Patriots clinch division title with Dolphins loss to Giants

“Everybody needs to contribute”.

The Patriots sacked Hoyer five times before knocking him out of the game midway through the fourth.

HOYER’S HEALTH: Coach Bill O’Brien said he didn’t have more details on Hoyer’s injury after the game, but that it looked like he had a concussion.

Embarrassingly, Belichick must face the media after watching his defense allow 104 team passing yards, sacking Brian Hoyer and T.J.

Sunday’s game is an important one for the Texans, who are tied with the Colts for first place in the AFC South. Didn’t matter. The long connection set up Brady’s touchdown pass to – delivered before Watt ignored his broken hand and leveled the quarterback with an illegal and dirty shot – and warmed up the tight end for the dagger, a 1-yard jump ball with 14 seconds left in the half. Was the cast he was wearing hampering him?

“It poses some problems, but it wasn’t that bad”, Watt said. “But at the same time, you just have to be smart about it, which we were”.

This isn’t to say Brady was in ideal late January/early February form against the, who fielded a roster of enough old Patriots coaches and players to give the quarterback a this-is-your-life moment he seemed to enjoy – at least when he wasn’t getting smacked around late (by ) and on time (by ).

New England’s offensive line did a solid job of keeping quarterback Tom Brady from absorbing too many hits, but rookie guard Tre’ Jackson struggled, picking up a pair of holding penalties.

Patriots free safety Devin McCourty fumbles the ball on a punt return after being tackled by Texans’ Ryan Griffin. The Texans are a talented team with superstar players on both sides of the ball.

Back after missing last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles with a right knee injury he sustained the previous week in a loss at Denver, Gronkowski made his presence felt early.

-TE Rob Gronkowski became the first tight end in National Football League history to compile five seasons with 10 or more touchdowns.

While he was running around, Tom Brady rolled out to his right and then threw across his body to a wide open Gronkowski running free.

They padded that lead with Gostkowski’s 49-yard field goal that made it 20-6.

Jonathan Grimes had a 37-yard run on Houston’s next drive, but the offense stalled soon after that and the team settled for a 45-yard field goal to get within 10-6.

NEW ENGLAND’S SUCCESS: The Patriots have clinched a playoff spot for the 17th time in the 22 years that Robert Kraft has owned the team. Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount was taken to the locker room after sustaining a hip injury in the second quarter. Those losses combined with New England’s win put the Patriots back in sole possession of the No. 1 seed in the AFC with just three games remaining.

The Texans (6-7) amassed 17 yards on 17 plays in the third quarter, with Patriots ends Rob Ninkovich and Jabaal Sheard recording sacks of Hoyer that totaled 31 yards. However, they stepped up and took care of business on Sunday night, coming away with an impressive 27-6 victory over the Houston Texans. One of the biggest areas that Allen impacted the game in Houston came down to the battle for field position, with the veteran punter putting the Texans in a hard position to start quite a few of their drives.