The last time we saw the Houston Texans' defense against the New England Patriots offense, wide receiver Kayshon Boutte caught a de facto game icing, one-handed 32-yard touchdown pass over All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. to make the game 28-16 Patriots. It was the final nail in the coffin of Houston's Super Bowl aspirations in the 2025-2026 season.
That was in January. And since then, both Houston and New England have been scouring the NFL marketplace for roster additions that would help boost their chances at hoisting a Lombardi trophy at the end of the 2026 season. Those respective chances would include a potential crossing of paths again en route to declaring victory over the American Football Conference.
While the Texans have made a plethora of personnel changes of their own, today the Patriots swung a deal that might've just flipped the balance of power of the AFC on its head (again). Because, after what seemed like months of rabid speculation and conjecture, the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles finally consummated a trade that will send three-time All-Pro and Super Bowl championship winning wide receiver A.J. Brown to New England in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
A receiving core that got the best of Houston last season just got even better.
Texans have their work cut out for them in potential rematch with the Patriots
In their now infamous AFC Divisional round matchup last season, the Texans faced a Patriots receiving core that featured the likes of the aforementioned Boutte, Stefon Diggs (now a free agent), DeMario Douglas, tight end Austin Hooper and even a four-catch day from running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Their entire unit combined for 16 receptions (26 targets),179 receiving yards (11.2 average) and three touchdowns. While the yards were nothing to write home about, the scores at crucial moments were backbreakers that gashed Houston throughout the game.
To be fair to the Texans, all three scoring receptions required high levels of concentration and execution, as Houston's secondary virtually smothered the Patriots receivers at almost every turn.
Douglas capitalized on a ball almost batted away by safety Calen Bullock for the first score, Diggs had to snag a laser ball from in between safeties Jaylen Reed and Bullock (again) for the second and Boutte essentially had to make the catch of their year down the sideline on a back-to-back All-Pro fir the third. In a game of inches, the Patriots and their circus catches won the afternoon over Houston and its vaunted defense.
With A.J. Brown now in the fold, it will be a lot harder to blanket the field in the same way.
A.J. Brown specifically adds new wrinkle to Texans' defensive plans against Patriots
In this new reality, the Patriots won't need to depend on low percentage acrobatic catches as much. After all, Brown brings a resume of being a 1,000-yard receiver six out of his seven total seasons, as well as being a multi-time All-Pro and a general ceiling raiser at both spots that he's called home over the course of his career.
While the Texans won't have the Patriots on their regular season schedule in 2026, there's a huge chance that the two franchises will have to faceoff again in the AFC playoffs in order to determine who'll be representing the AFC in the Super Bowl this campaign.
A 12-5 Texans squad with the best-overall defense just added multiple players on both offense and defense, while a 14-3 Patriots team who went to the Super Bowl the season prior just added a bonafide elite pass catcher to fortify their second-overall scoring offense. And I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that the Patriots already added former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs to a four-year contract back in early March.
Things just got even more interesting in the AFC. What a June 1st, am I right?
Add us as a preferred source on Google