HOUSTON TEXANS
Bradley Roby made some plays for the Houston secondary in coverage. In addition to his two interceptions, he also made a couple of stops in coverage. It wasn't a perfect night by Roby, though. He had a chance to send the Patriots off the field on a 3rd-and-17 play late in the third quarter but missed on a – relatively easy tackle attempt on
Ben Watson to surrender the first down.
Houston got to
Tom Brady for the sack a few times, but all in all, they really didn't generate a ton of pressure.
Whitney Mercilus was especially quiet off the edge in a game where he saw 50 pass-rush opportunities.
Deshaun Watson gave the Patriots' defense problems all night long. His best two passes came on back-to-back plays in the third quarter. The first was knocked lose as
Will Fuller went to ground, while the second was a touchdown pass to
Kenny Stills.
DeAndre Hopkins only caught four passes for 67 yards, but all four went for first downs. And when the Texans needed a big play, Hopkins was always around to make a play. Hopkins beat
Stephon Gilmore a handful of times in the contest, as well.
New England Patriots
Tom Brady was uncharacteristically inaccurate against Houston. There were a couple of drops in there, but the future Hall of Famer missed a handful of throws you'd expect an NFL QB to make. He also made more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws.
It was a middle-of-the-road performance from New England's offensive line in pass protection. One player who stood out positively, though, was
Shaq Mason. Dropping back to pass block close to 60 times, the Patriots right guard surrendered a couple of pressures at most but didn't surrender any hits or sacks.
The New England defensive front did their job against the run. The Texans' run game only managed 52 yards on 19 carries, as the Patriots forced the Texans to win through the air.
The Patriots' secondary had issues against the Texans throughout the night. They were unable to make the plays in the key spots to get off the field. The Texans converted over 50% of the time on third down and recorded zero turnovers throughout the game.
Deshaun Watson led the Houston Texans to a 28-22 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football in Week 13.
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