FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For a talented football team that tends to make things more difficult than it needs to be, the Texans took care of business Sunday against the New England Patriots.
Improving to 5-1 for the season, the AFC South leaders and defending division champions manufactured a convincing 41-21 road victory for the first win at Gillette Stadium in all-time franchise history.
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And the score didn’t even need to be that close, but the Texans had a few lapses here and there.
Overall, it was a dominant performance from a focused team.
Here’s how the Texans engineered a 34-14 road win:
1. Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud smoothly distributed the football, finding five different receivers as he spread it around during the first game without star wide receiver Nico Collins as he recuperates from a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. Stroud completed 20 of 31 passes for 192 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on a deflected pass that glanced off the hand of tight end Dalton Schultz in the end zone. He had a 102.7 passer rating. Ultimately, the turnover didn’t matter as the Texans won handily with Stroud at the controls. He completed six passes for 77 yards and one score to Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs. He found Tank Dell for his first touchdown catch of the season as he finished with five catches for 41 yards on seven targets. And he hit running back Joe Mixon for another touchdown catch on a swing pass out of the backfield.
2. Mixon showed what the Texans have been missing during his three-game absence with a sprained ankle. Mixon got off to a slow start, but more than made up for it as he rushed for 102 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown run while catching another touchdown. Mixon displayed his explosiveness and speed on a 59-yard run as he bounced outside to find the corner. Mixon overcame some tough sledding early to eventually break things open against a fairly stout Patriots defense. In the fourth quarter, backup running back Dameon Pierce rumbled 54 yards up the sideline for his first touchdown of the season. The Texans rushed for 192 yards on 26 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. Pierce rushed for 76 yards on eight carries.
SEE ALSO Texans’ Joe Mixon returns to action Sunday, active after three-game ankle injury (click2houston.com)
3. Diggs displayed what he’s capable of again as the No. 1 wide receiver option. Without Collins, who entered Sunday as the NFL receiving yardage leader, it’s an adjustment. With Diggs in place to run crisp routes and make catch after catch after catch, the Texans’ passing game kept rolling. And he had enough help from Dell.
4. Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. made things tough on Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye in his first NFL start. Anderson sacked the first-round draft pick a career-high three times and batted away another throw that was intercepted by safety Eric Murray. Anderson Maye had his moments, showing why he was selected out of North Carolina with three touchdown passes and provided home for a 1-5 Patriots squad, but he was under a lot of duress. He was sacked four times and hit five times overall, but still managed to complete 16 of 24 throws for 185 yards, two touchdowns, including a 49-yard strike on a bomb behind cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.. He was intercepted twice and rushed for 15 yards. Maye proved that it was a good decision to switch to him and bench veteran Jacoby Brissett, completing 17 of 26 passes for 220 yards for a respectable 98.2 passer rating. Although the Patriots lost the game in a lopsided manner, Maye showed he has a lot of upside with more to be encouraged about than discouraged in his ongoing development.
5. Rookie safety Calen Bullock continues to make an impact. He had one interception and a fumble recovery. The third-round draft pick from USC has provide range, speed and coverage skills.
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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
