Last season, the Houston Texans went from one of the biggest jokes in all of football to a legitimate conference championship contender. Their rookie quarterback CJ Stroud was the biggest reason why the team elevated to this point, along with their first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and a plethora of young talent that shined all year long. The New England Patriots are hoping that with Drake Maye and Jerod Mayo, they could do the same thing, but time and development are going to be of paramount importance.
These two teams will face off each other in the sixth week of the 2024 season, and while Houston will be an overwhelming favorite, there is one historical factor that many will not take into account. Since the Texans joined the league in 2002, they have not won a single game in Gillette Stadium, even in their peak years throughout the mid-2010s. This year, either the streak is going to end and these matchups will be thought of differently from now on, or New England will continue to assert their home dominance and pull off a legitimate upset. Let’s look at five of these Patriots victories against the Texans and see just how they find a way to pull it off in the comforts of Foxboro, Massachusetts.
Gillette Stadium is Not the Place for Houston
#5: Jacoby Brissett Makes His First Start
The first four weeks of the 2016 season were weird for the New England Patriots, mainly because Tom Brady didn’t play due to his suspension from the Deflategate debacle. Jimmy Garoppolo did a solid job in his first two starts against the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins, but a shoulder injury forced him on the sidelines for the following Thursday night game against the Houston Texans in Gillette Stadium. Thus, it was time for the fourth-round rookie Jacoby Brissett to give NFL teams a glimpse of what type of player he would become. However, this was not going to be a cakewalk by any means. The Texans were also entering that game 2-0, and even though their offense was average at best and frustrating at its worst, their defense already totaled nine sacks and gave up an average of just over 200 passing yards by the time they had to visit New England. This game was expected to go either way because the Patriots were forced to play their third-string quarterback, while the Texans were just hoping that Brock Osweiler would finally live up to the albatross contract he received from them in the offseason.
Both quarterbacks played about as subpar as anybody could expect and did not have too much success throwing the football. In his first start, Brissett only completed eleven passes and barely threw for 100 yards, but it was his legs that set the tone for the Patriots. After the special teams came up with a momentum-swinging fumble recovery on a kickoff return, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called probably one of the most exciting plays of the season. Taking the snap from David Andrews, Brissett faked the handoff to Blount on a two-step drop and then quickly took off toward the right side of the field. One broken tackle and a wide-open field of grass later, the rookie scored the first touchdown of his career with a 27-yard run that gave the Patriots a 10-0 lead. After they kicked a field goal to begin the third quarter, the special teams came up with another huge fumble recovery on the kickoff that set up a one-yard punch-in score from LeGarrette Blount, putting New England up by two scores. The Patriots’ defense kept Houston out of the end zone all night long with their suffocating and relentless pressure. Osweiler only threw for 195 yards on twenty-four completions, DeAndre Hopkins caught just four passes, and their defense wore out toward the end as a result. Towards the middle of the fourth quarter, Blount put the dagger in with a 41-yard touchdown run that included a vicious pancake block from Julian Edelman on Quintin Demps to open up more space. New England shut the Texans out 27-0, even with a subpar performance from their offense, but this would not be the last time that they would see each other that year.
#4: No Gronk, No Problem
For the seventh time in twelve seasons, the Patriots clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs and would start their 2012 campaign against the AFC South champion Houston Texans. New England had already beaten this team in Gillette Stadium not that long ago on Monday Night Football, something that will be explained later on, but everybody knows that the playoffs are entirely different. While the Patriots were still the class of the AFC, the Texans were trying to earn their respect by proving that they should be in that conversation of “legitimate contenders.” Matt Schaub had a 4,000-yard season with over twenty-two touchdown passes, Arian Foster was a definite MVP candidate with over fifteen touchdowns and close to 1500 rushing yards, Andre Johnson was still playing at a high level with close to 1600 receiving yards, and they had the defensive player of the year JJ Watt on the other side that finished that year with 20.5 sacks. Without their best receiver Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots were due for a more challenging and gruesome football game than they got in December, but Tom Brady always found a way.
