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The New England Patriots advanced to the AFC Divisional Round with a 16-3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC Wild Card Game last week. The Patriots allowed no touchdowns, had 6 sacks, allowed under 100 yards rushing and under 150 yards passing against the Chargers. The only other team in Super Bowl era to do all of that in a playoff game was the 1985 Chicago Bears against the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional Round. The 2025 Patriots finished the season tied with the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks for the best record in the NFL with a 14-3 record to earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs. The 14-3 record is a 10-game difference from the 4-13 finish in 2024. The 10-game improvement tied the 1999 Indianapolis Colts and the 2008 Miami Dolphins for the best turnaround in NFL history. The 1998 Colts were 3-13 and improved to 13-3 in 1999, and the 2007 Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007 and improved to 11-5 in 2008.

SERIES HISTORY

The Patriots and the Texans will meet in the postseason for the third time. The Patriots and Texans played two divisional round playoff games with New England taking a 41-28 win on Jan. 13, 2013 and a 34-16 win on Jan. 14, 2017. Both games were played at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots lead the all-time regular season series with a 9-4 record. Last season, the Patriots hosted Houston in a regular season game with Houston earning their first victory ever at Gillette Stadium with a 41-21 win on Oct. 20, 2024. Houston was 0-7 at Gillette Stadium overall.

In 2016, the Patriots and Texans played two times with New England taking a 27-0 victory on Sept. 22 and a 34-16 win in the Divisional Playoffs. Both of those games were played at Gillette Stadium.

Before the Texans joined the league, the Patriots and the Houston Oilers were foes dating back to the days of the American Football League, playing twice a year from 1960-69 and 33 times overall before the Oilers moved to Tennessee following the 1996 season.

TALE OF THE TAPE

PATRIOTS AT HOME IN THE PLAYOFFS

The Patriots are 24-5 (.828) at home in the playoffs in their history. Twenty-eight of the franchise's 29 home playoff games have taken place since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. After Kraft bought the team, the Patriots won 11 consecutive home playoff games before experiencing a home loss.

CONNECTIONS

FORMER PATRIOTS

Players

• WR Braxton Berrios (2018^)
• T Trent Brown (2018^, 2021-23)
• FB Jakob Johnson (2019-21)
• CB Myles Bryant (2020-23)
• CB Ameer Speed (2023)
• C Jake Andrews (2023-24)
• G Sidy Sow (2023-24)
• DT Haggai Ndubuisi (2024)

Coach / Exec

• General Manager Nick Caserio (2001-20^)
• Asst. Offensive Line Coach Cole Popovich (2015-20^)
• Special Teams Coordinator Frank Ross (2011-17^)

FORMER TEXANS

Players

• CB Alex Austin (2023)
• WR Stefon Diggs (2024)

Coach / Exec

• Head Coach Mike Vrabel (2014-17)
• Asst. Offensive Line Coach Robert Kugler (2021)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

• The Patriots allowed just 3 points against the Chargers, tying a franchise low in the playoffs for the sixth time in franchise history. The Patriots will look to have consecutive postseason games without allowing a touchdown for the second time. In the 1996 postseason, New England beat Pittsburgh in the Divisional round with 28-3 win (1/5/97) followed by a 20-6 victory vs. Jacksonville in the AFC Championship Game (1/12/97). The 1996 Patriots were also the last team to hold a team to no touchdowns in back-to-back postseason games.
• The Patriots will play in their 61st postseason game this week.
• The Patriots won their 38th postseason game with the 16-3 win vs. the L.A. Chargers in the AFC Wild Card Game. A win this week will give the Patriots 39 postseason wins and can tie the San Francisco 49ers for the most postseason wins in NFL history.
• The Patriots will look to improve to a 3-0 record against Houston in the postseason.
• Head coach Mike Vrabel is entering the postseason as a head coach for the fourth time and for the third time as a Division Champion after leading New England to an AFC East title. During his six seasons as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, he led his team to three postseason appearances, including two division titles. He is 3-3 in postseason games with a 2-1 record in the Wild Card Round, a 1-1 record in the Divisional Round and an 0-1 record in the AFC Championship Game. A win this week will push his postseason record over .500 and earn him his second berth to the AFC Championship Game as a head coach.
• WR Stefon Diggs has played in 15 postseason games and has 71 receptions for 925 yards and 4 touchdowns. He needs 75 postseason yards to become the 17th NFL player to reach 1,000 postseason yards. Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are the only Patriots to eclipse the mark. He is currently 23rd on the NFL's all-time postseason list for receiving yards. He is currently tied for 15th with 71 postseason receptions and needs 15 postseason receptions to move past Andre Reed (85 postseason receptions) into the top 10 for most postseason receptions in NFL history.
• Diggs has four career 100-yard receiving games in the postseason and needs one more to become the 10th player with at least five.
• Diggs has played in the most postseason games among all Patriots players with 15 postseason games. CB Carlton Davis III is second with 10 postseason games.
• DT Milton Williams has recorded back-to-back postseason games with 2 sacks. He had 2 sacks in Philadelphia's Super Bowl LIX victory over Kansas City (02/09/25) and then had 2 sacks in New England's 16-3 win vs. the Los Angeles Chargers (01/11/26). The only NFL player with at least 2 sacks in at least three straight postseason games was LB LaMarr Woodley of Pittsburgh when he had 2 sacks in four straight postseason games (2008-09).
• LB K'Lavon Chaisson had 2 sacks in the win vs. the L.A. Chargers. He can join Williams with back-to-back postseason games with at least 2 sacks if he reaches that mark this week.
• Robert Kraft has 34 career postseason wins as an owner, third most in NFL history behind the Rooney Family in Pittsburgh (36) and the Green Bay Packers (37). Kraft needs three postseason wins to match the Rooney family for the second-most postseason wins in NFL history.

BROADCAST INFO

TELEVISION: This week's game will be broadcast by ESPN and can be seen locally on WCVB-TV Channel 5. Joe Buck will handle play-by-play duties with Troy Aikman as the color analyst. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge will provide analysis from the sidelines. The game will be produced by Steve Ackels and directed by Artie Kempner.

NATIONAL RADIO: This week's game will be broadcast to a national audience on Westwood One. John Sadak will call the game with Jason McCourty providing analysis. Ben Leber will work from the sidelines.

LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 33 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello.

For information on how to stream the game please visit our Ways to Watch guide.

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