Patriots Vs Texans: Gronkowski Back With A Bang, Patriots Clinch Playoff Berth

Bill Belichick wasn’t just paying JJ Watt lip service. That means 49 plays yielded 63 yards. Aside from a late 40-yard catch with the game already decided, Logan Ryan did that by holding the man nicknamed “Nuk” to three catches for 52 yards.

“There’s nothing more important than the health and safety of every player in that locker room”, O’Brien said. “They move him around quite a bit, get him in some off-the-line positions, playing some outside linebacker…” The Colts got the win during their first meeting this season, and if they get the win next week, it will be that much harder for the Texans to make playoffs. We had him blocked too, it wasn’t like they were free off the back side there. “He’s tough, he’s tough”.

“It’s something we know”, J.J. Watt said. The secondary played great tonight, and gave us time to get there. “I wish I had a hand, but I don’t”.

Indeed, and the real star of this game was a Patriots defense that has been underrated all season. Brady lofted a handsome pass in Gronkowski’s direction, and after some hand-fighting, he reached up and hauled it in while falling on his back.

The fact is the Texans won’t win football games unless they’re flawless. “They did a lot of different things”. Authorities said they received five more similar calls from witnesses alarmed by what they saw. Watt said that he would be able to play against the Patriots despite breaking his left hand during practice last week and he was on the field with a club protecting the injury from the opening snap. “That’s become the norm for me”.

“You can’t start slow against a team like that at all or the results are going to be what happened tonight”, Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. The Patriots could not afford to abandon the run with Blount sidelined, and Bolden ensured that they would not.

Q: Were you having trouble getting open or what were you seeing out there? “Each one gets bigger”.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was held to some pedestrian numbers on Sunday night against the Patriots. Without Gronkowski and slot receiver Julian Edelman unavailable, Brady completed only 51.8 percent of his passes and had his first multiple-interception game of the season, including a 99-yard return for a touchdown in the loss to the Eagles.

The Texans (6-7) kept the game close for much of the first half, limiting New England’s offense to just 10 points for the first 29 minutes of the contest until Brady found Gronkowski in the end zone just before half to build a 17-6 lead. They arrived in Houston bruised and battered and unusually vulnerable, staring at the possibility of an exceedingly rare three-game losing streak and the daunting possibility that they might be no better than the third seed when the playoffs begin. Meaning new England can clinch a first round bye with a win over the tanking Titans and a Bengals loss.