night loss Dec. 16 that severely hurt the Patriots’ playoff chances.

“It’s a new year, a new season – you have to have that approach,” New England defensive lineman Richard Seymour said.

Going into last year’s meeting, the Titans had won seven of eight games and the Patriots five of six.

But Tennessee outgained New England 365 yards to 176 and held the ball for 41 minutes, 30 seconds to 18:30 for the Patriots. McNair ran for two touchdowns, George rushed for 101 yards, and Rich Coady returned an interception for a touchdown that made it 21-7 in the third quarter.

“That’s going to be in the back of their minds,” Titans cornerback Samari Rolle said. “I’m sure they want to pay us back for that.”

Tom Brady was sacked three times, threw for 134 yards and had a season-low 48.3 completion percentage in that game. But he’s concerned with a more recent failure.

While the Titans (3-1) overcame a 10-0 deficit and won at Pittsburgh 30-13 last Sunday, the Patriots (2-2) fell short of overcoming a 20-3 deficit at Washington and lost 20-17.

They wasted an excellent chance when they got the ball at the Washington 45 with 1:39 left, but couldn’t get a first down.

“That loss, in particular, was probably the hardest loss I’ve had in a long time because we had such a great chance to win,” Brady said. “It’s something that you don’t want to feel very often.”

Brady threw three interceptions and two touchdowns in that game after throwing an NFL-high 28 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions last year.

Now he must face a quick, physical defense that already has 11 sacks in four games and hasn’t allowed an offense to score a touchdown in the first quarter for the last 10 games.

Tennessee has allowed first downs on only one of every four third-down plays and has a healthy Jevon Kearse at defensive end. Last season he broke his foot in the opener and didn’t return until the Patriots game.

“Jevon really wasn’t back last year. Even though he did play, he was still sore,” Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. “He still has a ways to go, I believe, to where he was from a technique standpoint. But effort-wise and physically, it looks like he’s 100 percent.”

Kearse has 21/2 sacks in four games and will face an offensive line that, because of injuries, could have three backups in the starting lineup.

The Patriots also are hobbling on defense. Three starters are out, one is listed as doubtful and two are questionable. Of their original four starting linebackers, only Tedy Bruschi is likely to play.

“We’re wounded now, but we still have a lot of weapons,” Seymour said.

That might not be enough to stop McNair, who has thrown for eight touchdowns and one interception. Last Sunday, he completed 15 of 16 passes for 161 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against Pittsburgh. But he ran only twice and has just eight rushes this season.

“We can go the distance from 80 yards running the football and we also can throw the football and make big plays,” McNair said. “But we want to be that smashmouth offense, go out there and run the football.”

He’s part of that bruising ground game, as Patriots cornerback Ty Law found out last season.

“He ran me straight over,” Law said. “He’s like a big fullback that can throw the ball.”

On Sunday, Law gets another chance to stop McNair and the Titans. And this time, the Patriots may have some extra motivation.

“We beat them in front of a national audience last year pretty solid,” Titans wide receiver Drew Bennett said. “I’m sure they have us circled (on the schedule) and watching their game film from last year saying, “We’ve got to do something about this.”‘

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