Getty Tom Brady.
For the first time all season, the New England Patriots are no longer the top team in the AFC. In a game that started strong for the Patriots and even looked to be the return of a power-rushing offense, New England fell flat, falling to the Houston Texans on Sunday night, 28-22, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated.
On the opening series for both teams, the Patriots looked the better team. Defensively, New England had bottled up Watson and kept the Texans’ receivers covered tight. On offense, Sony Michel had plenty of room to run and the Patriots receivers were running smart routes.
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But a switch flipped for New England where everything went wrong. The Patriots were calling questionable plays, Tom Brady was telegraphing passes, and the running game virtually disappeared.
Here’s what went wrong on Sunday.
Too Reliant on Passing
After Sony Michel carried six times on the opening series, consistently churning out big chunks of yardage, the Patriots completely strayed away from the running game and moved to a more predictable pass-heavy offense. While the Texans have struggled this season defending the pass, the Patriots’ receivers did little to mix up their routes or create separation, making things difficult.
Whenever Michel did get touches, he made the most of his opportunity. Perhaps New England will be moving back to its run-heavy offense late in the season again, but that seems to be wishful thinking.
Questionable Play Calls in Key Spots
Again, play-calling was an issue for New England on Sunday night, and three specific instances stand out. First, on the Patriots opening drive on 2nd & goal from the 5-yard line, the Patriots abandoned the run and threw an ill-advised pass to the pylon. Second, on a 2nd & 17 play, New England decided to throw a deep pass down the middle to Julian Edelman in double coverage. Third, on 4th & inches in the third quarter, the Patriots opted to throw instead of Brady taking a quarterback sneak.
All three of those instances are on Josh McDaniels overthinking things offensively and, to reiterate, abandoning the run.
Missed Tackles on Defense
One of the key plays in the game was Deshaun Watson eluding a sack in the first half that would have backed the Texans up inside their own 15. Instead of 2nd & 25, it was 2nd & 10 after Watson threw the ball away. Houston marched downfield to score 12 plays later on a drive that turned the tide. On that same drive, the Patriots failed to tackle Jordan Akins on a 19-yard gain that would’ve been stopped for about three yards had the tackle been made.
Inability to Adjust on Pass Coverage
It was a rough night for the Patriots secondary. Coming into the night having allowed just four touchdowns, Houston matched that total with an impressive game plan. When the Texans scored their first touchdown on a shortened field, the Patriots were caught in a mismatch. Houston used DeAndre Hopkins as a decoy to draw the safety in coverage, leaving a mismatch on the running back. Watson made a similar call on the Texans’ third-quarter touchdown pass, finding Kenny Stills in soft coverage in the endzone for the real gut punch.
Mental Mistakes
The Patriots were uncharacteristically off-kilter for much of the night and took penalties as a result. The most frustrating one was a delay of game penalty on a two-point conversion, resulting in a missed extra point by the substitute kicker. There was also a host of holding penalties on both sides of the ball that negated big plays. The lack of discipline hindered New England, while the Texans didn’t take needless penalties and benefited both ways.
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