By Byron Richmond
In a game that boasted a potential AFC divisional playoff matchup, the battle between teacher versus pupil, pitting longtime New England Patriots head coach Belichick, who entered Sunday night 4-0 against the Houston Texans’ Bill O’Brien, would see, on this faithful night O’Brien finally get past his teacher with 28-22 win at Reliant Stadium.
O’Brien, of course, spent five seasons with the Patriots from 2007-11, serving as a part Belichick’s coaching staff, working in every role on the offensive side from being an offensive assistant, wide receivers and quarterbacks coach, as well as a brief stint as their offensive coordinator in 2011.
The Patriots offense, already borderline poverty-stricken on the wide receiver front, continued to struggle as the problems with the running game continue to rear their ugly head.
As has been the narrative since the early retirement of tight end Rob Gronkowski, veteran WR Julian Edelman remains their only viable receiving option, causing Tom Brady to lash out on his boys over the past few weeks for lack of help he has been receiving. It hasn’t helped either that the recently acquired Mohamed Sanu has been limited the past couple of weeks due to a recurring ankle injury.
Yes, while Brady had a decent game Sunday night throwing for 326 yards 3 touchdowns against 1 interception, most of which did come, however, against a Texans’ team utilizing a prevent defense, it just wasn’t enough as Deshaun Watson continues to assert his status as a viable MVP-candidate, who completed 72% of his pass attempts, en route to throwing for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns. And for good measure, the former Clemson Tiger even caught his first-ever touchdown pass, a 6-yard reception from WR1 DeAndre Hopkins.
Julian Edelman continues to be the only receiver doing anything for the Pats these days, as again Brady had little help from his other receivers as the other receivers managed to get as many catches as Edelman but all combined for 75 yards total, 41 less than Edelman.
This leads to me to quip with this, while I’m not going to say the Texans are going to dethrone the defending champs if New England’s offensive woes continue, it’s safe to say their chances of hoisting yet another Lombardi Trophy will continue to wain.
