NFL 2025 pages

Sports · Football · NFL 2025 · Divisional

Houston Texans at New England Patriots

Houston Texans16

New England Patriots28✓

Final · Sunday, January 18, 2026 · 3:00 p.m. ET · Gillette Stadium

Head coaches: DeMeco Ryans (Texans) · Mike Vrabel (Patriots)

How it went

Four interceptions of C.J. Stroud, one of them Marcus Jones's 26-yard return for a touchdown, and the Patriots won a game in which they gained 248 yards. Houston had 241, and turned it over five times. Drake Maye threw three touchdown passes — DeMario Douglas from 28, Stefon Diggs from 7, Kayshon Boutte from 32 with 12:58 left for the 28–16 final — and one interception of his own. The Texans got within five on two Ka'imi Fairbairn field goals in the third quarter and never had the ball with a chance after Boutte's catch. Gillette Stadium, 64,628, and New England into a conference championship.

Linescore

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Texans	3	7	6	0	16
Patriots	7	14	0	7	28

Scoring summary

Clock	Play	Team	Detail	HOU–NE
Q1
9:35	TD	Patriots	DeMario Douglas 28 Yd pass from Drake Maye (Andy Borregales Kick)	0–7
5:26	FG	Texans	Ka'imi Fairbairn 25 Yd Field Goal	3–7
Q2
12:51	TD	Texans	Christian Kirk 10 Yd pass from C.J. Stroud (Ka'imi Fairbairn Kick)	10–7
10:31	TD	Patriots	Marcus Jones 26 Yd Interception Return (Andy Borregales Kick)	10–14
3:12	TD	Patriots	Stefon Diggs 7 Yd pass from Drake Maye (Andy Borregales Kick)	10–21
Q3
9:45	FG	Texans	Ka'imi Fairbairn 25 Yd Field Goal	13–21
1:32	FG	Texans	Ka'imi Fairbairn 51 Yd Field Goal	16–21
Q4
12:58	TD	Patriots	Kayshon Boutte 32 Yd pass from Drake Maye (Andy Borregales Kick)	16–28

Team stats

Stat	Texans	Patriots
First downs	16	13
Total yards	241	248
Yards per play	3.3	3.9
Passing yards	193	143
Comp / att	20/47	16/27
Rushing yards	48	105
Third down	7-17	3-14
Fourth down	1-2	1-2
Red zone	1-4	1-1
Turnovers	5	3
Penalties – yards	4-32	3-48
Sacks – yards lost	3-19	5-36
Possession	27:51	32:09
Plays	72	64

Also	Texans	Patriots
Passing first downs	9	7
Rushing first downs	4	5
First downs by penalty	3	1
Drives	15	15
Yards per pass	3.9	4.5
Interceptions thrown	4	1
Rushing attempts	22	32
Yards per rush	2.2	3.3
Fumbles lost	1	2
Defensive / special-teams TDs	0	1

Player lines

Houston Texans

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
7C.J. Stroud	20/47	212	4.5	1	4	3-19	22.2	28.0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
27Woody Marks	14	17	1.2	8
21Nick Chubb	4	14	3.5	7
7C.J. Stroud	2	11	5.5	10
87Cade Stover	2	6	3.0	4
Team	22	48	2.2	10

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
81Jayden Higgins	6	59	9.8	0	16	10
86Dalton Schultz	2	47	23.5	0	42	2
19Xavier Hutchinson	4	44	11.0	0	23	13
88Harrison Bryant	3	21	7.0	0	9	6
13Christian Kirk	2	20	10.0	1	10	6
27Woody Marks	2	19	9.5	0	13	3
87Cade Stover	1	2	2.0	0	2	3
21Nick Chubb	0	0	0.0	0	0	1
14Jaylin Noel	0	0	0.0	0	0	1
Team	20	212	10.6	1	42	45

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
27Woody Marks	1	1	0
0Azeez Al-Shaair	0	0	2
Team	1	1	2

