Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots will officially host the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for Sunday, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. ET.
Coming off a 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round, Drake Maye, who made his first career start last year against the Texans, and the Patriots offense will be challenged by another strong defense in round two. Houston finished the year 2nd in DVOA on defense while ranking No. 1 in yards and first downs allowed.
It was that defense — led by head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator/play caller Matt Burke — that powered the five seeded Texans to a road Wild Card win by holding the Steelers to just six points and scoring a pair of touchdowns themselves.
Houston’s offense, meanwhile, ended the year 19th in offensive DVOA and 13th in points per game (23.8) behind former No. 2 overall pick C.J. Stroud under center and former Patriots’ positional coach Nick Caley coordinating the unit.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN/ABC.
The full schedule for NFL divisional weekend looks as follows:
4:30 p.m. ET: 6 Buffalo Bills at 1 Denver Broncos
8 p.m. ET: 6 San Francisco 49ers at 1 Seattle Seahawks
3 p.m. ET: 5 Houston Texans at 2 New England Patriots
6:30 p.m. ET: 5 Los Angeles Rams at 2 Chicago Bears
