Brady leaves the Patriots

Photo by Jeffrey Beall via Flickr

By Lou Roesch
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 18, 2020) Tom Brady has left the New England Patriots for greener pastures both figuratively and literally. The time has come where we will now find out if the system made Tom Brady or Brady really is the G.O.A.T.  The argument has raged for years as to whether Bill Belichick made Tom Brady or Brady made Belichick. 

It all began when the sixth round pick stepped in following the hit that benched then Patriots star quarterback Drew Bledsoe. The 199th pick of the 2000 NFL draft has been the New England field general ever since.

So is it the system or is Brady just that good? Well to hedge the bet, it’s a little bit of both. In the seasons previous to Brady taking over the offensive reins, the Bledsoe led Patriots had not made it to one SuperBowl. Without Brady in 2011, the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassell under center. With Brady sidelined for DeflateGate in 2016, the Patriots went 3-1 with Jimmy Garrapolo and Jacoby Brissett before Brady returned to finish 11-1 and 14-2 overall.  

Here’s where the system doesn’t matter….. the Super Bowl. With Brady, they have won six SuperBowls in 9 appearances. No other quarterback, not Joe Montana, not Terry Bradshaw, not Troy Aikman, not Bart Starr, not Johnny Unitas not anyone has come close to Brady’s accomplishments when the lights were the brightest. 

You can’t pooh-pooh a quarterback who has thrown for more than 75,000 yards, won three regular season MVP’s and is the only player ever named SuperBowl MVP four times. Plus throw in the 54 other NFL records he holds including most career wins by a quarterback with one team. Brady is also tied for the record in these two categories; most seasons with 35 plus touchdown passes and most touchdown passes in a single postseason game with six scoring strikes.

Brady, under Belichek, led New England to a 215-64 regular season record. More importantly, it was done with a plethora of good pieces but not great parts. With really only one running back (Corey Dillon), fans might remember, one wide receiver Randy Moss, one slot receiver (Wes Welker) and two tight ends in Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski who else has Brady had to win with in nearly two decades?

Brady will get his money (L.A. is my guess) and he will deliver the payroll too with another Superbowl title. After all where else would the final chapter to be written on the G.O.A.T be more perfect for the San Mateo California Kid.

Questions remain after Houston falls to New England

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

File photo by
Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 Al Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 9, 2018) It was the first game of the 2018 season, and Houston Texans' fans were chomping at the bit. They had their franchise quarterback back on their field. They had their team leader and all-time fan favorite back leading the defense, and they were coming off a training camp that some said was the best they had in years. With all that, and even more in their favor, the Houston Texans looked like they were heading for their best season and an eventual trip to the playoffs.

They took the field at Gillette Stadium to face the New England Patriots, it became clear the Texans still have a great deal of work to do. The Texans fell to New England 27-20 in the first game of the season for both teams. On Houston's first offensive play of the game, quarterback Deshaun Watson (No. 4, shown right) fumbled the ball, which was recovered by New England. four plays later, the scored their first touchdown of the game. Watson went on to compete 17 passes on 34 attempts for 176 yards and one touchdown. He threw one interceptions, rushed for 40 yards on eight carries and was sacked three times. He finished the game with a 62.9 rating. 

Granted, Watson played only seven games last season before his season-ending injury. He had a good training camp but looked tentative and rusty early in the game. His play did improve late in the game, and began to direct the team to two second half scores. However, this was not the start the Texans had hoped for. A clear win over the Patriots would have been a good start for Houston, but it was not to be. Many have predicted the Texans winning at least 12 games and winning the AFC South, but if today's play was an indication of things to come, they still have a great deal of work to do, not just with Watson, but the entire offensive line. Only time will tell if they can get better as the season goes on, but they had better get back to work as soon as possible on Monday morning. They next play the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, September 16.

Houston Texans down New England Patriots 27-23 in NFL pre-season action

Jaelen Strong (11) scored the first touchdown for the
Houston Texans on a two-yard pass from Tom Savage.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 19, 2017) In a game that saw a good amount of give-and-take action the Houston Texans battled the New England Patriots to a 27-23 win in front of 71,504 fans at NRG Stadium in the first home appearance for the Texans in 2017. The win pushes the Texans pre-season record to 1-1, while the 2016 Super Bowl Champions fall to 0-2. Hosuton will return to pre-season action on Saturday, August 26 against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. In their final pre-season game of 2017, they will return home to face the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, August 31, 207. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. CDT start.

The game saw a large amount of ppalying time by players hoping to make both team's rosters. Afetr both teams played a series of downs, the Texans scored in their second possession when Tom Savage connected with a pass to Jaelen Strong for a touchdown. Nick Novak split the uprights for the extra point to give the Texans a 7-0 lead at the 1:13 mark in the first quarter. Savage drove the ball 58 yards in 11 plays in 6:48. In their first possession of the game, they moved the ball 79 yards in a drive that ended on a fourth and six play with only a two-yard game. At that point, the Patriots took over and advanced the ball 17 yards before being forced to punt, giving Houston their second possession of the game.

