Houston Texans

AFC Divisional Playoff 2017, Texans vs Patriots: 5 Keys to the Game

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:02 p.m. ET

Fansided, Randy Gurzi/FanSided via NFL Spin Zone

The five biggest keys to the 2017 NFC Divisional Round Game between the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots

There’s nothing worse than watching the New England Patriots and Houston Texans play one another. The pre-game hype becomes nothing but a bunch of rear-quarters kissing where the two teams try and out-compliment one another. One such example was Patriots head coached Bill Belichick throwing away his usual tight lipped responses to reporters for a gush-fest on his favorite opposing coach, Bill O’Brien.

Talking to reporters, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Belichick was almost overly complimentary of his former protege. He went as far to call him “one of the best coaches in the league” while echoing that sentiment again and again with different verbiage.

From there Belichick praised Texans linebacker coach Mike Vrabel, calling him a future head coach. Then you get Texans defensive tackle talking incredibly fondly of his time with New England and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady complimenting the Texans defense. It makes sense because there are a lot of ties between the two teams since coaches like O’Brien, Vrabel and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel came from New England. Still, the happy-go-lucky vibe is just too much. We need some football.

So putting aside the mutual love, we instead look at the five biggest keys to the Divisional Round matchup between the Houston Texans and New England Patriots.

5. More Miller Time

It probably didn’t look like Houston running back Lamar Miller had a good game last weekend against the Oakland Raiders. That would be because he didn’t. Miller had just 2.4 yards per carry in the team’s Wild Card victory, but he was still given the ball a lot.

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He rushed 31 times for 73 yards and had one touchdown. It wasn’t pretty, but he faced stacked boxes thanks to his quarterbacks ineffectiveness and kept the offense from making any mistakes. That’s huge for them because they were a team that had a lot of turnovers during the regular season in their passing game. Sticking with Miller helps avoid such mistakes.

Houston needs to continue to turn to Miller in this one as well. A huge key to the game will be the Texans sticking with the run, despite it being largely ineffective against Oakland.

Another thing feeding Miller does is help his team’s defense. The Patriots offense likes to play an up-tempo pace that attacks with short passes. Their style of play relies heavily on tempo and rhythm. In order to win against them, especially at home, that rhythm needs to be shaken. While a lot of that has to do with the defense, Miller can help nearly as much should he keep his team ahead of the chains and convert some third-down runs

4. Texans O-Line vs. Pats D-Line

The biggest weakness for the Texans this season has been their offensive line. Yes, quarterback Brock Osweiler has been horrible. Moreover, running back Lamar Miller has also had some games where he simply couldn’t get going.

While they both deserve some criticism (especially Osweiler) for their shortcomings, much of the blame falls on the five guys in front of them. The Texans have been flat-out awful along the offensive line. They entered 2016 ranked 18th according to Pro Football Focus, but that was before seeing how the team would gel while replacing two starters from 2015.

Center Ben Jones headed to Tennessee and was initially replaced with second-round pick Nick Martin. He was injured before the season began and second-year player Greg Mancz took over. At right guard Jeff Allen came over from Kansas City to replace Brandon Brooks, who bolted for Philly.

More change happened when right tackle Derek Newton suffered a serious injury to both his knees. Starting left tackle Duane Brown has also been dealing with injury issues, although he expects to play Saturday. The makeshift line has been a weak spot and in order for Houston to win, they need to be at their best. Or perhaps they can hope New England is at their worst.

The Pats don’t have the best defensive line in the world, but they are solid. Defensive end Trey Flowers led the team with seven sacks and veteran end Chris Long added another four and is a savvy veteran who can exploit a bad line. This is a key matchup that Houston has to find a way to step up and win.

3. Osweiler’s Maturation?

In the first half of the game against Oakland, Brock Osweiler looked like a capable quarterback. He was sharp, decisive and threw some serious bullet-passes that found their intended targets and not the opposing team. In the second half, he hardly threw the ball as Houston took their foot off the gas knowing they had the game well in hand.

The question becomes whether Osweiler can sustain that fire he had for 30 minutes last week. Could it be he has matured? Or maybe it was simply a case of a quarterback taking advantage of a poor defense that had too much going against them.

Osweiler’s final stat line on the day was 14-of-25 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown. He also added a running touchdown while picking up 15 yards. Those yards included a few nifty runs when the pocket broke down, which may be needed again this week.

It’s hard to say he has matured though. Had Tom Savage not been injured in Week 17, Osweiler would still be looking for his first career postseason start. He was one of the worst starters in the NFL all season as well, which is why he was benched for Savage just a few weeks ago. The first-year Texan completed just 59 percent of his passes and had just 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in the regular season.

A huge key to this one will be whether or not Osweiler can continue his smart play. Should regular-season Osweiler return, this one will get ugly fast.

2. Which Secondary Shines?

The Houston Texans have some players in the secondary. Even with 2015 first-round pick Kevin Johnson out hurt, the team has excelled. Corners Johnathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson and A.J. Buoye all have been excellent corner guys. Their safeties have been turnover machines as free safety Andre Hal had two picks on the season and strong safety Quintin Demps had an impressive six interceptions.

New England also boasts a spectacular secondary with corner Malcolm Butler and his four interceptions leading the way. Fellow corner Logan Ryan had another two to go along with his impressive 92 tackles, but the most important player is arguably safety Devin McCourty. The safety excels at keeping teams from getting deep on the Patriots. He had just one pick on the season but deflected seven passes and recorded 83 tackles. He is the glue that holds this unit together.

It’s obvious that the Patriots have the easier matchup. Not just because Brock Osweiler is bad, but because the Texans have to go up against Tom Brady. For the Patriots the key will be staying disciplined and not allowing the Texans to gain any momentum due to a mistake. On the other hand, Houston has to play the best games of their careers to knock Brady off his game.

1. Clowney vs. Brady

Tom Brady has a weakness. Sure, no one wants to admit it, but he does. This isn’t saying there’s anything wrong with him, because he is the best quarterback in the game today. He wins more than anyone, and he does it without the talent around him that some of the other elite quarterbacks have had.

Still, he struggles when he’s knocked off rhythm. Whenever the Patriots struggle on offense (it’s rare, but it has happened) it’s because Brady can’t get set and fire the ball away on his schedule. That’s where Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney comes in.

Clowney has become nearly impossible to block and, while the first line of defense will be their O-line, the real battle comes between him and Brady. The defender will get his pressure and will get past blockers. What Brady has to do is find ways to shuffle in the pocket and get the ball out quicker than Clowney can get to him.

New England is heavily favored in this game, and they should be. That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for them to get knocked off. Focusing on these five keys are the way they can avoid having that done, and how Houston can try and score the upset of the year.