18 stats to know for Sunday’s Texans-Patriots divisional round matchup

New England Patriots

The Patriots’ offense against the Texans’ defense will be a real strength against strength battle.

By Conor Roche

January 17, 2026 | 4:48 PM

4 minutes to read

The six-day-long wait for Sunday’s Texas-Patriots divisional round is nearly over, and we have a good idea who will and won’t be available.

Houston will be without star wide receiver Nico Collins as he remains in concussion protocol, while New England will have its star cornerback as Christian Gonzalez, who cleared concussion protocol on Friday.

We know that the Texans have one of the league’s top defenses, leading the league in yards allowed and ranking second in scoring defense. We also know that Drake Maye was one of the top quarterbacks in all of football this season, ranking among the best in the league in several passing stats to help earn himself MVP consideration.

So, let’s take a deeper dive into the stats that might paint a picture of how Sunday’s game will go. Here are 18 stats to know ahead of Texans-Patriots.

• 110.2: The Texans run a fair bit of zone coverage, ranking 14th in zone frequency. But Drake Maye was one of the game’s top quarterbacks against zone coverage this year, with his 110.2 passer rating against zone coverage ranking as the top number in the league, per Next Gen Stats.
• 47.5: There’s a reason why Houston is comfortable running zone coverage. Opposing quarterbacks logged just a 47.5 passer rating when they threw in cornerback Derek Stingley’s direction in zone coverage, per Pro Football Focus. That’s the third-best mark among corners who logged at least 100 coverage snaps in zone coverage this year.
• 58.9: Fellow Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter didn’t rank too far behind Stingley in that same stat. Opposing quarterbacks logged a 58.9 passer rating when targeting Lassiter in zone coverage, per PFF. That’s the 11th-best mark in the league (min. 100 coverage snaps in zone coverage).
• 4: There are four players that Maye has a passer rating of at least 120 when throwing to in zone coverage: Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, Hunter Henry, and Kyle Williams.
• 153: Texans edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter have combined for the most pressures of any duo this season with 153, per Next Gen Stats.
• 11.5: Patriots left tackle Will Campbell had some struggles in his first playoff start last week, giving up five pressures and a sack against the Chargers, per Pro Football Focus. It won’t get easier, and his 11.5 percent pressure rate allowed is the eighth-worst mark among left tackles (min. 200 snaps), per Next Next Stats.
• 1: The right side of the Patriots’ offensive line is a bit more sturdy, though. Right tackle Morgan Moses was arguably among the best at his position this season. He’s one of eight offensive tackles to have allowed one sack or fewer among the 61 offensive tackles who logged at least 366 pass-block snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus.
• 37.7: Still, the Patriots had one of the worst pressure rates allowed in the NFL this season. Their 37.7 pressure rate is the ninth-worst mark in the league, per Sharp Football Analysis.
• 42.2: The Texans’ 42.2 pressure rate is the second-best mark in the league. Not only are the Texans the team with the best pressure rate that the Patriots will face this season, but they’re also the second team that ranks in the top 10 in pressure rate that New England has faced this season. The other was the Browns, who logged six sacks against the Patriots in Week 8.
• 9.2: If the Texans are able to pressure Maye, there is one area that the Patriots can take advantage of. Houston’s second-to-last in the league on yards allowed per scramble this year, at 9.2 yards allowed per carry on scrambles.
• 4.0: The Texans’ four yards allowed per carry is the seventh-best mark in the league this season. The Patriots are 13th in rushing yards per carry (4.3).
• 83.9: Much has been made about wide receiver Nico Collins missing Sunday’s game, but C.J. Stroud hasn’t been terrific in outdoor games in his career, even when he’s had his star wide receiver. He has an 83.9 passer rating over his 15 career games in outdoor stadiums. He’s logged a passer rating over 100 in just four of those games.
• 100: Woody Marks’s 112-yard rushing performance against the Steelers last week was the first time this season that the Texans have a 100-yard rusher in a game. Houston ranks 29th in yards per carry (3.9) this season.
• 4.03: The Patriots have allowed just 4.03 yards per carry this season in the 14 games linebacker Robert Spillane has played in this season. That would be tied for the eighth-best mark in the league over the course of the season. They also haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the 14 games Spillane’s played this season.
• 15: The Texans have been pretty good at protecting Stroud since Trent Brown took over at right tackle this season. They’ve given up just 15 snaps in the eight games Brown’s played at right tackle this season. They’ve also allowed just 15 sacks in their last 10 games, with Brown missing two games at the end of the regular season. The 1.5 sacks allowed per game would be tied for the fourth-best mark in the league.
• 13: The Patriots have 10 sacks in their last two games, taking advantage of a pair of weak offensive lines in the Dolphins and Chargers. They logged just 13 sacks in the nine games prior to that. The 1.4 sacks per game the Patriots averaged over that nine-game stretch would’ve been the second-worst mark this season.
• 971: With Collins out, tight end Dalton Schultz becomes C.J. Stroud’s top target for Sunday’s game. The Patriots allowed 971 receiving yards to opposing tight ends this season, which was the 11th-highest mark in the league.
• 40: Jayden Higgins is the only other Texans wide receiver with at least 40 receptions this year outside of Collins. Higgins logged 41 receptions in the regular season, so who Stroud throws to outside of Schultz is anyone’s guess.