Le Journal

I had a whole story written about the leak, and then Sony just tweeted it out.

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained ahead of training camp that he was looking at his team’s performances in three distinct categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called it, the s—t that gets you beat. The Patriots’ 28-16 win over the Houston Texans in Sunday’s divisional round playoff game featured a mix off all three. So, if the coach wants to look at his team through those categories, who are we to disagree? Let’s break down the game in exactly that manner. The good: Defensive opportunism The Texans defense was one of the main talking points entering Sunday’s game, and it repeatedly showed why on Sunday. However, when all was said and done, it was their Patriots counterpart that came away victoriously. Limiting Houston’s offense to only 16 points and 3.3 yards per play, the unit led by acting defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr was outstanding yet again. Just like the previous week against the Los Angeles Chargers, it put the opposing quarterback in a blender and did not let up. The biggest area of success, however, might have been the unit’s ability to capitalize on mistakes. C.J. Stroud threw errant passes all day, and four of those ended up in the arms of Patriots defenders. Carlton Davis hauled in two, bookmarking picks by Marcus Jones — who returned his 26 yards for a touchdown — and Craig Woodson. The latter also added a fumble recovery in the third quarter. “They’re playing well together,” Vrabel said about his team’s ability to generate takeaways. “I feel like they’re complementing each other, and our turnovers are created by more than one guy. There’s some great efforts. But it’s somebody tipping a pass or it’s somebody that’s putting pressure that’s usually helping — or Zak’s dialing something up that kind of changes the look. We’re taking advantage of our opportunities. And that’s what it’s going to take in the playoffs: you’ve got to take care of the ball and turn it over.” Through two playoff games so far, the Patriots have taken the ball away six times while also forcing three turnovers on downs. It’s a winning recipe. The bad: Early-down performance Heading into the divisional round, we mentioned winning on early downs as one of the Patriots’ offensive keys to the game: failure to perform in those situations would allow the Texans’ vaunted pass rush to pin its ears back and attack an offensive line that has had its problems in protection the previous week versus the Chargers. Indeed, those early downs proved to be one of the stories of the day for New England. It just didn’t go the way they would have hoped. Not counting a kneel-down to end the game, the Patriots had 29 first down plays against the Texans. They averaged 3.4 yards on those with a success rate of 37.9% as well as eight plays resulting in no gain or a loss of yards (27.6%). To their credit, the Patriots were on point on first down on the time-consuming, run-heavy drive after Kayshon Boutte had scored a 32-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Overall, however, their issues on first down repeatedly put the team behind the sticks and created unfavorable situations for the offense for much of the day. The s—t that gets you beat: Pass protection The Patriots knew that the Houston defensive line had the potential to be a problem, and indeed it was. Led by the outstanding edge duo of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, the Texans harassed quarterback Drake Maye all day long. When all was said and done, the face of the Patriots franchise had been sacked five times, and hit on seven total occasions. He also fumbled four times, with two of those loose balls ending up with the offense and the other two going to the defense as turnovers. It was rough out there, both for Maye and his offensive line. Rookie Will Campbell in particular had a difficult time handling Anderson, and the first-team All-Pro finished with three sacks and two forced fumbles. Hunter…

The talk leading up to the Patriots vs. Texans divisional playoff matchup was centered around Houston’s defense. That resulted in many media members picking the Texans to prevail. New England’s defense took note. “We see that. We just stay quiet. We let our game speak,” Christian Barmore said. “We’re not about the talk, we’re about the actions. We let the game speak and see what happens.” Taking the field on Sunday, their game spoke for them. New England’s defense held C.J. Stroud and the Texans to just 16 points while forcing five turnovers — one directly resuling in six points on an interception return for Marcus Jones. “It definitely fueled the whole defense. Nobody has been talking about our defense all year. We’ll see what they say today,” Milton Williams said. “Every week, we’re trying to come out and dominate knowing that they do have a great defense, but in our minds, it was our defense versus their defense. See who could make more plays, create more turnovers, stop the run and get the ball back to our offense.” Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, New England’s defense is allowing just 9.5 points per game. Beyond intercepting Stroud four times on Sunday, a healthy run defense flashed their early season dominance holding Houston to 41 rushing yards on 21 designed carries. “Everybody was talking about them all week and I think it just turned us up,” safety Jaylinn Hawkins said. “Respect to them because they balled. They get after it. We just wanted to show what we can do and that’s what showed tonight.” As the Patriots now have clinched their spot in the AFC Championship Game behind a defensive performance, wide receiver Stefon Diggs hopes the national narrative regarding the defense stays the same going forward. “It’s a good thing,” the veteran said. “Hopefully they do that again this week because that’s another good defense we’re about to go see. I feel like I spoke on it not too long ago, but playing with a chip on our shoulder. I think we’re one of those teams that play better with a chip on our shoulder – when everybody kind of counted us out.  “I think there was a handful of commentators and people, the little tidbits that I do see – because I try not to see too much – they all picked Houston to win. I mean, for a good reason – that’s a good football team, and I understand their vantage point. All we can do is come in, work hard during the week and put ourselves in the best position to win the game.”

For a second straight week, Robert Spillane was all smiles at the Gillette Stadium podium on Sunday. He had good reason to be: the New England Patriots had just beaten the Houston Texans 28-16 to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in seven years. But while the defensive captain was clearly pleased with his team’s performance, he also wanted to make something clear about the Patriots season: it ain’t over yet. “A work in progress. We’re not finished,” Spillane explained. “We’ll just going to continue to put our heads down, bring the energy required each and every day to this game-planning of the week and pour our hearts into it like we all have. Every man in that locker room, every coach just poured their hearts into this season, and we’re going to continue to do that and let the chips fall where they may.” Spillane was not the only one to sing that tune after the game. Head coach Mike Vrabel also spoke about his players already looking ahead during his own postgame presser. “I’m always excited for our organization, excited for the players,” Vrabel said. “I am appreciative of their work and their efforts. Everybody’s stepping up. We’re using everybody. Everybody’s making plays. Everybody’s helping us win. I’m excited for these guys, but also, they’re not satisfied, and I can tell that.” Thanks to their win over the Texans, the Patriots remain as one of only four teams left standing this season. After back-to-back home playoff games, however, they will now have to travel to Denver to take on the top-seeded Broncos in one of the most challenging environments in the NFL. The task will be significant, but the Broncos having lost starting quarterback Bo Nix to an ankle injury changes the outlook. Former Patriots fourth-round draft pick Jarrett Stidham will start in Nix’s place, his first extended game action since starting two games for the team during the 2023 season. Stidham will be going up against a Patriots team that will waste no time getting ready for the challenge ahead. “It’s great to be in the position that we are,” said cornerback Marcus Jones, who scored a pick-six against Houston, “but we’re one of those teams that love to flip the page.” “We know we’ve got to go on the road to a No. 1 seed in the AFC, and it’s not going to be easy,” added Vrabel. “But we’ll come out and be ready to go.”