Patriots vs. Texans: Live updates, scores, NFL divisional playoff news

ballervisions 2026年1月19日

The New England Patriots enter the divisional round as they host the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line.

After getting swept by the Chargers in the wild card round, Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense will be tested again against a top-ranked Texans defense that New England coaches and players say is the best unit they’ll face all season. Meanwhile, the Patriots defense will look to improve on their performance last week by slowing down CJ Stroud.

Follow along live from Gillette Stadium throughout Sunday.

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Live score: Patriots 21 : 13 Texans

Sunday, Jan. 18, 3:00 pm ET | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA | Broadcast information | Inactive | Game day schedule

First quarter

The Texans won the toss and it was reversed, which put Drake Maye and the Patriots on the field first. Quickly set up on 3rd-and-10, a quick screen to Stefon Diggs against an all-out blitz look gained just five yards by forcing an onside kick.

New England’s defense sets up Stroud and Co. up with their 3rd-down to start the day, when an incongruous pass to Christian Kirk was dropped. Houston was then forced to bunt after three outs.

Rhamondre Stevenson’s two touchdowns started New England’s next drive with a 29-yard gain. Two touchdowns to TreVeyon Henderson were then fumbled for a loss that forced a 3rd-and-14, when a slant to Diggs picked up 13. On a fourth-down offense, Maye found DeMario Douglas over the middle for a 28-yard touchdown pass. [Patriots 7 : 0 Texans]

A pass breakup on second down by Carlton Davis forced Houston back to 3rd and long, where Stroud scrambled into the pocket and threw it to a wide open Dalton Schultz who took it 42 yards. After converting the ensuing third down to work inside the red zone — where a facemask penalty moved them back inside the 10 — Houston faced a third-and-one, when the rushing touchdown was denied due to an illegal turnover. Then from the six-yard line, a three-man run left nobody open and Stroud’s pass fell incomplete. A short field goal attempt was good. [Patriots 7 : 3 Texans]

Maye’s second down pass was batted down the line for a perfect layup to a wide open Stefon Diggs. On 3rd and 10, Maye’s arm was hit as he went to open one field to escape, and Will Campbell recovered for a 10-yard loss. Bryce Baringer then recovered a punt in his own end zone.

They started their next play at midfield and kept the offense on the field on 4th-and-1, when a handoff to Woody Marks rattled the chains. The next play, Stroud’s pass was over his target and caught by a diving Carlton Davis, who just got a knee down in bounds.

Taking over at their own 18-yard line after the turnover, New England quickly turned it over. Miscommunication in the second game led to Maye hitting the ball in the middle and getting the ball out when he went down.

The second quarter

Back on the field, Houston moved the chains to go inside the red zone where he faced 3rd-and-4. From the shot, Stroud hung on against zero blitzes to find Christian Kirk for a touchdown. [Patriots 7 : 10 Texans]

Maye and the offense took the field on first down and faced 3rd-7 when Maye escaped the pocket to move the chains with his legs. Facing another 3rd and 9, Maye’s downfield pass to an open Kyle Williams fell incomplete along the left sideline.

The Patriots defense then struck, as K’Lavon Chaisson got to Stroud who threw a duck that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Marcus Jones. [Patriots 14 : 10 Texans]

New England’s defense struck again, as Stroud passed for the second time on the next drive without the receivers getting their hands over the middle and being intercepted by Craig Woodson.

After the turnover, a second down sack forced New England into a 3rd-and-13 where Hunter Henry’s short completion went just five yards. Then Baringer struck

Backed up inside their own 10-yard line, Stroud sacked an incompletion while under pressure to set up a third down – when Christian Barmore came home to force a fumble but it was incomplete.

Kayshon Boutte’s second-down completion got New England’s offense moving with a 25-yard gain in Houston territory. Two plays later, Maye returned Boutte another 18 yards to set up the drive inside the 10-yard line. They needed one play to clinch the final spot when Maye fired one to Stefon Diggs for a touchdown. [Patriots 21 : 10 Texans]

Trailing by two points, K’Lavon Chaisson’s pass defense nearly led to a CJ Stroud interception. A pass interference penalty on Carlton Davis then netted Houston 20 yards before Stroud found Jayden Higgins another 16 yards down the middle of the field. At the other end of the two-minute warning, Stroud then rolled to the left and threw another cover right to Carlton Davis.

Taking over at their own 48-yard line and all three timeouts, New England was stopped on 3rd-and-7 (after a missed DPI call on Kyle Williams) and Maye’s flat pass to Henderson was incomplete. They also punched the Patriots.

Starting at their own 10-yard line, Stroud fired an incompletion on downs to force a 3rd-and-10. Looking to skip the pocket, Stroud was brought down for a one-yard gain.

A 24-yard punt return by Marcus Jones and the offense moves to Houston’s 45 with 49 seconds left. Maye’s first game winner on the ground saw Will Anderson push down the left side which Campbell was able to recover. With 13 seconds left, Maye hit Douglas for eight yards to call another timeout with seven seconds left. A 3rd-and-11 pass to Diggs was incomplete leading to a fourth down Hail Mary interception in the end zone to end the half.

Third quarter

The Texans started the second half with the ball and got a 23-yard completion through the air from Xavier Hutchinson working against Christian Gonzalez. Picking up two more downs to get to the red zone where they were put on 3rd-and-2, where a sprintout pass to the right was broken up by Marcus Jones to force a field goal. [Patriots 21 : 13 Texans]

After a one-point play, New England’s offense continued to struggle as Will Campbell was hit by Anderson on third down after a sack by Houston.

Taking over at the Patriots 33-yard line, Chaisson came home with the first sack for an eight-yard loss. Returning a yard to set up a 3rd-and-6, Stroud stood up and took to moving the chains with his legs. Two plays later, Nick Chubb lost the ball as Christian Gonzalez picked it off for extra yards and Craig Woodson recovered.