{"id":117572,"date":"2026-01-18T18:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/patriots-return-to-afc-championship-after-forcing-5-texans-turnovers-in-heavy-wintry-mix-117572"},"modified":"2026-01-18T18:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:26:18","slug":"patriots-return-to-afc-championship-after-forcing-5-texans-turnovers-in-heavy-wintry-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/patriots-return-to-afc-championship-after-forcing-5-texans-turnovers-in-heavy-wintry-mix-117572","title":{"rendered":"Patriots return to AFC Championship after forcing 5 Texans turnovers in heavy wintry mix"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The New England Patriots<\/a> are back.<\/p>\n

From 2001 to 2018, 13 AFC Championship Games<\/a> featured the Pats, including in each of the final eight seasons of that stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After six seasons without them, New England is back to what feels like home.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

Thanks to forcing five turnovers against the Houston Texans<\/a>, the Pats took home a 28-16 victory in the divisional round on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Patriots were aggressive early, going for it on fourth-and-1 from the Houston 28 in winter weather, and it worked out with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Demario Douglas. The Texans had to settle for a field goal after a rushing touchdown by Woody Marks was called back because of an illegal shift.<\/p>\n

Houston took a 10-7 lead with a Christian Kirk touchdown early in the second quarter, and the Texans were in business after forcing a Patriots punt. But the momentum was short-lived after C.J. Stroud threw a pick-six \u2014 his second of four interceptions in the first half \u2014 to give New England the lead. After a Houston punt, Drake Maye found Stefon Diggs to make it 21-10 with 3:12 to go.<\/p>\n

TEXANS STAR AZEEZ AL-SHAAIR FINED FOR PRO-PALESTINIAN MESSAGE ON EYE BLACK: REPORT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Houston kicked two field goals in the third quarter to make it a five-point game, all while the Patriots offense stalled. But in the fourth quarter, Maye hit Kayshon Boutte on a deep ball, and the receiver made an incredible diving grab in the end zone to go up 28-16 with 12:58 left.<\/p>\n

Stroud struggled from the jump and finished by completing just 42.6% of his passes (20-for-47) for 212 yards.<\/p>\n

After an MVP-caliber season, Maye’s numbers weren’t outstanding, as he posted just 179 yards on 16-of-27 passing and three turnovers himself, but with the help of his defense, he is filling the shoes of Tom Brady quite nicely.<\/p>\n

It will be the Pats against the Denver Broncos<\/a> next week for a trip to the Super Bowl, a rematch of the AFC Championship 10 years ago between Brady and Peyton Manning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That season, the quarterbacks had been in the league for a combined 33 seasons \u2014 this season is both Maye and Bo Nix’s second. Although, after Nix’s injury late on Saturday, it’ll likely be Jarrett Stidham starting for Denver.<\/p>\n

Follow Fox News Digital\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong><\/i>sports coverage on X<\/strong><\/i><\/a>,\u00a0and subscribe to\u00a0<\/strong><\/i>the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter<\/strong><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/patriots-return-afc-championship-after-forcing-5-texans-turnovers-heavy-wintry-mix <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots are back. From 2001 to 2018, 13 AFC Championship Games featured the Pats, including in each of the final eight seasons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-117572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPatriots return to AFC Championship after forcing 5 Texans turnovers in heavy wintry mix - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/patriots-return-to-afc-championship-after-forcing-5-texans-turnovers-in-heavy-wintry-mix-117572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patriots return to AFC Championship after forcing 5 Texans turnovers in heavy wintry mix - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New England Patriots are back. 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