There was no path back to Gillette Stadium for the New England Patriots. But there was a path back to the AFC Championship Game.
Head coach Mike Vrabel’s side cleared it with a 28-16 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, earning the right to visit the Denver Broncos.
Here’s a glance back on the divisional round before sights set on the No. 1 seed that awaits at Mile High.
Maye outlasts fumbles to punch AFC title ticket
January 2019 marked the last time New England had punched a ticket to the AFC title game. To do so again, Drake Maye needed to keep playing beyond his 23 years.
The Patriots quarterback completed 16-of-27 passes for 179 yards with three touchdowns on Sunday. He fumbled four times, losing a pair, and was intercepted on a Hail Mary.
Taking the field in “21” personnel, the afternoon’s drizzly opening drive spanned three plays before ending in a punt. Going for it on fourth-and-1 next time out, a 28-yard touchdown to slot receiver DeMario Douglas arrived on a slant route. The journey to a 7-0 lead did not see a ball hit the turf. Yet that changed in strip-sacking fashion on the following series as Bryce Baringer stepped on with the uprights at his back.
The next fumble wouldn’t end up in friendly hands. Defensive tackle Tommy Togiai punched it loose as Maye scrambled up the middle late in the first quarter. Back-to-back punts followed for the Patriots as intermission neared. Yet so did a five-play, 56-yard TD drive that was capped off with a dart to a former Texans captain. The score read 21-10 at the break on the heels of a pick with no time left to tick.
Maye was stripped again in the third quarter. Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was there to recover it again, too. But as heavier snow hit in the fourth quarter, so did a pinpoint go ball down the right sideline to make it a 28-16 game. That would be enough.
“Ending every drive with some form of a kick would be ideal for us this week,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels told reporters leading up to the divisional round.
New England finished the slugfest 3-for-14 on third down, 1-for-2 on fourth down and 1-for-1 in the red zone.
Running backs forge for 95 ground yards
Rhamondre Stevenson had amassed six touchdowns and north of 600 yards from scrimmage since the calendar turned to December. That train took time to get rolling against a Houston defense standing second around the league in rushing yards allowed per game and third in EPA per carry.
Heat-seeking nickelback Jalen Pitre made his presence felt behind the line. Yet after missing snaps because of an eye injury, New England’s starting running back returned to turn 16 carries into a hard-earned 70 yards. A long of 20 was logged by Sunday’s end.
The ground would be leaned on in the fourth quarter. Rookie rusher TreVeyon Henderson spelled in for 25 yards on a dozen attempts in the divisional round, beginning with a loss of two.
Houston’s decorated defensive ends rack up five sacks
From the season opener up through the wild card, 28.5 sacks belonged to Houston’s dangerous duo.
Danielle Hunter added two to the column on Sunday. Will Anderson Jr. added three more. The All-Pro defensive ends from past and present combined to register three forced fumbles in the process.
It would be a very long day on the blindside as left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson made their second playoff starts. Next to the rookies from LSU and Georgia, there stood Garrett Bradbury at center, Mike Onwenu at right guard and Morgan Moses at right tackle. Both offensive bookends recovered fumbles by No. 10.
Sixth lineman Thayer Munford Jr. continued to report as an eligible tight end. The running backs stayed in to chip. There was just only so much that could be done in pass protection.
Three wideouts reel in three touchdowns
Opposing passing games finished the regular season with 20 touchdowns and 19 interceptions versus the Texans’ defense. One look through the names in the secondary and it isn’t hard to see why.
But the wide receiver room in Foxborough made it less easy.
Kayshon Boutte drew defensive pass interference on first-team All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and caught three passes for a Patriots-high 75 yards, including explosives worth 25 and 18 yards in short order. And on third down with 12:58 left in regulation, the deep threat called upon his right hand to glove a 32-yard touchdown. The go route made it a 12-point difference.
Stefon Diggs started alongside him and caught four passes for 40 yards on Sunday, plus a touchdown thrown into a phonebooth heading into halftime. And the aforementioned Douglas finished with 36 receiving yards to go with the game’s initial trip to the end zone.
Stroud unravels with four interceptions
C.J. Stroud’s pocket presence appeared frenetic in the wild card. In the divisional round, that held and then some. He went 20-of-47 passing for 212 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.
The afternoon kicked off with a three-and-out. On the subsequent series, the Texans quarterback climbed and located tight end Dalton Schultz in the flat for a pickup of 42 yards. But that surge stalled with a stand at the goal line.
While a concussion sustained on Monday night kept Texans wide receiver Nico Collins out on Sunday afternoon, playoff veteran Carlton Davis III deflected one pass and got his right knee down in bounds to intercept another in the first quarter alone. The March signing, who went to the locker room late to be evaluated for a head injury, was flagged twice for pass interference and remained undeterred. After going without a pick in the regular season for the AFC East champions, he picked off his second in the second quarter on a pass sent behind wideout Xavier Hutchinson.
Amid the sea of takeaways, slot receiver Christian Kirk got Houston into the end zone for his second touchdown in as many games, winning a corner route above the rim. Marcus Jones was in coverage on that score. Yet the all-purpose Patriots captain broke up a second score and also got one of his own, returning an airmailed interception 26 yards for a touchdown.
Rookie safety Craig Woodson corralled his first NFL interception before halftime, as well, and recovered a fumble that Pro Bowl corner Christian Gonzalez ripped out after it. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans elected to punt with 4:17 remaining.
New England’s front swarms in the snow
Stroud was sacked on three occasions behind a line that saw starting right tackle Trent Brown go from questionable to inactive before kickoff due to an ankle injury. A big hit that handed the Patriots six points wasn’t among them. But it counted.
On the backside of a play-action pass, tight end Harrison Bryant slipped to the turf. K’Lavon Chaisson made the most of the open lane, decleating the Houston’s quarterback at the release point to set up a 14-10 lead change.
The outside linebacker then got New England’s first sack of the afternoon. 2020 draft choice Anfernee Jennings, who drew the start off the edge, got the second. And nose tackle Khyiris got the third in his return from a foot injury that resulted in three games missed.
The Patriots opened Sunday in base personnel. Christian Barmore, Cory Durden and Super Bowl LIX champion Milton Williams started on the defensive line. There was little room for Texans running back Woody Marks to roam from there. The rookie by way of Mississippi State and USC lost his helmet on multiple attempts, had a touchdown nullified by an an illegal shift, and battled a shoulder injury to finish with 17 rushing yards across 14 carries. A lost fumble surfaced along the way.
