Tom Brady Doesn’t Want To Shake JJ Watt’s Hand

While that’s understating things just a tad, Belichick didn’t get much more effusive about the impact of his tight end when asked a follow-up question. “We keep in touch”, White said. So I’m proud of him.

NOTES: Patriots WR Keshawn Martin exacted a measure of revenge by scoring the first touchdown of the game, a 2-yard catch with 7:22 left in the first quarter. He’s obviously a big part of what we do so it was great to have him out there. “There’s nobody I trust more than Gronk”.

With this win, the Pats improved to 11-2, and thanks to losses by both the Bengals and Broncos, they now control their own destiny once again in their quest to obtaining the number one seed in the AFC. He also writes for Examiner.com as the New England Patriots Examiner.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the game. “The icing on the cake is that win”. The New England defense shut down Brian Hoyer and the Texans’ offense not allowing a touchdown.

“I don’t think we should be anxious about how much it costs”, the coach said. “Now we need to work on controlling next Sunday. Everybody needs to contribute”.

Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer has suffered his second concussion in less than a month and is doubtful for Sunday’s game against Indianapolis. Neither McCourty nor Blount returned to the game Sunday, and while there’s no report on the severity of Blount’s injury, the early diagnosis is that McCourty won’t miss the playoffs, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Texans coach Bill O’Brien says Brady was just doing what he always does.

J.J. Watt played despite breaking his left hand in practice on Wednesday.

Against the Texans on Sunday, Gronkowski wore a brace on his injured knee, but otherwise looked so natural back on the field that NBC’s Al Michaels somewhat mocked him after he caught the touchdown pass at the end of the first half, pointing out that only two weeks ago in Denver it appeared his career might be in jeopardy. It poses some problems, but it wasn’t that bad. Bolden carried the ball 16 times in the game for 51 yards. “He’s a great player, a great teammate”.

“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. Brady converted two third downs with passes to Martin and Brandon LaFell, and Gronkowski capped the march with a 1-yard jump ball over Texans safety Quintin Demps. Houston challenged the call and it was overturned, but he actually fumbled on the next play on a sack by Sheard.

The Patriots took advantage of exceptional field position as the half closed, covering just 41 yards in eight plays to extend their lead to 17-6 with 14 seconds remaining in the half.

The teams traded field goals in the second, with Stephen Gostkowski nailing one from 43 yards out and Novak managing a 45-yarder. But it may have been a smaller victory behind the scenes prior to the game that truly reestablished the Patriots as legitimate Super Bowl contenders after two straight losses. His blocking ability was a boost in New England establishing the run game as well, with the visitors gaining 116 yards on the ground despite losing LeGarrette Blount to a hip injury in the first half.