Texans vs. Patriots: New England Will Blow Houston out Again in Divisional Round

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots absolutely ruined the Houston Texans in Week 14 and you can expect more of the same when the two play in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs this weekend.

The Pats beat the Texans 42-14 in Foxborough, picking apart Houston to the tune of a 28-point rout. Unfortunately for the Texans, the second meeting between the two could be even worse.

The Texans are ice-cold right now. The team started the year 11-1 before losing three of their last four games in the regular season. In the wildcard round the team came back and beat the Cincinnati Bengals at home, but not by much.

The Texans are struggling on both sides of the ball. Not only are they scoring just 16.8 points per game, but they are also giving up 24.6 per game, despite holding the Bengals to just 13.

The Patriots, on the other hand, are hot, winning nine of their last 10 games to end the regular season, with that only loss coming to the San Francisco 49ers.

New England scored 36.9 points per game during that 10-game span, utilizing it's ever-impressive passing attack and new-found running game to dominate opponents.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and that's certainly the case here...but the Pats also have pretty good defense, shutting out the Miami Dolphins in Week 17 before going to the postseason.

What's even better for the Patriots is that their 28-0 shutout of the Dolphins in Week 17 secured them the No. 2 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye.

The Pats are deadly after a bye week. In fact, the team has gone 9-1 after bye weeks in the last decade, and 14-2 if you count playoff byes as well.

When you give a mastermind like Bill Belichick, the weapons he has and an extra week to prepare, you're asking for trouble and the Texans have all that coming at them.

But what could be worse than playing one of the best teams in the conference after its enjoyed postseason success for a decade and is coming off a bye week when you're not? Playing that team for the second time in the season.

It turns out that the Texans are pretty bad when it comes to learning from their mistakes.

This season the Texans played their three divisional foes two times each, and despite playing in a conference with two very weak teams, the Texans did worse in the second game all three times.

The Texans went 3-0 in the first games, out-scoring their opponents 94-38. However, in the second games, the team went 2-1 and out-scored their opponents by a slim margin of 83-75.

The Texans are in trouble. The team was embarrassed once before by the Patriots and now the team looks like their in for another beat-down on Sunday.

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