Patriots-Texans News & Notes
BOSTON (CBS) -- We're all in for another late night tonight, thanks to the Patriots-Texans game getting flexed to Sunday Night Football.
So to hold you over until another late kickoff, here is a brief look at some news and notes for the upcoming tilt:
READ: Patriots-Texans Game Preview
- The Pats and the Texans are meeting for the sixth time in the regular season and the seventh time overall. The Patriots own a 4-1 edge in the regular season and are 1-0 against Houston in the postseason. The Patriots are 2-1 against the Texans in Houston.
- The Patriots are 24-17 on Sunday night football.
- Tom Brady is 5-1 overall against the Houston Texans. He is 16-9 overall on Sunday night football
- Last week, Brady became the fourth player in NFL history to have at least 30 or more touchdown passes in six seasons.
- Brady needs 88 passing yards this week to reach 4,000 passing yards for the eighth time in his career.
- Brady has 71 career 300-yard passing games.
- Brady has thrown three or more touchdowns in six games this season.
- Bill Belichick needs one more division title to claim his seventh straight -- the most consecutive division titles among all head coaches.
- Since the start of the 2000 season, the Patriots have the best regular season road record in the NFL at 82-43.
READ: Patriots-Texans Week 14 Predictions
- Since 2001, the Pats own the NFL's best December record, going 52-9 during the month.
- The New England defense has at least one sack in every game this season. Chandler Jones leads the team with 10.5 sacks, putting him third in the NFL.
- Rob Ninkovich has 14 fumble recoveries since 2010, the most by any player in the NFL over that time. J.J. Watt
It's not just stats though. There is a long list of connections from this game too:
- Texas native and Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola played safety at Woodlands High School, just north of Houston.
- Pats receiver Brandon Lafell attended lamar High School in Houston.
- New England tackle Sebastian Vollmer attended the University of Houston.
- Texans head coach Bill O'Brien began his NFL career as an offensive assistant with the Pats in 2007.
- Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel had two stints with the Patriots coaching staff and was in charge of the defense when New England won the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
- Texans linebackers coach Mike Vrabel played in 157 games over his eigh-year career for the Patriots.
- Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer was signed by the Pats in 2009 and spent three years with the team.
- Texans defensive tackle Vince Wilfork is in his first season in Houston after an 11-year career with the Patriots.
Tune in to Patriots-Texans on 98.5 The Sports Hub — the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins Sunday at 5:30pm with three hours of postgame coverage after the game. WBZ-TV begins their coverage at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay, and after the game switch over to WBZ-TV for Patriots 5th Quarter!
