Patriots are ripe for the picking
Three down and one to go.
Once the Texans get this last preseason game against Dallas on Thursday out of the way, they can turn their full attention to New England and the first game of the regular season.
Rest assured Bill O’Brien and his staff have been working on the Patriots since the schedule came out in April. They’ve circled Sept. 9 on their calendar and a return trip to Gillette Stadium, where the Texans have never cracked the Belichick-Brady code.
The Texans are as familiar with the Patriots as they are AFC South oppo-
nents because they have played three times in the last two years, including a playoff game after the 2016 season.
That doesn’t even include last year’s two joint practices in West Virginia and a preseason game at NRG Stadium.
Familiarity is supposed to breed contempt, but that’s not the case when it comes to the Texans and Patriots. Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady lavish praise on “Billy” O’Brien before sending him home with another defeat.
Counting a loss to New England in 2015 — O’Brien’s second season — the Patriots have outscored the Texans 31 to 13.7 in four games, including that divisional playoff loss.
At Gillette, the Texans have been outscored 32.3 to 16.3.
Now, nobody in their right mind would pick the Texans to begin the season with their first victory in Foxborough, but if they’re ever going to win at Gillette Stadium, this might be the time to do it.
In each of the last two seasons, the Texans have been sniffing victories only to be snuffed out.
Last season, the Patriots pulled out a 36-33 victory when Brady took them the distance and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks.
In Deshaun Watson’s second start, he staked the Texans to a 33-28 lead, but the defense collapsed. Brady took the Patriots on an eight-play, 75-yard, decisive scoring drive. He threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Cooks with 23 seconds remaining. They also collaborated on a two-point conversion.
Despite being sacked five times, Brady torched the Texans for 378 yards and five touchdowns. Another performance like that by the defense, and the Texans will start the season 0-1.
In that playoff game after the 2016 season, the Texans were within one score in the fourth quarter. Then quarterback Brock Osweiler threw two interceptions, and they lost 34-16.
On the field after that game, NFL Films picked up Brady telling owner Robert Kraft how tough Romeo Crennel’s defense had been on him.
That was Crennel’s last game making the calls on defense. He helped the Texans rank first in defense that season before turning over the defense to Mike Vrabel. And they did it without the injured J.J. Watt for the last 16 games, counting the playoffs.
Now Crennel is back with that same responsibility — calling plays for a talented, healthy defense that could be dominant.
Crennel has Watt, outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, and, hopefully, cornerback Kevin Johnson (concussion), returning to the field. He’ll have new additions in cornerback Aaron Colvin and safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Justin Reid.
It won’t take long for the Texans’ defense to find out how good it can be considering Brady is first up.
Brady and the New England offense have a few issues. New offensive tackles. Several new receivers. No Julian Edelman (suspension) for the first four games. Plus, longtime defensive coordinator Matt Patricia relocated to Detroit.
The Patriots are favored, of course, as they should be. But beating the point spread won’t be enough for the Texans. They can’t keep coming close and having the cigar explode in their faces.
The point is if they’re going to win at Gillette Stadium for the first time, the first game might be the time to do it.
Kansas City stunned the Patriots in the first game last season. Will the Texans be good enough to escape with the same kind of upset?