The Texans narrowed the Patriots’ lead to 21-16 with a pair of field goals in the third quarter.
But New England has gone back up by two possessions with a big touchdown catch from Kayshon Boutte.
The wideout made a one-handed catch on the right side of the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown, putting the Patriots up 28-16 with 12:58 left in the fourth quarter.
It’s been a tough game for quarterback Drake Maye against Houston’s vaunted defense. But on third-and-4 from the Texans’ 32, Maye dropped back and had Boutte streaking down the right side. Boutte was able to beat the one-on-one coverage from cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., maintaining possession as he slid out of bounds on the slick turf.
It was just the second third-down conversion of the game for New England, as the club hadn’t had one in the second half to that point.
Maye is 15-of-24 passing for 165 yards with three touchdowns, one interception, and two lost fumbles.
Patriots Clips
The Patriots’ defense picked up four interceptions off of C.J. Stroud in the first 30 minutes of Sunday’s divisional-round matchup against the Texans, helping power New England to a 21-10 halftime lead.
Stroud’s interceptions came in all shapes and sizes, with Marcus Jones returning a particularly bad throw for a 26-yard pick-six early in the second quarter.
It wouldn’t be shocking if the Texans elected to put Davis Mills on the field at quarterback in the second half, as Stroud ended the first 30 minutes 10-of-26 for 124 yards with one touchdown and four picks.
Carlton Davis had two interceptions and Craig Woodson had the other off of Stroud.
On the other side, Drake Maye has been lucky that the Patriots recovered two of his three fumbles in the first half. Maye was strip-sacked twice — once in the first quarter and once late in the second quarter — with left tackle Will Campbell picking up the loose ball each time. But when Maye ran it up the middle on what appeared to be a broken play, the Texans were able to pick it up and get it in the end zone for their lone touchdown of the first half.
At that point, C.J. Stroud was able to hit Christian Kirk for a 10-yard touchdown, which at the time gave Houston a 10-7 advantage.
Neither the Patriots nor the Texans were able to generate much offense. Houston had nine first downs and 132 total yards, going 4-of-9 on third down. But the club’s four turnovers were killer in the first half.
On the other side, New England has just six first downs, 134 yards, and is 1-of-8 on third down. Maye finished the first half 10-of-19 for 117 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Maye’s pick came on the last play of the half on a Hail Mary.
Houston will receive the second-half kickoff.
The injuries are piling up for the Texans in the first half of Sunday’s matchup with the Patriots, as New England has taken a 21-10 lead in the second quarter.
Houston running back Woody Marks is questionable to return with a shoulder injury suffered during the second quarter.
Marks has rushed for 7 yards on eight attempts, signifying the difficulty Houston has had trying to move the football.
He’s far from the only injury in the first half of this game. Texans offensive lineman Tytus Howard had to exit the contest after going down midway through the second quarter.
Tight end Dalton Schultz has also been downgraded to out with his calf injury suffered in the first quarter.
Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson is questionable to return with an eye injury. Patriots safety Craig Woodson was questionable due to a concussion check, but has returned to the game.
New England has increased its lead with Drake Maye’s second touchdown of the first half. He hit Stefon Diggs over the middle for a 7-yard score to put the Patriots up 21-10 with 3:12 left in the second quarter.
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. ET: Marks has returned to the game for Houston.
The Patriots have gotten back ahead of the Texans after scoring a defensive touchdown.
Cornerback Marcus Jones intercepted an ill-advised pass from C.J. Stroud and returned it for a 26-yard pick-six.
On first-and-10 from Houston’s 25, Stroud was heavily pressured and hit by K’Lavon Chaisson. Stroud made a bad decision to let the ball go, and it went straight up before Jones came down with the interception — Stroud’s second of the contest.
From there, Jones darted toward the sideline and got to the end zone for the defensive score.
Stroud is now 9-of-17 for 108 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
The Texans have used a takeaway to grab a second-quarter lead over the Patriots.
After a Drake Maye fumble, C.J. Stroud hit Christian Kirk for a 10-yard touchdown, putting Houston up 10-7 over New England.
On second-and-5 late in the first quarter, Maye ran up the middle on what looked like a potential broken play but defensive tackle Tommy Togiai punched the ball out before Maye could get a knee down. Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair picked up the loose ball at the New England 27 for a critical extra possession.
It took six plays, but on third-and-4 from the New England 10, Stroud was able to evade the pressure from a Patriots blitz long enough to find Kirk on the right side of the end zone for a go-ahead score.
Maye has now fumbled twice with one lost so far on Sunday. He has also thrown a few new interceptions.
The Texans have a significant injury situation developing on their offense.
Houston tight end Dalton Schultz is questionable to return with a calf injury suffered during the first quarter of Sunday’s matchup with New England.
As shown on the ESPN broadcast, Schultz pulled up while running a route in the end zone during Houston’s second possession.
Schultz went back to the locker room during the first quarter. He’s questionable to return with a calf injury. ESPN’s Laura Rutledge noted that Schultz was briefly examined in the sideline medical tent before he went up the tunnel.
