Patriots 34, Texans 31: Stephen Gostkowski made a pair of 53-yard field goals in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead kick with 3:12 remaining, as New England ended its three-game road losing streak while extending Houston's overall slide to 10 contests.
Tom Brady completed 29-of-41 passes for 371 yards and two touchdowns for the Patriots (9-3), who have won four of their five regular-season meetings with the Texans. Rob Gronkowski hauled in six passes for 127 yards and a score while Julian Edelman had nine catches for 101 yards.
Ben Tate ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns and Case Keenum was 15-of-30 for 272 yards with an interception for the Texans (2-10), who are winless since defeating Tennessee in overtime on Sept. 15. Andre Johnson had 121 yards on eight receptions, making him the 15th player in NFL history with 900 career catches.
Houston led 10-0 before Brady connected with Gronkowski for a 23-yard score with 1:25 remaining in the first quarter. Tate scampered 20 yards for the second of his three touchdowns late in the second to restore the Texans' 10-point advantage, but a 1-yard TD run by James Develin and a 9-yard scoring toss from Brady to Shane Vereen in the first seven minutes of the third gave New England its first lead at 21-17.
The clubs went back and forth as Keenum found the end zone from five yards out and LeGarrette Blount scored on a 7-yard run before Tate's 10-yard rush with 11:35 left in the fourth gave Houston a 31-28 edge. After missing a 55-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter, Gostkowski hit a 53-yarder with 7:16 to forge a tie before drilling another just over four minutes later.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Patriots RB Stevan Ridley was inactive as a result of his fumbles in each of the previous three games. ... Brady, who had just one touchdown pass against three interceptions during New England's road skid, improved to 42-6 in December over his career. ... Houston DE J.J. Watt failed to record a sack, ending his five-game streak.
New England | Houston | |
LeGarrette Blount | Player | Ben Tate |
12 | Attempts | 22 |
44 | Yards | 102 |
3.7 | Avg Yards | 4.6 |
1 | Touchdowns | 3 |
8 | Long | 20 |
New England | Houston | |
Rob Gronkowski | Player | Andre Johnson |
6 | Receptions | 8 |
127 | Yards | 121 |
21.2 | Avg Yards | 15.1 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
50 | Long | 29 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
New England | 453 | 88 | 365 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 |
Houston | 385 | 121 | 264 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 |