While Sunday’s game between the Patriots and the Texans was a clash between two 1-3 teams, there was a sense that the Patriots were better and should win this game. However, as things unfolded early in the contest, the Patriots found themselves in a tough game.
The big news from the Patriots this week was the decimation of their offensive line due to COVID and injuries. In this game, they started for back-ups, and they were a position group to watch going in. As the game wore on, the struggles of the offensive line did not define the Patriot’s struggle. Only allowing quarterback Mac Jones to get sacked once, the line was overall successful in giving Jones proper time and space to operate in the pocket.
Offensively the Patriots were underwhelming, especially against a defense such as the Texans. While they did have 126 yards rushing on 30 carries, a clear step up from recent games, another red zone fumble by Damian Harris soured the performance of the group overall. Improving production is encouraging, but fumbles in key spots on the field are remaining a theme for the Patriots. Harris also dealt with a rib/chest injury throughout this game and left for the locker room multiple times. With their lead back banged up and James White out for the season, the Patriots thought to be dangerous, and versatile running attack is suddenly thin.
The defining and most surprising part of this game was the offensive success of the Texans, particularly against the Patriots’ typically solid secondary. Led by backup and rookie Davis Mills, the Texans offense manufactured 4 straight scoring drives to begin the game. The Patriots secondary allowed 290 yards and three touchdowns, and Mills finished with a 129 passer rating. Aside from Jalen Mills being out this week, this is pretty much the same secondary the team has been using all season. While the Patriots had three sacks on the day, their pressure on the Texans QB was inconsistent and sporadic, which could have contributed to a near dissection of the secondary during this game.
The difference in this game was the second half. After an interception to start the third by Jones and a short field goal resulting in a touchdown on the Texan’s next possession, the Patriots held their opponent scoreless and managed to claw back into the game from a 22-9 deficit. On their next three drives, the Patriots went field goal, field goal, touchdown to tie the game at 22. A big stop on the Texans subsequent possession gave Jones the ball with seven minutes left looking to engineer a game-clinching drive.
The rushing attack was strong on this drive and did the bulk of the work, but overall the combination of penalties by the Texans and smart offense play by the Patriots gave them a field goal try with 17 seconds remaining. On a strong day for Nick Folk, he made this one too and all but won the game at that point.
While this game was far from a positive performance for the Patriots in many ways, they managed to get a tough win that required them to score to get back in it. By doing so, the offense can pull at least something away to build on. A seven-minute drive to win the game led by your rookie quarterback is an awfully encouraging sign for his development. In addition, a back-up filled offensive line staying consistent and solid was a positive nearly no one expected going in.
Struggling to maintain a less than intimidating, offensive attack for half of this game is a trend the Patriots want to move away from as their offense continues to develop and grow into a higher scoring group. Needing the defense to be the strength of this team, today they weren’t, and it almost led to a devastating loss.
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