Image courtesy of ESPN
FOXBOROUGH – Do you believe yet?
The magical run of 2025 for the New England Patriots is now extended to the AFC Championship game after the Pats took down Houston 28-16 at a rowdy, snowy Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It was ugly both ways – with the teams combining for eight turnovers, including five forced by the Pats defense – but in the end, the Patriots offense made just enough plays and crushed clock in the fourth quarter to seal the win in the final home game of the year. Four picks on D certainly never hurts either.
“I’m always excited for our organization, excited for the players. I am appreciative of their work and their efforts,” Mike Vrabel said when asked about reaching the AFC title game. “Everybody’s stepping up. We’re using everybody. Everybody’s making plays. Everybody’s helping us win. I’m excited for these guys, but also, they’re not satisfied, and I can tell that. It wasn’t pretty. Defense kept us in there.
“When we needed it, our offense was able to come through late in the game there in the second half with a touchdown, giving us a two-score lead. I felt like that drive, backed up there from the 3-yard line, where we ran the ball and took a lot of clock was pretty classy.”
Drake Maye had arguably his worst game as a pro, fumbling four times and losing two of them while throwing for 179 yards (16-27) and three touchdowns with an interception. Still, he is now the quarterback of a Patriots team heading back to another AFC Championship, the first since 2018.
“It’s going to keep on getting tougher,” said Maye. “We keep on playing great defenses with great quarterbacks and teams that deserve to be here. That’s what we feel like we deserve to be here, and we’ve got times where we know we’ll have to be at our best in critical moments. It comes down — it’s going to come down to the end and come down to making plays when you have them. I’ve just got to keep on giving our guys chances to make plays. I like our chances with those guys in the locker room.
“It’s fun to be with those guys, fun to show up here and just glad the season keeps on going. Hopefully it goes for a good while longer.”
In a wild first half, each team had nine possessions and New England took a 21-10 lead into the locker room, thanks largely to four picks of CJ Stroud.
New England struck first on 4th-&-1 from the Houston 28, with Maye finding Pop Douglas over the middle and he did the rest, sprinting to the end zone. Houston answered with a field goal drive to make it 7-3 after one. Carlton Davis III also had an interception in the first quarter, his first of two on the day.
A 13-yard TD catch for Christian Kirk early in the second put the Texans up 10-7. After a Patriots punt, Marcus Jones made another big play in a season full of them, coming up with a 25-yard pick six with K’Lavon Chaisson pressuring Stroud into a brutal throw. Four plays later, a tip drill interception by Craig Woodson set the Pats offense up at the Houston 48, but they had to quickly punt.
The Texans couldn’t capitalize and punted. New England took advantage. Maye hit Kayshon Boutte for completions of 25 and 18 yards, ultimately setting up a seven-yard TD catch by Stefon Diggs to make it 21-10 with 3:12 left in the half. Four plays after that, Davis III had his second pick, but both teams traded punts and a Maye last second Hail Mary was picked off in the end zone to end the first 30 minutes.
“He keeps on making them. He keeps on making plays, making me look good,” Maye said of Boutte with a grin. “I’m proud to be able to give him some throws to make a play on it. A one-handed catch, not much else to say about it. It was pretty sweet. Kind of the same type of throw as my first one to him. And he made an even better catch this time. Props to Kayshon for keep on playing. He was huge for us tonight. That receiver room just keeps on doing good things. Good job in the running game.
“I think I could have more chances downfield and make better throws. But you can’t be too hard on myself and move on to the next one.”
In an eventful but low scoring third quarter, Houston kicked two field goals, while the Patriots also got a forced fumble from Christian Gonzalez and a recovery by Woodson. New England took a 21-16 lead to the fourth quarter.
The play of the game came with 8:50 remaining when Maye lofted a ball up for Boutte. Boutte reached out with one hand, reeled it in and fell to the end zone near the lighthouse, holding on for a massive score as Gillette exploded, making it 28-16. The Patriots ended up punting on their final two drives of the game in the final frame, but chewed up six minutes and almost four minutes on both drives. A Robert Spillane PBU on a fourth down pass and two kneel downs from Maye – following boisterous sing alongs of ‘Your Love’ and ‘Livin on a Prayer – sealed another remarkable win.
So now, it’s Jarrett Stidham vs. Drake Maye in Denver for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Just like we all predicted back in July.
We still don’t know how this 2025 season will end, but if you’re a Patriots fan, it’ll surely go down as one of the most memorable, improbable, chaotic runs in franchise history.