We knew exactly how the Houston Texans defense was going to behave on Sunday against the New England Patriots. What we didn’t know, however, was that the Patriots defense was going to play even better.
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Thanks to quarterback hunters Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., the Texans could count on the most devastating defense in the NFL. During the season, Hunter and Anderson Jr. accumulated 27 sacks. More than any tandem across the league. However, it is not their performance that we will remember from this duel won 28-16 by the Patriots.
Hunter and Anderson Jr. performed up to expectations and lived up to their talent. Together, they had five sacks and forced three fumbles.
However, we will remember from this meeting the performance of the Patriots defense. She caused five turnovers for the Texans. Four interceptions, including one returned by Marcus Jones for a touchdown, three quarterback sacks and a forced and recovered fumble.
In fact, it’s difficult to determine whether the Patriots defense played very well or whether Texans quarterback C. J. Stroud played very poorly. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
PHOTO ROBERT F. BUKATY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
C. J. Stroud
The story of the first half may reflect that of the game as a whole. Carlton Davis of the Patriots made the first steal of the game at the end of the first quarter. Jones scored with the second, early in the second quarter, on a giveaway from Stroud. A pass without velocity thrown blindly like a bride tosses her bouquet of flowers to her guests. Two minutes later, Craig Woodson caught the third interception. Then, at the very end of the half, Davis did it again with another steal.
Returning to the locker room, the Texans trailed by 11 points. Stroud completed 10 of 26 passes, including a touchdown pass to Christian Kirk, and threw four interceptions.
On the other hand, the Patriots gave him no room to maneuver. Ranked eighth in the NFL by the specialist site PFF, the defense led by Terrell Williams was stifling, uncompromising and effective against the anemic Texans attack.
The visitors also had to play the most important game of their season without their two best receivers. Injured, Nico Collins was not in uniform. And Dalton Schultz left the game late in the first quarter with a left calf injury. The Texans then tried to run with the ball. The strategy worked well last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team attempted 12 carries in the first half. She got eight yards. A harvest as slim as their chances of winning after the intermission.
Sans perfection
Drake Maye is the new face of the Patriots and New England. In his second season in professional football, he will play his first association final next week.
During the holiday season, every NFL quarterback gives his teammates on the offensive line some pretty expensive gifts. It has become customary throughout the circuit. The giving of said gifts often goes viral on social networks.
So at Christmas, Maye gave each of her protectors an outdoor sauna. It’s a safe bet that after analyzing the game, the 23-year-old quarterback will want to give the same kind of gift to his teammates on defense. Without her, the fate of the team would have been completely different.
PHOTO ROBERT F. BUKATY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Drake Maye
On paper, Maye did well. A 59.3% pass completion rate, three touchdown passes and just one interception on one Hail Mary with no time left in the first half.
However, the task was not so easy. The Patriots had fewer first downs than the Texans, even though they had possession of the ball longer. Maye’s offense converted three of its 14 attempts on third down. And in and around his pocket, the quarterback struggled to take care of the ball. He escaped four times. Fortunately for him, his team recovered him on two occasions. Next week against the Denver Broncos, the team with the most sacks in 2025, Maye may have less luck.
Still, the young quarterback has guts. He threw his first touchdown pass to DeMario Douglas on fourth down early in the game. In the fourth quarter, Kayshon Boutte caught a precise one-handed pass from Maye in the end zone on third down.
At the start of the final quarter, the gap was only five points in favor of the Patriots. However, the young wolves of Massachusetts have never been unduly worried. They controlled the match from start to finish. So much so that their dream season continues. Nobody saw them at a single Super Bowl game. Yet there they are.
