There are places in the NFL in which it's extremely tough for visitors to win, especially in the playoffs in January.
Then there's Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.
The Texans have first hand knowledge as to the accuracy of that opening statement. From the time that the Texans came into existence in 2002 to present day, the New England Patriots won six Super Bowls and went undefeated at home in the playoffs nine of those seasons. Furthermore, those seasons included two Divisional Round playoff wins over the Texans, games that Texans fans would love to forget, honestly.
The first came in 2012 a few weeks after the Patriots had done a number on the Texans on MNF late in that season. The Texans cut the lead to four at halftime in the playoff game, but the Patriots pulled away when it mattered most for the win. The 2016 matchup was closer for three quarters as the Texans' number one defense in the NFL had one of its best nights, but a Patriots interception early in the fourth quarter helped seal that Texans' team fate.
Now, the Texans head back up to the place where two promising playoff runs died, right there on that Gillette Stadium turf. It's a House of Horrors, if I'm being honest, but the Texans, with many of the same personnel from this year, went up to Foxboro last year and put one on the Patriots, winning there for the first time in history in the regular season or playoffs. Now, it's time to get the first playoff win in that building in this team's history. To do so, though, the Texans will have to stop a QB MVP candidate and do it in wintry mix conditions, potentially.
QB Drake Maye has been phenomenal in 2025 and now he has a playoff victory under his belt after the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 last Sunday night. Maye wasn't at his sharpest, but the Patriots defense put the Chargers in a head lock and squeezed the air right out of QB Justin Herbert and his offense.
But…this is a different Texans team. How different? We'll find out how much more at 3 PM EST when the ball is kicked off in soon-to-be snowy/wet/rainy Foxboro. As such, let's get to Know the Texans' Divisional Round Foe - the New England Patriots
2025 New England Patriots (15-3)
- Week 1 - L Las Vegas Raiders 20-13
- Week 2 - W @ Miami Dolphins 33-27
- Week 3 - L Pittsburgh Steelers 21-14
- Week 4 - W Carolina Panthers 42-13
- Week 5 - W @ Buffalo Bills 23-20
- Week 6 - W @ New Orleans Saints 25-19
- Week 7 - W @ Tennessee Titans 31-13
- Week 8 - W Cleveland Browns 32-13
- Week 9 - W Atlanta Falcons 24-23
- Week 10 - W @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-23
- Week 11 - W New York Jets 27-14
- Week 12 - W @ Cincinnati Bengals 26-20
- Week 13 - W New York Giants 33-15
- Week 14 - BYE WEEK
- Week 15 - L Buffalo Bills 35-31
- Week 16 - W @ Baltimore Ravens 28-24
- Week 17 - W @ New York Jets 42-10
- Week 18 - W Miami Dolphins 38-10
- Wildcard Round - W Los Angeles Chargers 16-3
- Divisional Round - Houston Texans
Patriots Offense (2025 Regular Season)
- Rushing Yards Per game - 128.9 ypg (6th in the NFL)
- Passing Yards Per game - 250.5 ypg (4th)
- Total offense per game - 379.4 ypg (2nd)
- Turnovers lost - 16 (8 INT, 8 Fumbles lost)
Expected Steelers starting offense for Divisional Round
- QB - Drake Maye
- RB - Rhamondre Stevenson
- WR - STEFON DIGGS
- WR - DeMario 'Pop' Douglas
- WR - Kayshon Boutte
- TE - Hunter Henry
- LT - WILL CAMPELL
- LG - JARED WILSON
- C - GARRETT BRADBURY
- RG - Mike Onwenu
- RT - MORGAN MOSES
- Key Offensive Non-Starters
Other Key Offensive pieces
- RB - TREVEYON HENDERSON
- WR - KYLE WILLIAMS
- OT - Vederian Lowe
- TE - Austin Hooper
- WR - EFTON CHISM
Italics - Rookie
ALL CAPS - New to team in 2025
Keys to winning v. the Patriots Offense
1. Drake "Drake Maye" Maye…MVP? - As the Patriots embarked on a second season with Drake Maye as their starting QB, there was excitement about his growth. He had a new head coach. He was handed an all-time great offensive coordinator. They added a rookie LT with tremendous upside. A veteran Pro Bowl receiver and leader was added to the fray. With all that help, it made sense that Maye's productivity could increase significantly. But, it was Maye, ultimately, who made all of those new additions work brilliantly together. He started to hit on his potential, as I saw it back before he entered the NFL. Take a look at my original scouting report for Maye from the 2024 NFL Draft.