The Patriots came right back in the second quarter to even the score when Tom Brady engineered a 75-yard drive that ended in a 22-yard pass to Rex Burkhead for the Patriots' first touchdown. Stephen Gostkowski kicked the obligatory extra point to tie the score at seven. After the kickoff, the Texans replaced Savage with rookie Deshaun Watson, who took the reins of the Texans. He drove the ball seven yards before having to punt. New England took possession of the ball and advanced 38 yards before settling for a 38-yard field goal by Gostkowski with 9:53 remaining in the first half. After the kickoff, Watson took the Texans 62 yards before Ka'imi Fairbaim booted a 31-yard field goal to tie the score at 10 at the 5:11 mark in the second quarter. The Patriots added three more points right after the two-minute warning with a 51-yard Gostkowski field goal to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Tom Brady (12) compeletd six passes for 67 yards and
one touchdown, in limited action, against the Texans.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography,
Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

New England added another field goal to their total at the 6:03 mark of the third quarter with a 42-yard Gostkowski attempt. On their next possession, the Texans drove 75 yards in five plays, which was capped by a two-yard run by Watson. The Houston drive was highlighted by a 63-yard pass from Watson to D'Onta Foreman to set up the score. Novak added the extra point to give the Texans a 17-16 lead at the 4:18 mark in the third quarter. New England took the kickoff at the 25-yard line and on the first play, Jimmy Garoppolo was sacked for a seven-yard loss, causing a fumble which was recovered by rookie Matthew Godin on the Patriots' 18-yard line. The Texans turned the possession into a 35-yard field goal by Fairbaim to take the score to 20-16. The Patriots responded with a 10 play, 83-yard drive; resulting in a 25-yard Garoppolo pass to D.J. Foster for the score. With the kicking extra point, New England regained the lead 23-20. The Texans were not content to let New England remain in the lead. After the Texans had a series on down, the ball went over to the Patriots. On the first play for that set of downs, Garoppolo had an intended pass for rookie Cody Hollister was intercepted by Denzel Rice at the New England 43-yard line. He returned the interception 39 yard to the Patriots four-yard line. On the very next play, Foreman rushed the final four yards for the score. Novak added the conversion to take a 27-23 lead with 11:07 remaining in the game.

Savage saw limited action in the first half, completing 8-of-9 passes for 89 yards and one TD. Brady's appearance was similar to Savage's, going 6-of-9 for 67 yards and one touchdown. Watson completed three-of-10 passes for 102 yards. Quarterback Brandon Weeden saw action late in the game, completing five passes for eight yards. Ellington led the Texans in receiving, catching four passes for 93 yards, while Alfred Blue had five carries for 20 yards.

Houston Texans remain at top of AFC South despite 27-6 loss to New England

Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 15, 2015) Two field goals were all they could manage on Sunday night and that was not enough for the Houston Texans, as they fell to the New England Patriots by the score of 27-6 at NRG Stadium in Houston on December 13, 2015., With the loss, the Texans fall to 6-7 for the season, but remain in a first place tie for the lead in the AFC South with the Indianapolis Colts.

The Patriots jumped out to a 7-3 lead after 15 minutes with a Tom Brady short pass to wide receiver Keshawn Martin for the touchdown. Stephen Gostkowski split the uprights for the extra point. The Texans added a 37-yard Nick Novak field goal with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

The Texas and Patriots traded field goals in the second quarter with Gostkowski scoring from 43-yard out at the 12:18 mark for New England. Novak added the second Texan field goal with 9:30 remaining in the half. Novak’s 45-yard kick closed out the scoring for the Texans. With 19 seconds left in the half, Brady hit tight end Rob Gronkowski with a one-yard pass for the touchdown. Gostkowski again added the extra point to give the Patriots a 20-6 lead at the half. The Patriots added another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run up the middle by running back James White and Gostkowski’s extra point.

Offensively, Brady was 22-of-30 in the air for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Texans’ quarterback Brian Hoyer completed 11-of-12 passes for 155 yards before he left the game with a concussion. T.J. Yates replaced Hoyer as the signal caller and completed one pass for four yards.

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was questioned by the media concerning Hoyer in the post-game press conference after the game. He stated:

 “Well first I’ll tell you, there’s nothing more important than the health and safety of every player in that locker room. I think that’s paramount. That’s number one, and as far as those things go, I think obviously it’s too early to tell. Obviously whenever you suffer a concussion like that, multiple concussions within a five or six-week span, obviously the player himself is concerned about that. Nobody is more concerned than I am because of my relationship with Brian and his family. I think that the Houston Texans will always do what’s best for the player.”

He was also questioned about defensive end J.J. Watt playing with a broken hand.

 “Yeah, there are two parts to the answer of that question. First, one thing that I will say is that he will get more and more adjusted to having that club on his hand, without the use of his fingers. That is the type of athlete he is, that is the type of worker that he is. He is just a great player. But I think the other thing too is to look at, when you watch him play, it’s not all about the stats. He put a lot of heat on (Tom) Brady. He did a lot of things in the running game to help stop the run. Even though he may not have been the one making the tackle, he was very disruptive, along with (Jadeveon) Clowney, along with some other guys in there, so he still is his disruptive self. Just because it doesn’t always show up on the stats sheet doesn’t mean he didn’t have a good game. I thought that he played a whale of a game.”

Next up for the Texans is a Sunday, December 20, 2015 match-up against Indianapolis. The game will kick off at 12 noon CST at Lucas Oil Stadium.