New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had plenty of praise to go around after a 28-16 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday. However, the three-time Super Bowl champion recognizes there’s much work ahead for this team in the AFC Championship Game next week.
The Patriots won despite taking five sacks, committing three turnovers, and amassing just 248 yards of offense.
“I’m always excited for our organization. Excited for the players. I’m appreciative of their work, their efforts. Everybody stepping up, we’re using everybody, everybody’s making plays. Everybody’s helping us win,” Vrabel told reporters afterward. “I’m excited for these guys. But they’re also not satisfied.”
“I can tell that. It wasn’t pretty,” Vrabel continued. “Defense kept us in there. And then when we needed it, our offense was able to come through late in the game there.”
### Defense Holds Strong Against Texans
New England’s defense held the Texans to just 241 yards of total offense and forced five turnovers. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud struggled, going 20-for-47 passing, throwing four interceptions, and taking three sacks. Additionally, the Patriots limited Houston to just 48 yards rushing.
### Offense Finds Key Contributions
Offensively, the Patriots found success behind quarterback Drake Maye, who threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-27 passing. New England also had a solid ground game, rushing for 105 yards, led by running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s 70 yards on 16 carries.
### Mike Vrabel: ‘There’s Times When It Doesn’t Look Great’
Vrabel didn’t pretend that the offense clicked throughout the entire game — because it didn’t. New England scored three touchdowns in the first half, including one from defensive back Marcus Jones’ 26-yard interception return.
The Patriots didn’t find the end zone again until the fourth quarter, despite the Texans pulling within a score earlier.
“There’s times when it doesn’t look great. We know going against a great defense, which that’s what they are, it’s hard. There’s some tough sledding and some plays that don’t look great. We always talk about it only takes one play,” Vrabel said.
New England converted just 3 of 14 third downs and had only 13 first downs for the game. The Patriots also fumbled three times, losing two. Yards were hard to come by, averaging 3.9 yards per pass play and 3.3 yards per rushing attempt.
### Drake Maye Steps Up When Needed Most
Maye’s first touchdown came on a 28-yard pass to wide receiver DeMario Douglas down the middle on a crucial fourth down, giving New England a 7-0 lead.
However, the Patriots stumbled with a punt and a lost fumble, allowing the Texans to take a 10-7 lead before Jones’ interception return swung momentum back.
Maye then led the Patriots to another touchdown with a 7-yard strike to wide receiver Stefon Diggs with 3:12 left in the half, putting New England ahead 21-10. Diggs had four receptions for 40 yards against his former team.
Houston mounted a comeback with two second-half field goals, but Maye answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte — one of Boutte’s three catches for 75 yards on the day.
“To be able to stay the course, and trust Kayshon, and give him a great ball that was him or nobody, those guys have kind of done that all year,” Vrabel said.
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Despite the imperfections, the Patriots’ balance of opportunistic defense and timely offensive plays propelled them to victory and set the stage for the AFC Championship Game next week.
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/new-england-patriots/mike-vrabel-drake-maye-stefon-diggs/
