The Houston Texans travel to New England to face the Patriots after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card round. With each round of the NFL playoffs, the opponents become tougher and better than the last. This week is no exception. The Texans face the AFC East champion' Patriots in the AFC Divisional playoff game. Houston backed into the playoffs, but managed to overcome their poor performance by beating the Cincinnati Bengals and advancing to the next round.
In the first matchup between these two teams New England embarrassed Houston. This time around Houston will be looking to avenge the loss and advance past the heavily favored Patriots. In their Week 14 matchup New England jumped out in front early, which took Houston completely out of its game plan. Star running back Arian Foster never got a chance to show case his talents.
Houston quarterback Matt Schaub is best when the play-action pass is working and to do this Foster must be effective early. This will open up the passing game and allow wide receiver Andre Johnson to get separation for the defensive backs. If Houston fails to establish the run, then it will be a long day for the Houston faithful.
Prior to the start of the regular season many predicted the Patriots to be competing for a shot at the Super Bowl and that’s exactly where they will be if they can defeat the Texans on Sunday. The Patriots benefited from a weak AFC East. The Patriots handled the division with a perfect 6-0 record. Combine that with a league leading offense and you have yourself a championship caliber team.
On offense the Patriots are scary good. Starting from the top at quarterback, Tom Brady is one of the best passers to play the game. What’s more the Patriots have a bevy of offensive weapons led by All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. The star tight end is back from an arm injury that sidelined him for a few weeks at the end of the regular season. In the slot the elusive Wes Welker thrives on mismatches. Compliment all that with the new edition at running back Stevan Ridley and you have a nightmare for any defensive coordinator. This is what Wade Phillips must game plan against this Sunday.
The keys for Houston will be to establish the running game. If Foster doesn’t reach the 20 carry mark, then Houston is finished. Foster must set the tone for the ball game. Houston has to keep New England off balance with the play action pass. Johnson is not the receiver he was five years ago but he is still one of the most physical receivers in the game. Johnson is at his best when Foster is running well. A solid performance by the offense will be paramount for a Houston victory. If the Houston defense is on the field too much, then we may have an encore of the first matchup between these two teams.
The Houston defense will not be able to contain the Patriots offense. Bill Belichick is a master at taking away your best player and in this case it is J.J. Watt. Look for New England to neutralize Watt’s pass rush by playing in the hurry-up offense New England runs to perfection. New England will utilize the short passing game to compliment the running game. New England likes to run out of passing formations, this is something they do extremely well. Teams must account for the pass so it opens up holes in the running game.
Unless Forster has over 120 yards rushing on 25 carries and Houston wins the turnover battle, New England will move on to play in the AFC Championship game. New England will win by double digits. The Patriots will go up by a few scores and that will force Houston to predictively pass the football. This will play directly in New England’s game plan.
New England wins by a final of 38-27.