Texans vs. Patriots: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2017 NFL Playoffs

After a slow start Saturday, the New England Patriots put away the Houston Texans 34-16 to reach the AFC Championship Game for the sixth consecutive season, as Sports Illustrated relayed:

In addition to the Patriots' team success, the NFL on CBS offered this tidbit about quarterback Tom Brady:

Things started as expected for the Patriots, who took a 14-3 lead with one minute left in the first quarter thanks to two Dion Lewis touchdowns, despite running just six offensive plays.

The NFL shared a replay of his second score in the frame, a 98-yard kick return:

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Lewis' two touchdowns in the first quarter were two more than he had during the regular season. Jim McBride of the Boston Globe pointed out Lewis' kickoff-return score was the first in Patriots playoff history.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe noted the Patriots have cruised to victory in postseason games with starts like Saturday's:

Just when it seemed as though the rout was on, the Patriots started to play sloppy football, and Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye picked off Brady after his pass bounced off receiver Michael Floyd's hands.

Brady didn't have his best night, finishing just 18-of-38 for 287 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His two picks matched his total from the regular season over 432 attempts.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Brady's completion percentage of 47.4 against the Texans was the worst of his playoff career.

Houston turned that into a field goal and got the ball back when Lewis fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, leading to Brock Osweiler's 10-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Fiedorowicz, which helped make it a one-point game early in the second quarter.

The MMQB noted the Texans rarely put the ball in the end zone against the Patriots:

One reason New England was out of sorts was Houston's attacking defense. The recipe to defeat Brady in the postseason has been to create pressure with the front four, which the Texans did, particularly with Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney.

Houston sacked Brady two times in the first half, and he struggled to find a groove. He did have two big plays late in the half, though: a 45-yard completion to Chris Hogan and a 48-yard hookup with Julian Edelman on 3rd-and-9.

The NFL shared a replay of his strike to Edelman:

The Patriots got down near the goal line on that drive just before halftime, but the Texans defense held them out of the end zone on consecutive plays to force a Stephen Gostkowski field goal.

Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk summed up the first half:

Thanks to New England's turnovers, the Texans made it a competitive game despite going 1-of-9 on third down and averaging only 3.5 yards per play, per ESPN.com's Mike Sando.

The Patriots started moving in the right direction during the third quarter, when Brady engineered a 90-yard drive that culminated in James White's 19-yard touchdown catch, which helped extend the New England lead to 24-13.

Osweiler then threw an interception on the Texans' ensuing drive, giving the Patriots all of the momentum. The passing game was a problem for Houston, with Osweiler finishing 23-of-40 for 198 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

ESPN's Mike Greenberg pondered a quarterback change during the game:

The team's problems weren't all Osweiler's fault. He threw a perfect pass to Will Fuller over the top, which would've been a touchdown, but the receiver let the ball slide through his hands.

Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus noted Fuller's inability to corral the ball has been a problem all season:

The Texans tried to claw back, adding a field goal after Brady's second interception to cut the deficit to 24-16 with most of the fourth quarter left.

The bad version of Osweiler reared his ugly head again, however, after the Texans defense forced a Patriots punt. He threw a high pass intended for DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins tried to leap for it, but the ball bounced off his hands into the waiting arms of Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan.

Raul Martinez of NBC Boston had fun with Houston fans:

Two plays later, Lewis ran for a touchdown to help New England build a comfortable 31-16 cushion with 12 minutes remaining.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Lewis did something only two other players in NFL history have accomplished:

Per Mike Jurecki of Fox Sports 910, the results so far in the postseason bode well for the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday:

After the game, Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas decided to take a shot at Brady and the Patriots' success in the AFC:

Now might not be the best time to threaten the Patriots with NFC West competition after the Seahawks gave up 36 points in their playoff loss against the Atlanta Falcons and no other team in the division finished over .500 during the regular season.

The Texans got what they needed to have a chance. They forced three turnovers, including uncharacteristic mistakes from Brady, when the game was close to keep the pressure on New England.

While the Houston defense held up its end of the bargain for as long as possible, the offense's inability to create big plays and sustain drives in the second half finally caught up to the Texans. Osweiler performed badly, negating the turnovers his defense created.

The Patriots showed plenty of rust, especially on offense, after their first-round bye and need to clean things up in the AFC Championship Game against either the Chiefs or Steelers.

Postgame Reaction

Despite the poor finish to his season, Osweiler wanted to try keeping things positive. 

"I think it's easy to point out the negatives," he said, per the Texans' official Twitter account. "... But there has been a lot of great things that we can build up in the future."

Clowney felt the Texans got in Brady's head, noting New England's star "was rattled," per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

In case there was any concern about where Texans head coach Bill O'Brien was going to be next season, he reaffirmed his commitment to the organization, per the team's official Twitter account:

To his credit, Brady didn't have a lot of positive spin to put on New England's performance. 

"It doesn't feel great because we worked pretty hard to play a lot better than we played," Brady said, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.

Expanding on those thoughts, per Tom Curran of Comcast SportsNet New England, Brady noted this was "one of those nights where we never got into a rhythm on offense."

New England head coach Bill Belichick didn't take it easy on his team after its performance, per Henry McKenna of USA Today: