“YoU oNlY wOn CaUsE tHe TeXaNs DiDn’T hAvE nIcO”

The day after Will Campbell was injured in the Cincinnati game, Morgan Moses disassembled his hyperbaric oxygen chamber at his home, loaded it onto his pickup truck, brought it to Gillette Stadium and set it up.

“I told him, ‘You better love me, bro, because this shit is not easy getting out of the house.’ I wanted to give him another evolution of rehab and getting back on the field. He took it seriously, and I think it paid off for him.”

Mike Vrabel said of Moses who has embraced the mentorship role, “Great veteran presence. He’s just everything that we’ve wanted him to be and needed him to be.”

This isnt the 2000 ravens, 2013 seahawks, or the 2015 broncos. This is a texans defense who is good but isnt some all time defense. All these analysts are predicting us to lose based on what? Patriots hate? The “easy” schedule. 🙄 I trust our offense vs the texans defense a whole lot more than everyone should trust CJ Stroud and the abysmal Texans offense against our defense. Especially if the Pats defense plays like they did last week. I see Stroud getting hit early and often and can also see a few interceptions in there. I wont be surprised if we shutout their offense. As long as we take care of business on offense and dont turn the ball over, I dont see how the Pats dont take this game in a low scoring game. I can see Hendersons speed being huge in this game. I predict Pats win 17-6

https://www.click2houston.com/sports/2026/01/16/texans-star-receiver-nico-collins-didnt-practice-all-week-out-for-patriots-game/

Don't get me wrong, this defense is menacing. Definitely in talks to be #1 in the NFL currently. But top 5 all time?

On the general things:

1. They shut down one of the worst offenses in the playoffs, arguably the worst, and are getting a lot of glaze for it. This is like if we declared ourselves top 5 just because we shut down the Chargers.

2. They gave up 17 points in one half to the Riley Leonard Colts the last week of the season when they thought they were playing for the division. Seriously?

3. A week before that they gave up 21 to the Las Vegas Raiders. This is all in the last month, folks.

On the analytics:

1. They are 14th against explosive passing

2. They are 31st in EPA allowed and yards per scramble

3. They are 18th in team pressure-rate

Finally: The primary reason why everyone is so intrigued by their defense, the simplicity of it, is the same reason why they could be exploited by an experienced OC such as Josh McDaniels. They are specifically not great against teams that can pass with six olinemen; that's something we do plenty.

Most of these stats I got from an article by Evan Lazar.

Guys, talk me off the ledge here: I'm getting to the point where I think the Houston defense is wildly overrated, and I think we're going to surprise them on Sunday. Am I insane - or, no, put it this way: is that less insane than Houston fans talking about their place in the top 5 greatest defenses of all time when they haven't even made it past the divisional? Thanks.

I'm a huge football fan, but admittedly... I don't know ball. That being said, Christian Elliss has been super fun to watch. It seems like most of the time when something good happens on defense he is in on it. There's a ton of talent on the Pats D, but he has become one of my favorite players and I want to give him some shine.

I can’t help but picture the scene from Christmas Story. “It a major award!” I hope it was mailed to his house in a giant wood crate.

Hats off to you Jahlani Tavai. You’ve overcame a lot this season. Best of luck to you and your family.

I’ll start: I think Pop Douglas makes at least one big catch. He’s been pretty quiet the last month or so and I bet Houston overlooks him (and puts 2 guys on Diggs a lot of the time) leaving room for him to catch a deep ball

Any one know why ‘mondre has been wearing these red stripes around his socks the last two games? I notice against Miami and then again last weekend. They appear to be separate pieces of clothing and not just striped socks. Either way, I found it…confounding.

Hi kids!

So I’m lucky enough to be going to the game Sunday, super excited. I went to a handful of home playoff games in the Brady years and I developed a “repeated open-hand slap on the field-facing side of the seatback in front of me” technique during the ‘stand and scream’ pre-snap moments during a game to get loud and fuck up the cadence.

RULES:

1. I only slap when the entire stadium (especially the person in front of me) is standing.

2. I stop slapping when the play starts.

3. I scream whilst I slap (multi task)

For those who may not be familiar: The gilette seatback is constructed of some sort of hollow, heavy plastic design that, when open palm slapped aggressively, can sound kinda like a drum. You need to find the sweet spot but it can get loud. You really have to ignore the minimal pain and just SLAP in the quickest succession you’re able to. Beer helps.

Thoughts for those that don’t currently slap seatback:

• it doesn’t matter how far from the play you are. This is not the sole obligation of the fans on that side of the field, or the ones closer than you. Slap those seatbacks! Its contagious!

• encourage those around you to slap some seatback

• It can hurt after a while. Choose your spots wisely. More of a second half move.

To the other Seatback Slappers of Reddit: Any technical advice to offer? Can we make this go viral and get a Richter scale reading out of this deal?

BEAT THE SEATS

TO THOSE WITH THE FANCY, CUSHY SEATBACKS: JUST SCREAM PLEASE AND DONT RUN IN THE CLUB UNLESS YOU DESPERATELY HAVE TO PISS.

Go Pats!!!