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS
0Azeez Al-Shaair	9	4	0	0	0	0
39Henry To'oTo'o	8	4	0	1	1	0
72Tommy Togiai	8	3	0	1	0	0
5Jalen Pitre	5	4	0	2	0	0
4Kamari Lassiter	5	4	0	0	3	0
2Calen Bullock	5	1	0	0	0	0
55Danielle Hunter	4	4	2	1	0	1
90Sheldon Rankins	4	2	0	0	0	0
51Will Anderson Jr.	3	3	3	2	0	1
91Naquan Jones	3	1	0	1	0	0
31Damone Clark	3	0	0	0	0	0
45E.J. Speed	2	2	0	1	0	0
24Derek Stingley Jr.	2	2	0	0	0	0
42Ja'Marcus Ingram	2	1	0	0	1	0
92Dylan Horton	2	1	0	0	0	0
56Jamal Hill	2	0	0	0	0	0
23Jaylen Reed	2	0	0	0	0	0
11Tremon Smith	1	1	0	0	0	0
13Christian Kirk	1	1	0	0	0	0
48Christian Harris	1	1	0	0	0	0
19Xavier Hutchinson	1	1	0	0	0	0
40Austin Brinkman	1	1	0	0	0	0
95Derek Barnett	1	0	0	0	1	0
58Leki Fotu	1	0	0	0	0	0
Team	76	41	5	9	6	2

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
42Ja'Marcus Ingram	1	0	0

Kick returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
14Jaylin Noel	3	69	23.0	26
17Braxton Berrios	1	19	19.0	19
Team	4	88	22.0	26

Punt returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
14Jaylin Noel	3	29	9.7	11	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS	Made from
15Ka'imi Fairbairn	3/3	100.0	51	1/1	10	25, 25, 51

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
6Tommy Townsend	5	294	58.8	0	1	72

New England Patriots

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
10Drake Maye	16/27	179	6.6	3	1	5-36	20.7	100.7

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
38Rhamondre Stevenson	16	70	4.4	20
32TreVeyon Henderson	12	25	2.1	6
10Drake Maye	4	10	2.5	8
Team	32	105	3.3	20

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
9Kayshon Boutte	3	75	25.0	1	32	5
8Stefon Diggs	4	40	10.0	1	14	6
3DeMario Douglas	2	36	18.0	1	28	2
81Austin Hooper	1	14	14.0	0	14	2
38Rhamondre Stevenson	4	11	2.8	0	9	4
85Hunter Henry	1	5	5.0	0	5	2
18Kyle Williams	0	0	0.0	0	0	3
32TreVeyon Henderson	1	-2	-2.0	0	-2	2
Team	16	179	11.2	3	32	26

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
10Drake Maye	4	2	0
31Craig Woodson	0	0	1
66Will Campbell	0	0	2
Team	4	2	3

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
0Christian Gonzalez	9	6	0	0	1	0	0
14Robert Spillane	6	2	0	0	1	0	0
31Craig Woodson	5	3	0	0	3	1	0
33Anfernee Jennings	5	2	1	1	0	1	0
7Carlton Davis III	4	4	0	1	4	0	0
53Christian Elliss	4	3	0	1	1	0	0
21Jaylinn Hawkins	4	2	0	0	0	0	0
41Brenden Schooler	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
95Khyiris Tonga	3	2	1	1	0	2	0
44K'Lavon Chaisson	3	1	1	1	1	4	0
48Jahlani Tavai	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
24Dell Pettus	3	0	0	0	1	0	0
2Harold Landry III	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
97Milton Williams	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
25Marcus Jones	2	1	0	0	2	0	1
51Jack Gibbens	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
90Christian Barmore	2	1	0	1	0	1	0
91Elijah Ponder	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
65Garrett Bradbury	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
49Chad Muma	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
22Charles Woods	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team	67	38	3	6	14	9	1

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
7Carlton Davis III	2	0	0
25Marcus Jones	1	26	1
31Craig Woodson	1	0	0
Team	4	26	1

Kick returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
34D'Ernest Johnson	2	47	23.5	25
18Kyle Williams	1	22	22.0	22
86Efton Chism III	1	20	20.0	20
Team	4	89	22.3	25

Punt returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
25Marcus Jones	4	53	13.3	24	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS	Made from
36Andy Borregales	0/0	0.0	0	4/4	4	—

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
17Bryce Baringer	8	333	41.6	0	3	55

Entering the game

The final regular-season table and the seeds the bracket was drawn from.

Houston Texans · 12-5 · AFC 5 seed

New England Patriots · 14-3 · AFC 2 seed, won the AFC East

Officials and attendance

Attendance: 64,628

Officials: Down Judge Dana McKenzie · Line Judge Julian Mapp · Side Judge Eugene Hall · Referee Shawn Smith · Back Judge Grantis Bell · Field Judge Jason Ledet · Umpire Scott Walker

Divisional on the schedule · Kickoff is ET, resolved for the date. The away team is listed first, as football says it. Colours are the clubs’ own; there are no logos on this site.