Last year, no one really knew what to expect from Maye as a first year starter replacing legendary Sam Howell. He made people forget about Howell right quick. Great vision and feel for the position. Quick release. High RPMs. Touch. Accurate. Did struggle down the stretch of the 2022 season, but he's a gamer, a North Carolina lifer.
- Guts and a gamer
- Deep accuracy outside the numbers
- Completed passes in some of the most unique ways, threw bad passes in some of the most unique ways too
- Creative passer but holds it a bit too long at times
- Sees throwing lanes that weren't even lanes on occasion
- ¾ throwing motion, not unusual for 6-5 QB.
Player Comp - Packers QB Jordan Love
I may have undershot his potential with a comparison to Love, but the comparison was more about the play style than anything else. However, Maye is more athletic with the ball in his hands. He's faster when he breaks the pocket. He has been incredibly accurate with the football at all levels on the field. He's already great and he will get even better. So, the Texans defense has their work cut out, but that D does have one advantage that can really slow down the Patriots new wunderkind QB.
2. You don't know what you don't know - As much as SEC fans love to tell anyone within earshot that SEC players are ready for the NFL because of the experience they get in the conference, nothing in the SEC can prepare rookie OL for dominant veteran NFL defensive linemen. Former LSU star OT Will Campbell was the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and left guard former Georgia Bulldog Jared Wilson was one of the best interior players in the aforementioned SEC last year. But, BUT, handling Will Anderson Jr, Danielle Hunter and a cadre of interior DL manimals is a WHOLE different situation. The two Patriots rookies had their hands full with the Chargers rushers, especially Campbell, last week and the Patriots must account for their inexperience this weekend. OC Josh McDaniels knows full well that he can't try to protect five on four; this Texans front demands more bodies to help QBs get the ball off without a white jerseyed pass rusher all over the QB. So, the Patriots have to take a potential pass catcher away from that role to help Campbell. Wilson will need help from center Garrett Bradbury. That leaves Michael Onwenu and Morgan Moses on islands one-on-one, unless the Patriots take another potential pass catcher out of the mix to help them too. So, it's a cascading problem for the Patriots with two rookies out on that left side - leave them to go one-on-one all game long (which nearly kneecapped that entire offense last week) or give them help and limit the options in the pass game for Drake Maye. Those are both advantageous to the Texans defense, a group that doesn't need more help…but it'll take it.
3. Stef the Chef - I remember seeing, observing and studying WR Stefon Diggs in person as a Texan in training camp in 2024 for the first time up close. He was such a great leader and motivator and C.J. Stroud said this week that he was one of the best teammates he'd ever had. Once fully rehabbed from the ACL injury that curtailed his 2024 season after eight games, Diggs signed with the Patriots and took his leadership and performance to a different level. He's such a worry this week because of his football intelligence and IQ. He learned how to get open against this defense in training camp last year. He faced it often. He's shifty and a great route runner and that can get him into small openings that the Texans secondary provides. The Patriots have two excellent running backs in Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, but Diggs might be the best "ball carrier" they have on Sunday, given his ability to get open quickly, catch the ball and run after the catch. As such, the Texans LBs/DBs must limit what he does after the catch and not let Stef start cooking with eight to ten catches and chunks of yards as a runner after the catch.
Patriots DEFENSE (in 2025 regular season)
- Rushing Yards Allowed Per game - 101.7 ypg (6th in the NFL)
- Passing Yards Allowed Per game - 193.5 ypg (9th)
- Total offense Allowed per game - 295.2 ypg (8th)
- Turnovers generated - 19 (10 INT, 9 Fumbles recovered - Patriots are +3 in TO margin)
- Expected Patriots starting defense for Divisional
Expected Patriots starting defense for the Divisional Round
- OLB - HAROLD LANDRY III
- DE - MILTON WILLIAMS
- DT - Christian Barmore
- OLB - K'LAVON CHIASSON
- LB - ROBERT SPILLANE
- LB - Christian Elliss
- CB - CARLTON DAVIS III
- Nickel - Marcus Jones
- S - CRAIG WOODSON
- S - Jaylinn Hawkins
- CB - Christian Gonzalez
Key Defensive Non-Starters
- NT - KHYIRIS TONGA
- DT - CORY DURDEN
- OLB - Anfernee Jennings
- LB - JACK GIBBENS
- LB - Jahlani Tavai
- LB/S - Marte Mapu
- DE - Deatrich Wise Jr.
