Keshawn Martin, James White and the returning Rob Gronkowski scored touchdown for the Patriots.
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The New England Patriots have moved to 11-2 after a dominating 27-6 over the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football in week 14.
The cushion was comfortable thanks to the New England defense, which harassed Hoyer relentlessly as the Patriots snapped a brief two-game skid. An unbelievable job they did with the good receivers they’ve got, and they contained the quarterback, too. “We played a lot of different people as we’ve been doing on the front”. Our linebackers did their job, they did coverage. The secondary played great tonight, and gave us time to get there.
The Patriots (11-2) clinched a playoff spot for the 13th time under coach Bill Belichick and have regained their edge over the Denver Broncos (10-3) and Cincinnati Bengals (10-3), who play each other in Week 16.
While the Patriots produced just 62 yards and a field goal in the third quarter, they stretched their lead to three touchdowns early in the fourth following yet another sack of Hoyer.
The injury to Blount, the Patriots’ workhorse running back, was most concerning after he left the game in the second quarter with an undisclosed hip ailment after rushing for 53 yards on 10 carries, the latest setback for an offense already hampered by sidelined skill players. They used their quickness to get around the back side and still long enough and quick enough to make the play. Gronkowski beat a Texans linebacker for a 45-yard catch and run to set up the team’s first touchdown in the first quarter. 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.
“Looked pretty active to me”, Belichick said.
In fact, Brady replaced the injured Drew Bledsoe early in what was shaping up to be a bleak 2001 season, and out of left field pieced together a career for the ages. Blocking, pass protecting, offensively in the passing game – short, intermediate, deep – he takes advantage of good matchups.
After back-to-back losses, and an increasingly alarming injury report, things have not been looking great for the New England Patriots.
Gronkowski simply outjumped Quintin Demps to grab a 1-yard touchdown pass just before halftime to extend New England’s lead to 17-6.
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With the Indianapolis Colts losing earlier in the day, the Texans entered prime time with a chance to move into sole possession of first place. While a broken hand sounds like a serious issue, Watt says he has played with worse – and his coach does not appear to be bothered by the injury. “That’s what we need. We’ve got to go back to work and try to control next Sunday”. Only a single drive lasted more than three minutes of game time. Watt to wear a club cast on his hand. He finished his night with two solo tackles, one tackle for loss, and no sacks.
