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Patriots Pull Out Win vs. Texans

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Tom Brady threw for 378 and five touchdowns, leading a last-minute comeback drive to dispatch the Houston Texans 36-33 in Foxboro on Sunday. It was a surprisingly close game with Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson escaping numerous tacklers and making multiple plays that gave Houston the late lead.

But Tom Brady is still Tom Brady, leading the 50th (!!!) fourth-quarter comeback of his career in victory. The Pats now move to 2-1 on the season and will face the Carolina Panthers next Sunday who are coming off a 34-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints.


The Patriots’ defense was uneven for much of the day, giving up 301 passing yards to the rookie quarterback, but in the end it was classic Patriots defense. They held the Texans to two field goals and a punt in their final possessions before Duron Harmon sealed the game with an interception on a hail mary to seal the game.

Like Alex Smith in Week 1, Watson’s mobility and the Texans’ offensive balance caused problems for the defense as they had trouble finishing plays. It really shouldn’t have been that close, but at this point in the season, a win is a win, especially over an AFC playoff team from a year ago.

Most fans would enjoy a hard-fought last-minute victory but Pats fans will still likely be pretty depressed after this exciting win because you know, they didn’t blow out a rookie quarterback.

The most exciting news? No major injuries! Yay! It will be nice to head into a new week not wondering if anyone’s going to end up on IR and who’s out for how long.

On the field, the best thing to takeaway was the development of Brady’s connection with Brandin Cooks, whom he hooked up with for 25-yards on the game-winning touchdown. Cooks ended with five catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns and is starting to show what had everyone in awe this summer in training camp.

Still, the three-straight second half punts before the touchdown drive were concerning. The Patriots failed to convert two third-and-shorts in critical spots. That’s something that will have to improve. The short passing game also sputtered at times and it seems like Rob Gronkowski is the only guy consistently getting open on third down.

All things to work on as the season progresses, but any time you can steal a win, especially against a very good defense that most will dismiss because “we have Brady”, is a very good sign.

It was also good to see Stephon Gilmore come through with an interception, as well as the defense’s improvement in managing bunch sets, something that had given them problems the first two weeks. Really it felt like a lot of the Texans yards were off broken plays and penalties. No question the D has to be better, but this wasn’t a straight-up turd like we saw in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs.

One hallmark of the good Patriots teams of recent memory is a never-say-die attitude, and the 2017 team proved today that they have it too. They’re not a 19-0 dominant team, but they don’t have to be. They can still be very good and make a Super Bowl run. The season is a process and today’s win was a good, albeit flawed, piece to build off of.

More to unpack in the Posits, coming soon…

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