Jan 13, 2013; Foxboro, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) leaves the field after the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 41-28. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Texans almost returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The Texans were unable to convert the great field position into 6 and ended up settling for a field goal. Against the high octane Patriots offense field goals are not going to do it. So Tom Brady takes just 6 plays to go 65 yards for the Patriots first score. The Pats then add a field goal and another touchdown in the 2nd quarter to take a 17-3 lead. Toward the end of the 2nd quarter the Texans decided to get back into the game.

Arian Foster scores on a one yard plunge, well at least it looked like he scored. Then at the end of the 2nd quarter Graham adds a long field goal to make it 17-13 Patriots at halftime. The 3rd quarter was all New England. This is where we were able to see the greatness that is Tom Brady. He is not the most talented quarterback but he is the best quarterback. Being a Panther fan, nothing pains me more that to admit that. No one is able to will his team to victory like Brady is. He is willing to stand in the pocket and take hit after hit just to deliver the ball on time and on target. So at the end of the 3rd Patriots up 31-13.

There was more of Brady and the Pat’s to start the 4th, scoring on a nice pass play. Then Schaub and company try to make it a game scoring twice in the 4th quarter. They got the score as close as 38-28 but the Patriots prove again to be too much for the Texans. The Pats end the scoring on a Gostkowski field goal. Final score 41-28 Patriots. The real difference in the game was the rushing attack of the Pats. Most people would have thought the Texans would have the upper hand when it comes to running the ball but the defense of New England did an excellent job of bottling up the Houston Backs. The defense shown by the Patriots will need to step up again next week versus the Ravens.

The AFC Championship will be a rematch of  the week  matchup between the Ravens and the Patriots which the Ravens won 31-30. This time Brady will be at home however. It should be a very good game and I am personally looking forward to watching. In that one I don’t have a team I’m rooting for per say but I will be curious to see the chess match between Ray Lewis and Tom Brady. It could be a game for the ages.

God Bless!

Follow me on Twitter @JoeRiollano

The special teams play on kickoff coverage was not good at all to say the least. Texans’ rookie Trendon Holliday had a field gridiron day with several good returns, including a 90-yard sprint for a touchdown. He had 2 others for 66 additional yards. Kick coverage has been an issue for some time now and it needs to improve. Fast.

Aug 11, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA Carolina Panthers wide receiver Joe Adams (15) returns a punt during the second half against the Houston Texans at Bank of America Stadium. The Texans defeated the Panthers 26-13. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-US PRESSWIRE

On the other hand, rookie Joe Adams showed off exactly how dangerous it looks like he’ll be. On the one punt return he had, I hope the coaches all had their blood pressure meds this morning because he turned a sideline-pinned position into a 15 yard loss into a 34 yard gain.

It was easily the most electrifying play for the Panthers the entire evening. Returns like that are reminiscent of a Dante Hall, if not in style but in results. No, I’m not saying Adams is the “second coming” here, but his one return was absolutely incredible. He showed a flash of the shiftiness that he was known for in college, then demonstrated his speed by running to the opposite sideline while giving up yardage so he could loop around them on the other side of the field.

He did exactly that until he was finally forced out of bonds by the last guy. I apologize, but I don’t recall who it was, but he had position and there was going to be contact without much possibility of further gain, so the lightest player on the entire team played it smart and decided not to press the issue.

Looking around as quickly as possible, Cam Newton had an ugly time converting one third and long with his legs. Oh, the run was as graceful as ever for the big guy as he took his long, smooth strides forward and past the first-down marker. It was his slide he needs to work on.

Imagine…what it looks like when a rug is literally pulled out from under someone. Larry of the Three Stooges taking a pratfall.

Seriously, he needs coaching on how to slide. As a kid who grew up playing baseball, I can tell you just from his slides that the man has never, ever played an inning of organized baseball in his life. Perhaps a relief pitcher, since they are almost never on base in the first place themselves, but I’m just not feelin’ the vibes here. He could (and eventually, he will) hurt himself if he doesn’t know how to do a basic slide. I could teach him in just a few minutes myself. You make the letter “4″ with your legs, one folded underneath you, using it to control the crash as your rear end hits while making sure you don’t land on your leg. That’s really about it. Since, by rule, nobody can hit him once he starts sliding, maybe they should hire the local baseball coach as a tutor. It would be a wise investment.

Newton had an otherwise slow night in the air, but I’m not concerned there. He’ll be fine.

What did impress me was how recently-acquired WR Louis Murphy carried himself with his new team. He saw a little duty in the game and had a couple of very nice catches downfield. If he can play like that consistently, he may sneak on the field and make some plays in the regular season. He’s a veteran so his play was no fluke. I think he’s someone people may overlook, but wind up making some noise with Steve Smith being a big presence on the field.

It’s a little scary to think what might happen if aforementioned rookie Joe Adams can get out there with that duo, AND TE Greg Olson to boot…forget about the backfield threat! YIKES for defensive coordinators around the league, already. I’m sure they’re already watching.

Rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly played like a seasoned star. Seriously. He had 5 tackles on the first 9 plays of the game and he made some really standout plays. When the Texans had a first and goal on their first series, Kuechly filled a gap and made just a slamming tackle on Ben Tate. On the Texans’ next possession, Kuechly tackled Arian Foster and forced a fumble right at midfield that teammate Sherrod Martin recovered.