Schultz being out is made more significant given the absence of top receiver Nico Colins, who is inactive with a concussion.
Additionally, Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane is questionable to return with a thumb injury. Jack Gibbens entered the game for him.
UPDATE 4:17 p.m. ET: Schultz has been downgraded to out.
The Patriots have gotten on the board first in Sunday’s divisional round matchup with the Texans.
Quarterback Drake Maye threw a fourth-down touchdown to receiver DeMario Douglas to put New England up 7-0 with 9:35 left in the first quarter.
After the two teams traded punts to open the game, the Patriots started to get going with Rhamondre Stevenson’s 20-yard run to put the club in Houston territory at the 37.
New England then had third-and-14, but made it fourth-and-1 with Maye’s 13-yard completion to Stefon Diggs.
With head coach Mike Vrabel taking an aggressive mindset fourth down from the Houston 28, Maye connected with DeMario Douglas over the middle on a short pass, with Douglas taking it all the way to the end zone for the score.
Maye has started the game against this vaunted Houston defense 5-of-6 for 54 yards with a touchdown.
The Texans will not have their right tackle for Sunday’s divisional round matchup with the Patriots.
Trent Brown is inactive with an ankle injury. While multiple reporters on the scene note Brown tried to test his ankle out pregame, he will not play against New England.
Brown did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week before he was limited on Friday.
With Brown out, Tytus Howard is expected to slide over from left guard to right tackle. Jarrett Patterson is expected to play left guard.
The Texans will be shorthanded offensively, as receiver Nico Collins is also out with a concussion suffered in Monday night’s win over the Steelers.
Receiver Braxon Berrios is active with Collins and receiver Justin Watson out.
For the Patriots, linebacker Harold Landry (knee) is active after he was questionable for the contest.
In all for Houston, Brown, Collins, Watson, running back Jawhar Jordan, quarterback Graham Mertz, and cornerback Alijah Huzzie are inactive.
New England’s inactives are quarterback Tommy DeVito, outside linebacker Bradyn Swinson, offensive tackle Marcus Bryant, guard Caedan Wallace, tight end CJ Dippre, cornerback Kobee Minor, and defensive tackle Eric Gregory.
Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham can view it as a tall test, or a golden opportunity.
If Stidham manages to engineer a victory next weekend in the AFC Championship, he’ll become only the second quarterback in the modern era of football to get his first start of the season in the playoffs and win.
Stidham will get the start in place of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a broken ankle near the end of Saturday’s overtime win against the Bills.
Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com, six quarterbacks since 1950 have started a postseason game after not starting a single game in the regular season. Only Frank Reich won, replacing Jim Kelly for the epic 1992 wild-card game against the Oilers, in which the Bills erased a 35-3 third-quarter deficit for a 41-38 overtime win.
Reich got another win the next weekend, beating the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in the divisional round, 24-3. (Kelly took over from there.)
Even though Reich hadn’t started a game during the 16-game 1992 season, he had thrown 47 passes in five appearances. Stidham didn’t throw a single pass during the 17-game 2025 regular season. Or during the 17-game 2024 regular season.
Stidham, via Kahler, will be only the second quarterback to get his first start of the season in the conference title game or later. In 1972, Roger Staubach made his first start of the year in place of Craig Morton in the NFC Championship; the Cowboys lost to Washington, 26-3.
Stidham last played in Weeks 17 and 18 of the 2023 season, after the Broncos benched Russell Wilson for financial reasons. Stidham also started two games at the end of the 2022 season, after the Raiders benched Derek Carr for financial reasons. Those are Stidham’s only four career starts.
In seven days, he’ll be facing either the team that drafted him in 2019 (the Patriots), or the Houston successors to the Oilers franchise that fell victim to Frank Reich, 33 years ago.
Saturday’s stunning AFC division-round game between the Bills and Broncos carried an even more stunning post-script.
Denver quarterback Bo Nix has a broken ankle, and he’s done for the year.
Enter Jarrett Stidham, a 29-year-old career backup who has four career starts in seven NFL seasons.
And if the Patriots beat the Texans to advance to the AFC Championship, Stidham will be facing the team that made him a fourth-round pick in 2019, Tom Brady’s final year in New England.
Stidham played sparingly during his three years with the Patriots. In 2020, Cam Newton started 15 games, with Brian Hoyer starting one. In 2021, Stidham missed much of the season after offseason back surgery, eventually landing at No. 3 on the depth chart, behind Mac Jones and Hoyer.
Stidham was traded to the Raiders in 2022. He started two late-season games after Derek Carr was benched for financial reasons. A year later, in his first year with the Broncos, Stidham started two late-season games after Russell Wilson was benched for financial reasons.
Next Sunday, Stidham will have the biggest start of his career, by far. And it could come against the team that drafted him and employed him for three seasons. Or, alternatively, he’ll be facing the best defense in the entire NFL.
