Patriots’ Tom Brady on Texans: ‘We’re playing a really good team’

The Patriots opened as 14.5-point favorites against the Houston Texans in Saturday’s AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium. There have been questions also of the Texans simply parting ways with O’Brien, despite his having guided them to the 2017 National Football League postseason and winning 27-14 over the Oakland Raiders in a Wild Card game on Saturday. The only teams to have been favored by more than 14 points in that time are the Dallas Cowboys in 1978, the San Francisco 49ers twice in 1994 – first against the Chicago Bears, then against the San Diego Chargers – and the Minnesota Vikings in 1998. The key absence is of course tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is on injured reserve after undergoing midseason back surgery. The Patriots weakest pass blocker is LG Joe Thuney, who I expect the Texans to target on these stunts. Out of the three potential Divisional round opponents for New England – Houston, Oakland, Miami – the Texans are the best of the bunch.

And the way they’re playing – with an offense that has multiple ways to get the ball into the end zone and a defense that is creating turnovers and havoc with relentless pressure – suggests that a New England advance to the February 5 Super Bowl in Houston is far from certain.

“This is a defense that doesn’t give you anything easy”, McDaniels continued. They make you earn everything you get – first down, second down, third down, red zone, short yardage, very few big plays allowed. “They’re physical, they’re aggressive”.

“Yeah, we talked about that”, Belichick said. We’re going to have to grind it out.

Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels will be well prepared for what Romeo Crennel schemes, while Bill O’Brien will be handcuffed with his personnel to try to solve Matt Patricia’s game plan this time.

Earlier this year, a Patriots team led by Jacoby Brissett at quarterback handily defeated the Texans 27-0. While conventional wisdom will point to New England as the team to beat, the Texans feature one of the NFL’s best defenses led by star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

This is how the Patriots roll: Respect for all as they get their “mind right”. O’Brien said Monday, via ESPN.

Flash back to September 22 and you will recall that, with third-round draft pick Jacoby Brissett filling in for Brady (serving the third game of his four-game Deflategate suspension) and backup Jimmy Garoppolo (nursing a shoulder injury suffered four days earlier against Miami), the Pats absolutely manhandled them, 27-0, in a Thursday night game.

This Houston offense hasn’t been good all season.

With rumors swirling about O’Brien’s future, Belichick backed his former pupil and the job he has done with the Texans in O’Brien’s first three seasons with the organization. They all had tough defenses who got enough pressure on Brady to speed him up and throw off the timing of the offense. “I don’t think you mail in your preparation. The situations have changed”, Patricia concluded. The Texans don’t have it, and as far as the reasons why they won’t win on Saturday, it may be the biggest of them all.

You may remember that the 2007 Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season.

“Not only that, [Mercilus] is a damn good player”, Brady said.

“This is a day-to-day league”.

“It really doesn’t matter last time we played them or a year ago because things change so much with the game and a game plan and players”.