Bill O’Brien finally got his win over Bill Belichick.
The Houston Texans had five straight losses against Belichick under O’Brien, who served as the Patriots offensive coordinator in 2011. Finally, the mentee surpassed the mentor — at least for the night. The Texans beat the Patriots, 28-22. New England’s offense sputtered until late in the game when the Texans started to get complacent — and the Patriots nearly made Houston pay. While the Patriots’ playoff picture isn’t grim, it is certainly growing more complicated with the Baltimore Ravens (10-2) and even the Buffalo Bills (9-3) looking impressive.
Here are the winners and losers from Belichick’s embarrassing loss to the Texans in Week 13 at NRG Stadium on Sunday night.
Winner: James White, RB
He proved to be the Patriots’ most trustworthy option when they fell into a deep hole. He began to gash the defense as a runner and as a pass-catcher. He faced a cornerback in coverage, which at first proved a smart game planning move by Houston. But that meant that, for the most part, the Texans were forced to take a linebacker off the field when White was in the game. That surely helped on White’s 14 carries for 79 yards. With less weight on defense, White seemed to find space in the middle of the defense.
But he also did what he does best. He had eight catches for 98 yards and two touchdown. White was the best and most reliable pass catcher for New England on Sunday in an otherwise rough performance.
Loser: Tom Brady, QB
While trailing 11 points at halftime, Brady had a quarterback rating of 28.8.
The quarterback told his receivers in the first quarter on the sideline that he needed them to be faster, quicker and more explosive. It was clear they weren’t separating well downfield. In the second half, the story was similar until late in the game when Brady padded his stats in a big way (24/47, 326 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT). Only Julian Edelman began to find space (6 catches, 106 yards, 1 TD). The rest of the receivers — Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett, Jakobi Meyers and N’Keal Harry — proved fairly unreliable at the most important moments.
Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel was clearly one step ahead of Brady while doing what no one has had the sense to do so far this season. Crennel treated White like a receiver by putting a cornerback on him for the first three quarters. Crennel also put a double team on Edelman in the first half.
Even with White and Edelman stepping up in the second half against slackened coverage, Brady looked fairly helpless. He hasn’t been able to elevate the game of his supporting cast in 2019 — and that’s an alarming sentiment considering Brady’s age.
Losers: Bill Belichick/Josh McDaniels
When NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison suggested Crennel was outcoaching Belichick at halftime, it seemed like a ridiculous notion. But the second half showed Harrison wasn’t spouting a hot take. He was spot-on. At the very least, Crennel was outcoaching McDaniels, who must take more responsibility for the offense than Belichick.
The Patriots definitely didn’t look prepared at the start of the game. They didn’t look like they had made enough adjustments at halftime. And frankly, they didn’t look talented enough on offense.
And then there was a risk which blew up in the coaching staff’s face. Belichick and McDaniels
They got experimental on a 2-point conversion attempt, and put their offense on the field for a 2-pointer, but Brady didn’t seem to like the defensive look. So he took a 5-yard delay of game penalty in order to save a timeout they thought they’d need later. That put Forbath on the field for a longer extra point, which he missed. It was a nice idea that went terribly wrong.
Winner: Sony Michel, RB
If there’s one thing the Patriots offense is starting to do well, it’s the run game. They’re definitely not exceptional by any stretch. But they have been competent, which was a descriptor we couldn’t use just a few weeks ago.
The Patriots offensive line is creating more space, and Michel is doing a better job with those openings. At one point, his yards per carry fell down to 3.3. He finished Sunday night’s game with 10 carries for 45 yards. We finally got a chance to see the excellent vision Belichick has been raving about on a long run in the first half (video below).
Loser: Jon Jones, CB
He made a few brilliant plays in coverage of Kenny Stills, but quarterback Deshaun Watson was intent upon testing Jones, even immediately after the highlight-reel plays. Jones, for example, broke up a pass to Stills in the red zone in the second half. It was initially ruled a touchdown, but Jones clearly punched out the ball, which resulted in a reversal. But he couldn’t feel good about his play for long. Watson went right back at Jones on the following play for a touchdown to Stills — and they made it look easy.
Every one of Jones’ good plays got erased by a bad one. Jones had another pass breakup in third down in the first half — he committed a holding penalty in the second half.
The rough night came just one week before the Patriots play the Kansas City Chiefs, which is interesting because he covered Tyreek Hill in the AFC Championship Game last year. After Jones struggled on Sunday, will the Patriots feel confident the cornerback can manage Hill, even with help from a double team?
