This marks the second time New England has hosted Houston in an AFC divisional playoff game; the Pats won 41-28 at Gillette Stadium during the 2012 season.
Advertisement
NEWS CENTER at 6 p.m. was LIVE on the field at Gillette. Live streaming is available via CBS Sports Live Video. He only started last week’s wild card game because the Texans’ preferred QB, Tom Savage, was injured.
After a prolonged investigation into Tom Brady’s purported role in the January 2016 DeflateGate scandal, Commissioner Goodell suspended Tom Brady for the first four games of the 2015-16 season.
So what is a quarterback to do, even one who might already go down as the best the game has ever seen? Just about every Super Bowl champion has to overcome one sluggish game on their path to the Lombardi Trophy, and the Patriots just got theirs out of the way. Houston’s last trip to Foxborough did not go well, losing to the then Jacoby Brissett-led Patriots 27-0. It helps to have Jadeveon Clowney, of course, but at times the Patriots offensive line looked confused about its assignments.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick loves him some Rutgers University products.
“That was part of our game plan, to get in there and try to affect him with the rush, ” O’Brien said.
After holding Houston for a three and out, Brady’s next pass was picked off by A.J. Bouye and returned to the Patriots 27. There have been starting quarterbacks as hapless as Brock Osweiler who have earned playoff wins. They’re only 1-3 covering the spread as favorites, but 3-1 in the won/loss column. The Texans scored 13 points off the turnovers. He was 301-of-510 in terms of completions with 2,957 total yards thrown and 15 touchdowns. Namath guaranteed a win for the underdog Jets and delivered. So why jump back in here with a 16 point handicap? He followed that up with a 21-yard pass to Hogan. But Osweiler could turn it only into another Nick Novak field goal.
That led Seahawks safety Earl Thomas, out since breaking his leg in December, to question how tough life is for the Patriots in terms of their path to and through the playoffs. To watch the Texans vs. Patriots live streaming online, there are several options.
The AFC East had two postseason teams – New England and the 10-win Miami Dolphins. Danny Amendola, who has missed the final four games of the regular season with a high ankle sprain, is expected to be back in action Saturday. He now has 76 career playoff receptions. The love from the crowd continued for the nose tackle after the game.
Here are the areas where New England struggled overall and what it might mean going forward. He is looking for fourth straight game with rushing TD. They won the AFC South division for their second-straight year with a 9-7 record for the season. Brady is also the National Football League postseason leader in completions (738), attempts (1,183), yards (7,957) and touchdown passes (56).
Advertisement
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
