A tenacious defense and offensive resiliency lifted the New England Patriots over the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs.
“I’m excited for these guys, but they’re not satisfied.”
That’s how New England Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel characterized his team’s performance in a 28-16 victory over the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round.
After winning a combined total of eight games over the last two years, the Patriots have now moved to 16-3 on the season and advanced to the AFC Championship Game in their first year with Vrabel at the helm.
Sunday’s victory was a definitive statement for New England as a legitimate title contender — and a performance indicative of the identity that Vrabel has shaped in the locker room over the course of the past year.
Let’s take a closer look at what led the Patriots to a signature playoff victory and an AFC Championship Game berth:
Tenacious Defense
New England’s defense looked to play with an added chip on its shoulder on Sunday after spending the week prior hearing about how great Houston’s defense was.
In their Divisional Round matchup, the Patriots held a clear advantage on that side of the ball.
In many ways, both of New England’s playoff victories parallel each other: the defense has swarmed aggressively to the football, applied pressure on the quarterback, and forced takeaways, while the offense has done enough to maintain a constant advantage on the scoreboard.
The Patriots’ defense continues to dominate opposing offenses on a weekly basis and has an argument as the NFL’s best unit over the last month-plus. In the Wild Card Round, their consistent blitz pressure resulted in six sacks and one takeaway.
This Sunday, it was C.J. Stroud on the receiving end of New England’s violent defensive approach — and they outdid themselves once again.
Stroud was held to 20-of-47 (42.6%) with 212 passing yards, one touchdown, four interceptions, three sacks and an outrageously low passer rating of 28.0 in the game. More than just the box score, New England’s relentless pressure and ball-hawking underneath coverages left Stroud visibly distraught at several points in the contest.
The Patriots’ five takeaways in the game tied the team’s postseason record, set in the 2003 AFC Championship Game victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
The Patriots became just the second team in NFL history (joining the 1985 Bears in Super Bowl XX) to account for five forced turnovers, a pick six, three sacks, allow less than 50 yards rushing and just one touchdown in a postseason game.
The five takeaways gained +27.8 EPA, which was the most for any defense in the playoffs since at least 2016 (when Next Gen Stats began tracking data).
Much like the Wild Card Round, the Patriots’ defensive gameplan centered around a variety of pressure packages that featured additional rushers. When blitzed, Stroud was 6-of-18 (33.3% completion percentage), 67 yards (3.7 yards per attempt), with one touchdown and two interceptions. When pressured, he went 2-of-16 (12.5% completion percentage), 18 yards (1.1 yards per attempt), one interception and three sacks (per Next Gen Stats).
Those packages were equally effective against the run and the pass.
New England continued its stellar play against opposing rushers, holding Houston to a season-low 48 yards on 22 carries (2.2 yards-per-carry). Their efficiency against the run forced the Texans to become one-dimensional early, and that allowed the pass rush to get more exotic with the looks it presented.
K’Lavon Chaisson stood out off the edge in the performance, registering one sack, one tackle-for-loss, four quarterback hits, and altering Stroud’s throw on the Marcus Jones pick six that regained the lead in the second quarter.
New England would not relinquish the lead again, and that touchdown marked the only points the Patriots scored off turnovers in the game. It was the turning point in the victory, but far from the only mistake New England forced from the opposing offense.
The Patriots were just as aggressive in coverage as they were in the rush.
On Stroud’s 47 passing attempts, the Patriots’ defense forced 14 tight window throws (29.8%) — the highest rate by any defense in the last six postseasons (per Next Gen Stats).
The cornerback trio of Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, and Jones each had notable positives in the game, but they were supported well by one of the better performances by the safety room this season.
Davis popped off with two first half interceptions — his first as a Patriot and the second time he’s recorded multiple interceptions in a game (at Houston, November 10, 2024 as a member of the Detroit Lions).
Jones had another strong playoff performance, breaking up a pass on third and goal to halt one Texans drive and running his second quarter interception back 26 yards for a score.
Christian Gonzalez saw more targets than any other defender in the regular season or postseason, getting thrown at 16 times during the game. The Texans’ gamble on Gonzalez proved fruitless; he only allowed seven receptions for 58 yards (3.6 yards per target on a 43.8% catch rate, per Next Gen Stats).
Craig Woodson played his best game as a Patriot on Sunday in support of the corners, recording five tackles, three pass break ups, an interception in the first half, and a fumble recovery in the second half. Woodson was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2025 draft and played 98% of the defensive snaps for New England during the regular season.
Situationally, the Patriots were excellent again — holding Houston to just 1-for-4 in the red zone and continuing an encouraging trend for New England.
Through 15 games, the Patriots ranked 32nd in the NFL in red zone defense, allowing touchdowns at a 70% rate. Over the last month, New England has held opponents to a total of 2-for-11 (18.1%) in the red zone.
Through two games of the postseason, they’ve scored as many touchdowns as they’ve allowed, recorded nine sacks, pressured the quarterback on over 35% of dropbacks, and forced six takeaways. Opposing passers have been held to 39-of-78 (50%) passing with 313 net yards and a passer rating of just 43.4 against them in the playoffs.
From the front seven to the back end, the Patriots’ defense has been the hottest in football over the last four weeks, and they look to be getting stronger as the level of competition rises.
They’ve been the catalyst in each of New England’s playoff victories this January, and will look to continue their aggressiveness in Denver this Sunday against Jarrett Stidham and the Broncos.
