Houston hoped to gain a lead in the AFC South division race, but lost to the New England Patriots 27-6 in their Sunday night matchup.
The Texans offense struggled as Houston was limited to a pair of field goals and converted just 3-of-14 of its third downs.
Brian Hoyer was sacked five times in the loss. After the fifth sack, Hoyer exited the game and headed to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion. Hoyer finished the night 11-of-22 for 155 yards.
T.J. Yates entered the game late in the fourth quarter for the injured Hoyer. Yates was 1-of-2 for 4 yards on the Texans last offensive series of the game. DeAndre Hopkins led all Texans receivers with 3 catches for 52 yards receiving. Those 52 yards vaulted Hopkins to a single-season career high in that category, surpassing his 1,210 mark last season.
Jadeveon Clowney sacked Tom Brady twice for his first career multi-sack game. Whitney Mercilus also added a sack bringing his total to 7.5 on the year, a new single-season career high (2013, 7.0).
Brady was 22-of-30 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski, who returned to action for his first time since Nov. 29., caught four passes for 86 yards and hauled in a touchdown.
The Texans special teams forced a fumble punt return by Keshawn Martin in the third quarter. John Simon recovered the muffed punt at the New England 21-yard line, but Houston was unable to convert the turnover into points.
Wearing their battle red uniforms, the Texans defense held Tom Brady and the Patriots to a three-and-out on their first series. Brady bounced back on the next drive, connecting with Martin on a two-yard touchdown pass, giving New England an early 7-0 lead.
The Texans offense scored two field goals on back-to-back drives in the first half. Nick Novak's attempts from 37 and 45 yards were good, and ending up being the only points the Texans would score.
Brady would lead the Patriots on two more scoring drives in the second quarter. Stephen Gostkowski added a 43-yard field goal. Gronkowski caught a one-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 17-6 lead heading into halftime.
The Patriots scored 10 unanswered points in the second half.
A fourth sack on Hoyer resulted in a fumble at the Houston seven-yard line. The turnover set up New England's third touchdown of the night. James White's two-yard run extended the Patriots' lead 27-6 with 12:04 left in the game.
Houston drops to 6-7 on the season and heads to Indianapolis to face the (6-7) Colts next Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Check out action shots from Sunday night's game against the Patriots.
