Pats are comeback kids
Show some grit overcoming 13-point deficit
Call it growing pains.
Or an ugly win.
Or even a Texas-sized disappointment.
Whatever the label, the Patriots, after two tough defeats in Foxboro, found victory on the road once again on Sunday.
The Pats survived a 25-22 scare in Houston thanks to veteran kicker Nick Folk, who made four field goals, including a game-winner with 15 seconds left. Folk’s 21-yarder clinched the first comeback of Mac Jones’ career. The Patriots had been flirting with early disaster when they trailed by 13 midway through the third quarter. Instead, Jones closed the game with four straight scoring drives and finished 23-of-30 for 231 yards, one touchdown and a pick.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way to win,” Jones said post-game. “It feels better to not play as well and win, and learn at the same time than to play OK and end up losing. So, a win feels good.”
The rookie was also well protected by a patchwork offensive line down four starters around center David Andrews, the first time Pats coach Bill Belichick could remember losing so many linemen in his 47 years in the NFL. Jones took just one sack.
His favorite target was veteran tight end Hunter Henry, who tied the game with a 13yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Henry led all Patriots with six catches for 75 yards. Damien Harris topped all rushers with 58 yards on 14 carries, and left with a rib injury.
The Patriots (2-3) held the ball for most of the last 7:17, before kicking away to the Texans, who ran two offensive plays and fumbled on the second play as time expired.
“It certainly wasn’t perfect, but we battled and played better situational football than we have in the other games, so that was a plus,” Belichick said. “Gotta give a lot of credit to Josh and the offensive coaches and offensive line, they did an especially good job of hanging in there.”
Houston (1-4) ultimately handed the game over with questionable game management and poor special teams. Rookie quarterback Davis Mills (20 of 28 for 305 yards and three touchdowns) lit up Belichick’s defense in the first half, but first-year head coach David Culley was unable to stop the clock late after prematurely burning a secondhalf timeout. His defense also committed a critical roughing the passer penalty during Jones’ final drive.
Offensively, the Texans game-planned to beat both the clock and the Patriots. To that end, they drained 10 minutes with their first possession, converting four third downs and once more on fourth-and-2. Backup tight end Antony Auclair finished the drive catching an 11-yard touchdown pass against Pats safety Kyle Dugger.
Jones answered by leading the Patriots to their first opening-drive touchdown of the season. Harris scored from a yard away on a direct snap, the offense’s first Wildcat play in years. Like Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn, Nick Folk missed his first extra point to forge a 6-6 tie.
Less than 90 seconds later, the Texans scored on a broken-play touchdown by speedy wideout Chris Moore, who had been promoted off the practice squad. Mills had rolled right on third-and-2 and spotted Moore behind J.C. Jackson along the right sideline, where they both leapt for a well-placed jump ball. With Pats safety Devin McCourty also converging, Moore plucked Mills’ pass out of the air, tucked both feet inbounds and veered toward a vacated middle of the field and slowed only to cross the goal line.
Undeterred, Jones completed four straight passes on the next series before again yielding to Harris in the red zone. But there, he found trouble. A split second before reaching pay dirt, Texans defensive back Terrance Mitchell reached across the goal line and punched the ball out of Harris’ left arm. Houston recovered inside its own end zone, and while the play was initially ruled a touchdown, it did not survive a review, so the Texans took over at their own 25.
Quickly, the Patriots defense paved Houston’s way downfield with penalties and painfully unaware play. They allowed a predictable screen pass on third-and-16 to cover 15 yards, then two more fourth-and-short conversions to Mills. The clock finally struck midnight on his Cinderella start later in the drive, after Mills had led the Texans inside the 10-yard line. He took two sacks on three goalto-go snaps, with Pats’ outside linebacker Matt Judon dropping him both times. Fairbairn followed by drilling a short field goal, and Jones survived a dropped interception on his ensuing 2-minute drill before Folk hit a 52-yarder for a 15-9 score at halftime. Then Jones’ luck ran out. He fired an interception on his next pass attempt, which led to another long Mills touchdown pass. Mills caught the defense napping by hitting Chis Conley on a 37-yard flea flicker, after Conley had burned backup corner Joejuan Williams, a healthy scratch last week.
Lucky for the Patriots, the Texans reverted to form and could only muster three punts around a missed field goal until the game’s final moments. One of the punts — a line-drive shank from Houston’s Cameron Johnston — was partially blocked thanks to a solid rush by Pats defensive tackle Lawrence Guy.
Meanwhile, Jones rediscovered his early rhythm, leading a field goal drive after the block and finding Henry on an end-zone corner route to tie the game at 22.
Back with the ball deep inside his own territory, Jones fired another near interception on third-and-long with 5:15 remaining. But inside the pocket of scrimmage, Houston’s Maliek Collins had been flagged for roughing the passer, a penalty that revived the drive and the Patriots’ hopes.
Three plays later, Jones rolled left and hit Henry for a 10-yard gain across midfield. After another dangerous incompletion, backup running back Brandon Bolden ripped off a 24-yard run after taking a toss left. With the clock winding, six straight runs followed, and so did a win.
Here were the best and worst Patriot performances from Sunday:
Best
TE Hunter Henry: Henry delivered in the clutch, often moving the chains on third down and breaking free for a game-tying touchdown late.
LB Matt Judon: Without his pressure, the Patriots would almost certainly be 1-4 to start their season. Judon was terrific again.
Worst
CB J.C. Jackson: The Pats’ new No. 1 corner gifted Houston three first-down conversions and a touchdown in the first half alone.
RB Damien Harris: Credit to Harris for fighting through injury, but he’s lost two fumbles within five games, both inside the red zone. That’s unacceptable.