Despite missing Tom Brady for the first four games, the New England Patriots cruised to a 14-2 record, easily winning the AFC East and No. 1 playoff seed once again. They get their playoff campaign underway with the Houston Texans coming to town on Saturday.
Texans vs. Patriots 2017 live stream: How to watch NFL playoffs online
The Patriots start their playoff run against the Texans in the Divisional round.
The game will be televised on CBS. Legal streaming options are limited (CBS only offers live online TV in select markets), but a subscription to CBS All-Access will grant viewers the ability to stream this game.
The Texans won the AFC South at 9-7 and are coming off a 27-14 win over the Oakland Raiders in the Wild Card round. It’s hard to read too much into their performance, given that they were facing a demoralized Raiders team missing its franchise quarterback and Pro Bowl left tackle. Still, they took care of business and Brock Osweiler didn’t actively lose the game, which is more than you can say about him for most of the season.
More importantly, Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus have emerged as one of the best defensive line duos in football. They harassed Connor Cook all day, with Mercilus picking up two sacks and Clowney making an interception that swung the game early. The Texans still have one of the best defenses in the league, despite missing J.J. Watt for almost the entire season.
Of course, they’re running into a buzzsaw in the Patriots. Brady was nearly flawless since returning from his DeflateGate suspension, throwing 28 touchdowns to just two interceptions and having his best QB Rating (112.2) since that historic 2007 performance. Even with Rob Gronkowski out, Brady is making the most of the weapons at his disposal. Bill Belichick has scripted impeccable game plans, playing to his team’s strengths while exploiting his opponents’ weaknesses week after week.
These teams last met in Week 3 of the regular season. Brady was still on suspension, and the Patriots were trotting out a third-string rookie at QB, Jacoby Brissett. It was probably the most vulnerable the Patriots have been all year, talent-wise. But ultimately, it didn’t matter — the Pats steamrolled Houston, 27-0. Osweiler was a catastrophe, throwing for just 196 yards and an interception on 24-of-41 passing.
The Texans’ offense has been its Achilles’ heel all year, and it’s mostly due to Osweiler. Signed to a lucrative $72 million contract in the offseason, he’s been unable to keep the offense moving despite quality weapons in Lamar Miller, DeAndre Hopkins, and Will Fuller. Osweiler’s 5.8 yards per attempt is dead last among qualified QBs, and he threw just 15 touchdowns to 16 interceptions during the regular season. Osweiler was eventually benched for Tom Savage, but he got forced back into the lineup after Savage suffered a concussion.
This Texans team has a lot of promising individual talent, but it’s been hamstrung by ineffective QB play. That’s been a running theme of the Bill O’Brien era — last year they got to the playoffs with a rotating cast of Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden. They have the talent to potentially surprise teams, but it’s hard to see them putting up much of a fight against the Patriots on the road. Belichick and Brady are just too good at this.
How to watch
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Place: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
TV: CBS
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson
Online: CBS All-Access
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