Drake Maye threw three touchdown passes, Marcus Jones returned one of CJ Stroud’s four interceptions for a score and the New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans 28-16 on Sunday to advance to the AFC championship game for the first time in seven years, where they will play the Denver Broncos.
In Mike Vrabel’s first season as head coach, the Patriots will make their 16th conference championship game appearance and first since their run to their sixth Super Bowl title under Bill Belichick in the 2018 season. New England have won their last nine divisional round games.
Maye finished 16 of 27 for 179 yards, but had an interception and fumbled four times, losing two in cold conditions as snow and rain fell throughout the game. One of Maye’s fumbles set up Houston’s first touchdown.
“Just proud of the guys,” Maye said. “Battled the elements. This is New England. This is what we’re trying to embrace and we want to embrace all season long. Props to our defence, played a hell of a game. We’ve got to protect the football better, but we made enough plays to win it.”
Carlton Davis III had two interceptions for New England. Craig Woodson added an interception and fumble recovery. The eight combined turnovers – Woody Marks also lost a fumble for Houston – were the most in a playoff game since 2015.
Leading 21-16 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots stretched their lead to 27-16 when Kayshon Boutte made a diving one-hand catch in the corner of the endzone. The Texans later turned it over on downs when Stroud’s fourth-down pass was batted down by Robert Spillane. Stroud finished 20 of 47 with a TD pass, becoming the first player with five or more interceptions and five or more fumbles in a single postseason.
