Houston (13-5) at New England (15-3)
Sunday, 3 p.m. EST, ESPN, ABC
BetMGM NFL odds: Patriots by 3
Against the spread: Texans 10-8; Patriots 12-5-1
Series record: Patriots lead 11-4
Last meeting: Texans won 41-21 in Foxborough, Mass. on Oct. 10, 2024.
Last week: Texans beat Pittsburgh 30-6; Patriots beat Los Angeles Chargers 16-3.
Texans offense: overall (18), rush (22), pass (14), scoring (13).
Texans defense: overall (1), rush (4), pass (6), scoring (2).
Patriots offense: overall (3), rush (6), pass (4), scoring (2).
Patriots defense: overall (8), rush (5), pass (9), scoring (4).
Turnover differential: Texans plus-17; Patriots plus-3
Texans player to watch
WR Christian Kirk had a career-high and franchise-playoff record 144 yards receiving with a touchdown in Houston’s win over the Steelers. It was his first 100-yard game since 2023 and the 10th in his career. His stellar performance came after a tough regular season where the eight-year veteran had a career-low 239 yards receiving in his first year in Houston after a trade from Jacksonville. Houston will need him to have another big game with Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins likely to be out after sustaining a concussion Monday night. Kirk has had a touchdown reception in three straight playoff games.
Patriots player to watch
QB Drake Maye. In his first career playoff game, the MVP candidate threw for a touchdown and led the team with 66 rushing yards in last week’s win over the Chargers. He finished the regular season with a 72 percent completion rate, the highest in team history and the sixth best in NFL history. It’s better than Tom Brady, who had a 68.9 percent completion rate in 2007. The MVP that season was Brady.
Key matchup
Patriots offensive line vs. Texans pass rush. The Texans have two of the league’s top pass rushers in All-Pro DE Will Anderson Jr. and DE Danielle Hunter. Maye was thrown off rhythm by a Chargers defense sacked him five times last week. It will be a big test for Patriots rookie LT Will Campbell, who gave up a strip-sack against Los Angeles.
Key injuries
Texans: Collins will likely be out Sunday after sustaining his second concussion of the season against the Steelers. He sat out Oct. 26 against the 49ers recovering from his first concussion this season. … Special teams player Justin Watson is also expected to sit out against the Patriots after sustaining a concussion Monday night. … T Trent Brown missed practice this week with an ankle injury but should be ready to go Sunday.
Patriots: CB Christian Gonzalez began the week in the concussion protocol after leaving last week’s game with a head injury. … RB Terrell Jennings, who has been on injured reserve, is also in the protocol after starting his 21-day return window. … RT Morgan Moses missed Wednesday’s practice with a knee issue. … WR Alex Austin, who has been on IR with a wrist injury, returned to practice without restriction.
Series notes
The Patriots are 2-0 against Houston in the playoffs. Both victories were in the divisional round. The most recent was a 34-16 home victory over the Texans on Jan. 14, 2017.
Stats and stuff
The Texans have advanced to the divisional round for a third straight season. … A win would put the Texans in the AFC championship game for the first time in franchise history. They enter the game 0-6 in the divisional round. … The Texans have a franchise-record 10-game winning streak. … They scored two defensive touchdowns and the 175 yards and six points they allowed were the fewest in a playoff game franchise history. It was the first time they hadn’t allowed a touchdown in a postseason game. … QB C.J. Stroud threw for 250 yards and a touchdown on Monday to become the fourth quarterback in NFL history to start and win a playoff game in each of his first three seasons. He had trouble hanging onto the ball against the Steelers, fumbling five times, losing two of them and throwing an interception. … RB Woody Marks had 112 yards rushing and a touchdown Monday night to become the third player in franchise history with a 100-yard rushing game in the playoffs. He is the first rookie to have at least 100 yards rushing and touchdown run in a postseason game since Cam Akers did it in 2021. … WR Jayden Higgins ranked second among rookies with six touchdown receptions this season. … TE Dalton Schultz ranked third among tight ends with 82 catches and his 777 yards receiving were sixth at his position. … DE Danielle Hunter had a sack and forced a fumble against the Steelers. He has had a sack in four of his past five playoff road games. He ranked third in the NFL with 15 sacks in the regular season for his seventh season with at least 10 sacks. … DE Will Anderson Jr. had a half sack and forced a fumble which was returned for a touchdown in the wild-card game. He had a career-high 12 sacks in the regular season to earn AP first team All-Pro honors. … DT Sheldon Rankins had 1 ½ sacks and returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown on Monday night. He is the first defensive tackle since 1982 with a fumble return for a score and a sack in a playoff game. … LB Azeez Al-Shaair had six tackles, including one for loss against the Steelers. … CB Kamari Lassiter had six tackles and a pass defensed Monday night. He had a career-high 17 passes defensed in the regular season. … CB Derek Stingley, who earned a second straight spot on the AP All-Pro first team this season, had 15 passes defensed in the regular season. … S Calen Bullock had a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Steelers. … The Patriots are back in the divisional round for the first time since their run to a sixth Super Bowl title in the 2018 season. … With a victory, the Patriots would advance to their 16th conference championship game since the 1970 merger. … The Patriots are 24-5 all time at home in the playoffs. …. New England is 16-6 all time in the divisional round and has won its past eight appearances in this round. … The Patriots allowed just three points against the Chargers last week, tying a franchise low in the playoffs for the sixth time. … The Patriots will look to win consecutive playoff games without allowing a touchdown for the second time. They previously did it in the playoffs during the 1996 season, beating Pittsburgh (28-3) and Jacksonville (20-6) in the divisional round and AFC championship game, respectively. … WR Stefon Diggs has played in 15 postseason games and has 71 receptions for 925 yards and four touchdowns. He needs 75 yards to become the 17th NFL player to reach 1,000 postseason yards. Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are the only Patriots to eclipse the mark. … Diggs has four career 100-yard receiving games in the postseason and needs one more to become the 10th player in NFL history with at least five. … DT Milton Williams has had back-to-back postseason games with two sacks. The only NFL player with at least two sacks in three straight postseason games was LB LaMarr Woodley with Pittsburgh when he had two sacks in four consecutive games (2008-09). … LB K’Lavon Chaisson had two sacks in the win over the Chargers. He can join Williams with back-to-back postseason games with at least two sacks by reaching that mark again this week.
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