What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Texans
Sunday, December 13, 2015
The New England Patriots (10-2) travel to Houston to battle the (6-6) Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football. This is the Patriots second Sunday Night game in three weeks.
'I think Coach O'Brien has done obviously an outstanding job with the team given where they were, 2-5 after the Miami game, won four of their last five games, at the top of the league in almost every defensive category in that time, holding a couple teams to no touchdowns, good teams, too, so their overall production defensively," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
The last time the Texans beat the Patriots was in 2010, the game when Wes Welker got hurt, and have since lost three straight.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTKick off is set for 8:25 p.m.
Reunion Game
When the Patriots visit Houston they will see a lot of familiar faces on the other sidelines in former players, coaches, and players who have turned into coaches. A bit of a reunion game for the Patriots.
Lets re visit some old friends.
Houston Head Coach, Bill O'Brien
The Former Patriots offensive coordinator is in his second season as head coach of the Houston Texans and has an overall record of 15-13 and is 6-6 this season.
The Texans started the year 2-5 but ripped off four straight and are in a first place tie with the Indianapolis Colts for the AFC South.
This will mark the first time that O'Brien faces the Patriots.
"It's a big challenge. I mean, it's a big challenge to go up against a team that's so well coached and has a lot of really good players, a great quarterback. It's a big challenge for us," said O'Brien.
O'Brien was the Patriots offensive coordinator for the 2011 season that saw New England go 13-3 and lose in the Super Bowl to the Giants. Prior to that, he was the Patriots quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant.
O'Brien said of his time in New England,"It was a great experience. I had a really good experience there from a learning standpoint. I think every day you work there, you learn something new. Great guys to work with, Bill (Belichick) was a great head coach to work for."
Houston Defensive Coordinator, Romeo Crennel
Romeo Crennel was the defensive coordinator for the Patriots during their Super Bowl runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. He has since been a head coach in Cleveland and then in Kansas City before joining Houston as their defensive coordinator.
"Romeo is a great person, great guy to work with. He and I worked on special teams in New York and then defensively, he was the defensive line coach in 1990, moved up from special teams when Mike Sweatman kind of moved into that role. He did a lot of great things and he was great to work with and we always had a great working relationship," said Bill Belichick.
Belichick and Crennel worked together for about 20 years.
Linebackers Coach, Mike Vrabel
Vrabel was hired by the Texans as the linebackers coach in 2014 and has been there since.
Vrabel played for the Patriots from 2001-2008, winning three Super Bowls and going to a fourth. Despite all of Vrabel's on field success, Bill Belichick always thought he would be a coach one day.
"Mike and I talked about that a lot. He'd give me advice and I would tell him, 'Mike when you're a coach and you're calling the defenses, you should go ahead and do that. Here's why we're not going to do that. Or that's a great idea. We can do that, that's good, I'm glad you brought that up.' Mike is not afraid to make a suggestion, and we've had a lot of good discussions," said Belichick.
Vrabel also spent time coaching at Ohio State and Kansas City before joining Houston.
Nosetackle, Vince Wilfork
Vince Wilfork played 11 seasons for the Patriots, won two Super Bowls and was elected to five pro bowls.New England drafted Wilfork out of the University of Miami prior to the 2004 season.
While with the Patriots, Wilfork brought a big presence in the middle of the defensive line, but also brought leadership.
"He was team captain for multiple years, great leadership on and off the field, really smart player, understood concepts, understood what it took to win, how to prepare to win, how to compete, how to make adjustments," Belichick continued, "He had a great career here and was a great player – great size, very talented. Like the interceptions that he had and things like you just don't see a lot of guys make those kinds of plays at the position he played."
While Vince Wilfork was mostly all business, he did take some time to reflect on his New England career.
"It meant everything to me. For an organization to give me my first NFL job and to be there for 11 years, to win a lot of football, play a lot of tough ballgames, win a lot of ballgames, I could never forget that and I never will. New England is always going to be a part of me. That is like a second home to me, my family grew up there," said Wilfork.
Wilfork also took time to clear up how his Patriots career ended, "We actually left on good terms, but that's just the way business is sometimes and I think sometimes you get caught up in just playing football and you forget it is a business, until it's time to handle it. I will always love the Kraft family. I will always love Bill Belichick, that organization, the teammates, the fans, I will always have my love for those guys because of the 11 great years we had up there. I will never forget that."
Wilfork has started all 12 games for the Texans and has six tackles.
Quarterback, Brian Hoyer
Brian Hoyer backed up Tom Brady for three seasons, spanning from 2009-2011, but only played in a total of 13 games and threw a total of 43 passes. After leaving New England, Hoyer went on to play one season in Arizona and two in Cleveland before joining Houston.
As for his time in New England, it's the practice competitions against Tom Brady that he will remember.
"Oh man, he's the ultimate competitor. There's times where he challenged me to footwork drills and stuff like that. I think we all know how fleet of foot he is. No matter how many times I'd beat him, he'd make me go again and again and again. He just hates to lose. That's just the type of character and the type of guy that Tom is. It drives everyone around him to be better because he doesn't want to lose," said Hoyer.
In nine games played and seven starts for Houston, Hoyer is 4-3 and has thrown for 2,202 yards and 18 touchdowns on 188 completions.
"Brian does a lot of things well. He did a lot of things well here. The fact that he came in as an undrafted player and made the roster his rookie year at that position, that in itself was pretty impressive. He's smart. He's tough. He's accurate. He throws a very good deep ball. He's got great awareness on the field. He's got a lot of mental toughness and he's got good quickness and throws a good deep ball. He's a quality player that does a lot of things well, helps the team win in a lot of different ways," said Bill Belichick.
The Reunion, of sorts, is set for an 8:25 start.
Related Slideshow: What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Texans
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