Offensive Resiliency
The Patriots’ offense had its work cut out for it on Sunday, staring across at the NFL’s highest-rated defense this season.
That was the biggest storyline coming into Sunday, and it largely manifested itself on the field.
For the second week in a row, Drake Maye was hit and hurried consistently by an elite pass rush and had trouble protecting the football in a deteriorating pocket. He again fumbled four times, lost two, and was under duress at an expedited rate — even given the lack of blitzing from the Texans defense.
While the ball security certainly needs to be better, that was largely expected. During the regular season, the Texans ranked 32nd in the NFL in early-down blitz rate, yet still generated pressure on nearly 30% of offensive dropbacks.
Houston edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson, Jr., projected to give the offensive line fits after both finished with 12+ sacks on the season.
Last week, Odafe Oweh became the first player since 2000 to record three sacks and two forced fumbles in a playoff game — and Anderson matched that total this week.
New England’s offensive line was set to have its hands full with the Texans’ rush from the opening snap, and the Patriots’ passing game was set to have limited space all afternoon long.
We knew those were going to be realities of playing a defense like Houston’s in a game of this magnitude, and they remained that way all afternoon.
The real measure of Maye and New England’s offense would be how they responded when they faced adversity. And on that test, they passed with flying colors.
Without much help from the rushing attack for most of the game — the Patriots finished with 105 rushing yards on 32 attempts (3.3 yards-per-carry) — Maye shouldered much of the load for New England’s offensive production.
Unlike Stroud, Maye’s resiliency proved to be the difference as the game wore on.
The Patriots threw three touchdown passes against the Texans’ defense on Sunday — marking just the second time Houston surrendered that many touchdown passes in a game this season. It was just the fourth time the Texans allowed 21+ points defensively this season.
On New England’s three touchdown drives, Maye finished a perfect 10-of-10 with 146 yards passing and three touchdowns to three different receivers — each of them outstanding plays in their own right.
For the second time in two career playoff games, Maye saved his best football for the second half.
Last week, it was a fourth quarter touchdown pass to Hunter Henry that put the game away. This week, it was a dagger down the right sideline to Kayshon Boutte with Derek Stingley, Jr., in coverage.
The throw-and-catch was reminiscent of the pair’s connection in Maye’s first career start last season, when Boutte scored on a 40-yard pass over Stingley down the same sideline. Boutte has now been targeted twice on throws 20+ yards downfield versus Stingley in his career, and has two catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns to show for it.
Stingley has only allowed four 20+ yard receptions since the beginning of the 2024 season, with two coming against Boutte.
Maye and Boutte’s connection has been a special one on downfield throws all season. Entering Sunday, Boutte had hauled in 11 of 15 targets 20+ yards downfield, gaining 308 yards, scoring five touchdowns, and accounting for a passer rating of 154.9 on such targets.
In the second half of his two career postseason games, Maye is now 17-of-22 (77.3% completion percentage) with 235 yards passing, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 141.3.
Even with a constantly degrading pocket and ball security concerns, Maye showed marked signs of improvement in another key area this week.
As the season has entered its final phases, the Patriots have seen an increase in man coverage looks from defenses on a weekly basis as teams look for a way to slow down Maye and the passing attack.
In the Wild Card Round, Maye struggled against the Chargers’ surprisingly high usage of man coverage. The Texans returned to that well, but with much less success.
In the Divisional Round, Maye finished 8-of-12 with 106 yards and three touchdowns against Houston’s man coverage (per Next Gen Stats).
Much like the passing game, New England's rushing attack was slow moving at many points — but saved their best for when it counted most.
Rhamondre Stevenson led the way in the backfield with 16 carries for 70 rushing yards, and his best running came late in the fourth quarter with the Patriots backed up near their own goal line. With eight runs on 10 plays, Stevenson helped advance the ball near midfield and burned six of the final 11 minutes of game clock off the board.
It may not have been the most flawless offensive performance of the season, but for the second time, New England put up enough points to win and advance.
That was the name of the game entering Sunday — and the Patriots exited the day successful in that venture against one of the NFL’s best.
Looking Ahead
The Patriots’ win in the Divisional Round marked the ninth consecutive Divisional Round win for the team, dating back to the 2011 postseason.
The win marked their 21st postseason victory at Gillette Stadium, breaking a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for the most playoff wins in a stadium in NFL history.
With his 16th victory, Maye tied Dan Marino (1984), Kurt Warner (1999) and Russell Wilson (2013) for the most wins in a season by a first or second-year quarterback in NFL history.
New England advanced to the AFC title game for the first time since 2018 and 16th time in franchise history, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most by any AFC team ever. It’s the 11th time since 2006 that the Patriots have reached the AFC Championship, the 14th time since 2001, and 15th time since 1996.
Now, the Patriots will put their perfect 8-0 road record to the test in Denver with an opportunity to secure a spot in Super Bowl LX.
New England was just the 12th team in NFL history to finish the regular season with an unblemished road record, and has had some of its most memorable victories of the season come away from Gillette Stadium this season, including prime time wins over Buffalo (Week 5) and Baltimore (Week 16).
The high-flying Patriots’ defense is set to match up against Jarrett Stidham after Bo Nix suffered a season-ending fractured ankle in the Broncos’ Divisional Round win over the Bills. Offensively, New England will face off against another of the NFL’s elite defensive units.
We’ll be previewing both sides of the ball in the coming days as the Patriots mount a run at the AFC title.
Stay tuned for that and much more on Patriots Roundtable.
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