A week after an impressive upset of the Ravens on Sunday Night Football in Foxborough, New England traveled to Houston Sunday afternoon to face the two-win Texans.
The Patriots couldn’t keep their mid-season momentum and two-game winning streak going, though, as the defense struggled to deal with Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson and New England fell 27-20 on the road.
The loss dropped the Patriots to 4-6 on the season, making a late-run toward the postseason even more unlikely at this point in the season
Before Bill Belichick and Co. turn the page to next Sunday’s battle with Kyler Murray and the upstart Cardinals at Gillette Stadium, here are the personnel highs and lows from the loss in Houston.
Thumbs up
Cam Newton – It wasn’t enough to snag the road win, but Newton actually had one of his relatively better days as a Patriots quarterback throwing the football. There were still some slow decisions and ugly missed throws, but Newton completed 26 of 40 passes for 365 yards, including his first touchdown throw of the season to a wide receiver, for a 102.6 passer rating.
Nick Folk – Though he missed a PAT in last week’s win over the Ravens, the veteran kicker hasn’t missed a field goal since Week 2.
With kicks of 45 and 36 yards in Houston, Folk has now hit 17 straight field goals after missing his first two attempts of the season.
Damiere Byrd – The veteran receiver had been quiet in recent weeks, but he made his presence known when the Patriots needed it most in Houston. Byrd had a 30-yard catch on a third-and-10 with the Patriots trailing 21-10 in the third quarter. He then hauled in the first touchdown pass of the season for a Patriots wide receiver with a 42-yard over-the-shoulder catch down the middle for the score a couple plays later to help keep the visitors in the game. Byrd finished with a career high 132 yards on six catches.
Thumbs down
Sony Michel – New England’s former first-round pick and one of the stars of the Patriots 2018 Super Bowl run returned to the active roster this week after a stint on IR. But Michel has clearly lost his lead back job to Damien Harris, evident by the fact that Michel was a healthy scratch against the Texans. Michel is now clearly Harris’ backup, it is what it is, although he should get a chance to return to action in the coming weeks with Rex Burkhead leaving with what appeared to be a serious knee injury against the Texans.
Devin McCourty – The Patriots veteran safety had a tough day in Houston, both in coverage and tackling. He was beaten by Randall Cobb for a 3-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Later in the quarter Deshaun Watson scrambled and ran McCourty over for a 4-yard rushing score. McCourty wasn’t the only problem in the secondary that struggled to slow down Watson, just one of the most notable and obvious.
Pass defense – The pass rush was non-existent. The coverage, in part as a result, was pretty damn poor. The secondary that’s supposed to be the strength of the unit, simply was not. Watson didn’t discriminate on the way to nearly 350 yards passing and three total touchdowns, picking on pretty much everyone in the back end of the New England defense. Watson was a one-man machine that embarrassed just about every man playing pass defense – rush and coverage – for New England. Tackling was also a pretty ugly aspect of the day for New England’s defensive backs.
Penalties – The Patriots had been the least-penalized team in football. That was before a season-high seven penalties against the Texans, more than double their per-game average coming in. N’Keal Harry had a couple (OPI/holding) while blocking. Joe Thuney had a holding call. They came on both sides of the ball. New England isn’t good enough to play that dirty of a game in terms of penalties.