- S/ST - Brenden Schooler
ALL CAPS - New to team in 2025
Italics - Rookie
Keys to winning v. the Patriots Defense
1. No Nico, No problem?, Part II - As I went back to my notes from last year for this game, it was eerie what I wrote as the first key against the Patriots defense as it related to star WR Nico Collins. Last year, the week before heading to New England, Texans Pro Bowl WR Nico Collins injured his hamstring on a deep bomb against the Buffalo Bills. That hamstring injury kept Nico from playing against the New England Patriots in the Texans win in Foxboro. Fast forward about 15 months and there's a chance Nico will miss the game with the Patriots again, this time as a result of a concussion suffered against the Steelers in the Wildcard Round win. As I wrote about his absence last year, I noted what the Texans still had in the receiving arsenal, including the man I mentioned above Stefon Diggs. However, the fact does remain that the Texans have had success without Nico on the field this year, as much I hate to not have him in this big game. WR Christian Kirk had his best game as a Texan (eight grabs for 144 yards and a TD) and the best pass catching performance in the history of the franchise in the playoffs. Jayden Higgins was ultra smooth and productive to start the second half last week. Xavier Hutchinson was his reliable self, making key catches on third down in that win as well. Jaylin Noel has made key plays this year throughout this year, next to his former Iowa State teammates Higgins and Hutchinson. Then, throw in the TE - Dalton Schultz and Cade Stover and RB Woody Marks out of the backfield and the Texans have more than enough to succeed without Nico. Don't get me wrong, I want Nico in this, and every other game that the Texans play, but the reality is that he might not be able to go in this one due to that concussion. So, EVERYONE must take a step forward.
2. Smooth - The challenge for the Texans pass catchers, though, is a stark one because one of the best matchup corners in the AFC is waiting on the Patriots sideline. The Texans avoided seeing Denver star CB Patrick Surtain II early in the season due to injury, but the next best CB on the Texans schedule, it appears, will play on Sunday - Christian Gonzalez. He was placed in concussion protocol during the Patriots win over the Chargers but did practice on Wednesday, an indication that he should be ready for Sunday. He's an ultra-smooth corner, like Texans Derek Stingley Jr. Now, he's not Sting, but Gonzo's cool, smooth style allows him to be flypaper on perimeter receivers all over the field. He's a former track star so he can run with anyone, anywhere and if Nico is unable to play in this game, Gonzalez could easily travel with Jayden Higgins, perhaps the fastest Texan on the roster. I'm curious how the Patriots use Gonzalez because he's a versatile chess piece who covers as well as any CB the Texans have faced this year. Now, the Texans WRs face Sting, Kamari et al in practice, so they do have experience against the two best in the league that they'll need to carry forward to this game against Gonzalez.
3. The new guy - I remember hearing the name Milton Williams about five years ago when a buddy of mine (an NFL agent) asked if I had seen him play at Louisiana Tech. I had not to that point and he recommended that I watch his new client and then report back to him. Okay, then, I will. That night, I cued up some La. Tech film and it didn't take long to be astounded at the seemingly undersized interior defensive lineman throwing 300-lb men around like throw pillows. As a La. Tech graduate, he went under the radar a bit, but the Philadelphia Eagles were definitely paying attention, drafting him at No. 73 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He played well in Philly, but it wasn't until the 2024 season when Williams went to a different, dominant level. His compact size and insane athleticism gave OL at all different spots nightmares. He parlayed that success into a massive free agent deal with the Patriots. Although he missed five games, he was a problem, especially in the Wildcard round win over the Chargers. One of the best playoff performers in 2024, Williams turned in one of the best non-Texans defensive performances of the first weekend of the 2025 playoffs. The Texans did a solid job on the Steelers' No. 97 Cameron Heyward last week, but Williams is a different type of challenge. He's shorter, stouter, yet quicker and more explosive. He's so quick getting off blocks and even beating blockers with his quickness. He's not going to make this one easy on the Texans OL, not in the slightest.
