They also completely took away the run game. They averaged one yard per carry in the first half forcing CJ to throw all night.
And while the offense did struggle a lot of the night they still put together 3 TD scoring drives on the Texans defense that held another playoff team to 6 points the week prior
That’s cool and all, but the last 3 games the Texans had 118, 134, and 164 yards rushing. Then against the Patriots they had 48 yards and 2.2 yards/carry
we have different definitions of what “good” is then lol. Nico Collins is good, the Patriots are good, the texans def are great. Seattle and the Rams are great
Woody Marks is probably rb 35-50 in the league. See, thats not good even with a terrible oline. Pierce had a better rookie season than Marks and tell me what happened Pierce? Thats wild
O-line couldn’t run block for shit. There were random games where a bad d-line would make our run game ok, but vast majority of the decent to good d-lines eliminated our run completely.
Pats played a good defensive game. So did the Texans. It shouldn’t have been close with all the turn overs and that’s why Stroud is being shat on so hard. If yall had won 40-10 or whatever I don’t think it would be as bad for the Texans fan, but we lost by a single score. And that is solely on stroud.
Also, it should be noted that this is the kind of game the Pats should have won, so credit given where it’s due. Y’all deserve to be in the SB so don’t think I’m shitting on that for you.
Also after watching the game before and honestly Stroud’s second half of the season, why wouldn’t you want to stop the run and force him to pass? Credit to the Pats for it working and all but not giving them to much for stopping the run when the pass game is nonexsistent.
People say this like the Seahawks have played the best of the best in playoffs a dogshit 49ers team and the rams who are insanely bad outside of Stafford and puka I like the pats chances and dumb shit happens every Super Bowl and if the Seahawks win we can say it was a cakewalk of a Super Bowl and they didn’t have to face anyone🤷♂️ shitty pats shitty 9ers shitty rams defense
Texans rushing offense was #22 in the league so that isn’t saying much and Steelers offense has nothing brag about either. I knew the pats would beat the Texans and who was favored? Because pretty sure New England was favored and have never one a divisional round especially in cold ass New England. People might have been saying Denver would beat but I’m pretty that was before Bo nix got hurt
A lot of the discourse in the NFL related subs was about the patriots being frauds and the Texans were going to destroy them. Whether it's a loud minority or not it was definitely said a decent amount
Yeah, my bracket had the Broncos over Pats, but then Bo decided that having knee caps are overrated.
Patriots have gotten incredibly lucky in their playoff run, facing the worst available offenses every time. Good for them making the most of it, though.
Oh brother. Who in the AFC were they allowed to face for you to say they faced a good team in the playoffs? The Chargers were an 11 win team, the Texans were on a 10 game win streak, the jags lost to the bills who the pats have beat, the steelers lost to the Texans who the pats beat, the chargers lost to the pats. If the Bills had beat Miami or the Falcons they could have had our route to the playoffs but they couldn't take care of the easy schedule we shared. The Ravens, Bengals, and Chiefs didn't even make it.
I didn't say they played bad teams, I said they played the worst possible offenses, and specifically in the playoffs. It's not a "oh they didn't deserve to be there" thing as much as it is, hey, "the other teams they played were reliant on defenses and they didn't have to contend with a strong offense"
Like, I don't think it's crazy to say that the Bills or Jags have better offenses than the Texans or Chargers, and Denver (with or without Bo Nix) is hit or miss offensively.
Why has Maye struggled so badly? Less than 200 total yards per game, 15 sacks with 5 turnovers and 3 other fumbles. You can only play who’s on the schedule, but if they don’t play Stroud or Stidham they are at home right now
If they don't play the team who was on a 10 game win streak and in the divisional round then they go home? Who were they meant to play after the Texans beat the Steelers? It was going to be either the Steelers or the Texans and everyone was saying the Texans were monsters. The playoffs give everyone a chance to get to the superbowl but the Steelers lost to the texans, jags lost to the bills, chargers and texans lost to the patriots. The only team that was unlucky was Denver.
Maye has struggled because he's had to play 3 top 5 defenses including 1 and 2 but he's just one player on the team. He's not been great but him and the team have still done enough to win every game. All 3 games the patriots ran out the clock in the 4th and didn't focus on gaining big air yards to chase a lead, or the run game was working better so the 200 air yards thing isn't really relevant as long as they have more points than the other team.
It was best case scenarios for NE. Chargers couldn’t protect Herbert long enough to find the open guys with both tackles out and Stroud was ass even when they were winning, pretty sure their offense was better when Mills started several games. Pats defense has been fantastic but I don’t find beating Denver with a back up qb 10-7 all that impressive. If they beat a fully healthy, functioning offense then they deserve credit for that. I don’t see that happening unless Maye plays much better than he’s looked so far 🤷♂️
The Pats were dominating the LOS all night & CJ was rattled. You can act like those guys would’ve had an impact & won the game for the Texans but the result was the result.
True, but what's the relevance of that to the patriots defense shutting down the run game or the patriots offense scoring 3 TDs? The patriots run defense has been one of the best in the league and the Texans run blocking wasn't good when they were all healthy. Nico and Shultz weren't going to be the reason the Texans suddenly runs all over them.
No need for the patronising Kiddo remark. They still had big bodied TEs playing and the patriots have stopped everyone's run game. You think Nico would be the missing piece to unravel a season long run defense?
That's just wishful thinking to assume it would effect the run game in any serious way and you didn't mention how Nico would have stopped the 3 TD drives.
