New England Patriots to face the Houston Texans in divisional round

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New England Patriots to face the Houston Texans in divisional round

Karen Guregian · MassLive

Tue, Jan 13, 2026 ·

2 min read

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The Patriots now know the identity of the next opponent.

It will be the Houston Texans , who advanced by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers , 30-6, at Acrisure Stadium.

The divisional round matchup will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. with the Patriots hosting the Texans at Gillette Stadium.

Meanwhile, the AFC’s top-seeded Denver Broncos will be hosting the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

The Patriots (15-3) advanced by beating the Los Angeles Chargers , 16-3, on Sunday.

Defense is the name of the game for the Texans, who are 13-5, and have won 10 straight games.

Aaron Rodgers (17 for 33, 146 yards, 1 INT) and the Steelers offense were no match for that unit, which scored two defensive touchdowns in the Wild Card round game.

DeMeco Ryans ’ team finished the regular season with the NFL’s top-ranked defensive unit, allowing just 277.2 yards per game.

The Texans also had the 4th-ranked rush defense (93.7 ypg), 6th-ranked passing defense (183.5) and 6th-ranked third down defense (36.2%).

The offense is led by quarterback C.J. Stroud . Former Patriots offensive assistant Nick Caley is the Texans offensive coordinator.

Top receiver Nico Collins suffered a concussion during Monday Night’s matchup against the Steelers.

There are quite a few connections between the Patriots and Texans.

Among them, former Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, who was a member of the organization for its six championships, has been the GM of the Texans since 2021.

Ben McDaniels, who is the wide receivers coach and offensive passing game coordinator, is the brother of Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Cole Popovich, a former Patriots offensive line coach, is the Texans offensive line/offensive run game coordinator.

Jerry Schuplinski, a former Patriots offensive assistant, is a senior offensive assistant and pass game specialist. He worked with Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas .

And, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was a defensive coach with the Texans (LB coach, DL coach, defensive coordinator) from 2014-2017.

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