Texans bold predictions for Divisional Round clash against Patriots

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Texans bold predictions for Divisional Round clash against Patriots

Ben Strauss, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Wed, Jan 14, 2026 ·

5 min read

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The Houston Texans made a statement in last week's playoff victory. Houston demolished Pittsburgh 30-6 in a contest where they scored 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Now the Texans are just one big game away from making franchise history.

Houston joined the NFL during the 2002 season and has not made it to the AFC Championship over the last 20+ years. But now the Texans are just one victory away from making that happen. All that stands in their way is the New England Patriots .

Houston is led by a ferocious defense that absolutely devoured Pittsburgh last week. In fact, 14 of those 23 fourth-quarter points came off defensive scores.

That performance had Calen Bullock puffing out his chest after the game.

"Shoot, I think everybody knows we are the best defense," Bullock told ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime. "The whole world knows that. Every time we go out there we show it, and we went out there and showed it today. I don't even think they scored a touchdown."

To be fair, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was also very complimentary of his defense after crushing the Steelers .

"It was an outstanding defensive performance," Ryans said. "One of the best that I've seen versus a really talented offense, a talented quarterback who played at a high level for a long time."

Will Houston's incredible defense be able to lead them past New England ? Or will Drake Maye pose too big of a challenge for the Texans?

Below we will explore three Texans bold predictions before their huge playoff matchup against the Patriots.

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C.J. Stroud has over 250 passing yards, outduels Drake Maye

I feel like the presence of C.J. Stroud in Houston is often overlooked despite being a franchise quarterback.

Stroud burst onto the scene during his rookie season, throwing for over 4,000 passing yards and immediately receiving positive comparisons to Bryce Young . He has failed to live up to that success since, at least from a purely statistical perspective. But Stroud is still playing incredibly well for the Texans.

Stroud was not perfect against the Steelers, but he eventually found his way into some solid play. He went 21-of-32 for 250 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception against Pittsburgh.

But Stroud's biggest issue against Pittsburgh was turnovers. In addition to that interception, he also lost two fumbles during Monday's contest.

Houston faces another tough defense this week in New England. That will put some pressure on Stroud to keep the offense humming along at a consistent clip.

If Stroud even has an average performance, I think it could be enough to get Houston the win.

I'm predicting that Stroud will go over 250 passing yards against New England. I also predict that he will have more passing yards and passing touchdowns than Drake Maye.

Texans score more touchdowns on defense than on offense against Patriots

We've already mentioned how the Texans dominated the Steelers with their incredible defense. But I feel it bears repeating ahead of this big matchup.

The old saying goes that defense wins championships. The Texans will certainly be putting that to the test against the Patriots.

New England has a solid defense of their own, but they lack the star power that Houston has. Still, I think the Patriots are talented enough to slow down Stroud and the Texans' offense.

In this game of elite defenses, I think Houston's unit will steal the show again. They will also generate some much-needed points for the Texans, just like last week.

I'm predicting that Houston's defense will score more touchdowns than their offense against the Patriots. For context, Houston scored two offensive touchdowns and two defensive touchdowns against Pittsburgh on Monday.

This prediction could easily happen if the Texans end up kicking a lot of field goals on offense and only manage one defensive score.

Houston holds New England under 400 total yards, wins by one score

There's no question that the matchup to watch in this game is Houston's defense against New England's offense.

It is certainly the most entertaining matchup in this game, but I don't want to make it seem like the Texans will run away with this one.

Let's not forget that Drake Maye is one of the top MVP candidates in the NFL this season. Maye has taken his game to the next level in 2025 and he alone makes the Patriots a difficult out every single week.

If the Texans can keep Maye in the pocket then I think their defense can cause enough chaos to shut down the Patriots. Or at least slow them down enough to get the win.

I'm predicting that Houston will hold New England under 400 total yards this weekend. For context, the Patriots had 381 total yards against the Chargers last week.

If they can manage this, and force a few turnovers along the way, then I can see the Texans winning by at least one score.

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