Texans at Patriots: Highlights, score, and recap

Bill O’Brien’s Houston Texans were looking to spring a huge upset as they faced the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

For the second time in five years, the Houston Texans will battle the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. The year was 2012. The head coach was Gary Kubiak. The Texans starting quarterback was Matt Schaub.

On the other hand, it was business as usual for the perennial AFC East champions. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady went about their business and moved onto the conference title game that year.

How big of a problem will Houston have on Saturday night? Stay tuned.

Highlights Posted Live as They Happen

Three Stars

1. Tom Brady

After missing the first four games of the season due to that “thing,” the 17-year pro has been on a major tear. This season, he finished with 3,554 pass yards in a dozen games. Brady connected for 28 touchdown passes (13 to wide receivers, 10 to tight ends, 5 to running backs) and was picked off only twice. But he will be facing the league’s top-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed. And only the Denver Broncos allowed fewer yards through the air in 2016.

2. Jadeveon Clowney

The third-year pro provided his team with a key takeaway in last week’s win over the Raiders. The first-time Pro Bowler finished with only one tackle, an interception and a pair of deflected passers. This season, Clowney finished with 52 tops and six sacks and led the Texans with 16 tackles for losses. Can he do his best 2015 postseason Von Miller imitation and keep the heat on Tom Brady?

3. Martellus Bennett

The Patriots are down All-Boom tight end Rob Gronkowski. But it might surprise some people to now that Bennett, obtained this offseason via trade from the Chicago Bears, not only finished third on the team with 55 receptions (701 yards) but led New England with seven touchdown grabs. Brady has his share of targets in Julian Edelman, James White and Michael Floyd. But Bennett could prove to be a tough matchup for the Houston linebackers and safeties.

More fansided.com: NFL Power Rankings: Divisional Playoff edition

Odds

The Houston Texans were 16-point underdogs entering this playoff tilt at Foxborough. It’s a place that the franchise has never won (0-4, including playoffs) and that includes a 41-28 loss in the ’12 AFC Divisional Playoffs. The OVER/UNDER for this postseason affair stood at 44.5.