Turnovers were the story in snowy Foxborough as Houston lost in the divisional round of the playoffs.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — rake Maye threw three touchdown passes, Marcus Jones returned one of C.J. Stroud’s four interceptions for a score and the New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans 28-16 on Sunday to advance to the AFC championship game for the first time in seven years.
In Mike Vrabel’s first season as coach, the Patriots will take on the Broncos in Denver next Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.
The Patriots will make their 16th conference championship game appearance and first since their run to their sixth Super Bowl title under Bill Belichick in the 2018 season. New England has won its last nine divisional round games.
Maye finished 16 of 27 for 179 yards, but had an interception and fumbled four times, losing two in cold conditions in which snow and rain fell throughout the game. One of Maye’s fumbles set up Houston’s first touchdown.
Carlton Davis III had two interceptions for New England. Craig Woodson added an interception and fumble recovery.
The eight combined turnovers — Woody Marks also lost a fumble for Houston — were the most in a playoff game since 2015 when the Cardinals and Panthers combined for eight in the NFC championship game.
The Texans have lost in the divisional round in three straight seasons under coach DeMeco Ryans. The franchise is now 0-7 all-time in this round.
Stroud finished 20 of 47 with a TD pass. All of his interceptions came in the first half as he became the first player with five or more INTs and five or more fumbles in a single postseason. Will Anderson forced two fumbles for the Texans.
Leading 21-16 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots stretched their lead to 27-16 when Kayshon Boutte got behind Derek Stingley Jr. and pulled in a diving, one-hand catch in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
The Texans had the ball with 5:48 to play, but punted on fourth-and-18 at their own 21 with 4:18 remaining.
New England’s next drive took the clock under two minutes. But the Texans turned it over on downs when Stroud’s fourth-down pass to Xavier Hutchinson was batted down by Robert Spillane.
With the Patriots leading 7-3 early, a series of miscues produced the next two scores.
Maye was strip-sacked by Danielle Hunter deep in Patriots territory, but left tackle Will Campbell fell on the ball and the Patriots punted.
The Texans gave it right back when Stroud’s deep pass along the sideline was intercepted by Davis III.
Maye fumbled again when he attempted to run on a busted play and had the ball stripped by Tommy Togiai and recovered by Azeez Al-Shaair. Six plays later, Stroud linked up with Christian Kirk on a 10-yard touchdown pass.
But on Houston’s next drive, Stroud was rushed up the middle by K’Lavon Chaisson and he lofted a pass that was intercepted by Jones and returned for the score to put New England back in front.
Later in the quarter, the Patriots’ lead increased to 21-10 when they capped a five-play, 56-yard drive with a 7-yard TD pass from Maye to Stefon Diggs.
Jones scored on an interception return for the second time this season. It was the first of his career in the playoffs and first for New England in the postseason since Asante Samuel had one vs. Indianapolis on Jan. 21, 2007, in the AFC championship game.
Texans: TE Dalton Schultz (calf) left in the first quarter and didn’t return. … LG Tytus Howard limped off and RB Woody Marks exited with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. … TE Cade Stover left in the fourth with a knee injury and didn’t return.
Patriots: LB Robert Spillane left in the first quarter with a thumb injury, but returned. … RB TreVeyon Henderson was shaken up after a second quarter run before jogging off. … S Craig Woodson exited after his INT with a head injury, but returned. … RB Rhamondre Stevenson left in the second quarter with an eye issue. … Davis left in the fourth quarter with a head injury.
Game highlights
Second half
Houston opened the second half with a drive that led to three points in a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal.
The Texans defense is keeping Houston in the game. When Houston got the ball back, Will Anderson Jr. caused a fumble recovered by Azeez Al-Shaair.
Though they didn’t score on that drive, they did add another field goal before the end of the third quarter to make it a 21-16 game.
First half
After trading three-and-outs, the Patriots drove the length of the field for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Texans got the ball back and did the same, but a drive stalled and Houston settled for a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal. The big play was this Stroud to Dalton Schultz pass.
After a Stroud interception, Houston got the ball right back on this Drake Maye fumble recovered by the Texans’ Tommy Togiai.
Houston took the lead on this Stroud to Kirk touchdown.
After Houston stopped New England on a three-and-out, Stroud threw a pick six and New England took a 14-10 lead.
After the Texans went three-and-out, New England drove down for another scoring strike, this time, Drake Maye hit former Texans receiver Stefon Diggs. 21-10 Patriots.
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