Tom Brady passed his boyhood idol, Joe Montana for most playoff victories with 17 after the Patriots defeated the Texans tonight 41-28. (Credit: Reuters)
As many had expected, this game was a little more competitive than the last time these two teams met back on December 10, 2012. But nonetheless, it was still business as usual as the Patriots rolled to a 41-28 victory over the fraudulent Houston Texans.
In the victory, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passed his childhood idol, Joe Montana for the most playoff wins all-time with 17.
It really wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. It really even shouldn’t be as close as it was. The Patriots should have added at least another field goal or touchdown to their total as Patriots defensive tackle, Vince Wilfork pounced on a fumble in the second quarter. However, the officials ruled Texans tight end Owen Daniels down by forward progress wiping out the fumble completely.
The emergence of seldom-used running back Shane Vereen was huge especially with the absence of running back Danny Woodhead who left the game after the Patriots first offensive play from scrimmage with a thumb injury and did not return. Vereen scored three touchdowns collecting 124 all-purpose yards (41 rushing, 83 receiving).
Not all was good though as the special teams unit (with the exception of punter Zoltan Mesko) was absolutely horrendous as they gave up 216 total return yards including a 94 yard return on the opening kickoff by Houston kick returner Daniel Manning. If the Patriots want to see themselves in New Orleans in three weeks, they need to do a much better job in coverage. They have to be especially careful and good next week as they face the Ravens who have another prolific kick returner in Jacoby Jones.
The Patriots also lost tight end Rob Gronkowski for the remainder of the postseason as Gronkowski re-injured his previously broken forearm early in the first quarter trying to make a diving catch. The loss of Gronk for the remainder of the playoffs will hurt, but the Patriots went 4-1 without Gronk averaging 35 points per game. So I expect that the Patriots will be able to do fine without him.
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