“Clark Kent” was really a sight to see.

Otherwise, the reserves didn’t look very good. The run defense was pretty bad up the middle but the Panthers have a lot of players just getting their sea legs under them again. It’s too early to tell how the interior defensive line is going to shape up, but I see no positives there yet. It helps having Jon Beason and his experience there with Kuechly’s apparent early orbital-high ceiling. I’m excited about the kid and had been since before the draft. I’ll shut up now before I start sounding like some proud parent, but his play last night was highly encouraging to say the least.

The secondary looked flat, to be kind, but it’s just the first preseason game. All NFL coaches keep their playbooks pretty vanilla in the preseason so I have no huge issues with the team other than kickoff coverage. They were dead last in the league last year, and those multiple returns and a touchdown they allowed just cannot continue.

Jan 15, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson (80) is defended by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Laradarius Webb (21) in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at M

With the collapse of the Indianapolis Colts last season, the Houston Texans finally were able to win their first division title in franchise history in 2011 despite injuries to some key players and lost their best defender, Mario Williams, via free agency. With that in mind, here’s their 2012 draft:

1 26 Whitney MercilusLB Illinois
3 68 DeVier Posey WR Ohio State
3 76 Brandon Brooks G Miami (Ohio)
4 99 Ben Jones C Georgia
4 121 Keshawn Martin WR Michigan State
4 126 Jared Crick DE Nebraska
5 161 Randy Bullock K Texas A&M
6 195 Nick Mondek T Purdue

A glance at their top pick makes one realize the loss of Super Mario wasn’t “lost” on the organization. Whitney Mercilus was a bit of a one-year wonder at Illinois, but he did have a monster final college season, leading the NCAA in sacks. The Texans hope he can translate that and do so quickly as a rookie and earn the nickname “Ming.”

WR DeVier Posey is the latest attempt to put an outside threat opposite All-Pro WR Andre Johnson. Posey has good size, speed, soft hands and strength to play the outside.

The ensuing 2 picks show that they want to improve their interior offensive line for Arian Foster in Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme.

WR Keshawn Martin from Michigan State is a smaller guy that should find a home in the slot and is an accomplished punt returner that could steal Jacoby Jones’ job there and DE Jared Crick is a strong run defender that lacks great pass-rush skills but will get a few sacks due to his relentless, high-motor style.

It looks like their draft could produce up to five immediate starters or sub-package/rotational players that should see the field quite a bit. For a playoff team, that’s huge.

The one issue they cannot solve is QB Matt Schaub’s durability issues. The Texans had to go 3 deep at the QB spot last season and didn’t have Schaub for the stretch run or the playoffs. While the backups played well, including rookie T.J. Yates, they can’t fully replace Schaub. This offense has several bona fide stars with WR Andre Johnson and RB Arian Foster so they are capable of making a lot of noise. So far in mini-camp, they’ve been bitten by the injury bug much like last season so we’ll have to wait and see how everyone is when September rolls around.

Defensively, the Texans dominated in 2011 under first-year DC and former Cowboys HC Wade Phillips. The scary part is that they’re also a young defense with their oldest projected starter being Pro-Bowl defensive end Antonio Smith at age 31.

They have a number of star players on the defensive side as well, even after losing Super Mario to free agency and the Buffalo Bills. Brian Cushing played well moving to ILB from OLB last season when they switched to the 3-4 from the 4-3. Rookie J.J. Watt could easily have been DROY and should dominate in his second season. Another 2011 rookie, Brooks Reed, had a few sacks as he helped fill in for Mario Williams, who was lost to IR after week 5 last year. Connor Barwin was moved to OLB and played well also.

The added LB Bradie James through free agency to add into the mix. Their other notable signing was RB Justin Forsett from the Seahawks as a third-string RB behind Foster and Ben Tate and should see action on special teams.

The secondary appears to be in good shape as well with Danieal Manning at safety and Pro-Bowl cornerback Jonathan Joseph returning. Glover Quin played well moving to strong safety so Phillips had to be pleased with the way his squad gelled with so many players at new positions.

The only issue I can see the Texans possibly struggling with is cohesion in the passing game. With Schaub being injury-prone and Andre Johnson showing a recent propensity to nagging injuries, those two rookie WRs need to come in and start producing very quickly. TE Owen Daniels is a solid player but unspectacular when compared to the recent trend of players like Vernon Davis, Rob Gronkowski, or Jermaine Gresham. The Texans didn’t attempt to upgrade there through the draft nor free agency.

Considering their vault to the top of the division and Indy’s fall along with their roster changes and factoring in injuries last year, I’d say the Houston Texans took…

…one step forward. They made the playoffs with a rookie QB at the helm for a couple of games and that means the rest of the team is very solid. They lost a big free agent, Super Mario, but replaced him with as good a rookie as they could in Whitney Mercilus. While I don’t expect a rookie to come right in and fill those shoes, the rest of the team should be able to pick up the slack there. They also made a serious attempt to get Andre Johnson some help on the outside. If Schaub can stay healthy, this team is a Super Bowl contender and matches up with the Patriots particularly well should they find themselves in the AFC Championship Game in January, 2014.

Next up, the Indianapolis Colts.