Inside The Box Score: Patriots @ Texans

Facing the possibility of their first three-game losing streak in 13 seasons, the New England Patriots bounced back from a rough fortnight in a big way on Sunday night.

The cushion was comfortable thanks to the New England defense, which harassed Hoyer relentlessly as the Patriots snapped a brief two-game skid.

With the Texans (6-7) pinned deep in their own territory, Sheard sacked Hoyer and forced a fumble that defensive tackle Malcom Brown recovered at the Houston 7.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the game.

Yes, the New England Patriots are back. It just became last year’s version of that Monday night debacle in Kansas City – irrelevant in the big picture. If you need a flex player, then start him because he could have a productive game, but if you have other wideouts projected to play better, then start them instead. So while the AFC playoff order was reshaped around them on Sunday – the Cincinnati Bengals suffered a particularly brutal blow with a loss and a fracture in Andy Dalton’s throwing hand, and Denver couldn’t overcome its suddenly somnolent offense – the Patriots beat the Houston Texans, 27-6, with scorching play from their defensive front to right the order of their universe. Three plays later, Brady found wide receiver Keshawn Martin for a 2-yard touchdown pass and 7-0 lead. Blount (703 rushing yards) leads the team, but was reportedly walking on crutches Tuesday after suffering a hip injury at Houston, leaving his status for Sunday’s home game against Tennessee in doubt; WEEI reported that Blount is headed to the IR. With Lewis out, the next-best rusher would be Bolden, who is averaging just 3.1 yards per carry. New England is back in the win column. However, it was hard to tell if White’s heel really touched the chalk. The Patriots’ good fortune is such that the most unsafe team they could face in the AFC is the one that might not make the postseason at all: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bill Belichick coaching tree is not as successful as one might expect for a coach with four Super Bowl rings this millennium.

The Patriots sacked Hoyer five times before knocking him out of the game midway through the fourth. Houston starter Brian Hoyer completed 11-of-22 passes for 155 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a 73.1 rating.

“Yeah, it’s good to have every player we get back”, he said.

After winning 11 games to start the season, New England lost two in a row against Denver and Philadelphia, falling to the No. 3 seed in the AFC.

“I think that leads to the ‘€¦ If 100 people saw that play, it might be 55-45, I don’€™t know”.

The box score shows the Patriots won the game 27 to 6…but what the box score does not show is the statistical dominance of the game by New England. It all worked out well as New England stagnated Houston’s most unsafe weapons – DeAndre Hopkins on offense and J.J. Watt (playing with a broken hand) on defense. There were times where it was painful, but that’s football.