After a big win over the Baltimore Ravens last week, the New England Patriots (4-6), teased their fans with a possible comeback run at the postseason, but after a 27-20 loss to the Houston Texans (3-7), that goal is now virtually unreachable.
Of course, if New England were to win its final six games, they’d be back in the mix, but who would trust them to do that? Not after falling to the lowly Texans, just a month and change after they lost to the Denver Broncos (4-6) at home, and were subsequently mauled by the then-healthy San Francisco 49ers (4-6) at Gillette Stadium the next week.
The worst part about Sunday’s loss was that New England’s secondary, arguably their best unit (with the offensive line) deserves a lot of the blame.
But Texans QB Deshaun Watson also deserves a ton of credit. His play was as absurdly good as his stat line suggests — 28 of 37, 347 passing yards, three total touchdowns (two pass, one rush).
Here are our observations of the Patriots defense versus the Texans after reviewing the film.