Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes and also caught one on Sunday night to lead the Houston Texans to a 28-22 win over the New England Patriots at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
New England (10-2) only led once in the game as Houston defeated the Patriots for the first time since Week 17 of the 2009 season. The visitors took the early lead on their first possession after stopping Houston three and out on the opening drive of the game. 11 and 12 yard passes from Tom Brady to Julian Edelman and a 17 yard run by Sony Michel led to a 23 yard field goal from newly acquired kicker Kai Forbath to make it 3-0. A Brady interception on the next possession by Bradley Roby at the Patriots 28 led to the first touchdown of the game for Houston, and a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Watson connected with Duke Johnson for a 14 yard touchdown pass to make it 7-3. In the second quarter Watson tossed his second touchdown of the night hitting Darren Fells for a 13 yard score and it was 14-3 at halftime.
New England was trying to cut into the lead about six minutes into the third quarter and had a good drive going to midfield on the strength of a 32 yard run by James White. The Patriots would end up going for it on 4th down and 1 at the Texans 42 but a Brady fourth down pass to Mohammed Sanu was incomplete. Houston then extended the lead with the big play being a 20 yard Watson to Kenny Stills pass and catch on 3rd down, and two plays later Watson hit Stills for a 35 yard touchdown who had beaten New England cornerback Jonathan Jones in the back of the endzone. Brady and the Patriots came back with a 12 play drive culminating with a 12 yard touchdown pass to White but the extra point was no good and it was 21-9. Houston came right back and finished off a nine play, 70 yard drive with a trick play to find the endzone again. Johnson handed off to receiver DeAndre Hopkins at the Patriots 7 yard line, who then flipped the ball to Watson in the flat at the 6 and Watson raced and stretched over the pylon to make it a 19 point game.
New England made it interesting over the final few minutes. Brady found White again for an 11 yard score that took just over six minutes. The two point pass attempt by Brady was no good and the Patriots were down 13 with 3:49 left. Houston went three and out and gave the ball back to Brady and the offense from their own 6 with 2:36 remaining and no timeouts left. A 15 yard run by White, 21 yard pass to Jakobi Meyers, and a 36 yard pass to White led to a 20 yard touchdown pass to Edelman with 55 seconds left. New England would then attempt an onside kick by Jake Bailey. The kick was perfect bouncing high in the air over the hands team from Houston, but the Patriots Brandon Bolden couldn’t grab the loose ball as it went of bounds for a penalty and the Texans ran out the clock.
Brady finished the game 24-47 passing for 326 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. White had 14 carries for 79 yards, and also had eight catches for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns. New England did rush for 145 yards on 29 attempts on the night. Edelman was the leading receiver with six catches for 106 yards and the late fourth quarter score. Lawrence Guy had seven tackles, while Don’ta Hightower had six and a sack to lead the defense. Watson was the offensive star for Houston (8-4) with 234 yards passing and the touchdown throws to Johnson, Fells, and Stills, and also the receiving score on the trick play. Tashaun Gipson, Justin Reid, and Lonnie Johnson had six tackles a piece for the Texans as they also sacked Brady three times.
New England now has the same record as the leaders from the AFC North the Baltimore Ravens, but lose the head to head and drop to the #2 seed overall in the AFC as the Ravens defeated the Patriots 37-20 in Week 10. New England returns home to host another division leader the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday at 4:25 p.m.
