Gillette Stadium was a perfectly picturesque setting for the AFC Divisional Round game Sunday: fat, fluffy snowflakes floated over the green turf without obstructing visibility until the fourth quarter, even allowing fans in attendance to spot a pregame flyover from a Coast Guard helicopter.
So, what the hell was Texans quarterback CJ Stroud looking at when he threw four interceptions before halftime?
Patriots-Texans was widely predicted to be a defensive standoff. Houston boasts two first-team All-Pros between their pass rush and secondary, and New England took the field on the heels of a Wild Card performance that held the L.A. Chargers to just three points.
Less predictable was how absolutely chaotic both Stroud and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye would look under the combination of opposing pressure and even the gentlest snow storm. Maye, who has been relatively surehanded this year (eight total fumbles in the regular season, in addition to eight interceptions), fumbled the ball four times before the fourth quarter and lost two of them, (left tackle Will Campbell recovered the two others, in an act of penance for their original occurrence). He recorded one interception, but it was a basically meaningless pick in the endzone before halftime.
Stroud was a disaster. It was fair to question whether Texans coach DeMeco Ryans would bench him before the third quarter, and he finished the night with a 25.3 passer rating, the worst of his career.
The young gunslingers weren’t the only sloppy Joes out there. Texans running back Woody Marks also fumbled. Kamari Lassiter broke up three of Maye’s passes, and he was sacked five times as he failed to feel 262-pound Danielle Hunter breathing down his neck, and in some moments, held the ball too long waiting for the chance at home run strikes downfield.
Ultimately, for the Patriots, the ugliness didn't matter in Sunday's 28-16 victory. Maye is willing and able to sniff around in the mud for treasure, like a dog hunting out truffles, (before you say, ‘Don’t pigs hunt truffles?’ A quick reference from the Napa Truffle Festival shows that dogs have become the preferred truffle-finding partner. But I digress).
Maye will take sacks and cough up the ball, but he erases those mistakes when he threads the needle to Stefon Diggs in the endzone and finds Kayshon Boutte deep to give the Patriots a two-score lead in the fourth quarter.
Will that translate to future matchups? Possibly – it’s certainly important to see how New England’s defense can generate a pick-six, and to watch a veteran like Carlton Davis be a human eraser of his own kind, wiping out two penalties he garnered with two picks of his own. So much of the Patriots’ regular season success was powered almost purely by Maye’s transcendent play as a second-year quarterback. Last week, they proved they could survive a mostly-bad game from Maye and lean on their run game and defense to get through the Chargers. It wasn’t as cut-and-dry as that against the Texans, but the two playoff games had more in common than either did with most of the regular season.
But just because the Patriots can live this way for two weeks, it doesn’t mean they can do it again in the future. New England will have a major advantage with Bo Nix sidelined in the AFC Championship game, but that Broncos defense still proved they can break the reigning MVP’s heart, forcing two interceptions and three fumbles out of Josh Allen in their Divisional Round matchup Saturday.
Allen showed how even the biggest eraser can't always expunge ill-time mistakes. His podium tears should be a big red flag waving to the Patriots.
"The biggest thing for us is to come in and try to be better," Diggs said postgame. "We have some things that we left out there, but coming out with the win means everything. I'd rather win and learn a lesson than lose."
On Denver, Diggs said he watched the Broncos-Bills game Saturday and, "They have a hell of a defense."
And while the path now looks paved with gold bullions to the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, there’s the reality of an intimidatingly and smart Seahawks defense on the other side, or golden boy Matthew Stafford, who only fumbled seven times during the entire regular season.
One other question is powerfully the Patriots' defense can factor into future matchups, and while they've had two big performances, Milton Williams said he feels the group has been underrated.
"Ain't nobody talk about our defense. We'll see if they talk about our defense now. Those boys [Houston] are going home," he said in the locker room.
The defense proved, against the Chargers, they could hold off Herbert in the red zone after their own offense turned the ball over. Sunday, they showed how truly disruptive they can be against a quarterback, after having their soft pass rush belabored all year.
But even if the Patriots can live this way against Jarrett Stidham and the Broncos...it's difficult to see them winning it all, if they have to win this way. New England can settle for a big play to Boutte over beauty for now, but that’s unlikely to be the case in February.