In Sunday night's 28-22 win over the New England Patriots, Bradley Roby made some primetime plays in his return from injury. The Texans starting cornerback punctuated his return with a sack and interception in the same game for the first time in his NFL career.
"It feels so good," Roby said. "I had to get that sack, because they played me on that second pick. This game was special to me, because my grandfather just passed (away). I went to the funeral yesterday, and I promised him, and I promised myself that I would make some plays. He was blind, so he never saw me play. Maybe he could see me now. That's what I wanted to do, I wanted to honor him. Rest in peace to my granddad."
Roby, who missed the last five games with a hamstring injury, picked off Brady and returned it 22 yards late in the first quarter. An unsportsmanlike penalty on Roby following the play gave Houston possession at the 21-yard line. Roby was flagged for removing his helmet.
"The whole crowd just went crazy," Roby said "That's why I took my helmet off. I just wanted them to feel me, because I felt so good. I felt great."
After back-to-back plays to Carlos Hyde for two and five yards, Watson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Duke Johnson. The Texans took a 7-0 lead after the three-play, 21-yard scoring drive with 0:45 left in the first quarter.
"It was important where it came in the game," head coach Bill O'Brien said of the interception. "It was really a good example of complementary football, because we were able to turn that into a touchdown."
It's not the first time Roby made a big play against Tom Brady. As a member of the Denver Broncos, Roby's first career interception came against Brady during his rookie season on November 2, 2014. The following year in the AFC Championship game, Roby intercepted a tipped pass on a two-point conversion to preserve a fourth quarter 20-18 victory over the Patriots.
Roby finished with Sunday's game with four total tackles (three solo), 1.0 sack, one interception, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and one pass defensed.
