New England Patriots
“If you’re Houston, you win that game with 31 other quarterbacks.”
For the second week in a row, the New England Patriots defense helped deliver a playoff victory in Foxborough.
Fresh off of sacking Justin Herbert eight times in a win over the Chargers in the wild-card round on Jan. 11, the Patriots put Houston QB C.J. Stroud in a blender on Sunday night at a snowy Gillette Stadium.
Stroud was out of sync all night in an eventual 28-16 Patriots win, with the third-year QB knocked for four interceptions (all in the first half) while completing just 20 of his 47 throws.
In total, New England’s defense finished the game with five forced turnovers and limited Houston to just 241 total yards of offense, including 48 total rushing yards.
New England needed a dominant defensive effort on Sunday, as Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense had its struggles at times against Houston’s aggressive defensive unit.
Despite throwing for three touchdowns against the Texans, Maye and the Patriots had little breathing room for most of the night — especially with Houston strip-sacking Maye four times (recovering two of them).
For a Patriots team now just one win away from a trip to Super Bowl LX, Sunday stood as another encouraging sign of New England’s defense operating like a championship-caliber unit.
But, former NFL quarterback and current ESPN media personality Dan Orlovsky believes Sunday’s result was more a byproduct of Stroud’s own dreadful play than what New England’s defense showcased.
“f you’re Houston, you win that game with 31 other quarterbacks,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Monday morning.
“With Jarrett Stidham,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter asked, in reference to the Broncos’ now-starting QB.
“Any other quarterback,” Orlovsky responded. “I mean, it’s unfortunate that we don’t get this defense — not only in the AFC title game, but then, more than likely in the Super Bowl if they win that game yesterday. Bad quarterback play wins that game. The pick six and the fumble. That’s 10 points right there.
“Now, credit New England. New England made some crucial plays in crucial moments. Drake Maye’s touchdown on the fourth down to [Demario] Douglas, the touchdown to [Stefon Diggs] with the ball placement, the [Kayshon Boutte] play, no question.
“But if you’re Houston, I think Houston and Buffalo walk away from this weekend sick to their stomach because they look at all the self-inflicted wounds.”
Orlovsky’s comments are true in that the Texans’ defense has been elite all season, while Stroud’s decision-making on Sunday was downright dreadful.
Still, New England’s defense has held court as an elite grouping in its own right this season — ranking third in the NFL in points allowed per game (17.8) entering the postseason.
Through two playoffs games, the Patriots are giving up just 9.5 points per game going into Sunday’s AFC title game against the Broncos.
Based on Sunday’s postgame comments, the Patriots are more than happy embracing their status as a slept-on group — especially on defense.
“It fueled the whole defense,” defensive lineman Milton Williams said Sunday of all the talk of the Texans defense entering Sunday’s game. “Ain’t nobody been talking about our defense all year. We’ll see what they’ve got to say today.”
“It’s a good thing. Hopefully they do that again next week because that’s another good defense that we’re able to go see,” Diggs added of critics downplaying New England’s defense. “I feel like I spoke on it not too long ago, we’re playing with a chip on our shoulder. I think we’re one of those teams that kind of plays better with a chip on our shoulder when everybody is kind of counting us out.”
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