After stalling out on their first two drives, the Patriots decided to pick up the pace and play a no-huddle offense to keep this Texans defense guessing, because they knew deep down that this unit was JJ Watt or bust. What came as a result? 41 points and 457 total yards of offense. Without his favorite security blanket, Brady threw for 344 yards and three touchdown passes, never giving up the lead once. Stevan Ridley had a solid 80-yard day and Wes Welker had a usual 130+ yard day on eight catches, but the unsung hero of this night was Shane Vereen, who totaled over 124 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns on his own. Even Brandon Lloyd got in the end zone! It was that dominating performance from one of the best offenses in the league. Matt Schaub tried to keep up and make it as close as possible, even throwing for 343 yards of his own, but to no avail.
The Patriots were unstoppable that night, like many games that they played throughout their dynasty, and they got to host the AFC Championship that year as a result. Unfortunately, after taking a 13-7 lead against the Baltimore Ravens by halftime, their defense gave up 21 unanswered points and the offense completely shut down at the worst possible moment. It took two more years for the Patriots to win their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history, but they didn’t have to go through the Texans until the 2016 divisional round.
#3: Beating Brock Osweiler in a Playoff Game
If the Patriots could shut the Texans out 27-0 with Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback, just imagine how much better they will look with Tom Brady back under center. During the suspension, New England was 3-1 and in very good shape by the time the face of the franchise returned. Throughout the rest of the regular season, they went 11-1 and clinched the number one seed in the AFC, which allowed them to host another playoff game against the Houston Texans. Since that agonizing defeat in Week 3, they at least stayed on the right track and found themselves atop the AFC South. Their offense was the furthest reason why. Even though they had DeAndre Hopkins and Lamar Miller, this unit scored the fifth-fewest points out of any other team in the league and it was because of their extreme lack of depth at the quarterback position. Brock Osweiler, the man who was given a $72 million contract for four years, threw just fifteen touchdown passes and sixteen interceptions, not even eclipsing 3000 yards. So how did the Texans go 9-7 and even get to this point? Their stifling defense carried them to a division title, and the craziest part was that JJ Watt only played three games that year. They allowed the fewest total yards, the least amount of first downs, the second-fewest passing yards, fifth fewest touchdown passes, and were a top fifteen scoring unit. Sure, it was a very weak division and they beat Connor Cook in the Wild Card round, but other teams would have done a lot worse.
In the first quarter, the Patriots were handling their business as expected with a 14-3 lead thanks to two incredible touchdowns from Dion Lewis, one as a pass-catching option and the other from a 98-yard kickoff return. It looked like New England was going to blow Houston out of the water, but they got too cute with two mind-boggling turnovers and let the Texans make it a four-point game by halftime. Fortunately, the lead was never given up. One can argue that if the Patriots just held onto the football, this would have easily been another shutout because this was not a great day for Tom Brady. Even with over 285 passing yards, he completed less than 50% of his passes and threw two interceptions, but he was lucky that the defense completely took over down the stretch. In just the second half alone, they picked off Brock Osweiler three times and once again held him to under 200 passing yards, thus cementing his contract as one of the worst ever given in NFL History. Who knew that giving an average backup quarterback too much money would completely blow up in an organization’s face?
After leading 17-13 at halftime, the Patriots went on a 17-3 run through the remaining thirty minutes and blew them out 34-16 to advance to their sixth consecutive conference championship game. New England beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17, and two weeks later, they overcame a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons to win their fifth and sweetest Super Bowl championship. Seven months passed and the Patriots would play the Houston Texans once again in Week 3, which ended up being one of the best games that year.
