Here's a recap of Kubiak's "failure to let them play", "play to lose":
On 2nd and 7 @ Pats 9, Casey dropped Schaub's pass; it could have been an easy TD.
On 3rd down, with a clean pocket, Schaub threw behind AJ; he might have been worried about McCourty coming from the other side to lay wood on AJ.
Maybe, just maybe, Schaub was hoping that AJ would be on the same page and cut his route short.
FG.
....
On 2nd and 10 @ Pats 49, Schaub threw a side-line pass to AJ that went as an incompletion near the first down marker.
AJ could be seen complaining to the ref that Talib held him.
On third down, Wade Smith failed to get a block on Wilfork; Brown had to took him on.
That left Ninkovich in free off the edge.
With no time to wait, Schaub had to settle for OD who could only gain five.
Punt
...
On 2nd and 8, the Texans set up a funnel screen for AJ; Talib played it well and broke up the pass.
Schaub had no other option because his linemen all went out to screen-block for AJ.
It could have been called a PI as Talib hit AJ just a hair before the ball arrived.
On third down, Schaub threw a quick slant to Foster that was a tad low and behind (but catchable);
it would have been a first down if Foster managed to pull in that low ball.
Punt
...
2nd quarter
On 2nd and 10 @ Texans 47, Wilfork beat W Smith; Schaub hurried a throw just over OD's head.
That could have been at least a fifteen-to-seventeen-yard gain.
On third down, Schaub got flushed out of the pocket as the Texans had no check down route.
He threw a near-miss to OD on the side line against good coverage by the safety Wilson.
Punt.
...
On first and 10 @ Pats 46, Schaub's attempt to OD was well defended by the safety Wilson again.
On 2nd down, the Texans set up a receiver screen on either side (AJ on one side, and Posey on the other).
The Pats played both sides very well. Posey was tackled immediately for a loss of two.
On 3rd and 12, Schaub went quickly to Graham on a short pass that gained only five.
None of the receivers was open early.
Once again, the young safety Wilson played very well; he closed quickly and cut Graham down low.
If he had tried to tackle Graham, the TE could very well break it.
Schaub couldn't wait because 50, 54, and 95 were converging on him.
Punt
....
After a 35-yd return by Manning, five straight runs by Foster netted the Texans their first TD to draw within 7.
Then with 24 secs left in the half and the Pats playing prevent defense, Schaub managed to bring the Texans close enough for Graham's successful 55-yd FG to trail by just 4 at the half.
...
The Pats scored first in the second half to get out to an 11 point lead.
Foster gained 6 before OD lost a yard on a quick TE screen.
Schaub had no choice because Ninkovich was optioned and would have creamed him.
Mayo pulled the ball out of OD's hands and the Pats recovered.
Luckily for the Texans, the refs already called OD down on forward progress.
Otherwise, the Pats would have had the ball at the Texans 23.
On third and five, the Texans decided to pass again.
Newton got beat off the edge; Schaub stepped up the pocket but he chose the wrong side of the field to scramble out of.
Being pressured, Schaub panicked and threw the ball away.
Had Schaub kept his cool, he still had a chance downfield.
Or had Schaub climbed the other side of the field, where he had all his blockers, he would have a first down for sure.
Punt.
...
The Texans got the ball back, still trailing by 11.
On 2nd and 8, the Texans chose to pass.
With W. Smith getting beat again, Schaub had no choice but to dump the ball off to Foster who could muster just a yard.
On third and 7, Schaub was hurried and threw an INT to Ninkovich.
The pocket was collapsing with Brown getting beat off the edge; W. Smith losing his balance right in front of Schaub's eyes, and Newton also getting pushed back.
...
The Pats went on to score another TD to lead by 18 by the end of the third quarter.
The game was over when the Texans couldn't convert the next drive with three consecutive passes and the Pats scored another TD right afterward.
...
So, how was it that Kubiak didn't let them play???
