Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots: A one-sided history

Nov 24, 2013; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws the ball against the Denver Broncos during the second quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

With the New England Patriots stopping by for a visit this weekend at Houston Reliant Stadium, this is also a visit of a one-sided history of winning in favor of the visitors as the Patriots have won four of the five previous meetings.

Last year, the Texans were put in their place by the Patriots, losing to them in the divisional round of the playoffs, 41-28 and also in the regular season, 42-14.

The lone win by the Texans in their five games came on Jan. 3, 2010 by a 34-27 score.

Houston lost the first two meetings between the teams in 2003 and 2006 by scores of 23-20 (’03) in overtime and in 2006 by a 40-7 score.

The numbers for this series speak for themselves. The Patriots have proved four of the five times they are the better team. That can’t be debated one bit.

As for this season, the Texans host the Patriots, who have an 8-3 record, while the Texans have the well-known nine-game losing streak and a 2-9 mark on the season.

The Patriots have won three of their past four games, including a 34-31 win over the nine-win Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football. In that span, they also defeated Miami Dolphins (27-17) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (55-31). The loss in that span came against the Carolina Panthers (24-20).

This is the Patriots’ game to win, no doubt about that, and for the Texans to even have a chance in this game, they’ll have to play a perfect game on offense, but let’s be honest with ourselves … that’s not going to happen. There is a better chance of Tom Brady not complaining to the officials for once this season than the Texans playing a perfect game offensively.

I sound like a broken record when I say this, but the pass protection has to get better for Houston. Watching the replay of the 13-6 loss to the Jaguars, Case Keenum did hold onto the ball a little longer than normal, but he was also having to move out of the pocket to create extra time, but to no avail, as he had the worst game of his five career starts.

The Texans defense had a nice pass rush last week, but they also need to work on their game as well, but again, it comes back to the offense as they need fewer three-and-outs to give their defense a rest.

If Houston is forced to more three-and-outs this week, and giving Brady more chances on offense … it will be another 40-plus point output by the Patriots against the Texans, and in all honesty, I can see another chapter of that play happening again in this one-sided series.