Mike Vrabel and Patriots Defense Win “War of Attrition” Against Texans

It was a snowy and miserable day in Foxborough, Massachusetts and the Patriots and Texans were locked in a defensive struggle. The fans had to brave the elements to witness this slugfest. Both teams’ offenses struggled, making it a “war of attrition”.

Drake Maye of the Patriots had 4 fumbles in the games and CJ Stroud of the Texans had 4 interceptions. As a result, in the snow, both teams had to rely on their defenses to make the critical plays.

The media coming into the game was focused on the Patriots offense against the Texans defense which was the best in the NFL. However, the game itself was about the Patriots defense against the Texans offense.

The Patriots took some ideas from the Steelers, who were the Texans’ previous Wild Card opponent, on how to attack CJ Stroud.  The Patriots were clearly in the head of Stroud throughout the game, and it was especially telling at the end of the first half as Stroud struggled to generate offensive drives.

The Patriots offense did not see improvement from last week as Maye had four fumbles that could have significantly cost the team if the defense did not show up. However, Maye showed up when it mattered the most as he threw the game sealing touchdown to Kayshon Boutte who had to make a spectacular one-handed catch to score the 6 points.

The Patriots offense must improve as they are playing the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship and have to deal with altitude, a tough defense, Sean Payton, and Jarrett Stidham, who is a former Patriots quarterback and is replacing Bo Nix for the rest of the playoffs.

Hopefully, they can win again to prove that doubters such as the crew on ESPN’s NFL Live that this team is for real.

It was nice to see the New England Patriots fans back in the Gillette Stadium stands for the playoffs.