Patriots Beat Texans to Advance to 6th Straight AFC Championship
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Dion Lewis PHOTO: Patriots.com
The Patriots got three touchdowns from Dion Lewis en route to a 34-16 win over the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night and are now one game away from reaching their seventh Super Bowl in the Brady/Belichick era.
"We had to battle through some ups and downs, but that is what the playoffs are about, finding a way to win," said Patriots safety Devin McCourty after the game.
Defense, Better Offense Leads to Win
Leading 17-13 in the third quarter, Tom Brady found James White in the corner of the end zone for a19 yard touchdown pass to give New England a 24-13 lead after a Stephen Gostkowski extra point.
Following a Houston field goal to cut New England’s lead to eight, 24-16 in the fourth quarter, New England’s Logan Ryan picked off Brock Osweiler on the Texans following possession, setting the Patriots up at the Texans 29-yard line.
A couple of plays later, Dion Lewis would find his way into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game, giving the Patriots a 31-16 lead with just under 13 minutes to play.
“He made some big plays for us, the kickoff return was incredible, the touchdown catch, he had a good touchdown run, he did a great job," said Brady.
The Patriots would add a field goal in the quarter to take a 34-16 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
The Patriots defense forced three interceptions in the second half and only gave up three points.
Dion Lewis joins KC's Tyreek Hill as only players to score rush, receiving and KR touchdowns in game this season. Hadn't been done since '65
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 15, 2017
Turnovers Let Texans Back in Game
After Dion Lewis returned a Texans kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown the Patriots mistakes would let Houston back into the game.
With 14:32 left in the half, Brady fired a pass to Michael Floyd, but it deflected off of his hands and into the hands of Houston’s A.J. Bouye.
Six plays later, Houston would add a field goal to make the Patriots lead 14-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Lewis fumbled at the Patriots 17-yard line where Houston’s Dent recovered.
Two plays later, Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler found C.J. Fiedorowicz wide open in the end zone for a touchdown. The Texans would trail 14-13 following a Nick Novak extra point.
The Patriots had the final possession of the half and had 2nd and 3rd and goal from the Houston 1-yard line, and first and goal fro the Houston 3 yard line but failed to get in.
A Stephen Gostkowski field goal would give New England a 17-13 lead heading into the locker room.
Patriots 17, Texans 13 (halftime): Two turnovers by Patriots turned into 10 points by Houston. Keeps game close. Poor overall half from NE.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 15, 2017
“I think we just got to learn from it, I think this team did a good job playing against us, they have some good scheme stuff that worked, they have some good rushers, they had good guys in coverage and a good scheme so it was a lot of things. then you add our poor execution on top of that and our turnovers on top of that, you know it doesn’t feel great because we worked pretty hard to play a lot better than we did,” said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after the game.
The Leaders
Brady completed 18 of 28 passes for287 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, both of which were off of deflections.
Dion Lewis carried the ball 13 times for 41 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Julian Edelman hauled in eight catches for 137 yards on 13 targets to lead the receivers.
Next up
The Patriots advance to the AFC Championship game next week at Gillette Stadium.
They will face the winner of the divisional-round game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That game is scheduled for Sunday night at 8:20 p.m. in Kansas City.
Game time for the AFC Championship will be at 6 p.m.
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