Texans fall to Patriots 27-6; Hoyer evaluated for concussion

Meanwhile, linebacker Jonathan Freeny suffered a hand injury, defensive back Devin McCourty limped off just more than halfway through the third quarter with an ankle injury and defensive lineman Dominque Easley went down with what appeared to be a left knee or leg injury.

According to ESPN, along with the hand injury, Watt is also nursing a groin injury which made him miss two days of practice before their 30-21 Week 13 defeat to the Buffalo Bills last December 6, in which he played all the defensive snaps. Brady was limited in his targets, and he only threw for 226 yards, but the two touchdowns he threw kept his team ahead of the game, even when the special teams miscues that have been biting this team over the last few weeks re-occurred. “We played a lot of different people as we’ve been doing on the front”. “Now we need to work on controlling next Sunday”.

He was 11-of-22 for 155 yards, and most of those yards came on two passes, a 49-yarder to Nate Washington and a 40-yard heave to DeAndre Hopkins.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches from the sidelines during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. The secondary played great tonight, and gave us time to get there.

The Patriots sacked Hoyer five times before knocking him out of the game midway through the fourth quarter. JJ Watt broke his hand in practice this week, but he is going to play for the Texans and will be wearing protection on his hand for the game. Houston is now in a tight playoff race in the AFC South and is now tied with the Indianapolis Colts at 6-6 on the year.

“It poses some problems, but it wasn’t that bad”, Watt said. He rushed for 6 yards on the play before being tackled by Brian Cushing and Jared Crick and was slow to get up.

Gronkowski, 26, has caught 57 passes for a team-leading 931 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Hoyer then fumbled on a sack on 3rd and 8, forcing Houston out of field goal range. The Texans recovered but lost 10 yards on the play and had to punt again.

The victory clinched a playoff spot for the Patriots.

New England won its first ten games of the season in its attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champion, but has since lost two games in a row.

Gronkowski simply outjumped Quintin Demps to grab a 1-yard touchdown pass just before halftime to extend New England’s lead to 17-6. Running back LeGarrette Blount will see plenty of touches Sunday night, and New England will look to establish a strong rushing attack against the Texans.

With the latest incarnation of “Star Wars” set for release next Friday, in many ways New England’s emphatic 27-6 win over Houston on Sunday night was about the Padawan trying to rise up and being slapped back by his Jedi.