The New England Patriots had no business winning their Week 5 matchup considering how the game started. They were losing by double digits in the third quarter, and they were — by far — the worse team against the Houston Texans.
But the Texans seemingly decided they didn’t want to win. At least, that’s what it looked like. The Texans repeatedly made mistakes and kept the Patriots in the game. The most glaring error was a fake fake punt. Yeah, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds. Houston pretended it was going to attempt a fourth-down conversion from its punt formation — only to go back to punting. In the process, Houston’s punter ended up too close to the line of scrimmage, so when he booted the ball, he hit a teammate in the head.
And that’s how the Texans blocked their own punt. That’s how the Texans lost all their momentum and, in turn, the game.
With help from linebacker Matthew Judon (2 sacks) and tight end Hunter Henry (6 catches, 75 yards, 1 TD), quarterback Mac Jones outdueled fellow rookie QB Davis Mills. Somehow, the Patriots won an extremely ugly game on the road and found themselves at 2nd place in the AFC East.
