FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Stonewalled at every turn, boxed in without much, if any, breathing room, Texans rookie running back Woody Marks couldn’t duplicate his playoff success he achieved against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
No one could on the Texans’ offense. It was a thorough beatdown inflicted by the New England Patriots’ suffocating defense. The Patriots, yes, they took it personal that the Texans’ top-ranked defense garnered most of the attention heading into an AFC divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium.
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One week after Marks rushed for a season-high 112 yards and a touchdown as the Texans pounded the Steelers with 164 rushing yards in a wild-card victory, the opposite effect unfolded Sunday afternoon on a snowy day in Massachusetts.
The Patriots shut down the Texans’ running game, limiting them to just 48 rushing yards on 22 carries as Marks rushed for just 17 yards on 14 carries for a 1.2 average per run. The Texans gained only eight yards on the ground on a dozen carries by halftime.
Key elements of the Patriots’ wall up front: disruptive defensive tackles Milton Williams and Christian Barmore. They won nearly every battle at the line of scrimmage, beating the Texans to the punch.
“We knew their interior defensive linemen were really good players, Milton and also Barmore are really good players, and they did a good job, they controlled the front,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Last week, we were able to control the front. We were able to run the ball.
“We did not control the front well at all, did not run it well, did not do a great job up front, did not run it well when we had opportunities. So, credit to the Patriots for what they did up front with their interior defensive linemen.”
The Patriots prevented the running game from taking pressure off of error-prone quarterback C.J. Stroud, who threw four interceptions and had seven total turnovers in the playoffs on five fumbles, losing two, and five total interceptions overall in the postseason.
The Patriots took it personally that the Texans’ defense was the talk of the NFL. They allowed just 101.7 yards on the ground during the regular season to rank sixth in the league.
“It definitely fueled the whole defense,” Williams said. “Nobody has been talking about our defense all year. We’ll see what they say today. Every week, we’re trying to come out and dominate knowing that they do have a great defense, but in our minds, it was our defense versus their defense. See who could make more plays, create more turnovers, stop the run and get the ball back to our offense.”
A key fumble by Marks in the third quarter happened with the Texans down 21-16 and threatening to score after the defense forced quarterback Drake Maye to fumble.
“Just not holding my own head down, but kind of let the team down on my fumble,” Marks said. “Trying to make a big play, something out of it, made it worse.”
Now, the Patriots advance to the AFC championship game against the top-seeded Denver Broncos. And the Texans traveled back to Houston after losing in the AFC divisional round for the third year in a row and the seventh time in franchise history with no wins.
“Our guys are prideful men,” said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, a former assistant for coach Bill O’Brien with the Texans. “And they want to compete and they want to win. And, again, they deserve the recognition that they’re going to get. They’re a top-five defense for a reason as well.
“Again, that’s how some of these things go. When it comes down to turnovers. And we’ve got to get back on track. We forced second-and-long, so we stopped the run. And I’m proud of each and every guy in there.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com