New England Patriots Takeaways From Win Over Texans

Now, it’s obvious why. Early in the game, on a 3rd and 8 play near the Texans’ 40, rather than passing for a first down, the Patriots called a draw, which did not pick up the first down, but instead led to a field goal. With the win, the Patriots clinch a playoff spot and due to losses by Cincinnati and Denver, retake first place in the AFC.

The Houston Texans dropped yet another game, losing to the New England Patriots Sunday night, 27 – 6.

After quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski connected on a pair of timely conversions in the first half, the New England Patriots unleashed their ferocious defense in the second half to pummel the Houston Texans 27-6 Sunday night at NRG Stadium.

It was about the Patriots’ quietly dominant defense, which doesn’t have many name-brand players but once again carried the team to victory. They’d finish with six sacks on the evening.

Needless to say it’s been great to see Ryan continue to improve and hopefully that continues heading into these final two months. We played a solid game toight in all three fazes of the game. “We played a lot of different people as we’ve been doing on the front”.

Although Watt finished with just three tackles, one for a loss, with zero sacks or quarterback hits on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and was flagged for unnecessary roughness, Texans coach Bill O’Brien said it was a much better performance than generally perceived. Watt, who had three tackles but no sacks and no hits on Brady (unless you count his roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter).

Although Hopkins has caught 89 passes for 1,221 yards and 10 touchdowns, the momentum he built, including five catches, 118 yards and two scores against the New York Jets and veteran corner Darrelle Revis, has been halted.

Meanwhile, the defense shut down quarterback Brian Hoyer (11-of-22, 155 yards) and Houston, which only ran 19 of its 52 plays in Patriots territory, including four in the red zone.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski geta a pat on the shoulder from head coach Bill Belichick following a first quarter reception against the Texans.

“Just was going through the process throughout the week”, Gronkowski said Sunday, “seeing how practice went, seeing how I was feeling after practice and all, I mean just basically all the way up to the game just making sure I was planning on playing and making sure everything checked out throughout the week and everything did”. “It’s good to see those things pan out in the game and to be there and make a play”.

The Patriots took advantage of exceptional field position as the half closed, covering just 41 yards in eight plays to extend their lead to 17-6 with 14 seconds remaining in the half. Perhaps the defining moment of the defense came after Keshawn Martin fumbled a punt and turned it over to the Texans.

There is a silver lining for Texans fans, though.

“Oh, man, that fourth-down stop was good”, said cornerback Leonard Johnson, who was signed last week and broke up the fourth-down bid for Griffin. “He’s just a great player, a great teammate”. Hoyer’s receivers didn’t help him much, but Hoyer underthrew a wide-open Washington on a couple of deep passes. The pass rush sent Hoyer to the turf over and again until he was taken to the locker room for a concussion evaluation. “Now we need to work on controlling next Sunday”. “The icing on the cake is that win”. “It just felt good overall to get back in the action”.