#2: Tom Brady Outlasts Deshaun Watson
There isn’t too much to explain about the Patriots heading into this Week 3 matchup of the 2017 season because everybody knew just how dominant they had been over the past two decades, but let’s talk about the Houston Texans to set up the stage. In their first game of the season, they got dismantled by their division rival Jacksonville Jaguars at home 29-7. Their starting quarterback was Tom Savage and he got obliterated in the pocket all afternoon long before getting benched by a rookie named Deshaun Watson. He got his first start four days later against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football with not too many expectations. It ended up being a completely boring 13-9 victory, but he showed just how much promise he had with a 49-yard touchdown run at the end of the first half, the only time they would get in the end zone that day. Heading into Gillette Stadium the following week, the Texans were not expected to make this game close, let alone have a lead. Even though Tom Brady was the universal GOAT of NFL quarterbacks, it looked like another star was going to be born that day.
For sixty straight minutes, it was a back-and-forth offensive showdown with a couple of huge splash plays from each defense. Watson was having a field day against Bill Belichick’s defense and carried Houston for as long as possible. He finished that Sunday afternoon by throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, even giving them a 33-28 lead with well over two minutes left. Unfortunately, he should have learned by then that he gave Tom Brady too much time to win the game for the Patriots. By his final drive of the game, he might have gotten strip-sacked that got recovered for a touchdown by Jadeveon Clowney, but he also threw four touchdown passes and had time for one last miraculous drive. Even with a costly holding penalty from David Andrews and a big sack from Marcus Gilchrist, Tom Brady faced two third-and-long situations and gave the Patriots a new set of downs both times. But the clock was still winding down and now he only had thirty seconds to get the ball in the end zone. On first and ten at the Houston twenty-five-yard line, Brady was looking for Brandin Cooks towards the left pylon and managed to get the ball out just in time before Clowney slapped his arm on the release. With exceptional coverage from safety Corey Moore, the GOAT put it right on the money and Cooks made an even better catch, getting both of his feet in bounds to give New England the lead. That catch gave him over 130 yards on just five catches and it gave Brady his fifth touchdown pass of the afternoon, a signature performance from the eventual MVP. Watson still had time to pull off a last-second miracle, but a Hail Mary attempt got intercepted by Duron Harmon, and the Patriots held on to win 36-33. You couldn’t ask for anything more out of a spectacular matchup between two of the most exciting quarterbacks in the league at the time, but everybody should have known that they can never count Tom Brady out.
The Patriots finished that regular season 13-3 with the best record in the AFC, Tom Brady won his third career MVP award, and they advanced to yet another Super Bowl before losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Philadelphia Eagles 41-33. However, their season did not end as horribly as it did for the Houston Texans. Watson was on pace to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, even with a 3-4 record as a starting quarterback, but a torn ACL forced him to miss the entire rest of the season. The Texans lost eight of their final nine games of the season and finished that year with an abysmal 4-12 record. Thankfully, they rebounded once he returned to the field in 2018, but he would play his last game with the team in 2020.
#1: The Letterman Jacket Game
Before the Patriots dismantled the Texans 41-28 in the divisional round, they would meet up for the first time in Week 14 on Monday Night Football, one of the most highly anticipated matchups that season. New England entered this game 9-3 with a comfortable lead in the AFC East but were trying to fight for a higher seed in the playoffs. Enter the Houston Texans. Not only did they have a huge lead in their own division, but they entered this Monday Night game on a six-game winning streak and were the number one seed at 11-1, which was the best record that they had in franchise history. They knew what the stakes were heading into Gillette Stadium, and to let the world know who was arriving, they decided to wear Letterman jackets to celebrate their bond and just how far they had come to get to this point. Unfortunately, not only did the Texans fail to keep the winning streak alive, but this game was over the moment that both teams took the field.
It was 21-0 at halftime and 42-7 by the time both teams decided to put their backups in and take out their starters. The Patriots picked apart the Texans’ defense with precision, their defense completely shut down the run and forced Houston to go one-dimensional, and it got worse as the game progressed. Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes, Brandon Lloyd had one of the best games of his career as he totaled 89 yards on seven catches, and even Donte’ Stallworth gave New England a touchdown for the first time since 2007! New England simply showed their conference rivals that there were levels to greatness and that even though the Texans were having an outstanding season, there was always one giant that they were never going to get past in the playoffs. Even though both teams finished 2012 with a 12-4 record, we all knew who the favorite was heading into that rematch.
Main Image: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