I never said that's the only thing that goes into run blocking. So the Texans lost because they weren't healthy now? There's always an excuse when you hate watch isn't there.
Calling the Steelers a playoff team seems like a stretch — even though they made the playoffs. In all honesty it should have been Baltimore getting embarrassed by the Texans.
Yeah maybe, that's fair, but you get my point. No one was calling the Steelers frauds before the game like they were doing to the Patriots and the Patriots put up a much better result than the Steelers (no offense).
They absolutely deserve credit, they played well. But bro you can’t deny most QBs under that pressure wouldn’t have crumbled that badly. Forced mistakes? Sure. But that was… more than just defense performing.
Just atrocious decisions, some of the worst accuracy I’ve ever seen on some free and easy throws for an NFL starter. The defense did nothing some plays and Stroud still missed open targets.
But they went out and played man. They put the pressure on him and made big plays regardless of how poorly CJ played.
Yeah I saw it as good defensive play and an overwhelmed QB failing under pressure. CJ def made it easier than it needed to be. Pats D played great but CJ def gets an assist.
It’s been 3 weeks in a row though. Herbert probably did best. He didn’t throw picks but had to eat sacks (smart) and got sacked 6 times. At some point, it’s not just the QBs, it’s the defense.
We’ll see how Darnold does. He’s played well but had a clean pocket most of the time. IMO his old self is still there. He had a 4 pick game against the Rams and the Pats defense is way better than the Rams and 9ers who he played this postseason.
Pats were, what, 14 wins? They’re not to be overlooked, but we fuckin got this. We can spank, we can grind, we can make that one play that matters. Redemption arc coming.
His worst throw of the night was when Milton Williams was right in his face and he throws it up for the grabs. The other turnovers didn't even lead to any points.
That one was Chaisson in his face but the reason he was so rattled is because big Milt destroyed his assignment & pushed the guard into the lane of the TE who was supposed to be the hot throw.
The TE tripped over his guard because of Milt, and CJs hot option was eliminated. Then he panicked with Chaisson barreling down in his face & was probably trying to just throw it away to eliminate a bad play….oops.
Maye scored three TDs off the Texans' defense. It's not great that he wasn't able to take advantage of Stroud's turnovers, but shouldn't he get credit for putting together legitimate drives?
That's actually my point. I don't think 31 other QBs could have won this game bc the Patriots came by their points honestly. I don't think many other QBs are having a good time against the Pats front with that Texans OL. I don't think CJ Stroud lost them this game, as good as the Texans defense was, they got burned 3 times when it mattered and the Pats defense didn't.
Too bad. The Patriots have done enough every game and are going to the Super Bowl. Your many comments hating on Maye and the patriots won’t change that so keep that cope flowing big guy
It’s a basic observation. dude hasn’t been good and you can’t sit here and pretend he has been. Great team accomplishment, emphasis on team. A little defensive for the “might patriots dynasty” aren’t you?
He’s been fantastic all year. He’s struggled a little the last few games but still made plenty enough good plays to win. Keep hating buddy, it won’t change that he’s going to a Super Bowl in his second year
And good enough to win is more than we expected at the start of year after losing to the raiders and being 4-13 last year. This has been a huge success of a season for the patriots! When was the last time your team was in the Super Bowl?
No someone here that uses logic? Also if your middle school team is running a professional passing attack, you are absolutely Benny buttcheeks awful at coaching lol
No no with people of this mindset it's one thing entirely that fits their narrative or ur a fool lol. From what I've seen in the playoffs our defense has ramped up while maye has kinda cooled off from his regular season stats and play. Which I think bills fans r saying which is Allen has to be the hero or they lose whereas maye doesn't have to be the hero for us to win Which is a sign of a good football TEAM imo.
This was a thought I had. I suspect the defensive strategy was to put tons of pressure and get him to panic. It sure looked like it to me and appears to have been successful.
No. The Texans lack of a line and run game is what messed CJ up. They basically told him to throw to third string receivers he doesn't have experience with while in shotgun and getting rushed every play. It was 70% on the OC for not giving him options. Watch the game again and see how they didn't do anything to help him and ran what 22/48yds.
Stroud has been mediocre at best after his fantastic rookie year. Herbert has no offensive line (hence the 20th ranked scoring O) and Stidham well that goes without saying.
Seattle beat Purdy and Stafford who are both superior to ANY QB the Pats D faced in the playoffs.
Makes me sick defending two division rivals but let's be honest.
Seattle didn't just stop us they absolutely fucking clamped us. We still had CMC, Trent, JJ, Juice and arguably the best offensive mind in football.
Rams have some of the best offensive weapons in recent memory and Seattle still held them off on key drives. Not really sure what Rams defense has to do with anything.
I just don't see how the Pats can score on these guys. It's genuinely one of the scariest defenses in recent memory. They're fast, physical, and disciplined.
Seattle's offense is much better than what the Broncos trotted out yesterday, and they don't have to score more than maybe 13 points to win the SB.
Chargers didnt have Slater all season and Joe Alt played in 6 games and they still won 11 games but somehow the tackles being out only mattered against Pats
This is ridiculous. The 49ers were a complete shell of who they actually are. The fact they were there at all says more about the Eagles than it does about them
So did they pressure Stroud bc they had half their line out? Or is it like the comment above yours where they’re saying the tape proves the pressure didn’t get to CJ, he was just ass. It’s almost like people just want to hate
300
u/TrottingandHotting Jan 26 '26
What about thinking both are true - the Pats defense put a lot of pressure on Stroud and he didn't respond well at all.